Admission is the First Step

Occasionally I kind of joke about being a nerd, but there are days when the truth of the statement smacks me in the face.

I read. I read a lot. I read like most people watch movies. Once I start a book I do not have the ability to put it down. I don't care how crappy the book is, stopping a book in the middle is like pausing a movie for three days and coming back to it. It just isn't done.

A few years ago I discovered Neil Stephenson. I was lucky enough to discover Neil by reading Cryptonomicon before anything else. Now, I don't say this lightly, but it is perhaps the best book I have ever read. Honestly. I get teased because everytime I meet someone I ask them if they have read it. I know I have a friend when they say yes. I have purchased at least 25 copies of this book just to give away. I still don't think anyone I've given it to has read it though. It's about 1100 pages long, but worth every minute.

I've never been much of a fantasy reader. Don't get me wrong, I read the basics...Ender, Hitchhiker, LOTR, Wrinkle...you know. But I didn't get into the whole "dragonslayerobsessiveprincessrenesancefestivleweirdpeople" sci-fi state of mind. Maybe I was just rebelling against my inner geek. I don't know.

So, this summer I got bored re-reading the Baroque cycle and the Enders series. I branched out and tried to read something thinkie thinkie, but A.S. Byatte just isn't good "beach reading". I read Blink, I read Tipping Point, I re-read 7 Habits, but I was starving for a good summer read. I tried to feed that hunger with romance novels, and found I am entirely too bitter to even get past the first chapter.

Then I found Robert Jordan. I have now officially delved into the world of geekdome. I must proudly proclaim my title. I just finished the first book in the Wheel of Time series. That, in and of itself, does not make me a geek. What makes me a geek is the fact that when I logged onto my computer this morning I didn't go check my e-mail first. I didn't go check my blog first. I didn't even go check my horoscope first. I started researching the author, and the book series. THAT in and of itself, does not make me a geek. What makes me a geek is the little flutter I got in my chest when I saw that there was an official RPG game based around the books.

I've never been into RPGs. I've never played an online RPG. I've never dressed the part of a character for anything and pretended to make it my own. (Other than Halloween.) I am seriously tempted.

I am Geek. Hear me wheeze.