Geek Streak

I have been on a tear for the last few days or so, divulging in some distinctly geeky activities. I'm not sure why all these things happened in so close proximity; perhaps it was because I have been geographically removed from my very own nerd herd, and the levy broke after so much pressure. I suppose the whole thing started with that package in the mail: Matt sent me an Xcom t-shirt all the way from Australia, bearing the logo of the company. I intend to wear it, but as of now it is neatly folded next to my black Krome shirt and the Duke Nukem tank top, which reads "Hail to the King!" across the front--shirts which Matt sent me in a moment of magnanimity. It pays to have friends in the gaming industry.

Today, I waxed poetic on the nature of youtube artists to my parents, defending my point by showing them some entertainers that really do deserve my admiration for their excellent videos and accompanying music, such as the ever excellent Rhett and Link, the auto-tuned news reports of Schmoyoho, and, let us not forget the vlogbrothers.




Sweden FTW.

Speaking of the vlogbrothers, Melissa drove four hours to see John Green at his book conference in Chicago. She wanted to Skype me right before or right after (the directions were a little fuzzy) the conference, but we ran into some trouble with 1) her failing to sign onto Skype and 2) a temperamental internet connection. We made staccato conversation in the snatches of time before the call faded out completely. She bought me a book (she will send it at a later date) and had John Green sign it (she is so very kind), and best of all, she accidentally called me whilst bidding goodbye to him.

For a full second, John Green was on Skype with me!

To round off the day, pappa and I spent a few hours in the electrical appliance store, looking for a good quadband router, which we found. I also found a new computer and The World of Warcraft Battle Chest (expansion pack included). I've been meaning to play it for only the last ten years or so.

 I have only fond memories of computer games. In 1995, I played, or rather watched my brother play the original snake on the blue screen with red borders. We grew older and moved on to bigger and brighter things, playing James Pond and the extremely psychadelic Trolls game where you ran around collecting baby trolls and yo-yoed the bad guys into oblivion. Then came pixellated tank games, SimAnt, SimTown, SimCity, SimTower, Heroes of Might and Magic II, Lode Runner, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, Red Alert, Worms, Need for Speed, Duke Nukem 3D, Max Payne, Curse of Monkey Island, the Sims. (I'm sure I'm missing a few.) I even played some Oregon Trail.

I have my brother to thank for my introduction into this world. He was the one who toiled away at the brick of a Virtual Basic book. He was the one who brought home our Sega Mega drive and game cartridges you'd have to pull from their slot, blow on, and reinsert. After school, we'd sit on the cool, white tiles in the living room and play Sonic the Hedgehog, wherein he was always Sonic and I was always Tails. Joel didn't know he made me feel important: my big brother wanted me--me!--to tag team through the level with him.

(P.S. John Green, if you ever read this, be pleased that you made my night. Or morning, as the case was.)
(P.P.S. I finished the day by naming our new router FortressofSolitude, in the same vein as our previous router Batmobile.)