Wearing the ‘Geek’ Badge of Honor

July 13 was Embrace Your Geekness Day. I was given a heads up last week by the self-proclaimed geeks at SingleHop, which apparently has gone all out in celebration of the event, even going so far as to crown a head geek. And when I was asked by the company to write a blog post about the joys of being a geek, I promptly responded, “Sure!”

I don’t think I’m a geek in the traditional sense—anime leaves me cold. Cosplay is not on my list of things to do. I was never able to master a Rubik’s Cube. I have never once in my life even considered sitting down to a game of Dungeons and Dragons. And Halo night? Please.

But I do enjoy many of the same things “traditional” geeks do—I get excited when I find “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” playing on BBC America and I looked forward to the naming of the next Doctor. I have a Pikachu t-shirt that I wear with pride (and the kids always comment on when I do). And I follow George Takei’s Facebook and Tumblr posts with much enthusiasm.

But none of those things make me a geek, I know.

What makes me a geek is my unbridled enthusiasm for covering technology. If you think about it, a geek is so-named because of his or her unbridled enthusiasm for something, which others often don’t understand. As things become less alien, they often become mainstream. All of a sudden, geeks are hot (and I think we have “The Big Bang Theory” to thank—or blame, depending on how you look at it).

Yes, I speak cloud. And SDN. And wireless. And mobile. I am a technology geek and a channel geek. I can’t fix your computer, but I can have an intelligent discussion about whether OpenStack will persevere as a cloud platform. It doesn’t make for good cocktail party conversation, unless you’re in a room with other technology geeks.

My oldest son is 14 and growing into his geekdom, which I am encouraging without reservation. He is finding joy in following which new characters will be announced for the next rev of Super Smash Bros.; he watches “Heroes of Cosplay,” on SyFy; and he “gets” Wil Wheaton.

They say the geeks shall inherit the earth. If that is the case, then my job is done.