Written by GeekGirlCon Manager of Editorial Services Winter Downs.
Like a lot of geeks, that self-knowledge crept up on me without my noticing, but looking back, there were many early warning signs.
The Nazgul: here to teach little hobbitses a valuable lesson about road safety. Image source: arwen-undomiel
It started with a love of reading, especially sci-fi and fantasy. My bookwormish nature led me quickly to classic British fantasy professors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I read The Lord of the Rings over and over. I was never seen without a book in hand–so much so that my Year 3 (2nd Grade) teacher called me “Nose-in-Book” as if it were part of my name. I was just lucky that most of my walk to school took me down pedestrian-only paths, or I’d probably have been run over while Frodo got stabbed by a Nazgûl on Weathertop. I wrote my first novella, a Narnia-inspired fantasy, at age 7. (Mercifully, no copies are still extant!)
My little brother representing the Minnesota Twins while I geek out as Raphael the Turtle.
One of my clearest childhood memories says so much about me as a person, it boggles my mind to this day. My cousin Nick and I were playing at our grandmother’s house and discussing kindergarten, which we had both recently started attending. He boasted, “You know, I have a girlfriend now. Her name’s Sarah.”
Ever overly competitive, I shrugged. “Yeah? Well, I have a boyfriend.”
Nick was instantly skeptical, seeing right through the lie. “Yeah, right!”
“I do!”
“Really, then what’s his name?” he snapped.
I hesitated for a split second, then practically yelled the name of my very first crush of all time. “Raphael!”
Needless to say, Nick was soon telling all of our relatives about my belief that I was dating a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
Through the rest of my childhood, my geeky interests (and lack of a real, live boyfriend) continued. I loved playing The Pagemaster on my Gameboy, built entire Lego towns with my brother, and totally wanted to be Demona from the cartoon show Gargoyles.
It wasn’t until high school, though, that I realized what I was and am: a big ol’ geek girl. Rather than picking up romance novels like my older sisters did, I was content to curl up with Archie comics. Each year I took as many writing classes as possible, and wrote papers on things like lava lamps and the history of Goosebumps books. To top things off, every summer my friend Amanda and I would dress up like pirates and bury toy-filled treasure chests around town for children to find. No joke. We were cosplaying it up without even knowing the term.
From “dork” and “nerd” to “weirdo” and “geek,” I was called ‘em all by both my classmates and my closest friends. And I accepted them with smiles! Even if I’d denied my geekiness, my Batman shirts and wire-framed glasses showed the truth.
I was just always trying to have fun, and this often led to activities that are now considered hipster and cool: thrift store shopping, crocheting, rollerblading, being obsessed with my family’s cats. Nerd is the new black these days, of course, but living without at-home internet access in a town of three thousand people, I had no inkling of the impending geek-chic explosion.
Lifelong crush: Even as an adult, Raphael’s my dream “man.”
Since moving to Seattle a couple years ago, I’ve made a home-away-from-home at Shorty’s, a local pinball bar. Its circus theme, retro arcade games, and spicy nachos are always rad, but that’s not what draws me there every week. The regulars are a variety of tattoo-showing, superhero shirt-wearing, art-creating, punk music-listening geeks, much like me. I feel as if Shorty’s—and even Seattle at large—is the place where formerly outcast nerds congregate for fun and to feed off each other. If I could go back in time, I’d tell my adolescent self to hang in there because there’s a place out there that’s awkward and poetry-filled and amped up about dorky things, too.
Between the wonderful dweebs in my life, the adulthood acceptance I’ve found, and GeekGirlCon’s encouragement, I have never been happier to be a geek!
“This is great! I must really be onto something hot if they’re trying to kill me!”
In the very first 1987 episode of the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these are the words April O’Neil utters to herself while being chased by a gang through the sewers. Before we ever even see the Turtles, we’re introduced to April via her Channel 6 news report detailing a recent crime outbreak in New York City. April’s not just sitting at a desk behind the camera for the story, though. She’s in a science lab investigating a recent robbery of powerful equipment. This leads to the run-in with the gang, and her fateful initial encounter with the Turtles.
When I think of strong, fictional female characters, April O’Neil is the first one that comes to mind. Within minutes of this episode alone, she shows her priorities and grit: get in the thick of it and get the scoop. Not only does she not shy from danger, she welcomes it, at one point encouraging her nervous camera crew with a hearty, “Come on, this’ll be fun!”
April’s lifestyle and activities vary slightly in each incarnation of her—from the original comics all the way to the current cartoon reboot—but I’m most familiar with and fond of the Saturday morning cartoon show of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unlike many leading ladies in superhero worlds, she is no mere damsel in distress. At the age of twenty-eight, she has an apartment of her own and an admirable career as an action news reporter. Always witty, curious, and bold, she frequently goes against the demands of her bumbling news station boss in order to do what’s best for herself and the city depending on her journalistic prowess.
April’s fashion style is nothing to mess with, either. Anyone who can pull off a bright yellow jumpsuit, white boots, and a mop of red hair must have some killer confidence! While she’s obviously physically gorgeous, her appearance isn’t a fallback plot device, nor the most noticeable quality to those around her. She assists the Turtles as the main link to the world outside their lair, gathering and sharing information on Shredder, the Foot Clan, and evil-doers in general so they can collectively stop their nefarious plans. With her drive, intelligence, and unique skills, she is a force for good in her own right.
Let’s recap April’s stand-out characteristics: She is a woman in her late twenties who wears bright colors, lives downtown in her own apartment, drops both knowledge and puns on people left and right, works as a reporter, never goes anywhere without her camera, hangs out with wise-cracking vigilantes, and uses her passions and profession to help others.