What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/26/14

Welcome!

Another week has gone by so that means we're here for another spotlight on what's been going on in my world lately. This edition is television centric in honor of the fall seasons of shows starting up. Enjoy!

• Nathan for You

I just started watching all the episodes of this show (also available on Hulu) and I've been loving it. It's dry, absurd, and very smart. It's premise is parodying the shows like Kitchen Nightmare or Bar Rescue where someone comes in with ideas to save a small business. Nathan Fielder comes in with ridiculous ideas but sells them with an aloof confidence. Watching the scenarios play out is hilarious and I highly recommend this show for anyone who loves to skewer reality television (like myself).

• Agents of SHIELD

I've been a fan of AoS since the premiere of season one, and while it has been sort of rocky getting this point, I'm excited for what season 2 has in store. The new season just started this past Tuesday and set up a cool new premise for the show with the SHIELD folks being made into fugitives and having to work in the shadows with no backup or most of their fun tools. The show is evolving with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and I'm eager to see how it develops on its own as well as along with the movies. Check it out if you haven't and especially so if you enjoy the Marvel movies of late!

• Gotham

This show also just premiered recently and is set in the city of Gotham where Batman (eventually) calls home. This is an origin series, much like Arrow, and has a very similar look and feel. We follow Jim Gordon when he's just starting as a detective for the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) and most of the rogue's gallery of Batman villains have yet to manifest. I'm curious to see what the pace of this show is going to be and what it works toward. Arrow has thrived as its been able to do flashbacks to Oliver's training and journey to be the Green Arrow while moving at a brisk pace in the present timeline to get his team together and evolve the storyline. I hope Gotham doesn't move too slow and gets to the sort of moments like Arrow has been able to achieve and do so well.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Writing Process: From Stray Thought to Full Out Geekery

"I hope people can have fun with what I write but also learn something useful for their lives."

I recently go a shout out from the marvelous Marci Walton to write about my writing. It's meta and I dig it so I figured I'd jump on here and leave some thoughts from my work here for the past year and a half of writing.

I have only been writing weekly since January of this year with my geek out posts and movie reviews, with other stuff sprinkled in between, but 2014 has been a good year for me to get in a regular habit of writing. I've written around 160 posts for this blog, covering all sorts of geeky topics that matter to me. I hope the framework of stuff below helps others get into a flow of writing however they wish about whatever they want.

On My Writing Process 

What are you working on? 

I'm currently working on a few different blog posts about stuff that has been popping up in my head recently just as stray thoughts or from reading books, articles, and keeping up with the news. I'm also working on reading more books to review and keeping my regular schedule of movie reviews from Netflix and geeking out about new, cool stuff. Keep an eye out for some awesome posts coming soon!

How does your work differ from others of its genre? 

I feel my work is pretty unique since I always try to find connections to student affairs in geeky topics, such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Spider-Man, and Green Lantern. I don't see a lot of that out there in the blogging world and I enjoy being something original and unique. I think we should all seek to do our own thing and not just create an echo chamber for the usual zeitgeist.

Why do you write what you do?

I write what I do because it is what interests me and it is how my brain works a lot of the time. I always joke that I take my entertainment seriously. I look into their subtexts or symbolism to see what they have to say about society or greater topics like choice, love, friendship, family, or any number of other things. I hope people can have fun with what I write but also learn something useful for their lives. I seek to provide value and happiness to my readers!

How does your writing process work? 

I usually just let my mind wander and allow for ideas to pop in. Whether that is something about one particular show or movie or is about a general topic, I usually make sure to draft up a blog post for it so I don't lose the idea. A lot of the time I'll be watching or reading something and find something relevant in it, like with Green Lantern. For something like Star Wars, I was surprised I hadn't blogged about it specifically already. I also just think a lot about topics like positivity, social media, sustainability, or nerdy stuff in general so ideas will come to me all the time. I typically will bounce ideas off my partner to see if they make sense or not instead of always just having them rattle around in my head all the time. I don't have a formal, structured, or detailed process for getting the content together. I just let the writing flow out and then I'll proof myself afterwards. This works well for me but I know it might not work well for everyone! I'm also a very brief writer so I don't feel the need to prepare too much for posts since they're just quick bits and thoughts I want to share.

