And Then The Harry Potter Fans Broke The Internet (Plus Geek Is Not A Members Only Club)

Anyone who is a Harry Potter fan probably already knows that at four this morning (Pacific Standard Time) JK Rowling released a special announcement about her new site: Pottermore. This site is going to be an interactive way to read the Harry Potter books. There'll be games to play and you get sorted and get a wand and go to Hogwarts. You can see some of the screenshots here and it looks so flippin' amazing! It'll go live in October, but on July 31st a group will be selected to beta test the site.

Now, as I mentioned, this announcement was made at 4 this morning (at least in my time zone). A normal person would just check what the announcement was first thing in the morning. I am not a normal person. A slightly less sane person may have just set an alarm to wake up, check the announcement, and then go back to sleep. I am not that sane.

No, I am the person who stayed up until four this morning, waiting to see what JK would tell us. Instead of sleeping like a normal person (and one who had to be up at 8:30 this morning), I sat in front of my laptop, cataloging my books, and chatting with other friends who are just as crazy as I am.

I watched the announcement, I followed the owl, and I tried to input my email, before giving up because it wasn't working for me. I have tried periodically throughout the day and only just now made it through. Which brings me to believed that one day, when the internet crashes and dies, it will be because of the Harry Potter fandom.

I have no clue how this phenomenon will come to pass. I don't know what we'll do to flood the servers and break them for good, but I am sure, based on how long it's taken to wade through the masses and finally get my email in, that we will short circuit the internet. Because we're just going to keep growing as years go on and the children of the fans are introduced to the series. The geek generation is starting to have children and they will be Harry Potter fans.

Speaking of the geek generation, I'd like to bring up the mudslinging happening in the bowels of the internet over Miss America winner Alyssa Campanella and whether she can be a geek. People lit up Twitter, arguing that she can't be a geek because she's too pretty. Many people believed she was lying just because being a geek is considered cool now.

One man said on Twitter "anybody that can walk in a bar and get free drinks all night shouldn't constitute as a 'geek'. 'less they're doing ppl's hmwrk." And while I could smack the guy's use of English, that's not the biggest issue with this statement. The biggest issue here is that being a geek has become a kind of club that only certain people are allowed into. If you aren't geek enough, if you're too pretty, if you aren't smart enough, you can't be in the club.

You know what that reminds me of? The popular people clique in high school. The people who dictated where you ranked in school. Isn't part of being a geek being able to throw off the restrictions on what you have to be to fit in? As a geek you get to love things and talk with people who like the same things as you. What part of that says only certain people can do that?

And I kind of get why some people feel threatened by people hopping on the bandwagon because being a geek is cool now. Some of the people jumping in are those who mocked us mercilessly for liking the same thing in school. What's to say they won't ruin the wonderful thing fandom and geekery has created?

But you know what's been created by those things, the best part of being a geek? It's getting to love something wholeheartedly and unashamedly and sharing that love with others. It's outside the bounds of what's "in". Geeks get to make their own niche, burrow down deep, and stay there, nice and cozy, chatting with others in nearby burrows, unaffected by the changing social climate of the world. All we need is a fan to chat with and we're good.

Why aren't other people allowed to love things, just because maybe they're a little late to the party? Are you not a Harry Potter fan unless you've been there since 1997 when it released? Are you not a fan if you only recently fell in love with Doctor Who? Who are we to dictate the love people are allowed to have for things?

Personally, I think even if people are jumping on the bandwagon, there's a high probability they'll find something they truly enjoy and after the social fads have turned to something else, those people will still have a fandom and fans to geek out over things. And then maybe shows like Firefly will get to live on, while some of the more mind-numbing shows can finally be laid to rest (I'm looking at you Kardashians).

Here and here are a couple more arguments about not shunning people from the geek community. I hope that people understand that dictating who can do what or who can be something is absurd. Keep an open mind and maybe you'll get another fan to join your cult ;)

The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth

I am a geek (You may have guessed this from the number of posts I've done about fandom and Harry Potter). As a geek, one of the blogs I love reading is Epbot which has absolutely wonderful posts about all kind of geeky and sweet things (the blog is done by the woman who does Cake Wrecks, which means it has to be good).

Today, she posted about an article that talks about why people who are often ostracized in school (i.e. the geeks) usually succeed outside of it. This is because geeks usually have more creativity, originality, integrity and resistance, as well as a love of learning. Which in school leads them to think outside the box and take an interest in things they actually enjoy, rather than what the latest fads are.

In the real world, curiosity and being genuine means that you won't hop and skip from place to place. When the going gets tough, geeks are more likely to stick it out a) because they know how to deal with that and b) they're most likely interested in what they're doing. And c) (at least if most geeks are like me) you're stubborn enough that you won't just let the project go, simply because you want to prove you can do it.

You know who the geeks are? Pretty much every popular author ever. Because authors are odd people. They tend to have whole worlds spinning through their minds (maybe they even talk to themselves. I mean, not like I have any experience with that, but I'm sure it happens ;) ). And why do they want to write? Because they love to read. Go ahead, ask any author you've ever loved whether they liked to read as a child. I guarantee that 98% of them will say absolutely, and most will be readers to this day (I leave the 2% for the freaks who think they can write well without being a reader).

It's the geeks who have the imagination to do amazing things. Like create Google (speaking of Google, have you seen their workplace? It makes me wish I was a computer person so I could get hired there). The geeks are the writers, the innovators, the artists. They make good employees because they have new ideas and don't just follow the herd. They have minds of their own, which they put to good use.

