The list of fellow Goobs and my take on Goobhood.
TheDiscourser: Has been a buddy of mine since 3rd grade Catholic School. Has his own Blog, thediscourser.blogspot.com. Married, 2 kids, works as an Administrator at a local Middle School. Hobbies include: gaming, comic books, Playstation. Goob factor 5.2 Hides his goobness very well.
TheWarden: we attended the same Catholic High school. Works as a Police Officer. Hobbies include: on-line gaming (particularly Lord of the Rings), computers, gaming, camping, shooting, backpacking, guns. Goob factor 8.8, a high score given how he has contingency plans and is fully prepared for an attack on his home by Zombies.
TheGM: been our primary GM for over 20 years now. Works as a librarian administrator at the county library. Hobbies include: gaming, backpacking, car camping, fishing, electronic gadgets. Goob factor 9.0. We all count on our Ota-King to be our master-goober.
TheProf: been a buddy of mine since college. In fact, theMightyMook, theWarden, theDiscourser, KawangaKid, and I all went to the same Catholic all-boys College Prep Highschool. TheProf is married and works as a teacher at a local college prep high-school teaching all the brainy AP science/math courses. Hobbies include: gaming, miniature table-top gaming, playstation, martial arts, camping, miniature painting, and he's a proselytizing neo-con (I Kid, I Kid!). Goob factor: 9.2. Openly embraces his goobatude.
TheMightyMook: been a buddy of mine since college. Has 2 kids and works primarily in Real Estate and recently played a small role as a hired henchman in a film. Hobbies include: dating, gaming, martial arts, acting. Goob factor: 2.0. You'd never know Mook was a goob. TheMook is one guy you don't want to get into a fight with...he enjoys fighting, doesn't mind getting hit in the face and returning the favor with his foot/leg.
NTT'sBrain: been a buddy of mine for 20 years. Married and works as a professional artist for a huge computer/console game multinational conglomerate. Amazingly skilled artist BTW. Has his own blog nttsbrain.blogspot.com. Hobbies include: drawing, charcoal, paint, photography, wood-work, Airsoft, gaming. Goob factor: 5.0 but he makes being a Goob look cool.
TheKawangaKid: attended the same high-school. Lives and works in the Philippines in the tech industry (I believe). Married with a child on the way! Has his own blog but I can't remember its address. Hobbies include: gaming, sci-fi, short story writer. Goob factor: 9.0 theKawangaKid is a goob, a shameless, out of the closet GOOB. I admire his openess re. his goobatude.
ThePerfectLine: Currently lives in Southern Ca. and works as an IT Director/VP. Hobbies include: dating ridiculously gorgeous women, cars, high performance driving, computers, Electornica...actually, thePerfectLine has had more hobbies than anyone I've known and the list would be too long to include. Goob factor: 10!! Yes, a TEN. He is THE biggest goob I know...but he hides it better than, I believe, anyone in history. He lives 2 lives man!
TheCraftsman: Married with one fresh and new little son. Works as a buyer for a huge electronics retail chain. Hobbies: gaming, carpentry, woodworking, drinking very expensive Scotch, the Beatles. Goob factor: 1.7. TheCraftsman isn't much of a goob at all. He just hangs out with a lot of really supergooby people.
Cajun: Married with 2 kids, an accountant living in a Midwestern Red State. Hobbies include: gaming, airsoft, blogging, sci-fi. Goob factor: 9.1...Big time goober, out and lovin it...he wears "costumes" for cryin out loud, and not just one, he has MANY in his arsenal.
Rave-Boy: One of our youngest members, in a committed relationship, lives with theMightyMook, works for a massive Utility Company. Hobbies include: gaming, cars, dance music, clubbing, glow sticks (very skilled, at least a 14-less), on-line gaming. Goob factor: .1 Rave-boy is the most un-gooby in our group, you'd never know he was a goober. I have no idea why he hangs out with us old guys.
