Quiz: Are You A Geek?

When my youngest brother, Baby Troy, was in elementary school, we were going somewhere in the car. Unprompted, he said from the backseat, “Jill’s children will be nerds, they will be bad at basketball and this is what they will they will say (with his nose plugged)- ‘Rocks and minerals inspire me. They are part of the natural habitat.’”

I am not sure that this description of my purported progeny was an oblique reference to my personal qualities or to my taste in men. However, I am proud to say that I was unseated as the nerdiest person in my family when my sister married an actuary who got an almost perfect score on the GMAT.

My friends and I were discussing this in the car today and Scandinavian Siren concluded that we were nerds, not geeks, but when she mentioned that someone at Comicon explained the difference to her, I started to wonder. I decided that this matter could only be settled the Seventeen magazine way.

Am I A Geek?

Do I speak a language that does not exist in the human realm, i.e., Klingon or Elvish?

Am I a Dungeon Master and do I write stories about myself bravely slaying dragons?

Am I despondent because my Second Life girlfriend dumped me?

Do I belong to a guild?

Do I play Quidditch in Central Park?

Have I been shot in the Battle of Gettysburg?

Do I own a set of chain mail or fairy wings and wear them when it is not Halloween?

Did I meet my spouse at a Renaissance Fair and then proceed to have a theme wedding involving pheasants?

Am I a level six warlock in World of Warcraft and have a fairy girlfriend?

Instead of utilizing language to convey my thoughts and feelings about the world around me, do I quote long sections of Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

Am I a furry?



Did I spend the early nineties voraciously searching for cheats and secret worlds for Super Mario Brothers 3 and the Legend of Zelda? Ok, this one is autobiographical.

Scoring Key:
0 affirmative answers. You are not a geek.
1+ Get out your crossbow.

"Are You a Nerd?" will be coming shortly.