And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

I'm sure my tale is going to resound with a lot of older folks.  Growing up being a geek or nerd was something that a lot of people hid. Comic books. Gaming. Reading. Science Fiction. Fantasy.  All of those things were not "cool" and to be avoided. Oft times once you were labeled a geek that was it. Game over man, game over.  A lot has changed in that time.

Today it is chic to be geek. And I love it!  Comic books, gaming, sci-fi, and fantasy are all main stream.  No longer do you have to hide your geekiness or be shunned by society. You can go to a gaming store and see a wide variety of people all there to share their love of whatever game. I've seen intense conversations about comic book origin stories and story arcs between a wide variety of people, not just the uncool kids on lunch.

I was thinking and comic books are the Soap Opera for the geek world. You have over the top characters, way crazy story lines, and no one truly dies if you have a good writer. In comic books you had two types of dead. You had dead - which means the character might have been a Skrull clone, an LMD, or raised from the dead by some cosmic entity. And then you had "Bucky dead" which meant you were dead dead. Worm food, no coming back. That was at least until Bucky Barnes was revived. You have love triangles, romances, epic battle. In Professional Wrestling terms Faces can become Heels and vice versa. Magneto was the X-men's greatest foe and then at some point he led them.

I think one of the biggest things to help is the movie industry, CGI specifically. A movie can now show the effects of super powers without being too cheesy.  I think the original X-men was a prime example. All the mutants had powers but they were shown in a - hate to use the word - near realistic display.  It makes it easier to suspend your belief if it looks cool on screen.

TV is getting in on the action with Arrow, the Flash, Agents of SHIELD, and new stuff in production and coming out. DareDevil on Netflix.  Oh yes,  I foresee a lot of binge watching.


Star Trek has helped lead to many generations of engineers.  The modern cell phone was created because some dude wanted a Star Trek communicator. Many terms have entered the lexicon. All this from Wagon Train to the Stars.

That person who walks down the street in the Star Trek uniform might garner some odd looks but there will also be a lot of people who will get a picture and give a thumbs up. Comic-con is the Mecca of the geek world.

For me it is an exciting time to live especially as the next series of Star Wars movies gets closer to release. I'm chomping at the bit for Avengers - Age of Ultron.

I came out of the Geek closet early on. I didn't care. I remember looking at a gaming book in class one day and some guy asked how much it cost. I told him twenty bucks - which was quite a bit in the early 90's. He frowned and mentioned that for twenty bucks how much beer he could have gotten. Oh the thrills of underaged drinking. I brought up the fact that when he was done with all that beer he had a hangover and a empty beer cans. I still have the book, find uses for it, and still own it today.

I'm sure we all have stories about being made fun of, shunned, or ignored for our hobbies. It didn't take me long to say fuck 'em because I liked it and I didn't care. I found a group of like minded folks and we formed our own group. It is even easier today with the internet to find people who share the same interest.

Never be afraid of who you are. If someone wont' accept you for who and what you are then prune them.  They aren't worth it.

Go forth and Geek Out!

Rolling the Bones - and by that I mean Runes!

I have begun a new journey in my spirituality. For those of you who did not know I am Pagan. No, I'm not Wiccan. I do not follow any of the "major" religions. Instead I am going back to my ancestors and feel a calling in my blood for the ancient Norse gods.  Part of that calling are Runes, the ancient language that were also used as a form of divination.

I have begun this journey and one of the things I have decided to explore are Runes. I have begun to craft my own set. The first aett (family) have been made. I am waiting to be able to get more stones as there are twenty-four runes in total.

The runes above, top row are Wunjo, Thurisaz, Gebo, Raidho, second row - Uruz, Fehu, Kenaz, and Ansuz. 

The runes will not tell you the future but they will help you look at a situation. I plan to use the 

"Casting the Norns" method. The Norns were the goddesses of Fate. Past, present, and future. Present your situation and draw three runes. The first will represent the situation in the past, then the situation in the present, and then finally the last rune will help represent an outcome.

I am excited to finish my set and test it out. I will consecrate each rune and imbue my energy into them. I also plan to keep a journal to document what I learn. As I grow I will also turn to other methods of casting. I am keeping it simple at first.

I invite and welcome open discussions but I won't tolerate rudeness or insults. Take that to other places.