20 September 2013

Finding My Bloggy Self and Nerd Love


After a bit of bloggy soul searching, reading Belinda's Follow Your Blogging Compass series and a very inspiring comment from Erika I decided that the blog needed a bit of a rethink with regards to what I was posting about. I was thinking too broadly and trying to emulate what other blogs were doing, totally stripping myself of my uniqueness. We're all different and that should be celebrated so why should I try and copy others.
A little bit of self belief has sunk in and the encouragement of others has been incredibly inspirational and I'm so grateful for those lovely ladies.

So where am I going with this? That little word up top there in my header says nerdyness and so far I haven't been delivering on the goods. So it's time to inject some nerd juice in to the blog starting with a new series. With Nerd Love I aim to start sharing some of the nerdy things I love, why I love them and why you should give them a shot if you haven't already and if you have then you can share what you love about them too. Hopefully we can all start embracing our inner Geeks and Nerds and spread the love.

First up in the series I want to talk about where I believe my love of sci fi started. I was lucky enough to be exposed to Star Trek the original series when I was really young and got my little geek on when I watched it. But I only liked it back then, the love came later so it's fair to say my geekery didn't all start with the Trek.

No, it started in the New Mexico desert where a scientific genius stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and... all together now... vanished!

Gooshie, centre me on the best TV show ever!



Although some would argue it's not really sci fi, Quantum Leap counts to me as in essence it's about a super handsome guy travelling through time. It was my first true sci fi love.

It was a show that shaped me as a person not only as a mini nerd, but as a human with human feels. I often joke that Sam Beckett is responsible for my outlook and ideals, but in a way it's totally true! What?! I watch too much telly I know! But seriously, it was very influential on a kid of seven watching googly eyed at that blue light and her favourite hero.

The whole concept of the show is that Sam, with the help of Al, Ziggy and Gooshie travels back in time to fix things that went wrong in the past. That concept alone instilled feelings of the need to help each other out once in a while and in the immortal words of Bill & Ted "be excellent to each other" (that's another Nerd Love post for another time).

You're part of a time travel experiment that went a little ca-ca


Quantum Leap covered a whole load of topics that were pretty daring and influential in my beliefs as an adult. I'll admit some went over my head as a kid, but the info went in and was there at the back of my brain for when I started to fully understand what really being said. Some of the more serious themes in the series included racism, sexism, rape and the treatment of those with special needs. Each theme was handled with care, well written and acted superbly.



What I loved most about Quantum Leap was Scott Backula as Sam. He just hit that nerve in me every time helping me take in what was going on and how I felt about it. Making me really think, which is always a good thing!

Everything in Quantum Leap always seemed so heartfelt and genuine especially the relationship between Sam and Al. One always tried their best to look out for the other and some of my favourite leaps involved Sam looking out for Al from the past - with the exception of one heartbreaking leap where Sam refuses to tell Al's wife to wait for him, that he's alive and he will come home from war. This eventually leads you to the even more heartbreaking final leap where Sam says he has one thing he wishes he could change... 

I'm stuck in '56 with a brain like swiss-cheese and YOU'RE having technical difficulties


There is nothing bad for me to say about Quantum Leap. It's full of heart and feels and so much fun to watch. It also holds some great sentimental value to me too. My Dad used to let me stay up late and watch it with him so it's been kind of a bond that I've always held on to no matter how rough things got during later years.

For me there has never been a show like it since and to be honest, Sci Fi really played a small part in my love for it. My love was all about the heart of the show and how involved I got. I was right along with Sam and Al totally invested in what was happening. But it did open me up to more sci fi shows and I'll geek out whenever it's repeated on TV so I hold solely responsible! 

What about you guys? Can you pin point your early nerdy beginnings? Do you have any favourite sci fi shows or are you a crazy Leaper lover like me? Unleash your geek in the comments.

Now Gooshie... centre me in on dinner!

//Website//Twitter//Facebook//

No comments: