Pardon my rant

   I'm not a special snowflake. I know this.  I'm one of the many, many geeky girls in the world.  I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately, and it seems like some girls want a reward or something because they play Halo or have watched a Batman movie.  I'm sorry, but if you want to be treated special because you have interests that are typically  male oriented, that's just absurd.  No one deserves an award for liking something.  That's not to say that people shouldn't enjoy their work or be praised if they are skillful at it.  It's more about the people that want a gold star because they know what the three pieces of the triforce represent.  Girls seem guilty of this most often.  Just be your badass, nerdy selves.  Wear your geek pride as a badge of honour, not as something that deserves praise.

   Also, being a girl who wants to be a special snowflake is not cool either.  My brother used to game with a bunch of guys and this one girl.  She insisted that no other girl could play with them because she wanted to be the only one.  Talk about silly.  I'm not saying that this is every girl, but this mentality seems more common than it should be.

   I'd like to say that I'm not being a hypocrite before anyone attacks me.  I'm not looking for a prize or validation.  I'm here because geek girls who love what they are like to see others like them.  I'm not here to impress anyone, nor trying to put anyone down for not being a nerdy person.  I'm just putting myself out there and if we agree, fantastic.   I do feel silly just talking about girls throughout the whole post, because I know that guys can be guilty of the same thing.  It's just not as common to find guys that want a gold star because they like Star Trek or D&D. 

   Hopefully, I'll return before the week is out and you'll get a proper post. Perhaps a Legend of Zelda post.  My brother learned a good portion of songs and has been playing them all morning, so I'm in a Zelda mood. Maybe I'll post some pictures if I feel ambitious. You'll get to see my nerdy stuff, how exciting!

I'm a blogger, not a doctor

   Ever since I was a kid I've watched Star Trek. What I mean by kid I mean 1-2 years old.  The only reason I know this is because whenever the television is on in the old home movies I can hear the Star Trek: Next Generation music and/or actors talking in the background.  My mother doesn't remember this, but I doubt anyone has doctored my home movies. I was pretty stunned when I found out, especially since TNG rubs me the wrong way now.  I much prefer the original run of the show.  The Original Series just does it for me. I will always prefer the original to a reboot and the 1960s production just can't be beat.  Okay, realistically, yes it can.  The absurd makeshift sets and the ideas about the future were hilarious.  Those weird clay-like food blobs? Amazing.  The dynamic on TOS was unbeatable, too.  All the main characters seemed to bond more naturally even when at each other's throats. That's just the kind of thing that makes something believable, not sets. I may not have been exposed enough, but The Next Generation just seems too antiseptic. I really can't speak to the other two series, but I imagine that they wouldn't impress me either.
  
   I need to say this. Kirk was never my favourite.  It's not that I dislike him, I think he's effective in his own way.  I've just always preferred the brainy men, McCoy and Spock.  I jump between the two as being my favourite; I guess it depends on the episode.  I always felt bad for McCoy because he seemed the most neglected of the group.  It's like saying George is your favourite Beatle.  Lennon and McCartney are fought over and Ringo has his own charm that people remember, but George is often forgotten until someone says "And who's that other one?" If you're interested, Paul and George are my tied favourites.  This might say something about me. I've gotten sidetracked now. I love McCoy.  He's brilliant on his own and is nice and snarky.  I'd love to have a drink with him.  I like Spock for all the same reasons everyone likes Spock.  He's clever, quick, and still flawed the way everyone else is.  It doesn't hurt that the actors were DeForest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy. 

   I really can't speak to the movies because I either haven't seen them in a long time, or haven't seen them at all.  I know, I know shame on me.  Some things are just more important to me.  I'd sooner watch the telly show than a movie.  The most recent take on the TV show was pretty good. I have some issues with it, it was enjoyable overall.  I'd like to go in-depth but I think I'll save it when I look at all the other movies. 

   Now that you know where I stand on most things, the only thing left to address is the ever debated Kirk or Picard.  They were both effective captains and there are definitely some instances where if they swapped places then they might not have survived.  I still think that Picard had better commanding skills.  He thought things out a bit more and had better judgement calls from what I've seen. Kirk got things done, but he was a little reckless.  They both fit into their respective series perfectly, but Picard did a better job. 

   I wish I had the patience to look at every episode.  Maybe I'll choose a favourite or two and look at those. I'd like to stop now, but I have the urge to be just like everyone else and say "live long and prosper".  I'd like to think I'm above that.  I think I'll just be a good little girl and just stop.
  

They were just four lads from Liverpool

   So,  my first gaming experience of my second wave was Resident Evil 5. Not the best, but not bad either.  The game I played in tandem with it was The Beatles Rock Band.  I have the exclusive drum kit and Hofner bass controllers. If you know anything about me you know at least one of two things.  You know that I'm an enormous, obsessive Beatles fan and you know that I'm an enormous and obsessive Doctor Who fan.  Most people know the former and identify me as that one girl who knows all there is to know about Beatle lore.  I don't know everything, but it is scary how much I do know.  It comes as no surprise that I wanted the game.  I waited very patiently for that game.

   Now, I've played games like this before, and I wasn't bad.  I'm still not really good at the guitar, and my drums kind of suck, but it was the vocals I was looking forward to.  I was a singer for many years and stopped schooling for it, but that didn't mean I couldn't belt out these songs.  I went immediately to expert mode for vocals. I had this in the bag.  There's a snag, there's always a snag.  As accurate as they get, everything is still a bit off.  When John sings off key, as he did with moderate frequency, I learned to parrot it expertly.  The game was not as true to life as I would have hoped.  The designers decided to be logical and have it hit the proper next note.  I quickly found out if I sing it the way I usually did I would get a poor score. So much for not having to look at the screen.