Thanks again to Marci for sharing her process and for the shout out! I nominate Tom Krieglstein & Jennifer Keegin. Why do you write what you do?!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Human Side of Social Media

"Anytime there is a tweet, post, picture, or any sort of content on social media...there is a human being behind that."

After recently reading some interesting perspectives on the popular app Yik Yak from folks like Eric Stoller and Paul Gordon Brown, I recently had some thoughts of my own on the subject in a macro sense.

Anonymity on the web is a topic for serious discussion and there have been a lot of concerns lately about privacy and protecting our information, which are definitely completely valid. I personally typically fall on the side of being open and authentic online. In general though, especially when it comes to the civil discourse of important topics while on social media, I feel being ourselves is always valuable and necessary.

Whether it is the use of a screen name on YouTube or cyberbullying incidents that have become more common on campuses across the country, there is a basic tenant of being ourselves in the various social networks we inhabit. Much of the vitriol and negativity online comes when there is no accountability to the person saying it. The types of things we say to each other on the web would never be uttered in public. The protective shroud of anonymity allows for hateful things to come out of us, which I would attribute to being emotional knee jerk responses rather than how we all know we should treat each other.

A public, personal web is one where people can be accountable to what they say, and represent what is truly behind their words; a human being. We often forget that anytime there is a tweet, post, picture, or any sort of content on social media, there is a human being behind that. Someone took the time to type something out and send it, no matter what you might think. We should engage with empathy, as we would in any other venue.

I look forward to a more civil, respectful web where we are able to authentically connect about the issues and topics that matter to us. How we get there is through being mindful of the other people out there with us, and through digital literacy. As a student affairs professional, everyday I help people understand the power of their actions on others, we should be doing the same for the digital realm. I fully support programs, workshops, and tools to help students (and anyone really) learn how to best behave online. I believe the type of negativity I see on Yik Yak and elsewhere is not us. I am optimistic in people's true natures and have seen the type of positive outcomes that can come from online communities. We can and will do better in our online interactions in the future, we just have to work to make that a reality sooner rather than later.

I appreciate your thoughts on this...and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Movie Review Monday: Trainspotting

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film comes to us via Netflix, and is 1996's Trainspotting, starring Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, & Robert Carlyle, among others.

I've had this film in my queue for quite a while. So long I don't even remember why I put it there in the first place. I know it's a classic film with its own sort of reverence and respect in the film world. After watching it, nearly twenty years after it came out, I can see why it was so engaging to folks. It's a highly unique, stylistic, surreal, fast-paced movie that leaves you disoriented, but still getting a fun ride and a interesting character study in the process.

Ewan McGregor's Renton is the main character, and the story follows his journey to get clean, literally and figuratively. He and his friends are addicted to drugs but Renton is looking to get off the stuff and clean up his life and go straight. A great deal of the interesting elements of the film come from Renton's struggles with drug use and the trippy sequence when he is in withdrawals. Most of the movie is Renton's narration, so you're able to get behind his actions and hear what he is thinking versus imagining it. It is done in such a way to not belittle the audience's intelligence, but to provide a more complex context to the happenings in the film. We also see how Renton's actions affect others, which is a nice touch too. Most of the movie could be watched being against Renton, since he is very morally gray. It makes for an interesting story, that I would liken in spirit to something like Breaking Bad, where you're rooting for and against the main character at different times.

My only criticisms might be that the other characters seem sort of two dimensional at times. It is Renton's show to be sure, but the other folks just seem to be a one trick pony or even just sort of vanish altogether. It's not a major gripe, but the most evident one I can think of.

That being said, I definitely recommend Trainspotting. It has a cinematic vibe similar to Scott Pilgrim VS The World in the way it is edited and shot, so I was definitely sold on it in that way.

You can stream Trainspotting now on Netflix!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/19/14

Come geek out with me!

Hey there! Thanks for checking out what I'm geeking out about this week. This has been a random week of awesome stuff that I want to share with you all so lets dive in!

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 Trailer

This amazing trailer dropped this week and it is really getting me hyped for this movie. There isn't much else coming out this fall that I'm getting a lot of buzz for so I'm definitely going to look forward to seeing THG: Mockingjay P1 when it comes out November 21. I've warmed to this series of films, especially with Catching Fire being really great. The first movie didn't do too much for me and I was just left wanting basically what is happening in this movie to happen. Catching Fire was a solid bridge movie though and definitely worth a watch before Nov. 21!

