Thank goodness geek girls come in all shapes and sizes! After all, the world would be a truly boring and pretty awful place if we didn’t. GeekGirlCon celebrates the female geek in all her forms, and one of our longtime staff members Terra Clarke Olsen is putting together a project that celebrates all of us, just as we are, as a new way to tell our stories as geek girls.
The Unicorn Files: Debunking the Myth of the Female Geek is a collection of photos of women in their “natural habitat”, surrounded by their passions and obsessions. Terra and her partner, photographer Nate Watters, have put this project together—and they’re running a Kickstarter to get funding for it!
Written by Meg Humphrey, Programming Project Manager
This post originally appeared on May 4, 2014 at Have You Nerd.
May Fourth has become the official Star Wars holiday over the last few years. As a Star Wars Fan since I was old enough to comprehend what a movie was, you’d think that it would be my favorite day of the year (outside of holidays where I get presents, of course). This is where I’ll admit that, for a little bit, I was a Star Wars hipster in the way where I really disliked the idea of “May the Fourth.” Suddenly Facebook would be blowing up with posts “May the Fourth be with you!” and I would get unreasonably angry. I would think “You’re not a Star Wars fan! Luke Skywalker isn’t lame! You haven’t cried while reading the X-Wing series or the Jedi Academy Trilogy! You don’t collect any of the toys! CG YODA IS NOT BETTER THAN CRAZY PUPPET YODA! Stop pretending!” Then I realized that I was part of the problem; I was acting as a gatekeeper to my fandom. I needed to cut it out and I did. I’ll never again forget that Star Wars touches uncountable lives in many different ways and there’s no one true way to be a fan.
Star Wars Celebration VI Attendees
Repeat after me:Star Wars is for everyone. Casual fans, die hard fans, fans who started with The Clone Wars, fans who saw A New Hope opening night in 1977, fans who hate the prequels, fans who love the EU (now the “Legends” books), old people, young people, girls and boys (and any gender outside or in between), Sith, Jedi, Wookiees, Trandoshans, Bith, Ewoks, politicians, pilots, and every other being in the galaxy. Star Wars is for you (and for me) and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
On the whole, Star Wars fans are beautiful. We’re eager to make friends and connections, to talk about our speculations and feelings, and to just enjoy the vast universe that is being set before us. You’ll find people with different opinions than you, but we’ll try to discuss them rationally and without hurting each other’s feelings (we just sometimes have strong opinions). I’ve done Star Wars Panel at Sakura-Con for the last seven years and I’m forever grateful for the friends I’ve made there and the stories from audience members about the goodness that Star Wars has brought to their lives.
Audience at “We’re Doomed!: A Star Wars Panel” at Sakura-Con 2014
Is the fandom perfect? No. As much as I’m accepted and respected by others, there’s still people who insinuate that my Rebel Alliance and Jedi Council tattoos aren’t real and I couldn’t possibly know as much about Star Wars as them because I’m a woman. Are there things I wish were different about Star Wars? Of course. My voice joined others with the concern of the lack of female representation after the Episode VII core cast announcement. But we stick with it, because our love ofStar Wars is too great, and we are determined to make it better, more inclusive, and more fun for everyone.
So go ahead and get your Wookiee Cookies and Han Burgers ready for your Machete order marathon (or in my case – a showing of the Ewok Adventure and the Caravan of Courage)! Fill Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with your makeship Leia bun head bands and your hand crafted stormtrooper armor! Celebrate the Force as it surrounds us and binds us as the luminous beings we are!
Hi folks! In this installment of Ask GGC, we asked our staff members about the most memorable gifts they’ve received. Read up on what some of them had to say:
“My first pet, a baby black and white kitten I named Domino! I asked for a cat (from Santa) when I was seven and decided to test Santa’s reality by putting my christmas list in a neighbor’s mailbox down the street (instead of my own where my parents could find it!) I never mentioned wanting a kitten to my parents, and I wanted one SO badly … and it turns out the neighbors found my letter and brought it back to my parents the next day. So Christmas morning, I woke up to a little black and white ball of fur under my neck! It was seriously one of the most magical moments from my childhood! I was convinced Santa was real!” – LB Chambers, Manager of Fundraising
Sarah’s gift: a talking Dalek!
“I dated a very nice guy several years back, and he was pretty good with gifts. For my birthday, he got me a pair of sterling silver earrings with pretty purple stones, and a gift card to Barnes and Noble — both right on the money. The best gift he ever got me came wrapped in the newspaper — comic section, of course. I opened as we were driving to dinner, and I remember bursting into delighted laughter. He got me a talking Dalek from Doctor Who — black case, flashing lights, rollers underneath it. When I hit the button it croaked out, ‘Exterminate the Doctor!’ and ‘Obey! Obey!’” – Sarah Grant, Copywriter
You can’t go wrong with Snoopy!
“One year, I asked Santa to bring me everything Snoopy … which were my exact words. ‘Bring me everything Snoopy!’ My mother saved all the letters, so there’s tangible proof. Among the avalanche of Snoopy memorabilia, two items tie for some of my most memorable gifts. There was the super-cool Snoopy snow cone machine that my cousins always wanted to use during the summer. It was a lot of work for a little treat! And I loved my Snoopy soap dispenser. The contraption attached to the counter with a suction cup, and it used a weird granular dry soap that looked like dry laundry detergent.” – Kristine Hassell, Twitter Administrator
“My most memorable gift was a Super Nintendo from my dad that was bundled with Donkey Kong Country when it first came out. We didn’t have much money growing up, so any kind of gift more than $50 wasn’t something I could hope for. My Pa and I used to play on the NES together (he’d ALWAYS AND FOREVER beat me at Tetris) so he thought of it as an investment in family time. My SNES still works perfectly, and I marathon Donkey Kong every so often!” – Meg Humphrey, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator
Stephanie and her boyfriend, Robert, celebrating after completing a half-marathon.
“My awesome boyfriend spoiled me on my birthday! He bought tickets for Wicked and got me a Camelback — complimenting my geeky and sporty interests.” – Stephanie Little, Web Administrator
Thanks, Staff! Readers, what was your most memorable gift?
