Around sign up time every month we have a few people getting in touch with us concerned that they are not ‘geeky’ enough to register for a pen pal. I would like to take a moment to dispel this myth…at IGGPPC there is no such thing as being too geeky or not geeky enough. We don’t want ANYONE to feel like they can’t get involved with the IGGPPC community!
We recently released the Top 30 geek loves listed over the first 12 months of the club. That’s the top 30 taken from over 37,500 individual top 5s, realistically those loves are just a drop in the IGGPPC ocean, but I feel like it may have made some people feel that if they don’t like one of those we won’t consider them geeky enough. Well let me tell you, that is not the case.
When we at HQ use the term ‘geek’ we mean it in the B R O A D E S T terms possible. Hell, none of what I would list in my Top 5* would probably even make it into the top 100 geek loves, but does that make me any less geeky than someone who put DW, Sherlock, Potter, Video Games and Comics down? Maybe, if you actually judge people like that, BUT that is NOT what we are about here! You geek out for tea, jane austen, microbiology, david hasselhoff and washi tape? Cool, come in, take a seat, we are all inclusive here!
Geekiness to us is being passionate about something, if you love it hard and spend a portion of your life dedicated to watching/listening/eating/reading/meditating on/drawing pictures of whatever ‘it’ is then honey, you are a geek.
Below is a list of some of the more unusual examples of geek loves we’ve had listed over the last year. We managed to match them so hopefully these will make you feel more at ease about your choices:
- animals that look like old men
- the sun
- my cat
- Snuggling up on rainy days with a good book or movie and a cup of tea.
- Fountain Pens (Nib pens, Dip pens, inks, brands, Papers ALL OF IT.)
- Drinking wierd types of coffee and tea (earl gray with lavender anyone?)
- helping others find their joy
- Tom Hiddleston and Richard Armitage in a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice because seriously how awesome would that be??
- writing?idk if that counts
- pretty colours and patterns
- New Kids On The Block
In hindsight what we should have called IGGPPC is the International Pop Culture and Life Lovers Pen Pals Club, but that is even more of a mouth full than what we use now! I hope this has set some minds at ease.
Want to chat more about it? Tweet us @geekgirlpenpals (or @frogmellaink if you want to get at me directly) or email us at info@geekgirlpenpals.com
Want to jump right in? Pen Pal Registration opens from the 15th of every month. Check out the ‘Register For A Pen Pal‘ page to sign up!
Much love to you, my homesquirrels.
Farquharson <3
*FYI My current Top 5 are: RuPaul’s Drag Race, Hunter S Thompson, Twin Peaks, Mae West and Roald Dahl
Amen sister, PREACH!! I think my top 5 geek loves right now are: House (the tv show), goats, Beer and Board Games (on youtube), LARPing, and mermaids
Truth! I prefer to think of nerd and geek as verbs….You can really nerd out or geek out about anything.
I’m encountering the same sort of thing while planning my non-traditional game-themed wedding…I titled it as wedcon2014 and people are welcome to dress up as whatever they are nerdy about. Some family members are asking for the lists of games we play so they can figure out what to dress up as…They don’t get that I want them to pick something *they* are nerdy about and dress up like that. I KNOW they are nerdy about a few things…certain TV shows, butterflies, cats, etc….They just don’t realize they are nerds/geeks too. ::sigh:::
Right on ladies, right on!
Opicana, your wedding sounds amazing! What a fabulous idea! I have just recently done the wedding planning for my best friend and their wedding had unconventional themes (spider-man, traditional tattoos and polkadots were the running motifs!) and we had to answer a lot of questions in the months leading up to it from people who just didn’t get it. You just have to smile and persevere because it’s so worth it in the end when it all comes together and it blows them away! Hope it all goes magnificently!
Thanks 🙂
I suppose that I had always tried to write down 5 geek likes rather than geek LOVES in order to make pairing easier. I’m gonna have to be true to myself and find 5 LOVES aka “passion-of-the-months”.
Yeah, picking five has always been hard, but I’ve taken that list of top 30 as a CHALLENGE and now I’m determined (at whatever point I sign up again) to really find the things that I’m most passionate about, no matter how esoteric or random because honestly? It changes all the time! I find new things to be passionate about, and while there are always old favorites (I will never stop loving Lord of the Rings) there are new things, too (I’ve recently been binging Neil Gaimon and ohmygoodness).
But I tell people this, too: if you’re passionate about it, then you’re a geek about it. Plain and simple. Thanks for the article, Cap! ^_^
Same here Ms V, mine change rapidly! I think this round is gonna be fun to pair as everyone seems to be going for the weird and unusual top 5s!
Can you imagine if Roald Dahl had gotten to guest write an episode of Twin Peaks?! I’m still confused and angry about how it ended because nothing was wrapped up but it was still an amazing show. Log Lady was the best.
That would certainly have been something!
The first time I watched TP the ending made me rage so hard, but I actually don’t mind it now. Wish they had dropped James Hurley’s story with that woman, it was just awful!
[…] If you’re still unsure if this is the group for you, read this inviting and reassuring post from one of IGGPPC’s founders, Emily Farquharson. A Definition of Geek […]
[…] article is probably some kind of expansion on my homegirl Emily’s article “A definition of geek.” I was also inspired to write it after seeing so many genuine people and true geeks during […]
Roald Dahl used to write a similar TV show to Twin Peaks. It was very creepy.
I want to be best friends with the person that said “animals that look like old men”.