• Apple iOS 8

I upgraded my various Apple devices this week to the new operating system and have been loving all the new little features. I always appreciate that every year, with the new iOS updates, I feel more value coming into my pocket at no cost to me. Apple definitely does well by me with their continuous improvements. I can't wait to get OS X Yosemite on my laptop and desktop!

• @midnight

I've been enjoying this late night comedy show hosted by my role model, Chris Hardwick, since it premiered earlier this year. They've been very consistent with the quality and the guests and I find myself watching it every day along with current episodes of The Daily Show. They crush it with their signature Hashtag Wars on Twitter (even when they're off the air for breaks!). I also can't complain with seeing Chris Hardwick more often on my television. He's so great, the show is great, check it out now!

Thanks for stopping by!

Star Wars & Always Seeing the Good in People

"No. You're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you."

"You already... have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister... you were right."

I have surprisingly not blogged a lot about Star Wars yet, even though it is one of my major fandoms. I've loved it for a long time now and I am cautiously optimistic about Episode VII that is due to come out next year.

A major arc of the Star Wars films is Anakin's journey toward the dark side and coming back to the light in the end to save the day and rescue his son, Luke, from the Emperor. Luke, after discovering that Darth Vader is actually his father, Anakin, can't bring himself to simply kill his father for the good of the galaxy. He knows Anakin is a good person who did bad things, not just simply an evil person who must die without any chance for redemption. Others see Luke as foolish for believing he can save his father, who others see as too far gone. Luke commits to his stance to save his father AND the galaxy, not willing to give up simply from the pressure of others. In the end, he is able to accomplish his goal and give Anakin a brief moment in the light before he dies from his injuries inflicted from his rescue of Luke.

If you've seen Return of the Jedi, you know the whole sequence I'm talking about and if you've seen the whole saga of films, you know Anakin's arc from the six films. While there is a lot of valid gripes folks have with the two trilogies (myself included), the thing I love about the story is Anakin's character arc, going from a wide-eyed kid on Tatooine, to Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars to a broken man (literally and figuratively) and back to his good natured self that has always been there deep inside.

A major takeaway here that I really appreciate is not giving up on people. People make bad choices, we all do, but that doesn't mean they're bad people. People make choices based on their past, what they're feeling now, and what they want for the future. All of this is subject to flux based on who they surround themselves with, their environments, and who may not be around them to help them make positive choices. I'm a empathetic person, and I always see things from others' perspectives. It can be a gift and a curse, but I would never want to not feel anything for others when they're suffering, confused, lost, or misunderstood. Working in student affairs, and especially in residence life, I see this a lot. I can't ever assume everyone is hiding something, has ulterior motives, or is doing this to hurt me personally. I prefer to stay positive, give people chances, and trust people until they give me a reason not to.

This lesson from Star Wars is a big one, I feel, in my ongoing effort to reach zen status (or perhaps Jedi Mastery?!). I don't ever want to be someone who is just mad at the world and thinks everyone is evil, selfish, and immoral. I think when people are given the opportunity to do what's right, they'll do it. We just have to trust each other, love unconditionally, and put good energy out into the universe. Maybe then we'll be able to work together to build a more decent, good, and just galaxy here and far, far away.

Thanks for stopping by!

Book Review: Geek Wisdom

“What was your religion when you were growing up?” And my answer was: “Uh, science fiction, pretty much.”

I've been wanting to review this book for a while now, as I read a few months ago but I just haven't gotten around to it. This 2011 book is by a collection of author who curate awesome geeky quotes from movies, television, and literature to explore the morals and lessons that make up the nerd lexicon.

Everything from Princess Bride, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, The Twilight Zone, and much, much more is covered here. Each quote has a short page or two's worth of extrapolation where the real world lessons are found. The writing is fun, light, and engaging, with a lot of great life advice woven in. The writing is broken up by broad topics; quotes about the self, conflict, the future, the universe, etc.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"With great power comes great responsibility."

"Not all those who wander are lost."

"No matter where you go, there you are."

"Ideas are bulletproof."

"There are weapons that are simply thoughts. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy."