And after high school, they come into their own more in social situations. Half the reason a lot of people in high school are awkward is because if you stick out, you get ridiculed. If you say something stupid, you get ridiculed. If you don't wear the right outfit...I think you see where I'm going with this.

To be different in high school, you either keep your head down and only share your geekery with those you can really trust...or you go the route I did (which not a lot of people can do), which is you grow a thick skin and shrug off any mockery (especially from your siblings). The upside to this choice is that after a while people write you off and leave you alone. I made it through high school fairly unbothered because it was clear I didn't give a damn what the "popular" kids thought about me. So they saw me as the smart kid who kind of blended into the background; it was a nice place to be, considering I had glasses, braces, and a slightly unflattering sense of style.

And, here's some proof that geeks end up better off. I spent the last two years of high school doing Running Start, taking classes at the community college and only returning to my high school for bi-monthly Sci-fi Fantasy Club meetings (of which I was Vice President). Two years later, I'm graduating from my university with a Bachelor's degree before I can legally drink. I have three novels completed (which will be sent to agents and editors sometime in the near-ish future). I am still on speaking terms with the people I was closest to in high school and I have made friendships in college that I know will last. And I know what I want from life and who I am. How many twenty year olds can say that?

So, to parents know that your children as geeks will turn out well (and even if they aren't geeks, this doesn't mean they are doomed. It just make take them longer to figure some things out). And if there are geeks in high school right now (or middle school or elementary school), know that you are awesome and will come out ahead in life. So go forth geeks, live long and prosper.

Geek Cred for the Doubting Thomases

*Vice President of Sci-fi Fantasy Club in high school

*Officer of Harry Potter club

*Has forgotten more about Harry Potter than many will ever know

*Wanted (and obtained) a bow not for hunting, but because I am a fantasy geek

*Ditto wanting to learn sword fighting and martial arts

*Knows all the words to the songs in the Buffy musical episode

*Knows Darren Criss not from Glee, but from A Very Potter Musical

*Math Olympian in middle school (cried because I wasn't going to be able to do math on a Saturday)

*Ancient Greek student

*Word Nerd

*Owns close to 500 books (at least a third of which have been read multiple times)

*NaNoWriMo participant (and winner) three years in a row

*Actually gets Math and Science jokes (and finds them hilarious)

Book Blog: European Geeks From A Small Town Go To Harvard Prom

This week's book blog post is a little late. But it does have five books to go with it! Plus a video from a new YouTube Collaboration I'm a part of that's just starting. We started it off the Nerfighters forum Your Pants which is why it has allusions to VlogBrothers. Enjoy :)

Nerdtastica Introduction Post

Nerd Weddings

Every little girl (and probably a good share of little boys too) dream of what they want their wedding to look like at one time or another. It maybe they simply think about one element (flowers, cake, dress, venue, etc) or maybe they spend hours planning every detail. Either way, they know at least pieces of what they want to make their wedding special.

And then some of these girls and boys grow up to be nerds. And suddenly, the wedding planning becomes a lot more interesting. Because nerds never do anything halfway and they know how to make that special day unique to them. And it can be as simple as reciting their vows in flowery Shakespearean speech. Or it can be as complicated as this:

Why yes, that is Inara and Mal getting married in front of a Tardis by Princess Leia. Why do you ask?

Yes, the geek wedding can be one of the wackiest events. And they also fill other nerds with a giddy fan-girlish glee. Because those nerds start drooling over the amazing ways that others of our ilk have personalized their weddings. And if we're unmarried, we start fantasizing about what we want for our own weddings.

Like making your seating chart into the periodic table. Is it wrong that this sounds like a wonderful idea to me?

One way to personalize is just in your ring. It could be something simple as having a claddagh ring:

Point the heart towards yourself while wearing it on your left ring finger and it means you're engaged or married. And of course, Buffy/Angel shippers get the added glee of the knowing that Angel gave this ring to Buffy as a sign of his love for her. (This is the kind of ring I would love.)

You could have something more complicated like this:

Might not be entirely comfortable to rest against your arm, but it's kind of sweet

Or you could go completely geeky if you're someone who plays card-based games like Magic*:

This makes me smile every time.

And then of course you have one of the best ways to let your freak flag fly: The wedding cake. So many talented (And I stress this word because if you've ever seen Cake Wrecks you know that untalented bakers can mess up even simple things) bakers can make absolutely amazing cakes. Like this wedding cake:

Lego wedding anyone? And yes, that is cake. Kind of blows your mind doesn't it?

Here's one that's simple, but classic nerd:

Note: This may not actually be a wedding cake. I think it is, but I'm not sure

Something for the Stargate Geeks:

Awwwww.

And what would a geek wedding be without the bride and groom fighting off hordes of the undead?

I wonder if those are Nerf chainsaws?

These are just a couple ideas that people have done. You can even modify your wedding to include a tradition in your favorite book or TV series. I personally want to add a section to my wedding from The Two Princesses of Bamarre. The great thing about this day is that it's your day. So you can do what you want with it. Go simple, go outrageous, just be who you are as a couple. And it might not be a bad idea to have a couple of Nerf guns on hand to fight off zombies. You know, just in case ;)

*apologies to any outraged nerds who know what this card is a reference to. Magic is the only game like this I know of