We have all had to endure the chores of cleaning and we have all cleaned at different levels. There’s wiping everything down with a wet rag, dawning the hazmat suit to use industrial strength chemicals, tossing in a match and starting over. I have used the hazmat suits, when I was in the military. I have never gotten so far to just torch everything, but I have considered it.
At my house I am responsible for all the cleaning and that’s alright. It fits for our family. My wife is very relaxed when it comes to cleaning. On the other hand, I tend to be OCD about cleaning. I have my routines for cleaning the house that make it relatively easy.
However, there is one place I lack when it comes to cleaning and that’s my Geek cave. I have come to the conclusion that cleaning a Geek’s area is a lot different from regular cleaning and wwwaaaayyyy more time consuming. One inherent thing about
being a Geek is we all collect stuff. Lots of stuff. There are books, posters, board games, video game consoles, video games, costumes, action figures, models, and much more. When we collect all of this stuff we tend to cram it all into one small area. All that cramming makes it very difficult to clean.
I have lots of Star Wars Legos and several of them hang from the ceiling. Like everything else they collect dust, but those little Lego bumps make it impossible to clean the ships off. Then there are my action figures. I have to move all of them, clean, and then stand them all up again. 
Don’t get me started on my desk with its piles of papers, books, and little figures. What would normally take five minutes to wipe down, can be an all-day project. I’m not exaggerating about the all-day project, especially if I start playing with my stuff.
There is one shelf that is the worst. It is the top shelf of my bookcase. Every square inch is covered in Lego Star Wars mini-figures. In between those mini-figures is a lot of dust. I dread cleaning this shelf because it takes so long to set them all back up. The last time I cleaned this shelf, which was sometime during this past winter, I simply took the duster and swiped all the mini-figures to one side. They laid there in a pile for over month before I took the time to set them all back up.
I should not complain. I have heard of a lot worse areas. All you have to do is turn on Hoarders. I guess I should be thankful for the small area I have for a Geek Cave and how little it is cluttered. I still do not want to clean that Lego mini-figure shelf!
Thanks to Spring Cleaning XD by RedKid11 @deviantart.com
Nostalgia can be an amazing trap. I look back on my youth and the things I loved. One of the first things to pop through the haze of my memory is of course Star Wars and Star Trek. These two franchises have stood the test of time. Occasionally I will run past a movie or episode on TV or the Web and will have to stop and watch. As I watch feelings of summers past rush over me. Time spent with friends pretending to be our favorite heroes. Hours of playing with action figures and spaceships. After watching my favorite shows over again, I like to wander into my geek cave and pick up some of those old toys and fly them around the room.
Unfortunately, there are shows I remember fondly that do not stand the test of my nostalgia. Lately I have been watching Star Blazers again, on the Web. The desire to watch it again is very much rooted in nostalgia. It aired in America in 1978. Yes, I’m that old and older. What I remember of this anime series is it had artwork unlike anything else on television at the time. At the time no one knew what anime was. It also had an actual story line and plot. You had to tune into every episode to follow the story. In the plot for Star Blazers there were several nail biters where you did not know if they were going to survive. As a matter of fact this was the first time I saw some of the good guys die. That was unheard of!
What I see in the show now is technology that is sadly antiquated. In the show the consoles have levers, switches, and dials. Something I noticed this time around is every station has a flight stick, even communications. What does the communications officer need a flight stick for?!?
Then there is the dialogue. I know speech is going to change over the years and dialogue from almost forty years ago is going to be way different than nowadays. Still, when the fighters launching from the ship they should yell the command, “Launch!” Not saying calmly, “We’re taking off.”
I know it is good drama to have tensions between different crew members. However, in Star Blazers there really is no chain of command except a captain and the crew. In each episode the crew tends to yell commands at each other and then yell back at one another.
Having said all this there is something refreshing about this old series. In television series today there are the main characters and they go somewhere and meet a group of people. There is conflict with the group of people and then a solution. The next week they do it all over again with a new group of people. With Star Blazers it was all about the mission to get across the galaxy to get a cure for the dying Earth and battle the bad guys all the way. I know some of you out there are going to say, “What about the new Battlestar Galactica? They were all about finding Earth.” You are right. That series is the exception to how it is done now on TV.