Duff: Another young member. Currently attending an out of state University, single (I believe), works part-time as a fire/emergency system contractor (?). Hobbies include: reading, philosophy, anti-right wing political rhetoric, gaming, 40K miniatures, cars, fine beer. Goob factor: .1, a fringe goob, a dabbler at best, very un-gooby.
SuperTechnician: Super-yacht technology/computer expert/contractor, lives in Europe. Hobbies include: anything related to technology, sci-fi, gaming, woodwork, music. Goob factor: 9.7. This guy is a MAJOR GOOB...all it takes is one conversation with the guy and it becomes entirely and overwhelmingly obvious.
Moose: A mountain of a man. Will be getting married this weekend!! Works as an engineer. Hobbies include: home-brewed beer, guns, gaming, shooting, camping, hunting, fishing,...actually anything related to the outdoors. Goob factor: 2.1 Moose is a different kind of goob, an outdoorsman goober really...can't put it any other way.
And of course.....ME, the Supergoober. Married, works in Public Health Administration, lives in the Bay Area. Hobbies include: cars, high performance driving, chess, gaming, sci-fi, blogging, film, etc. Goob factor: 9.9 I can't quite beat thePerfectLine. I am super in my goobatude simply because I am uber obsessive, and it doesn't take much to push me over the edge into wallowing in another world or in my imagination. And though I make fun of LARP'ing, I've taken Airsoft to the extreme at one point in my life, which on many many levels is much worse than LARP'ing. That's the other point, I take things to the extreme and almost NEVER dabble.
You see, past a goob-factor of 10, one begins to loose grasp of reality,...not in a psychotic sense, but more in the amount of energy and effort one places on all aspects of living "not-related" to reality; ie. REAL relationships, REAL responsibilities, etc. VERSUS non-stop hobby related expended energy, wallowing in fantasy (your own or someone else's), amassing huge amounts of trivial knowledge, engaging in ridiculous and unimportant debate.
And along this same continuum, beyond Goobhood is what I would call "Geekhood" (not to be confused with the "Nerd" who, for the most part, are smart, high achieving, and successful, but could never in ANY way be seen as cool, hip, or popular). Geeks escape from reality because they lack the skills to engage it. Geeks also have a nearly autistic element to there, at times, mad intelligence...and use this brainpower for completely irrelevant, unimportant, and useless endevors (like memorizing statistics for batting avgs for switch hitters during night games on grass turf, or 4th Edition critical-hit charts). Geeks are a sad lot and almost never pass for appearing well-adjusted. Some geeks try hard to appear less geeky but geeks can't hide their geekatude like Goobers can. But to their credit, most are educated and have decent jobs/careers. Some find "she-geeks" and live near normal lives raising and propagating another generation of Geeks.
Beyond "Geekhood" is what I would call the "Freak"...and we've all run into a few of these losers. Go to a gaming convention and you will understand. Unlike Geeks, Freaks are people without the benefit of education or intelligence. To describe: they are often ludicrously dressed (typically with a talisman or totem or some sort of symbolic dress/accessory that aids in reminding themselves of their make-believe elevated station or affiliation with some make-believe society), typically have less than adequate (to horrid) personal hygiene, are in terrible physical shape, and for the most part are completely undesirable bordering on revolting to the opposite sex, excepting the equally marginalized "She-Freak". Most of these folks are seriously diagnosable and in need of some long-term therapy. They neither have the sense nor the ability to conceal their Freakhood and generally work in low paying jobs that require little to no social interaction...wow, I sound harsh, but it's TRUE!
And yes, there is something past "Freakhood"...it is a special category reserved for a particular kind of LARP'er. You see, Nerds, Goobs, Geeks, and Freaks are ALL, in varying degrees, aware of their marginalization. They've lived their lives on the fringe and most have experienced ridicule and at times even abuse. And for most, it is this environment of marginalization that has motivated folks to gravitate toward these sub-cultures and fringe communities.
