Show Us Your Geek Pride to Win $100 at Thinkgeek.com

May 25th is Geek Pride Day – An entire day dedicated to embracing your inner geek! This year we’re celebrating by offering FIVE $100 gift certificates for ThinkGeek.com. To enter all you have to do is like us on facebook and post a picture or video on our wall showing us your geek pride. Entries can be anything that you think is awesome but other people might not all understand – maybe it’s your mint condition original issue Millennium Falcon model, that Cthulhu costume you wore last year for Halloween, that light sensitive midi controller you built out of a an old Nintendo or even your ‘There’s no place like 127.0.0.1’ door mat. Anything that says I’m a Geek – and Proud of it!

And just because we love you, every entry get will get a free copy of our full sized Map of the Internet poster! Click facebook.com/WeHeartGeeks today and post your entry before May 25th to win.

What Makes A Geek and Why Do We Love Them?

When you think of the word Geek, what comes to mind? Pocket protectors? Glasses? An insatiable love for 20 sided die? Skillful mastery of quantum mechanics and an affinity for Renaissance fairs? Or maybe it’s the the guy or girl who rescues your computer at work, or the friend who comes over and sets up your TiVO for you?

Whatever your internal geek stereotype may be, I think there is a common thread between them, and it isn’t necessarily just mouth breathing and social awkwardness.

For example, I have a friend with an extensive record collection. He used to run a record store, and now has an entire room devoted to his vinyl. It’s meticulously organized, incredibly thorough and properly cataloged. In short, it’s awesome. But you get this guy talking about music… he’ll just keep talking. Forever. Add another music buff to the conversation and you’ve got yourself a pair of music geeks, who will proceed to talk your ear off for hours, which can get pretty boring if you’ve never heard any of the music they are talking about. (Thankfully the giant room of records really helps with that.)

So I don’t think being a geek really has anything to do specifically with technology these days, but moreso that geeks are people who are just really into something that other people don’t understand. So under this definition, anyone who knows a lot about something you don’t know about can potentially be a geek – and that’s what we love about them.

Geeks are passionate. Geeks are knowledgeable. Geeks are dedicated. Geeks come correct – and aren’t afraid to go off on a tangent to defend their point of view.

Like just the other day I was at a restaurant and overheard two men having a fairly intense Lord of the Rings discussion. I wasn’t really paying too much attention because I’m not a huge fan, but out of nowhere the sassy looking blonde lady behind the bar walks over and says;

“Um ACTUALLY that’s movie canon which is highly fallacious. Faramir is the true hero of men and foil for Boromir as in the book he not only resisted the ring and sent Frodo on his waybut is the only man to do so. Aragorn is a member of the Dunedain, descendants of the ancient race of kings, and has a small amount of elf blood. It’s shown many times that due to their wisdom, inherent magical characteristics, and race knowledge, elves are far more successful at resisting a Ring of Power. Faramir’s accomplishment is therefore more significant than Aragorn’s, even though Aragorn’s story arc is more central.”

The two gentlemen put their drinks down and looked somewhat taken aback. Lord of the Rings trivia may seem like stereotypical geek fodder, but the fact that this tangent had come from the bright red lips of a pin-up looking barkeep was enough to prove to anyone that geeks can be as much awesome as they are awkward!