Confessions of a middle-aged hobby geek
The Bay Area entertainment 'zine The Wave recently published a list of the ten geekiest hobbies. From top to bottom (or geekiest to least geeky, take your pick), the list includes:
1. Live Action Role Playing
2. Furries/Plushies
3. Star Trek
4. Everquest
5. Collectible Card Games
6. Vampirism
7. Star Wars
8. Scrapbooking
9. Role Playing Games
10. Comic Books
You will understand my relief to find that only a few of these even remotely apply to me.
I'll confess to being a comic book geek, although my comic book geekdom is of a nostalgic bent rather than a current one — the only comics I read are old ones.
I used to be a hardcore Star Trek geek — yes, I attended the conventions, though never in costume — but that interest petered out along about the third season of Deep Space Nine. I found Voyager unwatchable, and I have yet to be moved to see a single episode of Enterprise, my friend DL's ongoing Scott Bakula jones notwithstanding. I haven't seen the last three Trek movies, either. Star Wars? I thought the whole business was a crock even before the last two films stank on ice.
That's pretty much it for the items on the list. I never really got into role playing, either of the board game or the Renaissance Faire varieties. I played a few rounds of Dungeons & Dragons with friends back when the craze was new, but never found the fascination. I do like going to the RenFaire if it's nearby and not too expensive, and once or twice I've even thought about participating. Most of the creative anachronists (as they like to be called) whom I know personally seem like fun people.
Collectible card game players, frankly, frighten me — the primary reason I don't visit the local comic book shop more than I do (aside from the indifferent customer service and labyrinthine merchandising system) is that it's overrun with juvenile Magic: The Gathering gamer geeks.
And, not to be judgmental about the deal, but people who find sexual arousal in dressing up like cartoon animals or vampires need professional help, in my humble lay (no pun intended) opinion.
The author of this list, however, missed one geeky hobby that does involve me intimately. No hobbyists in the world are geekier in their obsession than a cappella singers, and barbershop singers in particular. There's a great Christopher Guest mockumentary waiting to be made about the barbershopping community. Trust me. I know.
1. Live Action Role Playing
2. Furries/Plushies
3. Star Trek
4. Everquest
5. Collectible Card Games
6. Vampirism
7. Star Wars
8. Scrapbooking
9. Role Playing Games
10. Comic Books
You will understand my relief to find that only a few of these even remotely apply to me.
I'll confess to being a comic book geek, although my comic book geekdom is of a nostalgic bent rather than a current one — the only comics I read are old ones.
I used to be a hardcore Star Trek geek — yes, I attended the conventions, though never in costume — but that interest petered out along about the third season of Deep Space Nine. I found Voyager unwatchable, and I have yet to be moved to see a single episode of Enterprise, my friend DL's ongoing Scott Bakula jones notwithstanding. I haven't seen the last three Trek movies, either. Star Wars? I thought the whole business was a crock even before the last two films stank on ice.
That's pretty much it for the items on the list. I never really got into role playing, either of the board game or the Renaissance Faire varieties. I played a few rounds of Dungeons & Dragons with friends back when the craze was new, but never found the fascination. I do like going to the RenFaire if it's nearby and not too expensive, and once or twice I've even thought about participating. Most of the creative anachronists (as they like to be called) whom I know personally seem like fun people.
Collectible card game players, frankly, frighten me — the primary reason I don't visit the local comic book shop more than I do (aside from the indifferent customer service and labyrinthine merchandising system) is that it's overrun with juvenile Magic: The Gathering gamer geeks.
And, not to be judgmental about the deal, but people who find sexual arousal in dressing up like cartoon animals or vampires need professional help, in my humble lay (no pun intended) opinion.
The author of this list, however, missed one geeky hobby that does involve me intimately. No hobbyists in the world are geekier in their obsession than a cappella singers, and barbershop singers in particular. There's a great Christopher Guest mockumentary waiting to be made about the barbershopping community. Trust me. I know.
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 11:24 PM
1 insisted on sticking two cents in:
Scrapbooking is considered geeky? There's going to be a lot of women who'll be roasting The Wave very shortly.
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