25 Things

Facebook had a "note" circulating a while ago - "25 things that people may not know about you" - so I thought I would create an updated one for my Blog.  So here goes nothing.

1. I would rather watch the original Star Wars Movies on VHS then watch the remastered versions on DVD because I know everything about my copy of the VHS.  When I was a child, we watched all 3 Star Wars on rotation every weekend.  I had the lines memorized by age 7.  The remastered versions make me want to throw things at the TV.
2. My favorite game system is the PS3, followed by Wii, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360.  
3. I purchased 2 copies of Orange Box - One for 360 and one for PS3.  This is when I discovered the PS3 controller makes me feel better and I can control the characters better.  This was a personal decision and not an endorsement.  
4. When I babysat for a neighborhood family, I would take my PS2 over and reward the child with video games.  The parents LOVED me for this and would insist I bring the system over to play.  The game we played: Lego Star Wars.  
5. My favorite book of all time is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle
6. My favorite book series is the Harry Potter Series, followed closely by The Tortall Novels by Tamora Pierce.  
7. I am ashamed to say I read 50 Shades of Gray - all three - in under 4 days.   
8. I constantly suspend disbelief when I watch movies because I have a basic understanding of physics.  
9. I miss having a gold star chart to track my progress - for everything.
10. I have 4 different versions of Monopoly: original version (complete with ratty box), 70th year edition, Here-and-Now (complete with updated prices to reflect current market rates) and OSUopoly (for Buckeye fans).  I refuse to buy the electronic banking version because it doesn't allow for the seedy underbelly of the mob to surface after all the properties have been distributed.  My cousins and I have more fights around Monopoly games than we do over our college rivalries.  I think Monopoly is a gateway game and encourage parents to play regularly with all children.
11. I still sleep with a Teddy Bear.  He protects me from monsters at night, and constantly watches for the Weeping Angels.
12. If the Doctor grabbed my hand and said "Get your coat, we're going on an adventure!" I would have already packed a bug-out bag and have it ready to go.  
13. My favorite color is Tardis Blue
14. I will now and forever read the book before watching an adaptation.  
15. I enjoy the company of dogs.  Cats, I treat with the same distant respect as some humans.  
16. I would rather go play laser tag with a bunch of friends than go on a quiet romantic date on a Friday night.  
17. There's nothing wrong with eating macaroni and cheese for a week.
18. Graduate school may have killed my love of Ramen.  However, I will always have a box of Ramen in my pantry in the event I feel the urge to have a "dorm cooked meal" 
19. I don't have an iPhone.  I do have an iPad, and a missing iPod.  
20. I make wire wrap jewelry in my 'spare time' and have a few pieces at a local boutique.  I wanted to get into etsy, but who has time for all of that? 
21. Nerds who are nice to other nerds make me happy!!!
22. I still go trick-or-treating.  Except now I get to take my Godson :)  
23. I was a thespian in High School - I came out of the prop closet.  
24. My favorite Sci-Fi shows (in no particular order): BSG, ST:TNG, Stargate SG-1 (et. al.), Firefly (::tear::), Doctor Who, Alphas, Warehouse 13, Being Human.  
25. I am not Iron Man 

- Filakia 

Simple

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” 
― Leonardo da Vinci

Raise your hand if you like to build things with LEGO bricks?  If you are raising your hand, you probably had an awesome childhood.  I know for a fact that I would not have the sharp mind I have to day if I didn't build when I was younger.  Hard to describe the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you complete the object on the front of the box.  Better yet, that sense of accomplishment when the thing you created looks nothing like the box and it is 10 times cooler!

The play lies in the simple act of creating.  

As an example of this, I took a LEGO car kit to my Godson for his Birthday.  Within minutes of opening the package, he assembled the car according to the booklet.  Step by step, he created something very cool.  It functioned, but that wasn't the point of the gift.  I didn't want to give him "stuff" I wanted to give him an experience and an outlet for expression.  Children don't gain joy in the completed artwork you hang on your fridge, they gain joy in the creation.  That simple act of creating and breathing life into something that didn't exist before they touched it.  

I write this post as I contemplate my own career and my own aspirations.  I have been told that my joy lies in the completion.  Everything I do will be worth it when I make enough money or have enough things.  This is a lie that your parents tell you so you don't become artists or hippies (according to my grandmother).  Why don't adults get back to the simple joy of creation?  If there is enough joy and love in the creation, we are bound to create something that will aid a productive and rational society.  

Here is where Nerd Culture comes in.

Nerd culture celebrates the creation of cool stuff.  Tumblr is filled with FanFic and other original ideas. Artists and creators find great joy in the simple act of creating things and sharing what they love.  Sure it is great to buy completed nerd works.  Who doesn't want a full sized TARDIS hanging out in your living room?    

