Killer Geeks

[Bill Glasheen]

Yes, that was the title of an article penned by Bruce Swenson - formerly of Uechi Ryu Karate at U.Va. It was published in one of George Mattson's snail mail Uechi periodicals in the early to mid 1980s. (George, got that article somewhere??)

Geek gek n Someone who is inquisitive, thinks on his or her own, who is a little bit off-center, who doesn't follow the crowd. (Adapted from Lynn Bartholome of the Popular Culture Association)

Damn, that sounds awfully familiar... Yes, folks, I'm a geek and damned proud of it.

But you see, I think I am probably not the only closet killer geek. Somehow I think the martial arts attracts them. And we get an even more concentrated group of them on these online MA forums. Yikes!! Honey, hide the kids!!!

And now we find that geek is chic. (USA Today)

Enjoyable article...

- Bill

[Akil Todd Harvey]

Hey Bill,

Not many takers for your geek patrol? I am kind of envious of your geekdom and have always been an aspiring geek, if not the quintisential geek .

I can send my geek qualifications if that is required and I will have you know that I am married to a certified geek who speeks geek far better than I and can attest to my geeky credentials........

Akil

[Deep Sea]

I sure for one am not interested in the geek label. In software engineering, a geek often refers to an eclectic eccentric with his nose stuck up in the air who needs to get a life. I definitely don't think you follow that path, Bill.

[Alan K]

I am suprised to see that the original geeks have not been represented.

To my knowledge, the term was applicable to carnival and circus entertainers in the early turn of the 20th century, to present times, whose side shows consisted of biting off snakes heads, swalling glass and other horrid things, and were the shock jocks of their era. Ingestion of live small fish and many other objects were just a small part of what a good Geek can do. It was an official part of the circus and carnaval and I can remember seeing them as a young lad.

However many words in the english language have new or alterred meanings and in the 1940's a Geek was a weird or strange person, a real jerk.

And then there is the happy term of being gay, which was used to describe a joyous person as opposed to the current useage of the same.

But alas, now it is an honor to be called an Alpha Geek.

Alan K

[Akil Todd Harvey]

Well Alan,

As you seem to understand, the English language like many others is not set in stone, but somewhat malleable......

Geek has has gone through some paradigm shifts in your lifetime and it seems that Bill and I wouldn't mind if it went through another change to acquire a more positive meaning......

And of course there are some that for reasons not stated seem invested in the satus quo....

Akil

[Deep Sea]

Back when I first started college in the 60s, a geek was frequently identified a slide-rule attached to one's belt. If one wanted to be recognized as one, all he had to do was clip that bamboo stick to his belt.

Another geek giveaway, in addition to the rule, was that they immersed themselves so much into their sceintific endeavors they forgot the rest of the world existed, hence maybe fostering the origin of the saying "get a life."

Now, it was well-known that the babes shied away from geeks therefore we figured geeks were also less than adequate, and so the rumors built and persisted. If you wanted the women don't be a geek and don't even communicate with them in fear that some of their malaise would rub off and infect you.

I'm sure the meaning of the g-word has changed over the years and the word "hackers" has replaced the word "geek" in many instances in the software world. Therefore I don't consider that the g-word holds a negative connotation anylonger; it maybe even chic to be geek these days.

But my question is one that does geek always identify with only science or can a liberal arts student be also considered a geek?

[2Green]

I learned to program on a TRS 80, later my own Atari XL.
Am I in?

NM

[Deep Sea]

Learned on a Trash-80?

I don't thinl that's good enough for admittance geekdom. I think many of us had one of them in those days.

[Akil Todd Harvey]

Allen,

Arent you being a wee bit harsh on our friend 2green (not that he cannot take care of himself, clearly he can)?

Although I do recognize that you are likely acting in jest, geekdom is not like a fraternity in that we are far more accepting of others, especially if they learned on the venerable trash 80. (which I originally learned on, as well).......

let's see......32k memory, tape drive backup, basic programming language.......and my first use of a spreadsheet (lotus 123)....ah, those were the days........

so much nostalgia and I would argue very little room for geeky elitism......

[LeeDarrow]

Geeks - from the carnival geeks (the bearded woman, human pincishion, fire eater, sword swallower, etc.) to the techno-geek (eyeglasses held together with tape, slide rule on one hip, BIG calculator on the other) to the hacker geek (mp3 player plugged in and set so loud they can hear it three counties over, laptop with every imaginable connector system attached and at least three piercings that are not ears, nose or lips) to corporate geek, with the Palm Pilot, GPS unit, photo/cell phone on his "futility belt," have become a set of subcultures all their own.

Add the science fiction geeks (who drool at the mention of Robert Heinlein), the fantasy geeks (who drool over JRR Tolkein), the furry geeks (who drool over strange humanoid fuzzy anime creatures, especially female ones), anime geeks (who drool over ANY Japanese animation available) and the Matrix geeks, who drool over long leather trenchcoats and Bianchi holster sets.

Then there are the martial arts geeks. Training from sunup to sundown, who speak "dojo-japanese" or "kwoon Chinese" or "dojang Korean," etc. but only really know the terms for the moves of their styles, can recite each of the masters going all the way back to Bodidharma, in order and properly pronounced and who revel in the intracies of the turn of a knuckle and who are outraged by a bent wrist in a straight punch.

When you get down to it - EVERYONE is a geek of some kind - golf, guns, politics, religion, cars, dogs, cats, ecology, even sleight of hand (couldn't leave myself out, could I?)!

So, I have to ask - what's the big deal with being a geek?

To take a page from the Revolution - "Say it out and say it loud! I'm a GEEK and I am PROUD!!"

Just coul,dn't resist!

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com

[Deep Sea]

I've scanned enough until I didn't have anymore time to waste. The links below are the cream of the geek. I tyhink I know what they are now if I didn't before.


Think Geek
Geek Love
THE GEEK CODE
THE GEEK TEST
A Geek Forum
Geek, Defined
Sex-geek
Geek LIFE
Geek, Defined again
Geek Purity Test
There are many different varieties of Geek
Geek Boy Services
You know you are a geek
The Tao of Geek