It’s already the second decade of the new millennium, eleven years after 2001, two years after 2010, and forty nine years out from 2061. These years are important from a geek standpoint, as they are the years in Arthur Clarke’s series of novels painting a picture of that space future we all imagined when we taped glow in the dark stars to our bedroom ceilings. It’s kind of sad to me that 2001 and 2010 have come and gone and we haven’t realized many of the aspirations that one of the greatest science fiction writers thought feasible. I guess progress isn’t as easily conceived and implemented. No worries though, we are making science fiction more realistic and less fiction every day! I never would have thought I would have a touch screen phone space phone. Remember when the touch screens at the museum were the coolest when you were little? And now most of us carry a better one around in our pocket.
I geek out on the Star Wars. Yes, there are many other things I enjoy, like organic chemistry, micronutrient metabolism, and comic books, but Star Wars has been my one true geeking love for a long time. It all started in first grade when the obviously underfunded Catholic school I went to only had used, taped up books. However, the Return of the Jedi picture book caught my eye, and I would park it on a beanbag to read it over and over. My voracious appetite for Star Wars continues to this day, much to the dismay of my conservative mother, who is holding out that it’s still a phase. I guess a 25 year old who is not into the traditional timeline of what you are “supposed” to do wasn’t what she had planned for a daughter; that and the whole “No, I’m a woman of science” discussion. Being labeled a geek was never a good thing for me, I didn’t have lots of friends, I got beaten up and teased, but it never really mattered once I rode my bike down to the library. I used to get lost in far away worlds or get wrapped up in learning about the inner workings of our own. Yes, I did want to be pretty and not have a weird haircut, glasses, and a frightening lack of hand eye coordination but all of those pressures really slipped away once I walked into the Lake County Public Library. Reading, to me, made everything seem okay, like these characters assured me that one day I would be really happy.