We have this great and beautiful thing called the internet, where we can share in the love for the simple act of creating something to be appreciated.  Connecting people who create with those who appreciate the act.  You see the love that goes into each and every piece of nerd created mastery, and that makes it 100 times more valuable than the "perfect" factory replicated plastic shield or mask.  

Love the simple things in life, create something with a child, teach them the joy of building and you will expand the universe exponentially.  There is no limit to the imagination of a child, so why not give them the tools to explore?  

I will leave you with one last thought.  The finished product for a nerd is never the end of a project.  Much like Iron man and his constant upgrades, we seek more.  That is wonderful for the big kids who know their limits - but give kids lots of room.  9 times out of 10 a kid will take apart the thing you liked the best to use parts for a new creation.  LET THEM.  For the joy lies in the creation, not the result. 

-Filakia

Blockbusters?

I want to get really excited about big blockbusters movies.  Honest, I really want to get super excited but I also don't want to get my hopes up.  I know tha some of the Summer Blockbusters got my hopes up so high that they slammed them to the ground like a masked Mexican wrestler once I sit down to watch them.

Among the biggest dissapointments:

• Star Wars Episodes I, II, III
• Jar-Jar Binks - enough said
• Daredevil (Ben Affleck)
• Ben, stop trying to be Matt Damon
• Elektra 
• I love love love Jennifer Garner.  This being said, I was dissapointed in the lack of depth of everything.  I feel like they were trying to get some depth with a tragic back story.  
• Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds)
• I watched this movie once with a HUGE Green Lantern fan, like read all of the comics and has a room full of signed stuff - he was not amused. 
• First off - who thinks that Blake Lively could be a fighter pilot? I mean really?  

The movies that I let slide because I lowered my expectation enough

• the Amazing Spiderman
• I liked it, but I also went into it really excited that it wasn't Toby 
• The Expendables I and II
• Something about knowing what you're getting yourself into that makes the ride worthwhile.  
• to quote my brother "the plot never got in the way of the action, and I liked that."
• The Hunger Games
• I know that the book was better.  The book was so much better - BUT - I did like that the stark difference between the districts and the Capitol.  
• Spoiles here but the book is a couple years old, so I think it should be ok at this point...
• Where the hell was MADGE?  This sets up a lot in the second book. 
• Peeta's leg
• Mutt faces
• Again, the book was better - but I lowered my expectation to know that the spectical was going to be worth it.

The movies that knocked my socks off and blew my expectation out of the water: 

• Avengers (Joss is one of us)
• There's just something about a nerd writing for his fellow nerds that  I love.  And the man candy was amazing.  
• Loki was amazing and he stole the show.  It takes a very strong bad guy to make me want to cheer for world wide domination.  He played his alignment so well.
• The Dark Knight Rises
• see - I'm Marvel and DC friendly.  
• I didn't see the twist until the end, but I had an inkling something was coming...spoilers
• I don't think I could have asked more from Bane.  Again, a strong bad guy really makes the movies rock

This is just a short list.  Many others exist, but I will just start it slow today.  Feel free to comment on movies that you think should fit in the list, and provide some sort of support.  

Filakia

One

Welcome to my first blog post.

Today and every other day I will dabble in little nerd related things that will make others happy.  I hope that one day I will be a multibillion dollar author living on my mansion on the Moon where my A.I. staff wait on me hand and foot.  Until that time, I will continue to write my musings and rantings from my little corner of the world and dream my big dreams.

Although Nerds work hard each and every day, we all find some time to sit down, and overly obsess about some form of fantasy, science fiction, or adventure.  My favorites so far (in no particular order) are:

• Star War
• Doctor Who
• Marvel's the Avengers (not to be confused with that horrendous remake of the Avengers with Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, and some other British bloke)
• Anything with a Superhero - let's be honest
• Stargate (movie and series, SG-1, Atlantis, Universe - although SG-1 is my favorite)  
• Star Trek (TNG, DS9, and just starting on Voyager) 
• Indiana Jones 
• Firefly/Serenity
• Warehouse 13
• Eureka

Not an exhaustive list, but it's a start.  

Try to keep up, and we can have some adventures of our own and maybe explore some of the deeper meanings and subplots of these very thought provoking things.  

OR...

I could just nerd out about some of my favorite things and you can hopefully stand by as attend my first CON and just FAINT at the sight of Nathan Fillion.  

I'm going to try to get some fun things happening here, some mini adventures if you will.  You will get to learn all about a nerd living in the Midwest!  Of course, you will also read about how some nerdy things are perceived here in the midwest...

*Legal disclaimer* The thoughts and opinions of the author in no way reflect the thoughts and opinions from the entire midwest.  If you are unable to take words with a grain of salt and are incapable of open and polite public discourse, you can see yourself out the nearest airlock.  We have no need for your kind here.  That is all, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.  Furthermore, hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated.  Lastly, feel free to use my words with proper citation and credit due.  This is an anon. blog so you may site to the blog or site to the persona - just follow Wil Wheaton's Law - "Don't be a Dick"

Filakia