Hi Katie

After a very Lord of the Rings-y weekend when the Tolkien Society came to our town for their convention, my friend Katie has said that she would like to know more about the world of Geek.  Great!  I'm totally up for that (and having made a blog for it, I'm clearly taking this waaaaay too seriously), but ...where on earth do you start?

Trekkies (Star Trek geeks) give the Vulcan salute at the 2012 Star Trek Convention

Katie, I think the easiest way to do this and not make you want to  blow your brains out is to attack the problem from a practical angle.  What would you need to know in order to hold a casual conversation on popular culture with a geek?  Obviously I can't cover everything, but these are the areas I think need at least a basic introduction:

Fan humour.  Just you wait.

• Geeks.  What are they and why are they so weird?
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
• Lord of the Rings (and the 'high fantasy' genre)
• Harry Potter (and the teen fantasy revival)
• Firefly
• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• Doctor Who
• Superhero Comics (Marvel and DC)
• Anime/Manga
• Sherlock Holmes
• Cult Classics (The Princess Bride, Labyrinth, Dune, Back to the Future, Bladerunner)
• Gaming (Zelda and RPGs)
• The self-parodying Geek (Space Balls, Galaxy Quest, Cornetto Trilogy, Kick Ass)
• Fanart and fanfiction

This is by no means the definitive word on these subjects.  Most of what I tell you is just going to be my take on it, and I think I may need to get some friends involved in this for the areas I know less about.  Still, hopefully you'll have some frame of reference next time someone walks up to you with pointy latex ears stuck on the sides of their head and bids you "Mae govannen".

Because, as you know, that happens all the time :)

~ Michelle