I take my entertainment seriously. I look into the symbolism, character arcs, lessons, morals, quotes, and implications of what happens in my favorite stories, no matter what it is. A lot of people are dismissive of geeky pursuits but I've always known that there is power behind what we enjoy. We learn, grow, and create community around what we love and this book helps capture some of that spirit.

I definitely recommend Geek Wisdom for all those geeks and nerds out there looking to find the deeper meaning behind their favorite geekdoms or even those not yet acclimated to all these wonderful worlds. Maybe it will get you excited to check out something new!

You can find it at Amazon, or any of your favorite booksellers.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/12/14

Here's to another week in geek!

This week's stuff is all local places and events I've been enjoying lately. I share these in an effort to encourage you all to get out and shop local! I'm sure there is more cool stuff going on than you know in your cities and towns and awesome stores to support with people who live in your community!

• Bangor Greendrinks

If you read my previous post about some life updates, you saw a picture from a fun event here in town called Bangor Greendrinks. As the name implies, it is a monthly community gathering for folks to have a drink and share their love of sustainability in all its forms. The events are held at different local establishments and have different local breweries supply the beer as well as a different local shop donate food for the event. It's an awesome community effort that I plan on going to every month. I've already met some cool people out at the gatherings and I look forward to meeting many more!

• Bull Moose

I usually buy all my movies and games from Amazon these days but I recently was introduced to a super cool local store called Bull Moose. It's a local chain that sells new and pre-owned movies, books, games, and music (including vinyl). The games are everything from NES to Xbox One and they have comic books, all sorts of movies, and lots of other cool stuff. I have really appreciated their customer service and their prices are very competitive. Even if I'm paying a little bit more, I've enjoyed the personal touch and the opportunity to shop local for all my geeky media needs.

• The Juice Cellar

These cool cats were at the most recent Greendrinks event and had some delicious samples of their all-natural, locally sourced juices and smoothies. I got to chat with the owner and founder at the event too, which was awesome, and I am really looking forward to their opening of their second location in downtown Bangor. I also thought it is super cool that they're doing an IndieGogo campaign to help launch this new endeavor, which is great marketing and helps have great community buy-in from the start. Yay for local healthy food stuffs!

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monthly: August 2014

Greetings and salutations!

Welcome to this monthly wrap-up of my weekly movie reviews!

In an ongoing effort to better serve up my content to you all, here is what I watched in the month of August. Enjoy!

• The Spectacular Now
• In Bruges
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• The Breakfast Club

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Brief Life Updates!

Hey there, everybody!

It's been a little over two months since I got up here to Maine for my new full-time position so I thought since I have a bit of down time after training and opening, I'd share some thoughts and feelings from the experience so far.

My first month here was pretty hard for me personally. I wrote previously about some of the professional struggles I had, and they only compounded some of the feelings of loneliness and adjustment struggles to being in a new, very different area from where I was before. It was a bit of a culture shock not really knowing what to expect going from central New Jersey to central Maine. I've never lived in Maine so the rural aspect to the area was a bit jarring at first. I should have known what I was in for from my visits throughout my life but alas, it nevertheless was a bit of a rocky landing. Thankfully, after the first few weeks of finding my way around and figuring out my own rhythm in this strange land, I began to feel better. The people were welcoming, the cool local places were a lot of fun and I got to see a whole other side to my home state I've never seen before.

So, as month two began, I was in much of a flow than I was before. I had some routine and a supportive community of friends and colleagues beginning to develop. Then training and opening happened. It was rough for me as it always is. It was especially tough since I am new to this institution and put a lot of pressure on myself to know all the answers and be able to do everything for my students but I couldn't. There are many other frustrations I've had over the entire two months but that my be a post for another time.

I look forward to the beginning of a new academic year that is full of learning experiences for me. I'm in a state I've never lived in before, at a small private university (unlike the two, large, public universities I came from before), working with new people in an albeit familiar way but in a totally different context. It is rough at times but I know I'll be a better professional at the end of it all.

I never want to just play it safe any more, I've had plenty of that. I look forward to more adventures this year and beyond as I look to grow and learn as a person and a professional. I'm ready to get out into the world and make a difference for my students this year.

I'll keep blogging periodically as cool things happen and I have something to say, so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!