so, what ARE you, o woman, o geek?

Someone once asked me, "What are you? A woman or a geek?!" And my spontaneous (and indignant) response: Both!*

Why is this cliched binary the name of my blog? Because at that time, believing I was both, I refused to choose between the two. And because now, being unsure of what either means, I am unable to choose between the two. (And because both then and now people who find me attractive also find me incredibly weird.) And because this change is symbolic of much else: I began knowing and certain, and have ended up knowing more... but uncertain.

So, it seemed the most appropriate name for a blog that I've set up to basically vent and whine and reflect and revise the way I think through my life and my dissertation. Both of these are currently intertwined, marked by periods of confusion and self-doubt and uncertainty, and punctuated by precious moments of clarity and purpose and meaning. The former (and this blog) I hope to enjoy for a while; the latter, I hope to finish very soon.



*I had just told him I didn't particularly enjoy shopping, and that no, I didn't follow fashion and that er, yeah, I wasn't all that much into girlie stuff. "Seriously? Not even Victoria's Secret?", he'd asked. I could hear the grin in his voice. And I said no. Ok, so it wasn't exactly true; I have been known to spend time and money in that store. They have some nice stuff. But I didn't like that he was the kind of man who asked that out loud. And I didn't like being the sort of woman who got asked that to her face. So I just said no. Our dates fizzled out some months later. I liked him enough to be a weak-kneed klutz around him, flirt shamelessly, and worry about if he liked-me liked-me... but I didn't like him enough to overlook his lack of information about and interest in anything other than his job, Rihanna, and sex.