SpaceGypsies

When I heard about Operation Speak Out with Your Geek Out from Tiarala at Dragon*Con, I knew I was on board. The problem was, what would I write about? There are so many things that I geek out for. I started my official geekdom with Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 5th grade and moved on to a list that is simply endless. I couldn’t possibly pick just one thing to write about! Then it hit me. What is the one thing I have always geeked out for? The answer was simple. Those who know me know that the one topic I can talk endlessly about is horses.

The barn at sunset.

I grew up, like most little girls, loving horses. I loved everything about them. I would pour over horse magazines and stare at pictures of the jumpers, reiners and eventers. I dreamt about what it would be like to ride like that, to compete in a horse show. I taped any equestrian events that aired on TV and watch them until the VHS tapes wore out and I went to horsemanship camp every summer. I did whatever I could to be around horses. I never really had friends who were into horses and I was already teased at school for being a geek, so I kept my horsie dreams to myself.

When Lord Monkeypants and I were dating I saw an ad for riding lessons at a local stable. Palos Hills Riding Stables (“PHRS”) was unlike any barn I had ever been to. Everyone was warm and inviting. PHRS specialized in a style of riding I had never heard of before…Saddleseat. I started taking several lessons each week. Each lesson was an hour of freedom when I didn’t have to think about the overly stressful job I had at the time. It was a release, a way to relax and escape.

I tell him everything.

Through a series of what can only be described as twists of fate, Lord Monkeypants and I welcomed an American Saddlebred gelding named Radio Star into our family. It’s been almost three years since we bought Radio and there are times when I still can’t believe he’s mine. Radio has taught me patience, humility and courage. He challenges me and keeps me on my toes, but he takes care of me too. He nuzzles me when I’m sad and lets me hug his long neck for as long as I need to. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

Riding gave me something else that I never truly had, horse friends! I’ve met the most amazing people at PHRS. We ride together and train together. We show together and sometimes even compete against each other. We’re a support system, a family bound together by a shared love of the sport. If it weren’t for PHRS I would never have met PlayItGrand! It’s true what they say about barn friends. They are your second family.

My copy of Saddle & Bridle signed by William Shatner

My “geek” and horse passions collided when I learned William Shatner and his wife Elizabeth owned and trained American Saddlebreds. I started to fangirl for their horses Call Me Ringo and Boston Legal, looking up everything I could about them. When William Shatner was added to the Dragon*Con guest list this year I knew I had to get his autograph. While everyone else stood in line with their Star Trek memorabilia I clutched my copy of Saddle & Bridle magazine tightly to my chest. He seemed surprised and amused that amongst the crowd of Trekkies was a fellow rider who admired him not for his work in entertainment, but for his work with horses.

Horseback riding is unlike anything else. There’s a bond between horse and rider that’s indescribable. It’s feeling of flying going over a jump, the serenity of being alone with your horse on trail, and the adrenaline rush of the show ring that keeps me wanting more. Every ride is different and every horse teaches you something new. Part of riding is having no fear. If you’re scared of horses or riding, don’t let your fear hold you back. Push past it. Go to a barn, hang around the horses and try a beginner lesson. You’ll be proud of yourself for doing it. Who knows, when you feel the wind in your hair, hear the thundering hoofbeats beneath you, or feel the soft nuzzle of a horse nose against your cheek, you may just fall in love and never look back.

“A lovely horse is always an experience… It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words.”    -Anonymous

A small fraction of my favorite dice. You can never have too many dice.

I don’t have the long history of being a gamer geek that many with my favorite hobby seem to share. The overlap with the goth scene and gaming introduced me to the idea of it, but it was meeting my husband that sealed the deal.

Since I was a little girl I have loved storytelling, and back in 1993–1994 I played a written role-playing game over Prodigy, back when the way to get unlimited email was by signing up for free trials everywhere and sending emails that got returned to sender. (Totally hardcore)  The seeds had already been planted for when my future husband would introduce me to RPGs.

I remember the day of my first game so vividly. It was a one-shot Cthulhu game, and I played a young firestarter, a 14-year-old girl who somehow ended up the only one in the bunch who didn’t go completely insane. It was an amazing experience. That led to the first of many campaigns, and I was hooked.

