I'm a Trekkie and it's Geoffrey Blake's Fault

As you've probably been able to tell by this point, I am somewhat of a geek. I have a LOT of time on my hands to mess with various computer-related apparati. But I always figured that the mild case of geekiness came with the fact that I was at one point a computer science major. But I have a confession to make- a confession that might possibly change my status from mild geek to supergeek. I have spent the past week watching Deep Space Nine every single night. I have not only been watching the episodes, I've been taping them because I know the day will one day arrive when I will not be able to see it every night. I am completely involved in every little subplot. I know the difference between a Ferengi and a Bajoran. I am actively searching out a symbiont...well, you get the point. I need not elaborate.

In another lifetime, I would have said that Star Trek in any incarnation was beneath me. Watching Trek puts one on a new plane of geekdom. But then I attained the knowledge that my new favorite actor, one Geoffrey Blake, guest starred on an episode and wondered how I might get my hands on a copy of it. Running a search on TV Guide Online produced the knowledge that the aforementioned episode would be airing in my area this week. So I turned on the TV one night, switched the channel to the only station that gets DS9, and I started watching. Well, TV guide is just a bunch of bunk, as it was only the first episode and as everyone knows, Geoffrey guest starred in episode 37. But something strange happened. I watched it anyway. I kept on watching. And I started taping. I had a blank tape in preparation for taping THE episode, so I just started filling it with the show that was airing. The show was alternately touching, dramatic, easy to mock, witty in its own right, and filled with wonderful technology and fantastic creatures.

I am addicted and I freely admit it. Something about Deep Space Nine has immediately clicked with me. By the time the "Playing God" episode rolls around sometime in late April, I will know the characters on this show as well as the other TV addicts in my dorm know the characters on "Party of Five" or "All My Children." I can see myself owning a communicator pin from the Sci-fi channel catalog. If this is not stopped, I might someday start going to Trekkie conventions or contemplate getting Trill spots tattooed on the sides of my head. That's just wrong. And to think that all of this resulted from a long-shot Blakespotting venture.

Luckily, there's no way I'd ever start a fan site for this show since there are already approximately 24 billion sites for it. (Just run an AltaVista search for "Geoffrey Blake" someday and see how many DS9 episode guides you come up with.) So I am safe in that regard. I will not have to waste time with that. For now, all I can do is wonder what this means for my status as a geek. I mean, it was bad enough that I have UNIX manuals by my bedside, that I heckled the guys in "Good Will Hunting" because the supposedly impossible calculus problems were actually pretty easy, and that I named my laptop after the only rebel pilot to survive both Death Star runs. To add Trek into the equation would put my Geek Quotient into the stratosphere. Perhaps I should resign myself to the fact and just go out and buy a pair of Vulcan ears right now. In fact, I think I will. Live long and prosper, my fellow Blakefans.

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