Dubious Conclusions

I don't intend to insult your intelligence (because I'm sure you've pieced the puzzle together at this point), but I want to be absolutely clear on this point: I am a geek. Always have been. Never shrank from the label, never apologized. I suppose I did make some effort to prove I was "one of the good ones," though. You know, the sort with a pinch of humor, a dash of social skills, perhaps even a sprinkle of boyish charm — certainly not the type who would maintain a level 44 druid in World of Warcraft. Certainly not! Why, it would be absurd to think that, even now, I can hear the wind whisper the name "Willowthorpe."
Utter nonsense!

These days, obviously, geek is in. Frat boys play Halo. Liz Lemon charms in her thick-framed glasses while cracking Star Wars jokes. Comic book adaptations dominate the box office. The dam has broken; a subculture has gone viral.

I'm thrilled, I suppose. Finally, the gilded Age of the Nerd has come! And yet, I find myself ruminating on my youth, wondering... did I do enough? I wonder, were there Dungeons I was meant to scour, Dragons I could have battled? Missed opportunities. These were depths that went unplumbed due in part to the social stigma, I'm sure, but also because I frankly didn't need to immerse myself in that kind of fantasy, becoming unglued from reality and spiraling down into a solipsistic realm of imagined heroism and idealized identity. Again, missed opportunities.

The world may have accepted geek into its heart, but not that kind of geek, so I have to admit that the illicit nerdiness of D&D is tantalizing; there's a slightly gluttonous urge to throw caution and, indeed, reputation to the wind, and throw myself full-force into the creation of alternate worlds and epic histories. My sword arm aches.

Perhaps we should ease into it, though. Dust has settled across my Magic: The Gathering cards, but they retain the Old Power. We'll start there, and see where it takes us. I'll let you know if this flight of fancy evolves into a yet greater embarrassment.