My Rogue is just about to land the killing blow on the massive dragon that would end our Savage Worlds campaign.

People love gaming for different reasons, but as a creative I live for the stories. Nothing satisfies me quite as much as developing a rich backstory for a character I get to bring to life every week. I experience that character so completely. I’ve cried at the gaming table or over a written story. I’ve become so immersed in a story I lose track of the time and setting completely. My heart races during dramatic moments — like when my character leaps onto the dragon in an attempt to take him down and save the world from certain destruction, for example.

There’s no experience like it. I’ve been blessed to have had game masters who are brilliant storytellers who weave an immersive tale and can describe a setting that’s so real I feel cold when it snows, or hot when our characters are wandering through a desert. It’s like the best book you’ve ever read, coming to life before your eyes and changing constantly like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel.

And gaming conventions, like GenCon and NeonCon, well, those are a breed all their own. As with sci-fi conventions, we’re all the weird one in the office who no one really understands.

Our cat, Pippin, gets in on the gaming action.

We all explain our favorite hobby to people who smile awkwardly or make condescending comments about the nerds they knew in high school. At the gaming conventions we’re surrounded by people who understand, and who think “cool” means the same thing we do. We whip out games at a restaurant or at the bar without a thought and if people are staring, it’s because they want to know what we’re playing!

In the past few years I’ve been able to take my passion to the next level. I’m a graphic designer and art director for print and electronic RPGs, and I’m now fortunate to call some of the best writers, developers and editors in the industry my friends. The more I learn. the more people I meet, the more games I play, the more I love this hobby so completely. I’ve never met a group of people quite as creative as the gaming community — gamers and designers alike — and I know my life is richer for it.

It’s why I continue to announce proudly at work when I’m going to a convention, even though it inevitably elicits a weird look. But that’s okay. I do the same when they start obsessing over the Bears’ loss and how that affects their fantasy football stats.

Before I discovered Stargate nothing really inspired me besides horseback riding. Nothing else really excited me and made me feel good about who I am and what I can do, and I had very little self esteem for many reasons. For me, Stargate became more than just entertainment. When I found Stargate it opened up a whole new world for me, literally.

I’m a nutter. I started watching Stargate SG-1 just before Season 7 arrived on Sci-Fi (curse them!) and I’ve been hooked ever since. My dad started watching it before I did. Before long I was watching SG-1 all the time, and my dad was asking me to explain things to him because he missed the episodes that I saw as re-runs. I started buying the DVDs, and they got top priority when I packed up for college. Next thing I new I was inspired. Fan art, music videos, reading fan fiction, writing fan fiction, the works!

When I saw my first Stargate episodes, I had no clue what was going on but it didn’t matter. I recognized the show as something new and unique. It’s hard to explain what got me hooked on Stargate because there’s so many aspects about the franchise that I love. Its humor, its heart, its smarts, the use of mythology (particularly Egyptian mythology, which is something else I geek out for), and the fact that it’s set in our time, not centuries into the future like so many other scifi series. The stories told are relatable and thought provoking. They burrow into your mind and make you really think about them rather than just sit back and blindly absorb them. You can’t help it. You get attached the characters. They are heroes, but they are real people. They aren’t perfect. They are just human. So I guess you could say I geek out for humans!

Since I went nuts I have gone to eight Stargate Creation Conventions here in Chicago and I’m already registered for the next one. I have gone to Atlanta for Dragon*Con 3 times now, Wizard World Comic Con once, and CyphanCon twice. In April of 2009 I made a trip to the Stargate Mecca itself: Vancouver British Columbia for the big convention! I have met Michael Shanks, who brings my favorite character of the show to life, 9 times.

