My daughter got taken shopping last week by her aunt and uncle as a birthday treat. She is twelve and shopping-as-fun is a very new concept. She’s at that wonderful (and sometimes scary) stage of working out who she is, what she likes, and how she wants to reflect that identity to the rest of the world through her choice of clothes, books and music. You know, that tricky stage that lasts until – what – your forties? (I’m thirty-five and still feel seventeen half the time – don’t ask me).
She came home sporting a necklace made from scrabble tiles that spelled the word ‘geek’. I’m so proud (all those Vlogbrothers videos I showed her have obviously sunk in). Mainly, though, I’m excited for her. I’m excited by her enthusiasm and developing interests and, whatever those turn out to be, I just want her to have them. To be passionate about and engaged with the world.
Understandably, my daughter’s necklace confused her nana slightly and I garbled an explanation, saying something about reclaiming the word and how it couldn’t be an insult if you fundamentally disagreed with the idea that to be intelligent, interested and enthusiastic was a bad thing.
The poster (pictured above) sums it up. It’s available for pre-order from DFTBA Records for $12.