Friki Day with EndlessPens' @twenty_sides

Geeks dream.

But these dreams usually follow the path less-traveled. Oftentimes, we blaze our own trails.

Geeks systematize.

Technology is seen as a means to establish order, whether it be the conventional one at the time or through innovation. We are drawn to new methods as early adopters, or create our own.

Geeks learn.

The knowledge we seek goes beyond the academic or the abstract. What we acquire is practically applied to real-world or fictional situations. Even fantasy worlds follow rules. Yet this set of consistent rules allows some wiggle-room for variability and unpredictability. Think quantum physics and magick.

Geeks obsess.

At least that’s how we seem to an unsympathetic observer. I prefer to see it as perseverance, and also resilience. What keeps our motors running isn’t a mere pastime to us.

Geeks differ.

Since we have the potential to be nonconformists and our deep interests tend to veer away from the mainstream, there is the general, albeit misguided, perception that we are socially inept. This is not an essential condition to being a geek.

What does being a geek mean to you?

According to Google, “geek” means “a person who is knowledgeable about and obsessively interested in a particular subject, especially one that is technical or of specialist or niche interest.”

I generally agree, but the above Google definition is much too flat for my experience of geekdom. It takes away the human bits, like how it is to be bullied for something you love, but also how gratifying it is to find your geeky tribe.

For example, in recent years I've found you (that’s me, Lekz ;)) and a couple of other people who are into tabletop roleplaying as much as I am :D The same bunch of people are also into some of the stranger things I'm into:

• The macabre (all the true crime series!!!)
• Witchy things (the metaphysical and how we can tap into those energies through crystals, sigils, symbolisms of flowers, astrology, and shadow-working)
• Japanese anime and manga culture
• Video games and playthroughs (because I don't play console games anymore since discovering tabletop RPGs)
• Mysterious ocean creatures (we just love to scare ourselves)
• How axolotls experience cruel science experiments (there is no dual-colored axolotl in the wild, some scientists just thought to cut two differently-colored axolotl fetuses and stick them together)

...and much, much more (just need to cut this off because I feel I'll have to write a novel to cover absolutely everything).

In what way/s do you consider yourself a geek?

In many ways, I fit the bill when it comes to the person you would stereotypically label as ‘geek’. I'm interested in new technology, I love reading about new scientific discoveries, and in my spare time I study a bit of philosophy and social psychology.

But I think what really defines me as a geek is my one particularly niche interest—tabletop roleplaying and dice-collecting. It's a lovely pastime. I started off with Dungeons and Dragons, but I'm currently playing a couple of campaigns using a roleplaying system I built—Karma. <3

How do you express your geekiness in your daily life?

I'm having a hard time answering this because I'm not entirely sure how other people live their lives. :))) But I suppose I spend more time in front of the computer screen than the average person (that's a lot considering everyone needs a computer for work nowadays). I have also discovered that some people don’t journal?? How does one live like that??

Ah! And also—when stressed or emotionally affected by something, what comforts me is researching some odd fact or trivia. I have a lot of information stored in my brain—most of them I can't USE. :))) But it's nice to just know things.

One popular aspect of being a geek is being technologically savvy. As an illustrator, how do you translate your creative ideas from paper to screen?

…Most of the time... how do I phrase this... there is no transition from paper to screen. There is just... the screen. Haha! Especially since the advent of graphic tablets that you can attach to your computer. This method is how I create the artwork for the Grumpy Kitty series (yes it’s going to be a series!!! I’m working on the next one, Grumpy Kitty Café, and it’s gonna be so cute <3)

But in my childhood, bond paper and pencils were things I was always happy to receive on special occasions. If there were a stray pencil I found on the ground, it would come home with me.

Even though nowadays I don't draw much on paper, when I do have ideas, I need to write them down. Physically. And my go-to fountain pen is a Pilot 912 with a posting nib. :> I have a journal in my side table, always within reach, and a separate binder that lives in my bag. It carries all my rough ideas and spontaneous eurekas, campaign outlines (for tabletop RPG), mind-maps for how I want my life to be, and yes, the occasional cute doodle. <3

Any personal and practical advice for other creative geeks out there?

For a long while, “geek” was used as a derogatory word.

It was a slanderous label—people tended to avoid being called “geeks” for fear of bullying or embarrassment; people even avoided interests that would associate them with the term. Being a “geek” was a source of shame, and it would automatically stick you in the “oddball” table, with all the other “geeks”, and it would leave people feeling outcast. (This still happens today, I know a few people who don’t like to disclose that they like anime.)

But when these so-called “geeks” began to come in and create new technologies, such as the internet and social media and video games and various computer languages, most people decided that “geeks” do have their place in society.

We are the unseen ones; the ones who work quietly in the background, with all of our skills and all of our knowledge, and almost never see the limelight.

But our lives are colored by the myriad of knowledge and information that is unavailable to or shunned by the greater society—most of the things I mentioned above—and we find joy in knowing them, because it makes the humdrum of life that much less boring.

So like Jimi Hendrix sings—“Wave your Freak Flag high!”