I have two copies of the entire series on DVD, along with both SG-1 movies. I own all five seasons of Atlantis, and both seasons of Universe. My love of the characters extends to the cast, so I’ve followed them in their new projects. My dorm room in college was plastered with posters and packed with memorabilia that my mom refused to let me display at home – she thinks it’s very anti-feminine. Now I’ve decked out my wardrobe/TV closet with everything that will fit in it – the DVD’s, my books, action figures, magazines, pictures both signed and not, cards, replica props, Daniel’s actual sunglasses that I won in an auction, and a random pin and badge. When I heard that SG-1 was canceled on August 19th, 2006, I cried my eyes out and then joined my fellow fans on the front lines to defend its right to continue. . . Did I already mention that I’m a nutter?

I have never held back on my geekiness for Stargate. I wasn’t worried whether or not anyone else thought I was a geek or a nerd. I didn’t care! I had spent too long unhappy with how everyone perceived me to let them prevent me from enjoying my geek epiphany. I embraced that new creative side of myself, and that love of writing has led me to co-found Spacegypsies.com. Stargate has made me so happy, and because of it I have made many awesome lifelong friends that I cherish, and I have more self esteem and confidence in myself than I ever had in my childhood. My geekiness changed my life forever, and I can’t imagine going back.  Never be afraid to raise your geek flag high because you never know what good things may come your way. It’s good to be a geek!

I’ve always been a geek, but it was not so very long ago when I was afraid to speak out about it.  I didn’t have geeky friends and I didn’t know where to find them. I was sitting alone watching Star Trek reruns and didn’t have anyone with whom to share my vast stores of sci-fi knowledge. I just thought I was weird, and so did most of my friends. I mean, there were these mythical nerds out there that I read about on the internet, but it always seemed just a casual hobby for people I actually knew.

Then, at a sci-fi convention, I finally met them. Nerds. I mean REAL nerds. This-is-how-I-live-my-life-and-you-can-suck-it nerds. And they were my people.

So now, I geek out about being a geek! Of course I still have my obsessions with Star Trek, Doctor Who, Stargate, and all things Joss Whedon, but the community of geekdom is what excites me most. I’ve been to 6 conventions this year, with two more to come. Before, my most ever had been 2 conventions in a year! Needless to say, this has been one of the best years ever. While other parts of my life aren’t perfect, or even great, I have a wonderful social life.

That's me there on the left...my first cosplay at the tender age of 15.

Conventions are some of the best places to meet people, because you already have something in common with everyone.

They’re also some of the most accepting places I’ve ever been. I’ve never felt judged or intimidated while at a convention.

Most attendees know what it feels like to be bullied or made fun of and wouldn’t dream of inflicting that upon anyone else.

I don’t want to say it’s a gathering of freaks, but to the outside world that’s what it must look like. In reality, it’s just a flock of like-minded people, congregated to celebrate their interests.

Even within that unified group, there are many sub clans. Gamers, costumers, partiers, lurkers, panel attendees, and more. I’d probably say I belong to the costumer and partier groups. My first costume debuted back in 2003, but only recently did it become an obsession. I met my new geeky friends because of the first edition of my TARDIS dress. They are Doctor Who cosplayers as well, and we hooked up at a panel when a spontaneous photo shoot broke out. I’ve never looked back!

Thanks to meeting a few geeky seamstresses and tailors, I’ve learned to sew fairly proficiently. Half of my closet holds

costumes now, and most of which I made myself. I have a lot of fun sewing, bonding with friends over projects and problems, and finally showing off my finished product. Part of the appeal is being able to see your progress and really having something tangible when

This is my TARDIS dress, from October 2010!

you’re done; the other part is letting your costume help you make connections with like-minded people.

My favorite part of conventions are what my friends and I call “shenanigans.” Basically, we have a couple drinks and run around in costume. I guess it sounds silly when I say it that way, but it’s amazingly fun! We have a little liquid courage and get more into character than usual, showing off our costumes in the process. I guess it’s something you have to experience for yourself, but that’s what this week is all about! Encouraging others to join in the geeky fun!

So whether or not you’re a costumer, go to a convention. Stay in the host hotel if you can – trust me, you’ll have a lot more fun! Bring a friend if you like, but if you can be a little outgoing, you’ll make plenty right away. Don’t be afraid to approach other geeks about your interests…chances are they’re just waiting for someone to talk nerdy to!

P.S. Props if you get my title reference.