But for some uber-LARP'ers, they've done an intrapsychic trick, so to speak, and turned the world on its head...in their minds, THEY are the Gods and the Prince's. They take "pretend" to a near psychotic level...they BECOME the characters they play; they receive joy, experience pain, and achieve status via the alter-ego of their own making. They walk around in the world talking, dressing, acting, and interacting as THIS character because their own lives are soo bereft and lacking...simply put, it is intolerable to be themselves so they've become someone else. And what is most pathetic is that their false narcissism and bloated sense of self-esteem has its foundation in the make-believe...they're psyche has eschewed reality. We've all seen this: the wholly unattractive whale of a woman who dresses and believes she's the beautiful Vampire Princess, the pasty goateed long pony-tailed man dressed in the cheap all black suit who believes he's some Adonis Lord of some secret society, etc.
So to end, please my Goober friends, let me not become more of a Goober than I already am.
TheWarden: we attended the same Catholic High school. Works as a Police Officer. Hobbies include: on-line gaming (particularly Lord of the Rings), computers, gaming, camping, shooting, backpacking, guns. Goob factor 8.8, a high score given how he has contingency plans and is fully prepared for an attack on his home by Zombies.
TheGM: been our primary GM for over 20 years now. Works as a librarian administrator at the county library. Hobbies include: gaming, backpacking, car camping, fishing, electronic gadgets. Goob factor 9.0. We all count on our Ota-King to be our master-goober.
TheProf: been a buddy of mine since college. In fact, theMightyMook, theWarden, theDiscourser, KawangaKid, and I all went to the same Catholic all-boys College Prep Highschool. TheProf is married and works as a teacher at a local college prep high-school teaching all the brainy AP science/math courses. Hobbies include: gaming, miniature table-top gaming, playstation, martial arts, camping, miniature painting, and he's a proselytizing neo-con (I Kid, I Kid!). Goob factor: 9.2. Openly embraces his goobatude.
TheMightyMook: been a buddy of mine since college. Has 2 kids and works primarily in Real Estate and recently played a small role as a hired henchman in a film. Hobbies include: dating, gaming, martial arts, acting. Goob factor: 2.0. You'd never know Mook was a goob. TheMook is one guy you don't want to get into a fight with...he enjoys fighting, doesn't mind getting hit in the face and returning the favor with his foot/leg.
NTT'sBrain: been a buddy of mine for 20 years. Married and works as a professional artist for a huge computer/console game multinational conglomerate. Amazingly skilled artist BTW. Has his own blog nttsbrain.blogspot.com. Hobbies include: drawing, charcoal, paint, photography, wood-work, Airsoft, gaming. Goob factor: 5.0 but he makes being a Goob look cool.
TheKawangaKid: attended the same high-school. Lives and works in the Philippines in the tech industry (I believe). Married with a child on the way! Has his own blog but I can't remember its address. Hobbies include: gaming, sci-fi, short story writer. Goob factor: 9.0 theKawangaKid is a goob, a shameless, out of the closet GOOB. I admire his openess re. his goobatude.
ThePerfectLine: Currently lives in Southern Ca. and works as an IT Director/VP. Hobbies include: dating ridiculously gorgeous women, cars, high performance driving, computers, Electornica...actually, thePerfectLine has had more hobbies than anyone I've known and the list would be too long to include. Goob factor: 10!! Yes, a TEN. He is THE biggest goob I know...but he hides it better than, I believe, anyone in history. He lives 2 lives man!
TheCraftsman: Married with one fresh and new little son. Works as a buyer for a huge electronics retail chain. Hobbies: gaming, carpentry, woodworking, drinking very expensive Scotch, the Beatles. Goob factor: 1.7. TheCraftsman isn't much of a goob at all. He just hangs out with a lot of really supergooby people.
Cajun: Married with 2 kids, an accountant living in a Midwestern Red State. Hobbies include: gaming, airsoft, blogging, sci-fi. Goob factor: 9.1...Big time goober, out and lovin it...he wears "costumes" for cryin out loud, and not just one, he has MANY in his arsenal.
