Geek Pride Day celebrated today

Photo by Jurvetson (flickr)

Geek Pride Day is celebrated worldwide on May 25, originating in Spain and on the Internet in 2006 then crossing the Atlantic in 2008. The special day is celebrated on May 25 in honor of the 1977 premiere of Star Wars. Today, geeks everywhere are encouraged to express their geekiness in public without shame. If you or your teen is a geek, celebrate!

"Geek" is a slang term that originally described a wild carnival performer biting the head off a live chicken, bat or snake. That definition, thank goodness, is now third to Dictionary.com's first two entries, which use the words "overly intellectual" and "computer expert or enthusiast." In the recent past, some geek traits have actually risen to fashionable and popular heights. (Hey, isn't that an oxymoronic sentence?) In technical occupations, geeks are those with extraordinary skills, a reputation aided by Bill Gates and the marketing of helpful technical abilities by companies such as Geek Squad. Geek Chic is a trend prompting many citizens who were, by all appearances, popular in high school to go around proclaiming things like: "I love to read! I'm such a book geek!" Or, proudly exclaiming: "Look at my new [dark-rimmed, rectangular] eyeglasses! I'm such a geek!" There's even a Facebook geek quiz. Is geekiness the in thing now? Or are fashionistas superficially rocking geek elements? Whatever the case, roll with it. They'll inevitably move on. True geekiness is permanent.

Check out some geeky awesomeness:

• Geekologie - "a blog dedicated to the scientific study of gadgets, gizmos and awesome"
• geeksugar.com - the latest geek chic and celebtech news
• Geeks! - a social networking site started by Chris Pirillo
• Geek Test 3.1 from innergeek
• Geek Monthly magazine and blog