Episode 30 – Geek Moms with Mandy from the Wekk Podcast

geektitude Show Notes for 5.04.2016 @ 5:30pm PDT

Guest Interview: Mandy from Wekk Podcast

#KeepItGeek this Week (The geeky stuff we did this week)

News (Covering 5/1/2016-5/4/2016)

Feature – Geek Moms

From Andrew J. Bartlett one of the occasional co-hosts of “Mating Habits of the Modern Geek”

Dear Mom,

You don’t listen to podcasts much, but this letter is being written as a submission to a particular podcast, called “Geektitude”. As the name suggests, it’s a podcast that revolves around the multitude of aspects regarding geek culture; a culture in which your loving eldest resides and has made a loving home for thirty-plus years.

And on this particular Mother’s Day, I thought you should know: it’s all your fault. From the days of letting me watch “Quantum Leap” and “Back to the Future” with you, thus falling in love with the idea of Science Fiction (and most especially time travel), to pushing my literacy and love of the written word to a level of such voracity that it crushes my soul when I hear friends and loved ones utter the phrase (without irony): “I don’t really… read.”

It was you who pushed my creativity, challenging me to think outside of boxes within boxes; to help put a level of humility into said creativity, which helped cultivate my sense of humor – to be able to laugh at myself more so than I would at anyone else. Through that guidance, that support, I have garnered friendships and connections that have led to this – a letter being written for you, for Mother’s Day, to help thank (but overall blame) you for helping in the development of the geek you know and love, today.

This letter should come as no surprise to you, as it doesn’t normally take a “special occasion” for said gratitude to be expressed. However, with this letter, a larger audience (consisting of not just the listeners, but also the host who will read this letter aloud) will be made aware of how grateful I am to have you as a mother, one who is constantly building and respecting the geek you have created. And, you know, when it comes down to it, regardless of what happens because of it: it is all your fault, after all.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

With love,
Andrew

From Tee Morris:

My mom never really understood my nerdiness. All she knew was her child was not a sports kids, like his older brother and she was supportive of what captured my attention which was Science Fiction and Fantasy. When I was in my teenage years, I got a ColecoVision gaming console. State of the art for the 80’s and in high demand but my dad went above and beyond and found one in Richmond. While my mom didn’t really understand or enjoy video games like the ones I played on ColecoVision, Zaxxon and Donkey Kong in particular, I found out that she did enjoy Q*bert, the game when you were hopping from cube to cube, avoiding the nasty monster that came after you while you tried to clear levels. (If you still don’t know the game, watch Wreck It Ralph. Q*bert is in there.)

The thing is, I didn’t know exactly how geeky my mother was about Q*bert.

It turns out when she would clean house (my mom was old school like that), she adjusted her schedule and saved my room for last. She would finish the house, then finish up my room, and then sit down and play Q*bert. In secret. FOR HOURS. Just her, the ColecoVision, and Q*bert. She would, in fact, play it non-stop until I or my father would roll up for the evening.

And she LOVED this game.

She didn’t tell me about this until just last year. This was, literally, a secret three decades old. I am the son of a gamer, and I’m 47.

Happy Mother’s Day, Nancy. You rocked the Q*bert.

From Philippe Conway

While she’s not a geek by any means, she has always been a huge supporter of my geekiness. My fondest memory is when she took me to my first, and only, Star Trek convention. I believe I was 12 or 13 and we drove and hour and a half to the Great Western Forum (the former home of the LA Kings) to attend. My Mom had a HUGE crush on Jonathan Frakes and she claimed that was her motivation to bring me there. Not only did I get to meet like-minded geeks like myself, but we also got to watch Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis speak. That was the first time I’d ever been to any type of geek convention or con, and I am forever grateful for such a memorable day. Love you Mom!

– Philippe

From Jakob Evans

My mom has been a geek her whole life. She has an interesting relationship with her work life, so she holds her free time in a sacred light as a time where she can truly relax and geek out. She’s been obsessed with countless shows like Supernatural, Farscape, and Stargate Atlantis. She plays and has played a bunch of lego video games, puzzle solving games, and her favorite game, Dragon Age: Inquisition. She’s even taken me to D23, where we spent a Saturday gawking at the giant Marvel and Disney displays. A perfect example of her level of geekiness occurred at D23 when she started the day off by nearly having a heart attack when catching a glimpse of Chris Evans and Harrison Ford. On top of this, she has a deep joy and love for strategy board games. There have been many times where she’s forced us to sit down for an hour and play a new, sometimes perplexing and odd, board game. Her true passion in life, however, is writing. She’s written a sci-fi middle-grade book about a young girl named Lydia and her perilous adventures through tears in time and space, and is currently in the middle of writing a mystery series that revolves around a woman’s witty encounters with mysterious murder cases and drama-filled love life. Right now, she’s in the process of editing her newest installment that comes out May 31st, ” An Old Murder in May”. She talks about all of this and her nerdy interests in her and her friends’ ‘Wekk Podcast’. All of this makes her a bonafide geek and we love her for it. I hope this little letter can help make her Mother’s Day as amazing as it should be.

Thank you so much!

-Jakob Evans

Coming Up Next week, we’ll be publishing our Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore Birthday Bash coverage!

All the music in this episode is by Bensound and is being used under a Creative Commons license. You can find more muisc by Bensound at www.bensound.com

You can currently find us at geektitude.com as well as iTunes and Stitcher and now GooglePlay. Please leave us a review and spread the word!

If you would like to contact me, you can send us an email to joehogan@geektitude.com
You can also follow the show on twitter at @geektitude or me personally at @EpicGrays

Wekk Podcast
Mandy: @AmandaBlakeMS
Wekk: @WekkPodcast

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