Rave-Boy: One of our youngest members, in a committed relationship, lives with theMightyMook, works for a massive Utility Company. Hobbies include: gaming, cars, dance music, clubbing, glow sticks (very skilled, at least a 14-less), on-line gaming. Goob factor: .1 Rave-boy is the most un-gooby in our group, you'd never know he was a goober. I have no idea why he hangs out with us old guys.
Duff: Another young member. Currently attending an out of state University, single (I believe), works part-time as a fire/emergency system contractor (?). Hobbies include: reading, philosophy, anti-right wing political rhetoric, gaming, 40K miniatures, cars, fine beer. Goob factor: .1, a fringe goob, a dabbler at best, very un-gooby.
SuperTechnician: Super-yacht technology/computer expert/contractor, lives in Europe. Hobbies include: anything related to technology, sci-fi, gaming, woodwork, music. Goob factor: 9.7. This guy is a MAJOR GOOB...all it takes is one conversation with the guy and it becomes entirely and overwhelmingly obvious.
Moose: A mountain of a man. Will be getting married this weekend!! Works as an engineer. Hobbies include: home-brewed beer, guns, gaming, shooting, camping, hunting, fishing,...actually anything related to the outdoors. Goob factor: 2.1 Moose is a different kind of goob, an outdoorsman goober really...can't put it any other way.
And of course.....ME, the Supergoober. Married, works in Public Health Administration, lives in the Bay Area. Hobbies include: cars, high performance driving, chess, gaming, sci-fi, blogging, film, etc. Goob factor: 9.9 I can't quite beat thePerfectLine. I am super in my goobatude simply because I am uber obsessive, and it doesn't take much to push me over the edge into wallowing in another world or in my imagination. And though I make fun of LARP'ing, I've taken Airsoft to the extreme at one point in my life, which on many many levels is much worse than LARP'ing. That's the other point, I take things to the extreme and almost NEVER dabble.
You see, past a goob-factor of 10, one begins to loose grasp of reality,...not in a psychotic sense, but more in the amount of energy and effort one places on all aspects of living "not-related" to reality; ie. REAL relationships, REAL responsibilities, etc. VERSUS non-stop hobby related expended energy, wallowing in fantasy (your own or someone else's), amassing huge amounts of trivial knowledge, engaging in ridiculous and unimportant debate.
And along this same continuum, beyond Goobhood is what I would call "Geekhood" (not to be confused with the "Nerd" who, for the most part, are smart, high achieving, and successful, but could never in ANY way be seen as cool, hip, or popular). Geeks escape from reality because they lack the skills to engage it. Geeks also have a nearly autistic element to there, at times, mad intelligence...and use this brainpower for completely irrelevant, unimportant, and useless endevors (like memorizing statistics for batting avgs for switch hitters during night games on grass turf, or 4th Edition critical-hit charts). Geeks are a sad lot and almost never pass for appearing well-adjusted. Some geeks try hard to appear less geeky but geeks can't hide their geekatude like Goobers can. But to their credit, most are educated and have decent jobs/careers. Some find "she-geeks" and live near normal lives raising and propagating another generation of Geeks.
Beyond "Geekhood" is what I would call the "Freak"...and we've all run into a few of these losers. Go to a gaming convention and you will understand. Unlike Geeks, Freaks are people without the benefit of education or intelligence. To describe: they are often ludicrously dressed (typically with a talisman or totem or some sort of symbolic dress/accessory that aids in reminding themselves of their make-believe elevated station or affiliation with some make-believe society), typically have less than adequate (to horrid) personal hygiene, are in terrible physical shape, and for the most part are completely undesirable bordering on revolting to the opposite sex, excepting the equally marginalized "She-Freak". Most of these folks are seriously diagnosable and in need of some long-term therapy. They neither have the sense nor the ability to conceal their Freakhood and generally work in low paying jobs that require little to no social interaction...wow, I sound harsh, but it's TRUE!
