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Being a dork is a lot dorkier than I thought. Maybe I was spoiled back in Virginia with a plethora of dorks for friends, but it used to be a lot easier to get a group of people together to watch watch dorky movies; ie, asian, sci-fi, zombie, Miyazaki, etc. Sure, some of my friends abstained from these activities, but I still got some respect. I could have sworn being a dork was becoming cool, or at least on its way. Seth Cohen from the OC is a prime example of how dorks have now become cool. Seth, while obviously adorable, was a huge dork. He played video games, read and wrote comic books, and never really went to the jock parties, and if he did, he got beat up. Yet no one could deny his moxy. Ladies wanted him and dudes wanted to be him. I saw this social evolution growing up. When I was in high school, a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly was a hot commodity on the school bus, even if it was the soccer or basketball team bus. You had to get in line to read it, and the qeue consisted of the coolest kids at school. As I got to college the evolution continued, and most kids were into at least one or two dorky habits. We probably have video games to thank, and now with the Wii, girls and parents are dorks too (although, parents have always been dorks).

Missouri is little bit different. Dorks are dorks out here. Maybe the cool dork hasn't made his way out to the mid-west just yet. Of course, gaming is socially accepted. Everybody plays video games. But this hasn't spilled over into other hobbies like comics, movies, TV shows, and computing (the word sounds dorky as I type it). Battlestar Galactica is my most recent example. It's dorky right off the bat because there's a made up sci-fi word right in the title. While I do admit Battlestar is probably the dorkiest thing I've been involved with, it would have been at least respected back in Norfolk. It's flat out frowned upon in Missouri. It's for this reason I bring it up whenever I can in social situations.

I like to first bring up the topic of favorite TV shows. Generally shows like Lost, 24, Sex and the City, or an MTV reality show are mentioned. Then I like to drop the BS bomb.

"Have you ever seen Battlestar Galactica?" At this point I usually can't hold in my joy; so, I'll ask the question with a big (dorky) grin. This is then followed by a frown and a few seconds of silence.

"Are you serious?" Now he or she is scanning my face to see whether I'm joking or not, a little uneasy about how to handle the situation. Do I let Jon know what I really think of him now or do I not make a big deal out of it and hope the subject changes?

And then Zach came along. An angel straight from the pearly gates, fellow intern, and now favorite roommate, Zach has been gracious enough to give Battlestar Galactica a shot. Like any dork relationship, it's give and take. Zach is a big Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fan, and not just a casual one. He doesn't wear a communicator on his shirt, but he is going through the entire series solo (again). He's halfway through season 4 right now. I decided to make an offer: how about you watch a Battlestar with me, and I'll watch a Deep Space Nine with you? It was like shooting a dead guy in a casket.

We've watched four Battestars together now and we're not looking back. Glen, bless his little heart, tried to watch one and couldn't handle it. I respect that, kudos for the effort. My third roommate, however, Jarred, has watched 3 episodes with Zach and I, and yet, refuses to admit that he's a fan. I think any sane person out there would admit that sitting through a show as dorky as Battlestar Galactica on three separate occasions would signify a "fan", or maybe better yet, a dork.

It's up to you, Jarred. You can come clean whenever you like. We're waiting on the other side...

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Thanks to my friend, Steve Mays, I have lately been enjoying the tech side of the internet. One of the best referrals Mr. Mays has given me is a techy named Chris Pirillo. Steve Jobs was giving a keynote address today on several new iphone and macbook features, and while I wasn't able to watch Jobs live on the internet, I was able to watch Chris Pirillo watch Jobs live on the internet. Pirillo has a live video stream of him on the computer, which sometimes is just as boring as it sounds, but at other times, like today, it can be pretty interesting. He's got a blog when some great tech reviews (mostly Apple stuff), and clever articles. Today he was really hopped up on coffee, and let out an emphatic "yes!" or "woohoo!" when Jobs announced a cool new feature. Maybe you dorks out there will enjoy him as much as I have.