THROWBACK THURSDAYS: THE ORIGIN STORY

A friend asked me if I was this nerdy as a child. The answer is very much so, possibly even more so. But how did I become the Smirking Revenge? My dad was in the Air Force, my mother a stay at home mom. We moved around a lot and so I got to reinvent my bedroom and everything else in my life quite a bit. My parents nurtured the bibliophile in my brother and I at an early age. We read books all the time and that certainly let my imagination wander. I had comics (though they were Archie, Star Wars Ewoks, and Bugs Bunny ones) that I would read until their untimely demise of me reading them too much and them falling into little tattered pieces (though I still have a few that are in decent condition so my kids can read them…and yes they will know Princess Kneesaa of the Ewoks).

So what kind of kid was I? I was the kid who wanted to be Andromeda after watching Clash of the Titans and forced my mother to create a canopy bed made of willowy fabrics so it would be like Andromeda’s Bed. She even made me a plush Bubo. I was the girl who would roller skate around the basement with one of her mother’s bellydancing scarves attached to her head with a headband belting out Olivia Newton John and ELO because she was obsessed with Xanadu and wanted to be a muse. I was the girl who was convinced she had the power of Sheena – Queen of the Jungle because my pet rabbit followed me around all the time. And I was the kind of girl where Barbie wanted to be part of Voltron though the size inconsistencies between the two toy sets were problematic.

I read books in trees while in a dress much to my mother’s chagrin. I cosplayed as Princess Buttercup before I even knew what Cosplay was in high school. I went through cosplay phases in fact and had my little odes to Hackers, The Craft, and Clueless. I quoted movies incessantly. My comic book collection grew as I discovered the Marvel Universe and Vertigo comics. I wanted to vacation in Rivendell. I was affectionately given the nickname Buffy as I was a cheerleader at the time and loved vampires. This moniker followed me into college as the tv show aired and I just happened to have the same haircut, still loved pineapple on my pizza, and more.

For all of my pop culture nerdiness, I found strength in superheroes that I didn’t find elsewhere in my life. I was shy, quiet, and wanted to spread my love for all things geeky but discovered I was supposed to want to be Homecoming Queen instead. Being a nerd was not a moniker you strove to obtain. It meant being bullied and as a girl it was already rough being the new girl with the accent, 6 ft tall, and in all of the AP classes.

When University came around, I found solace in the interwebs. Holy cow there were other ladies who loved Buffy, Lord of the Rings, and gaming as much as I did. Rock on. I grew up. I embraced the geekiness and found friends. I wasn’t afraid to express my love of things anymore. I grew out of my shyness a bit.

I am always going to be that nerdy girl. The one who fell in love with Greek mythology as she stared up at the stars with her dad and wanted to know about the stories behind the names of the constellations. I am always going to be the girl who would rather spend an evening in rather than an evening out, the girl who likes Doctor Who, Joss Whedon, and reads more than 2 books a week. I am the girl who used to beat my brother at Super Mario and Contra, who still loves playing games, and never wants to grow up.

How about you? What is your origin story?