Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Geekage

I work with a lot of smart people. I also happen to know a lot of smart people. This is not bragging about all the smart around me but more so to convey that I, often self-proclaimed "decently smart" (yes, I know that isn't helping me here) am not often The Smart One in the room. I can be one of the smart ones, and sure we all have our little pieces of intelligence we know better than anyone but overall, not so much.

This also goes for my geek qualities. You see, I will openly and often admit to my dorkdom. This is usually done by knowing something ridiculous like what song John Denver sang to close his show at Red Rocks in 1975 or by dancing in the car. Sometimes, I'll get a little to excited about my dorkdom and call it "being a nerd." This, however, is not good because a dork is not a nerd. A nerd is more like a geek, and I am not. I think geek implies some form of extra special intelligence and as we all now know, I merely have my moments rather than full-on genius.

It's okay, I'm happy with this. Really, I am. (No, Mom, seriously I AM.) For one, it allows me to have a respectable social life and two, I do not live in a basement nor do I forget to shower. Well, mostly. And we also all know that is the line crossing from Nice Intelligent Geek to the holy-crap(s)he-is-forty-two-and-has-(s)he-ever-even-been-on-a-date Geek.

I share all of this for a couple of reasons. First, here's a little secret: I have geekly aspirations. Honestly, I do. The little bits of geeky stuff I learn every day just make me want to learn more. So, I have done that a little. And while I won't bore you with what I've learned at work let me just tell you that yesterday I officially learned how to repair something with code by "going through the back door." And while you either a) don't see the big deal or b) are thinking of all the crazy google hits that are going to end up here now, let me tell you, it was kind of fun. Because this makes me more computer geeky, which is a good thing.

I know I talk about career aspirations and how the work I do now is not the work I want to do forever but I'm all for learning. I'm all for moving up on my own version of the geekery ladder. And let me just say, it's pretty cool. There are all kinds of geekery ladders I'd like to climb in my lifetime, but if the difference between moving forward and not is either using what you already have or sitting and waiting, I'm glad to be using it. Pretty geeky, eh?

So thanks for getting through that. It feels good to maybe not be a geek but at least talk about my geek wishes and hopefully, someday very soon, share the fruits of my geekage with you, right here. Or some place like it.

12 comments:

anne said...

Oh you are setting yourself up for disaster with that whole back door thing! You geek!

Bre said...

So, I've been put in charge of our internal website and just spent the morning contemplating ripping out my hair instead of reworking code. I'm glad there are folks like you out there to counterbalance folks like me!

megabrooke said...

im ditto-ing eb, first and foremost.
words of the day: dorkdom, and geekery ladder. i love it.

Aaron said...

A geek is a nerd that actually enjoys their lifestyle and embraces it.

The Exception said...

But, like you, I am all about learning, moving up the ladder, and I think it is exciting that you learned the backdoor/code kind of thing. That world is so beyond me "code" that is. I have the greatest excitement for you in that you picked some of it up!

Backofpack said...

kI've been called dork, geek and nerd in my lifetime, though not recently. Mostly, it was back in my computer days...

Does the fact that the three songs at our wedding were all John Denver songs make me a geek/dork/nerd? Please remember, it was 1979 - no fair looking back and judging from today's standards!

Airam said...

The older I get the more I want a geek for a significant other.

Anonymous said...

e.b.- I know, I know.

Bre- Oh trust me, Bre, hair has been ripped out.

Brooke- Thanks for embracing my geek speak. ;)

Aaron- Sounds good to me!

Exception- Thanks for the excitement! I need it. Yikes.

BoP- No way! Which songs?!

Airam- That's a good bet there.

Danielle said...

The back door huh?? :) and what's funny is my background really does make me fully understand what you mean. but it still sounds so bad! Learning is always good.

Sizzle said...

fruits of your geekage- love! i like geeks and wish sometimes i was one. alas, i just date them which is a bonus for me.

Anonymous said...

I actually love being a dork. My friends and I, who are geeks, have spent way too many brain cells defining the difference between the two.

We decided that geeks are usually computer nerds who may dabble in Dungeons and Dragons.

Dorks are bookish and smart enough to hang out with geeks.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... I'm a geek...and proud of it.