Being Geek Chic is the yammerings of a Midwestern nerd named Elizabeth Giorgi. My vision impairment is real, which is frustrating because I really would like to see a 3D movie.
Send questions, requests and ideas to [email protected]. Please put your complaints on a napkin and toss it.
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Note
3rd July 2012
Lady Geek of the Week: Jamie Frevele
The Lady Geek of this Week is Jamie Frevele, Associate Editor of The Mary Sue (to which our very own Liz contributes!). Look for her soon on Boing Boing!
Frevele was kind enough to answer some questions. You lady geeks will love reading her answers. She’s witty, humble, and very funny. Read on! And don’t forget to follow Frevele on Twitter: @jamielikesthis.
Q: What has led you to your passion?
A: My 30s! I had all my current passions in my 20s, teens, and childhood, but for me (and many others), the age of 30 felt like a deadline. For what, I don’t know — achieving fame and fortune? Getting married and having a family? But I pushed aside a lot of my passions to try to achieve something that I thought I should be doing. By the time I got a little older, I realized better what I really wanted to do rather than what I thought I needed to do. And I also just stopped caring. And that left a lot of room for enjoying myself and all the things that I’ve always really loved that I had once thought might be a waste of time. Like cartoons. I always loved cartoons, then went through this “phase” where I thought I was too old or too cool for them, because I was going to be a journalist/Oscar winner/talking head and no one will take me seriously. Obviously, that’s completely ridiculous. It took a long time to just like what I like and accept that it was okay, but now I can tell people that it’s not worth giving up on your passions to force yourself into a different mold. Wave your freak/geek flag high, kids.
Also: glorious dumb luck.
Q: What inspires you in the world?
A: It sounds obvious, but humor inspires me. If you can get someone to laugh, you have done what is nearly impossible these days: you have earned their attention and focus, and then their approval, after you’ve surprised them. No one is surprised by anything anymore, and when you can get people to laugh at something — like really laugh — you have given them a free moment of meditation. All they’re doing is laughing. Not checking their phones, not watching something else. Just laughing. And sometimes, the most obvious things will make us laugh — because, people, we cannot just stop and smell the roses anymore. We have to stop, smell, take a picture on Instagram, tweet it, and then see if anyone responded for the next seven hours. Also: get off my lawn.
Q: First time you realized you were “geeky?”
A: Oh, early on. Though it was more like, “I know I’m not like these other straight-laced squares.” Because of the whole “Oh, she’s too little to understand all these adult themes and dirty jokes” thing, I was introduced to a lot of rather insane stuff when I was really young. Like Unico, The Last Unicorn, Yellow Submarine, etc. Weird cartoons. Very weird. But l dug them, and by the time I was in grade school, I was writing fan fiction, which no one else I knew did. I filled notebooks with stories that no one was allowed to read, through high school. As a little kid, I played with my brother’s action figures, loved Ghostbusters and TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), combined He-Man and She-Ra with ThunderCats, stuff like that. I made it a goal one summer to watch the live-action TMNT movies every single day, from the day school let out until it started again. That’s…not normal. But it’s not dangerous, and all that fan fiction I wrote eventually turned into original stuff. Or parodies. I was also into horror and gore from a very early age, and also things being scientifically/medically accurate.
Q: What would you tell you 13-year-old self?
A: I could seriously write a book to my 13-year-old self. I feel like I’m totally still that girl, I just figured out how eyeliner works. I would tell myself that 1. It’s okay to not have a boyfriend. In fact, it’s better. Believe me. I’ve been to Disney World alone, and it’s the bomb. 2. All the stuff you were crazy about as a kid is going to serve you incredibly well, so don’t be embarrassed about it. Two words: Robot Chicken. 3. Being popular means absolutely nothing. Being an asshole is a waste of time. Be a friend. A good one. 4. You have it so easy because you’re not on Facebook. 5. I’m sorry, Jamie, but contacts will not instantly improve your social life. And you need to stop wearing leggings immediately. It’s 1993, and they are done. Yes, you will wear bell-bottom jeans, and you will also wear leggings again. You will swear you’ll never wear either, but you will wear both. You totally will. Don’t argue with me — it’s going to happen. I was there. 6. Your boobs will not show up until you’re 19.
Q: “I admit it—I’ve never seen/read/experienced: ____”
A: Star Wars! I mean, I have watched about 80 percent of the six movies exactly one time, but I barely know anything about it. I have nothing against it, it just never stayed in my radar enough for me to watch it. I’m also not into comic books, even though I appreciate them so, so much and have a lot of admiration for that method of storytelling. It can be really, really gorgeous, impactful [is that even a word?] work. And the characters — I love Marvel. So much. But I honestly don’t know why I never got into comic books. Too much time spent with my face in a notebook, writing fan fiction, I guess?
Do you know someone worthy of Lady Geek of the Week? Send her name and her website (or blog or Twitter account) to [email protected].
(Photo credit: Zack DeZon)
Post by Emma Bauer, who works as BGC’s official intern. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, history scholar, tea drinker, fashion devotee, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. On twitter: @emmalynnbauer
