In which I become a giddy school girl over the weather

                 I’ve been able to wear a hoodie or coat consistently for the past week or so.  This means that fall, or autumn for you pretentious folk, is finally and officially here.  For some reason, the past two or three years, summer has kept its hot and humid claws into Mother Nature and wouldn’t let go until late October.  To feel it actually get here early has me more excited than a Dalek on Extermination Day. 

               

               Ever since I can remember, fall has just been a feel good season for me.  When I was a kid I’d help my grandmother decorate for Halloween and then go jump into huge piles of beautiful leaves that my grandfather had just finished racking up.  The smell of those dead leaves, or if they were wet after it rained, is something I’m glad they’ve attempted to cram into a scented candle…somewhat successfully I might add.  Scent is known to be strongly tied to memory and during the month of October that is why you’ll never see me in a down mood.  I’m just consistently surrounded by smells I tie to great memories.  Those leaves I mentioned, the smell of pumpkins carved or cooked, that odd smell artificial fog has, candy, fudge, apples, I could go on forever; it’s just a sensory overload!

Now I’m sure there are people who feel the same about winter, spring or summer, but there’s never a time of year that’s more heartwarming.   Nothing beats sitting with your significant other and sipping some hot apple cider or a lovely Pumpkin Spice flavored drink.  Maybe you travel with friends and see the beautiful and colorful foliage of the changing trees or possibly hold a big Halloween Party.  You’ve got Thanksgiving, a time of joining with loved ones and pigging out in true American style and then shortly after Thanksgiving you have the most heartwarming holiday of all; Christmas (I know it’s technically in winter, but only by a few days, my argument is still valid!)

Now, when I'm asked why I like the season so much my usual stock answer is "the colder weather" because if I didn’t have that quick go-to answer I’d talk for hours (See: This Blog Post).  Really though, despite all the reasons I've given above, I think it’s because this time of year was just ingrained in me as a child; if you think about it, it’s the best time of year to be a kid!  Leaf pile jumping and dressing up in awesome costumes, candy collecting and candy eating, pumpkin carving and pumpkin eating.  This is followed shortly by lots of good food which is then followed by more good food with presents! 

Speaking of childhood memories, though, I'd have to say that If there’s some kind of advice I would give to anyone, some bit of wisdom, it would be to not take life so seriously.  Hang on to those childish memories and the excitement you used to feel during this time of year.  You might say “Hey, I’m not some immature loser!”  To which I would respond: "You don't have to be and why are you so defensive? Also, how did you get in my house?"  You see, I believe there’s a fine line between being immature and having an inner child.  I won’t expound on my definitions of both, I’ll just tell you to not let go of things you’ve always loved but don’t let them define you either.  Build on your experiences and your memories and always keep that childlike view of the world…then you’ll be who you are meant to be.

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.  Most persons do not see the sun.  At least they have a very superficial seeing.  The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and heart of the child.  The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Till next time, kids…

In which it begins...and we all become hipsters

Hello to all you fine gentlemen and ladies who have stumbled upon my blog.  It’s surely going to be a place where I’ll rant about many a nerdy thing but also a place where I’ll review games, talk about gaming of all kinds, movie news, television news, and sometimes just the world in general.  I promise that you won’t ever see politics or religion discussed here, though; those are bullets I’d rather keep from firing at all instead of having to dodge them later.  This blog is also going to be as light hearted as it can be.  A place where you can come to laugh, think and sometimes learn…like Reading Rainbow!

You guys remember Reading Rainbow right?

No?

Anyone?

Just me then, Brilliant.

ANYWAY, I wanted to start off with the guts of my first post being about nerd/geek culture.  Before the Year 2005 or so (I’m guesstimating give me a break) nerds and geeks were mostly shunned by society; looked down upon, made fun of and laughed at.  The term geek even comes from the old sideshow term for an odd individual like “The Amazing Bearded Lizard Boy” or the “12 Toed Human Pin Cushion”!  The term nerd comes from even more embarrassing roots, with a meaning similar to that of a recluse or shut-in.  Luckily though, or unluckily depending on who you ask, nerd culture started to bleed into the mainstream.  Suddenly the things I enjoyed and got made fun of for in high school were “cool”. 

