A Real Life Geek Girl: Or Why Being Passionate About Something Is The Best Thing Ever

I am a geek girl.

And no, I'm not talking about being a fake geek girl, a wanna-be geek or any other kind of term that is currently doing the rounds.

What I am talking about is being completely and utter passionate about something (or in my case a lot of somethings).

Being a tad obsessive comes pretty naturally to me and I've been a geek girl almost my whole life, though when I was younger the term 'geek girl' wasn't around.  Instead I was a nerd, a dork, an outsider.  None of which ever really bothered me all that much.  Perhaps because my geekdom started quite early.

While most girls played with dolls and had tea parties, I had my head buried in a book reading about dinosaurs, and space, and anything else that got my interest.  And of course I was madly in love with science fiction television, and still am today.

As I got older, I began to realise that some of my interests were just a little unusual, especially for a girl.  Most girls didn't read 20 to 30 books a week, or watched the kind of shows I did.   Music and movies quickly followed, adding to these passions, as did a love of  travel, writing, fanfic and chocolate (trust me it's the answer to EVERYTHING).

I've been lucky with my friends, they are tolerant of my obsessions even if they didn't understand them, though I must admit I learnt fairly early on not to talk about them much because not many people understood my love of Doctor Who and the like.

Once I started high school I hid my obsessions even more and was, pretty much, a closet geek girl.  Being in the closet stayed with me for all of my teenage years and most of my 20s and 30s.  In some ways, being a geek, the older I got was harder as most people would (and still do) give me odd looks when they discover that I *adore* Buffy, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, fanfic, etc.  The sort of things that most consider something that teens are into.

Nowadays, I'm an open book about my geek girl interests and have even found some like minded friends to share them which is even better, though maybe a tad worrisome for others, as we now feed each others addictions by sharing links, fanfic recommendations, and hold online discussions on the merits of such things as Wet Stiles (it's a thing), why a certain character should die a slow and bloody death, and will the new Doctor Who live up to the name.  And yes, Twitter and online writing forums are just another one of my addictions.

So if you're like me and love something passionately, then celebrate it with me, because being passionate about something is absolutely the best thing ever.

5 geeky links you need to check out

"Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It's basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating."
- Simon Pegg

Our 'geeky links' posts are becoming quite popular with you all. YAY geeky links! What does this tell me? That you guys are just as weird as I am. Respect. Some of you have emailed me asking, "Where do you find this bizarre stuff? Do you make it all up? And how do you choose what to highlight and what not to?" You guys are NOSEY, and because I do adore sharing, here are my answers: "The interwebs is MADE for stuff like this, so that's where I find it. No, I don't make it all up - my brain isn't half as interesting (although maybe it is half as scary). And I just choose whatever makes me fangirl and SQUEE and cry and laugh and coo the loudest." My usual scientific method. Everything should be run like this. (No, no it really shouldn't). I often think, though, that if this stuff makes me laugh and smile and whatever, then why not share it? If it does the same for others then YAY, hopefully they share it. A sort of technological 'pay it forward,' if you will. So...pay it forward, guys! Pay it forward :)

Here's a roundup of 5 geeky links I think you might get a kick out of. As ever, feel free to recommend your own in the comments section.