Geeky Soul

Back in the 80s I was a funny child who read manga (and colored it). I loved Japan and wanted to discover more and more about the country. In the 90s not only I was studying Japanese by myself, I also had a crush on anything made in Japan: that included music (B’z), Japanese language, books about Japanese culture, and anything with “Japan” printed on it. As time went on, I started to get more and more hooked on gadgets, learning more and more languages, reading books and more books, collecting figurines and SF x fantasy movies. Not only I was a great devourer of fantasy books from the 80s, I was a geek at heart… and I didn’t know it!

First of all… what is a geek? The word “geek” was used, in its origin, to refer to a crazy person, or someone odd. But from the 80s onwards, specially in the US, it became a slang word for experts in scientific and techie things who also happened to be dull for social interactions. From the 90s, however, along with the computer revolution and people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others, the word “geek” developed a more positive meaning. Being a “geek” was becoming “cool”.

Japan had a word of its own: “otaku”. Bad news for the Japanese word is that “otaku” has a negative meaning in Japan. An otaku is someone obsessed with manga and anime, and who is odd like hell and has few abilities to interact with people. This same word changes to a positive meaning when exported abroad. Otakus are just geeks abroad. In Japan, otakus are obsessed fandom. In Spain, the word otaku refers to those who love manga, anime, cosplaying and Japan. The best of the best will also speak Japanese.

We also have another “spices” in the picture: “nerds”. Nerds are very much like geeks, but they have less abilities with social interactions, and might have more than just an interest.

Wording is difficult. One can think of himself as a geek while others might put the tag of nerd. Whatever the case, if you are in doubt, just use the word the person uses for himself.

In this section I’ll talk a little bit about my personal “geekery”. This includes all types of things: music, books, decks, figurines, movies, languages, Japan related stuff, etc. I know, I know: there are already some sections about this in my blog. This section is for those things that cannot be put anywhere else PLUS they are too geeky (or I consider them to be so).

I do believe that we have a Geeky Soul. If you have an interest that obsesses you, odds are that you might be a geek :p

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