Yes, there have been plenty of moments of wincing while watching Star Blazers. The amazing series that I remember as a kid just does not stand the test of time. It is still a good story and plot. I hope the rumors I have heard that there is a reboot to modernize Star Blazers are true. I will be one of the first to watch it when the show hits America.
In my blog I like to write about all things Geek. I’ve talked about some favorite movies, anime, and manga. I’ve also talked about the Geek lifestyle and some of the positive things about being a Geek. From my point of view things have change a lot for Geeks. I believed it was much more acceptable to be a Geek. I felt things had changed since I was a kid. Back then it was bad news to be labeled a Geek. You were bullied and scorned for the things we liked and did. Now those comic books we read in secret are blockbuster movies. Those video games we played by ourselves in the dark are now a multi-billion dollar industry. Our dreams of being a superhero or our favorite Star Wars character are played out by hundreds of thousands loyal cosplayers at conventions around the world. The #1 show on TV is all about Geeks. Of course an old Geek like me would think things have gotten better.
Lately I have seen things have not change as much as I thought. Personally a couple of months ago I got slammed on my blog. I got told I was spamming a site with all of my blog postings and no one wanted to hear what I had to say about being a Geek. I took that really hard and I stopped posting on my blog.
While I have been on hiatus there were some other bad things I heard about. I have heard there is still a lot of bullying going on. Some of that bullying is being done by Geeks on other Geeks. I cannot even begin to comprehend that one. We are all Geeks. We all share the same love of all things Geeky. So what if one person’s Geek is different than your Geekness? We should be watching each other’s backs and sharing time together, after all there aren’t that many of us out there.
Now I hear that girls at conventions are being harassed by the male Geeks….People!...We have spent our Geeky childhoods wishing and hoping for girls to be around us and like us for our Geekdoms. They are amongst us now! We should rejoice! We need to treat them with respect. If you are unsure how to act around a woman then take a class on manners.
Now let me talk to those Geeks out there that have been suffering. Do not get discouraged. I know, I did get discouraged when I got flamed on line for my blog and I gave up doing it. That was wrong of me. One unfortunate trademark of a Geek is being timid. We are easily frightened when we see aggression. The other trademark of a Geek is our quiet strength. No we are not in basements benching 300 lbs. We are the ones that no matter what we hold onto the things we love. That is our strength. Geeks seek out other Geeks and together we try to make the world better. Think of every technological advancement over the past 30 years. There was a group of geeks behind each and every one of those advancements. Think about all those blockbuster movies. Those are because a Geek said they wanted to see it on the big screen. Geeks are strong. Things will get better.
Now to all of you out there let me quote Wil Wheaton, probably the most famous Geek of us all. He has one simple rule he lives by and he asks everyone else to live by. “Don’t be a dick!” Be good to each other. If everyone will be accepting of everyone else this world would be such an amazing place.
Thanks To:
Bullying by JazzySuika @ deviantart.com
Zombie Bullying by FBende @ deviantart.com
However, there is one place I lack when it comes to cleaning and that’s my Geek cave. I have come to the conclusion that cleaning a Geek’s area is a lot different from regular cleaning and wwwaaaayyyy more time consuming. One inherent thing about 
Don’t get me started on my desk with its piles of papers, books, and little figures. What would normally take five minutes to wipe down, can be an all-day project. I’m not exaggerating about the all-day project, especially if I start playing with my stuff. 
There is one shelf that is the worst. It is the top shelf of my bookcase. Every square inch is covered in Lego Star Wars mini-figures. In between those mini-figures is a lot of dust. I dread cleaning this shelf because it takes so long to set them all back up. The last time I cleaned this shelf, which was sometime during this past winter, I simply took the duster and swiped all the mini-figures to one side. They laid there in a pile for over month before I took the time to set them all back up. 