And yes, there is something past "Freakhood"...it is a special category reserved for a particular kind of LARP'er. You see, Nerds, Goobs, Geeks, and Freaks are ALL, in varying degrees, aware of their marginalization. They've lived their lives on the fringe and most have experienced ridicule and at times even abuse. And for most, it is this environment of marginalization that has motivated folks to gravitate toward these sub-cultures and fringe communities.
But for some uber-LARP'ers, they've done an intrapsychic trick, so to speak, and turned the world on its head...in their minds, THEY are the Gods and the Prince's. They take "pretend" to a near psychotic level...they BECOME the characters they play; they receive joy, experience pain, and achieve status via the alter-ego of their own making. They walk around in the world talking, dressing, acting, and interacting as THIS character because their own lives are soo bereft and lacking...simply put, it is intolerable to be themselves so they've become someone else. And what is most pathetic is that their false narcissism and bloated sense of self-esteem has its foundation in the make-believe...they're psyche has eschewed reality. We've all seen this: the wholly unattractive whale of a woman who dresses and believes she's the beautiful Vampire Princess, the pasty goateed long pony-tailed man dressed in the cheap all black suit who believes he's some Adonis Lord of some secret society, etc.
So to end, please my Goober friends, let me not become more of a Goober than I already am.
posted by supergoober at
10:13 AM
8 Comments:
awesome....simply awesome
you did miss my scrabble hobby. i scored 390 on a 4 count em 4 player game. I believe that gets me some more goob points
-craftsman
Damn, I missed the Scrabble thing. I'll have to bump up your score.
.1? I need to work on upping my score. It's tough up here where no one is really interested in anything except D&D.
FWIW, I'm back with my previous uber-conglomerate full-time and am applying the business school at my university.
I'll let you know on the woman situation.
Business school!!! Can you tolerate being in an entire classroom full of full-on capitalists?
The Craftsman's score is temporarily increased by hanging out with a fellow Goob and trying to drag me into the abyss with him
Signed,
Mrs. Craftsman
PS: What's my score, what with the scrapbooking and all?
Re. Scrapping, here's my take:
1. Scrapping, at least ostensibly, is about fashioning an interesting vehicle which would best and most effectively display one's memories of family, friends, and important events, such as; traveling, weddings, family get-togethers, etc.etc.,...your basic chronicling of normal and typical life. Nerds, Goobs, Geeks, Freaks, and LARP'ers are by their very nature ABNORMAL in almost every way, so scrappers have that on us.
2. Scrappers are for the most part MARRIED woman who enjoy and view scrapping events as an opportunity to socialize and make new friends. Geeks, Freaks, as well as some LARP'ers and Goobs are for the most part MEN who have near zero probability of finding any woman that would ever find them in any way desirable, let alone date them and eventually marry them...so again, scrappers have that one on us.
3. Though scrapping has some serious obsessive aspects, it has its foundations in REALITY; again, you are chronicling real events. For us, there are no REAL events...you have to remember, we're really weird and can spend hours on end dwelling in and interacting in fantasy. Again, one point for said scrappers.
So as you can see, Mrs. Craftsman, in the end, I can't really give you much of a goober factor. You're too grounded in reality, despite any obsessiveness related to your hobby. You're also much to cool and would NEVER be mistaken as any of the categories I've mentioned. In a convention, we can spot "normal" people from a mile away so consider that a compliment...you're simply not ridiculously abnormal enough to be a goob...sorry.
But wait, you did marry quite a goob so I could call you a "she-goob", but thats about as fas as I can stretch it.
Hmm... you obviously haven't seen this list: http://tinyurl.com/3uhww
There we are, numbers 8 and 9!
It's 3 kids P......and 1 Grandson and 1 Granddaughter on the way...... funny thing is the field I play on is so non-Milsim that Mook would love it....t-shirts are the norm...See guys....if you had all done Ren Faire with PerfectLine and me you'd have a higher rating too.
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