Category Archives: Sharing Day

"Kiss her BACK, you idiot!"

For some reason I've been thinking lately about some of the stupid stuff I did when I was much younger. So my question for you on this Sharing Day is:

If you could go back in time and give the Young Nerd You one piece of advice, what would it be?

You can go all Time Traveller if you want and say "Bet on the Saints to win the Super Bowl next year!", or you can dig a little deeper. As for me, I'd probably say something like "Don't be ashamed of who you are. You're a geek -- force your way into that D&D game and revel in it!"

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community!

The big news in my small circle of geeky friends is, of course, the upcoming "Avengers" movie. Whenever a major film like this comes out that I know I am going to want to see, the months and weeks leading up to it are pure torture as I twist and turn in my efforts to dodge spoilers. I want to experience the movie in as pure a form as possible, unsullied by the expectations or experiences of other people.

Friend of HeroMachine John and I go into the "Cone of Silence", a sensory deprivation chamber where all previews, promos, ads, spoilers, speculative articles, and celebrity interviews are avoided even more vigorously than girls avoided US in high school.

But that's not the only way to approach these kinds of mega projects. So my question for you on this Sharing Day is basically:

How do you handle "big" geek events like major movies or big novel releases? Do you go whole-hog and consume everything humanly possible about it before it comes out, or do you go into your own "Cone of Silence" and try your best to be surprised?

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community!

This week's Sharing Day topic is:

Who have you had the biggest "Nerd Crush" on?

You don't have to pick one of the stars pictured above, they're just here to get you inspired. Or whatever the appropriate adjective is. Ahem. Your answer should be a "celebrity" role, not someone you know in real life like the cute librarian or the hunky life guard who's secretly into "Twilight".

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community and to put some positive vibes out there on this Friday the 13th!

As for me and my answer to this question ... I'm going to go with Lynda Carter, TV's original Wonder Woman. When she'd come on the screen and do that magic spin, transforming into the metal-brassiered Amazon ... wow. For a young nerd in a time before cable OR the Internet, that was pretty much the pinnacle.

Now, over to you! What actor in a nerdy role have you had your biggest crush on?

(Click to embiggen for inspiration if you need it.)

This week's Sharing Day topic is:

If you could be any character in the entire Star Wars extended universe (movies, books, comics, cartoons, whatever), who would you be and why?

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community and to put some positive vibes out there on this Spring Break-like Friday!

As for me and my answer to this question ... I'm tempted to be boring and go with Han Solo, who gets to be both footloose and fancy free as well as being a Prince. What's not to love about that?! On the other hand, he's got a history of running bad risks, and that kind of person might not be happy stuffed into the role of politician. So I think I'd probably go with being even MORE boring and choose Luke Skywalker. The idea of being able to start the Jedi Academy over again and doing it right is appealing, and of course there's all the Force stuff. Plus I look stellar in black.

Now, over to you!

Being invulnerable or super fast or hyper-intelligent or shooting laser beams out of your eyes makes being a super hero a lot easier. But we all have more commonplace heroes in our lives who have come through us in all kinds of ways. So this week's Sharing Day topic is:

What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community and to put some positive vibes out there on this Spring Break-like Friday!

As for me and my answer to this question ... On a professional level, I would have to say the distinction goes to the Chief Editor at UGO, Chris, who allowed me to take control of HeroMachine back from them so the community of creators -- all of you out there -- could continue using it and sharing your imaginations. I still can't quite believe the generosity of spirit and dedication to the highest ideals of the geek community that took. Thanks, Chris, you are the man.

I look forward to hearing from you about the acts of kindess you've experiences in your life, personally or professionally!

This week's Sharing Day topic is simple:

What is your favorite novel?

If you're an avid reader like me, you probably will be choking trying to think of just one to be The One. If you want to break it down into genres, feel free.

For me, I'll be boring and say my favorite fantasy novel series is "The Lord of the Rings". I'm such a traditionalist.

My favorite sci-fi novel is probably "Ender's Game". Whenever I want to introduce someone to science fiction who hasn't tried it before, this is the one I give them. I'm probably on copy 24, I've given away so many.

My Amazon list of "Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books That Moved Me" has more of the ones I particularly loved, but I'd really like to hear yours!

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely.

An "elevator pitch" is a very short, very quick-to-deliver creative pitch, something you would have ready to use if you found yourself in an elevator with an influential person who could help your project get off the ground.

For this Sharing Day, your mission (if you choose to accept it) is:

Give us the elevator pitch for your best geeky creative vision, the project you would try to sell someone on who had the power to make it come to fruition.

Note that it doesn't have to be related to super-heroes. You might want to pitch your fantasy novel, or your sci-fi television show pilot, or your idea for a business cranking out Star Wars headgear in yarn. It's your vision! In return:

You can ask me any question you like about whatever you like, which I will answer either completely truthfully or not at all (in which case you can ask something else). I say that because, come on, there are some things no one should have to know! You're not obligated to ask me anything, but if you don't share your answer to the question of the day, you can't ask anything in return.

Since you are currently on the successful results of my elevator pitch, I exempt myself from answering this one.

I look forward to hearing your visions!

And to be clear, posting it here does not give me or anyone else the rights to steal it for our own. It's still your idea.

This week's Sharing Day topic is simple:

Why is the story behind your online pseudonym (either here or one that you use the most often elsewhere)?

I bet you can guess where mine -- "HeroMachine" -- comes from, can't you! I've also gone by "Grunch" before, which is a name I made up for a character in my aborted fantasy novel.

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. I'm travelling back to Durango today, so my access and responsiveness depends on how the WiFi is at various airports, so if it's tomorrow before I get back to you, my apologies.

I look forward to hearing your stories!

I'm curious how your Significant Other(s), either current or past, react to your geekery. So my Sharing Day question for you is:

Talk about how your geeky obsessions impact your relationships with whoever you're dating. Do you only go out with people who are into the same kinds of nerdage as you? How important is their attitude towards the sci-fi/fantasy/movie/comics/super-hero world you love? Have you had a fight with your SO about something geeky, like whether or not a certain movie was any good or whether Star Wars is better than Star Trek, etc.?

As for me, I've never dated a fellow nerd. My SOs have always been very tolerant and understanding about My Secret Life As A Nerd, but they don't share my loves. My wife's very nice and goes to the big super-hero movies with me (especially if they feature Robert Downey, Jr.!), but that's about it. On the other hand, she's very generous in allowing me time to play World of Warcraft or whatever other game has hooked me that month.

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely.

I look forward to hearing your stories!

(Image via cyasarah.)

You WILL have a merry Christmas!

With Christmas, Chanukah, and the Winter Solstice all happening right around this time, it's definitely the season for giving. So here's what I would like to know about you:

What is your favorite Geek Holiday memory (the best geeky gift you have ever either given or received, a cool geek-themed holiday gathering, etc.)?

In return, if you wish you can ask me any question you like about whatever you like, which I will answer either completely truthfully or not at all (in which case you can ask something else). You don't have to ask me anything if you don't want, but I'd still like to hear your answer to the question.

Speaking of which, my answer would be:

One year when I was a kid I got this big plastic Japanese robot called Mazinga that had a ship docked in its head and missiles that fired out of its hand. I had seen very little anime and didn't know who the heck Mazinga was, but he was cool. I had that thing forever and got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Now it's your turn!