Happy Thanksgiving: My List of Geeky Things I'm Thankful For

I've been a geek since before I even knew what a geek was. I was a geek throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and college--even if I had to sometimes hide the extent of my geekiness (don't know why I even bothered, it didn't make me any cooler). Now that I'm an adult, and completely comfortable being my ridiculously geeky self, I can make this list of the geeky things I am thankful for--and the geeky women role models that I'm thankful I "met" as a child.

I'm thankful for these things that made me into the geek I am:

My life has always had Star Trek in it, and The Next Generation and Voyager in particular were the series that defined my childhood.

Not just Labyrinth (though it's #1), but all of the awesome fantasy movies from the 80s helped to foster my life-long love of fantasy, just as TNG did for my love of Sci-Fi.

While I played ton older systems, the Sega Genesis was the first console of my very own. I will always remember you fondly, Sega. Even if Echo the Dolphin was too difficult for kids my age, which was ridiculous BECAUSE WHAT FIVE-YEAR-OLD DOESN'T WANT TO BE A DOLPHIN?! (It's alright. I still love you).

Ocarina of Time is the video game that turned me into a gamer--there is no question about it. Forever grateful that I had the chance to own and play this game as a kid. It's still my favorite game in the world.

I'm grateful that I grew up in an era with the "right" type of children's shows and books that fostered me as a geekling.

I picked up the first Harry Potter book around the time that The Chamber of Secrets was published in the U.S. I love the Harry Potter world. When my anxiety gets crazy and I get upset, I grab one of these books, sit back, and it always manages to calm me. The Harry Potter fandom was also the first time that I realized how amazing and welcoming a fan community can be, and I'll always be grateful.

...but these will always be my #1 love (in terms of books). I started reading chapter books in kindergarten, and my silly Dad suggested that I read these only in first grade. Of course, they were waaay above my reading level, but I wanted to impress my father so I sat down and read them (and stole the dictionary to help me make my way through). Still, a lot of it was over my head...so I came back to them the next year. And the next. And the next. Revisiting LotR over and over again each year allowed me to see new things each time, to grow my vocabulary, and to foster in me a love for fantasy. So even though my dad was completely insane to suggest that I read these at age six, I'm grateful for his urging (and to the Professor).

And I am grateful for these geeky women role models for making me into the person I am today:

I covered a few of these in my Geeky Heroines blog post, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due. Overall, I have to be grateful to these characters--and the people who created them--for giving a growing girl female role models who were intelligent, strong, brave, creative, and dedicated.

Alanna of Trebond and Olau

Captain Katherine Janeway

Agent Dana Scully

Buffy Summers

So those are my lists--even though they're nowhere near 100% complete. What is your geeky heart thankful for this holiday season?