(no subject)

[dragonwolf]

Hello all.

Hmm, about me. I suck at introductions, for one. They always come off sounding like an AA meeting or something (not that AA meetings are bad, they're just scripted).

So anywho, I've been a geek since my dad gave me my first computer when I was like 8. Many breaks and "dad! Can you help?" phone calls later, I was able to work on my own computers and eventually used what I learned to land a job on Geek Squad. I now work as an application and web developer for a somewhat small, but growing and respected consulting company (and have been blessed with a diverse group of coworkers and awesome upper management that encourage women in the field).

I'm very much a computer nerd and drool over I7s and SLI cards with some of the best of the boys, as much as I drool over the new CSS standard specifications and Microsoft or Java technologies.

I'm into some anime, but am picky about it and have come to despise "Americanized" versions of both anime and manga, which eliminates a lot of manga until I get rich and famous and have the time and money to learn Japanese, and leaves me with fan subbed anime. :)

I'm a bookworm, as well, though my collection isn't nearly as large as many people I know (in part because I weeded out a lot of books and donated a bunch to a local library before going to college). My collection includes everything from religious books to drawing books to fantasy and fiction, and I hope I'm able to continue growing my collection.

I'm also a somewhat light gamer. I say somewhat because I don't play a lot of different games, but the ones that I get into, I get really into. I prefer RPG and RTS games, with some of my favorites being World of Warcraft (me and half the world), Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War.

Sunfell talked about stereotypes in a previous post and how there's a lot of disbelief that women can be geeks. I've been fortunate enough to not be on the more hostile end of the disbelief spectrum and instead be on the more humorous side of things. Those who play online games, such as WoW, are probably familiar with voice chat, and everyone knows about the androgynous nature of the Internet. I find it rather amusing when a group hears one of their female group members talk on voice chat for the first time, since it's almost always met with a "whoa! It's a chick!" response (especially if the guys are younger). Thankfully, most of them get over their surprise pretty quick and don't harbor any bigotry.

Alright, I think that's enough about me. I'm starting to feel like I'm being kind of self-centered, so I think I'll stop here.

Comments

[worldstosee]

Cool about the computer stuff - and the Geek Squad!

[seeking_harmony]

Professionally I've had minor bits of disbelief that I can do things because I'm a woman, but outright verbal abuse came from people on Xbox Live, specifically men on my own team on team-based first person shooters. Most often than not I was outscoring those bastards and that made their vitriol that less bothersome, but it was still shocking to get such outpouring of hate simply because of my gender. I fell out of habit of playing that game (Team Fortress 2) and thankfully haven't had any experiences similar to that since.

[dragonwolf]

I smell jealousy that they were getting their asses handed to them by a girl. :D

It's good to know that you haven't had to deal with their insecurities since, though.