Typical Exchange circa 1998:

Me: “I love Batman Forever because Two-Face is my favorite villain!”

Normie: “Lol, wut? That movie sucked, get outta here loser.” (In retrospect he may have been right about the sucking.)

Typical Exchange circa 2009:

Me: “I love The Dark Knight because Two-Face is my favorite villain!”

Normie: “AW Shit yeah! Dude was fucking gangster, flippin' a coin to decide if he should cap yo’ ass.  That’s some justice son.  And when The Joker was all like… (It’s about this point that I stop listening).

Now, I don’t necessarily fall into the camp of people who are furious that “normal” people like the things I’ve always liked but I do become quite angered by it from time to time.  That bubbly cheerleader type who’s wearing a t-shirt that says “I (Heart) Geeks”?  Instant rage.  You don’t “Heart” geeks, you “heart” your frat boy boyfriend who plays Call of Duty and/or Madden and thinks Spider-Man is the shit because he’s seen a couple movies.  She wouldn’t give a real geek the time of day.  It’s very similar to the women who are maybe a few pounds overweight but consider themselves hideously fat;

Geek and fat…you keep using those words, I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

I’m all for geeky things becoming mainstream in most cases, I’m not sitting here pouting about how there’s Super Mario t-shirts at Hot Topic or that every teenage girl in existence likes vampires all of a sudden.  Granted, those vampires sparkle and creepily watch you sleep on a regular basis, but like Kevin Smith once said: “That’s the next generation of geek.” Sure,we look down on it, us vampire hipsters, the ones who were reading Anne Rice before those little girls were even born; watching Bella Lagosi tell us he “never drinks…wine” before Ms. Meyer somehow got her atrocious writing published; dressing up in a cape and fake fangs for Halloween before Robert Pattinson decided to sully Cedric Diggory’s good name by playing Edward “I sparkle like a gay disco ball” Cullen…..

 ….Whoa, got a little carried away there, apologies…

You see, the previous generation is always going to look down on the next one because we don’t understand it.  This isn’t just true of nerdom it’s a truism in general.  The irony of the whole “hipster” meme is that everyone is a hipster.  We were all into something before it was popular, we were all “there first” at some point.  How you should look at it is that mainstreaming things like comic book movies and sci-fi television just means we get more of the things we nerds enjoy; a perfect example of this is Zombieland and The Walking Dead.  Back in the early 2000’s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were shopping around a zombie themed television show called “Zombieland”.  They talked to every big network and got shot down every time, always being told that there wasn’t a big enough audience for it, that it was too niche’.  So they took their story arc for season one and turned into the movie we know and love today.  Fast forward to a couple years ago and Robert Kirkman’s amazing human centered zombie epic “The Walking Dead” gets picked up to become a television show…which goes on to win emmys and is widely popular in two different mediums now.

So I say if you’re a geek or nerd then embrace it harder and enjoy the benefits of seeing more of things you’re into.  If you’re not then what the hell is wrong with you and why are you reading my blog?

Just kidding.

If you’re not a nerd then take a good look at the things you like.  Take a look at your hobbies, your DVD or book collection.  I’ll bet you’ll find that you are in one way shape or form, in fact, a nerd. 

Here comes the point kids, better put on a helmet CAUSE I’M ABOUT TO BLOW YOUR MIND.

To be a nerd basically means to be passionate about a certain subject, usually a hobby or something related to pop culture, its true meaning lost among the popular stereotype.  Those meatheads who get together at the beginning of September to form their fantasy football league? Sports Nerds.  The women who get together and gossip about celebrities? Paparazzi Nerds.  Chefs? Cooking Nerds.  CEO of a company? Business Nerd… I think you get it. We’re everywhere man!

So with that being said, I hope I’ve set a good tone for the ol’ blog.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the first post and continue to come back for more insightful rantings! Until next time.