Well, maybe imaginary friend is pushing it a little. It's not like I talk to some invisible person named Jack Johnson and ask his opinion on the U.S. economic crisis. Not often anyway. I more or less have this completely benign fantasy where Jack Johnson is one of my best guy friends and we hang out all the time at the beach with my hubby and friends. After a long day of imaginary surfing (I am the best imaginary surfer in all the world BTW), Jack Johnson whips out his guitar and we all sit around the bonfire in our baja hoodies--which are a bit itchy--just chillin'. I find this imaginary(but highly awesome)scenario pops into my head when a)one of Jack Johnson's songs comes on the radio or b)I may have had a bit of a stressful day. Most often that not it's a, except for finals week when I was college. My husband is fully aware of my imaginary relationship with Jack Johnson, occasionally taunting me with "if you sell a book and make a lot of money Jack Johnson might be more willing to play his guitar at our beach parties." The Jack Johnson I know isn't impressed by material gain, he's all about the salty surf and riding the waves man.
On more than one occasion I might have imagined Jack Johnson either married to my sister-in-law or my younger sister. Both are nice girls, but Jack Johnson is married with three kids, and as much as I love my sisters, I can't in good conscience break up a happy home. I've already invented two really nice brother-in-laws that I hope they'll one day get to meet.
So if you see a girl with frizzy red-hair walking around with a far off look in her eye, it more than like is me hanging out with my imaginary friend, Jack Johnson.
It's true. I am a geek. I used to be in geek denial but that changed when my husband outed me from the geek closet--he's the king of geeks, he took a quiz to prove it-- and since then I've been letting my geek-flag fly. I love all things Star Wars, except for the ill fated prequels (I'll save my opinions on that one for another blog). I do like Star Trek, but will never admit it in certain company. The animosity between Star Trek and Star Wars is greater than the beef between Biggie Smalls and Tupac.
There is something about geeks you should know. We tend to categorize and judge other geeks harshly. Not all geeks are this severe, but know that there are some tough geeks floating around, and you better have your facts straight about the best gaming systems, tech-speak, and comic book story lines or its a hard fall down the geek ladder. Right now I hang around the lower rungs, mostly because I'm a drama, movie, sort-of comic geek. The upper echelon of geekdom is the tech-geeks. These are the nameless IT guys that hang around your office or work for corporate retail chain stores (you all know whom I'm talking about). They often play devils advocate and generally try to make you look like an donkey's behind. They throw the word "logic" or "logical" around a lot. They're a bit spockish as a people. A drama geek like me, well, we're more of a Captain Kirk; brave, good-looking and emotional. I know, if I'm a Kirk don't I outrank Spock thus putting me higher on the ladder? Yet again the ability to problem solve a blue screen of death escapes me. I'm too busy working on a skit to put up on YouTube.
So it was a room full of Spocks that brings to the nightmare I experienced last night. I had a dream I was in a giant comic book shop. Yes, I know, it's not bad right now,just stay with me because the nightmare part is coming up. I'm looking at all the fun things geeks like to collect when someone comes up to me and tells me the costume contest is starting. Next thing I know I'm dressed like Thor--the comic book hero, not the Norse God of Thunder, although it's the same thing really only one looks more Norsey--not only am I dressed like Thor, but it's a Halloween costume (a big no-no in dress alike contests among the geek elite. It's a carefully, 1800-hour hand stitched replica, or you had enough cash to purchase the actual costume on eBay). Even worse, there is a Q & A portion to determine whom possess the most Thor knowledge. A cold sweat envelopes me, since I only have movie version knowledge of Thor. I still refer to the hammer in my dream as "meow-meow." Movie knowledge is a big faux-paux amongst comic fans, since the movies "loosely" interpret key story lines condensing ten years of drama into two hours. Most movie directors (I'm looking at you Bryan Singer) tend to mutilate the comic beyond fan recognition and we use that as a test to determine the true fans from the fake ones. I walk onto the stage and before me is a sea of judges dressed like Spock. I shoot out of bed in a terrifying scream. I relayed this dream to husband, who sympathetically patted my head and told me it would be okay. I'm still a bit shaken. It was worse than a naked-in-school-on-test-day-and-I-forgot-the-answers dream I usually have.
So, this is basically the type of stuff I'll be blogging about. My geekishness and my internal strife with humanity.
