Geek Habitat

I feel a disturbance in the Force …

My geek cred is plummeting by the hour, since I have no plans for today to see the final Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I did send my envoy, however — Justin will be in a theatre at 2 PM with his crew from work as that familiar music thunders over the auditorium speakers, bringing tears to all but the most battle-hardened of geeks. He’ll be viewing the movie at the same theatre that hosted an overnight line party for the first (midnight) showing of Sith. Star Wars is modern mythology, and the opening of a prequel turns ordinary theatres into geek-sanctified ground — a temple if you will. Of course, this time, it’s a temple of the Sith. A Dark Lord rises to bring ‘balance’ to the Force.

In 1999, while I still worked in corporate America, I attended the opening day “work-approved” viewing of the first prequel, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I suspect they approved it knowing full well that to not would mean a wave of mysterious illness and family emergencies would have overtaken our crew of designers, developers, usability engineers and project managers. We took over much of an already-to-capacity auditorium, and it was a little manic as the lights dimmed.

I like things calmer and more personal, and thus I haven’t revived my corporate persona to hang out in a dark theatre with the old work crew since my departure. Justin has continued the tradition in my stead, and that’s enough for me. I will be seeing the movie tomorrow with Justin and our good friend and partner in crime, AnnMarie.

I’ve learned a lot in the past 2 years, not the least of which is I can wait 24 hours.

That said, I apologize to my neighbors in advance for blaring my Star Wars soundtracks as I work on my computer today!