   I beat that game pretty quick.  I'm still not aces at the guitar or drums, but I have an excuse to sing the songs.  I actually haven't played in a long time.  I keep promising myself that I will, but it just doesn't happen. I should bring myself to playing because as long as I'm listening to the records, I may as well be playing the game and seeing the funny little animations.  I kind of adore the silly things. They seem so obscenely cheerful and I kind of like that, espically since towards the end they were really not so delighted to see each other.  We all need that little suspension of disbelief once in a while. 

Allons-y

   If you haven't already guessed, I am a huge fan of the long running television show Doctor Who.  If you know me you are sick of hearing this.  I'm sorry but this is necessary.  I discovered it on my own, sort of.  My parents were casual watchers when it was still on its first run.  My father's favourite was always Tom Baker, no surprise here.  I'm actually jealous that they got to watch those episodes when they were new. Oh, well. David Tennant was my first Doctor and must be my favourite, it's the law.  Your first Doctor is more often than not your favourite Doctor.  I'm sorry, where are my manners? For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it's pretty simple.  An alien that looks human uses his spaceship called a TARDIS to fly around time and space.  This man is called the Doctor and is a timelord.  The timelords regenerate their bodies to get around death and the actors leaving the show at any given time.  The Doctor picks up companions from everywhere/everywhen and takes then with for adventures.  So far there has been 11 Doctors and boatloads of companions.  If you want to know the nitty-gritty, ask or use the search engine of your choice.

   Anyway, my first and favourite Doctor is the 10th.  My very first episode was School Reunion.  This is interesting because that episode features a companion from both the 3rd and 4th Doctors' runs, Sarah Jane Smith.  The story isn't the best of the season, aliens taking over an elementary school to use the creativity of a child's mind to hack the universe, but it was enough to catch my attention.  When I like something I usually jump in with both feet and go with it.  Yes this has gotten me in a bit of trouble a few times, but it usually makes me a lifelong fan of whatever I choose.  So, I watched episodes, learned quotes, learned trivia, and knitted my tremendous scarf.  I try not to half-ass my love for the media of my choosing.  Just wait until I post the not-nerdy-but-the-way-I-approach-it-is-pretty-nerdy epic of my love for The Beatles.  I've frightened off people because of my prattling.

   I keep getting sidetracked, sorry.  My Doctor is the 10th.  He's insane and delightful, a bit moody though.  The latest Doctor has some big shoes to fill, but I think he's been doing a splendid job.  I like him because I can.  He's pleasantly quirky and not too heavy handed.  I can't wait for the new season to start in a few weeks.  It should be a blast.  Some things seem a little bizarre, but I'm not going to count it out just yet.  I'm really looking forward to the episode written by Neil Gaiman.  He's pretty fantastic as a writer and a human, or at least to my understanding he's a good person.  He certainly has a sense of humour.

   I wanted my Significant Otter to watch the show, I knew it was up his alley.  I started him with the the 9th Doctor.  I figured he should see everything, not just my favourite.  Of course, this meant that his favourite would not match up with mine.  The only trial I had was getting past the first episode.  It's so silly to be attacked by mannequins.  The whole episode was not on par with the rest of the series.  Once we got through that it was smooth sailing. Now we giggle with mad delight together over little references and nuances.  It's good fun, really.

  I wanted to get this post up before April 23 because that's when the new episodes are going to start airing.  I would like to give my opinions of them after seeing them.  I'm sure there will be spoilers.  I just wanted to make sure that everyone understood the gravity of my love before I started to look at individual episodes.

Knit one, dammit I dropped a stitch

   Okay, so I like all these nerdy things?  Big deal, right?  If I didn't actually do anything about the things I like them little would differentiate me from fans.  Collecting, memorizing, creating, and bonding with  other fans helps the nerdom flourish.  My chosen method of expressing my love is by knitting.  I love knitting.  It relaxes me and allows me to keep my hands busy.  When my nerdy interests overlap with knitting it's like my own personal Christmas.  In fact, I wanted to knit the Jayne Cobb hat before I even saw that episode of Firefly.  I liked the show, knew of the hat and had it made by the time I saw the episode.  It was wonderful.  I've made so many since then that I can make that hat in a day.

   Besides that hat I have made many other nerdy knits. My first ever knitting project was the Doctor Who scarf.  I made it in a month and have been wearing it ever since.  A part of me hates when the weather gets warm because it becomes a pain to wear.  It does drag on the floor and I have tripped over it many times.  My aunt asked me a few days ago if I got it caught in doorways often. I told her no, not regular doors, revolving doors and doorknobs however were the bane of the scarf's existence.  I refuse to stop wearing it though. This scarf has made me more friends than my sparkling personality ever could.  Strangers on the street have stopped me to comment and one woman actually took my picture.  The scarf has been a great pillow, blanket, conversation starter, leash, jump rope, lasso, and overall fun object. I'm pretty sure i'm going to be buried in this scarf.

   Another project I've worked on was a golden snitch.  That was a pain in the ass.  They had to be done on tiny needles that I was afraid I was going to break.  Despite the bitty needles, they are quick and simple to make.  My brother used it to woo a girl and it worked, so take note guys.  It was fun to throw around and watch "fly."

   I've also knitted a double helix and Mario mustaches.  On my list of things to make include Mega Man's helmet, a one up mushroom beret, a TARDIS,  bacteria, and something in binary.  I'd love suggestions for something else equally awesome.  Until then I'll have to make due with my own awesomeness.