The Vulcan Hand Salute Enactment Effect

I honestly have the most awesome best friend in the entire world.  Although she's never watched a single episode of Star Trek (the horror!), she indulges my love of the show and on my birthday last month, spent hours letting me tell her to live long and prosper while giving her a Vulcan hand salute repeatedly.  (Side track: my other close friend made me a birthday cake in the shape of a Vulcan hand salute.  See? Awesome, awesome friends).

The other day was just so full of win that I begged her to let me mention the conversation on my blog, which she agreed to do (I *love* her!).

I was raised Catholic.  My best friend, however, is not at all religious and up until last week she had never been to a Catholic mass in her life:

'I was supposed to wish peace to the people around me,' she said, 'and instead I turned to my husband with my Spock hand up and told him to live long and prosper...'

Again, this is from somebody who has never seen a Star Trek episode or movie in her life.  Do I have my friends well trained or what!? And, as stated previously - I am totally going to make this, as well as Spock Five a thing.  Soon all my friends and family will be doing it.

How to name a publishing company and media group

In the last week I've set up my new publishing company as well as a media group (which acts as a holding company for everything I do).

My first issue was naming them both.  I wanted something unique...and awesome.  I researched and read up on how to name a company, and when it came to the publishing company I decided to go with the likes of Acer et al, and pick a name in another language which was meaningful.

Now most people would go with Latin.

But I'm not most people.

I named my publishing company Irri-Aepha Publishing.  Irri meaning "believe", and aepha meaning "compose".  And what language did I name it in, you ask? I named it in Rihannsu.

Which is another name for Romulan.

Here's a Romulan for non-Trekkies.

And then there was the media group... What name could I use for that, that was equally awesome?

This:

Yeah, I did.  Interestingly, there is actually a whole Roman mythology thing behind the names Romulus and Remus, and it's apparently popular to name companies after mythological figures.  So I could go with that line if I wanted to.

But we all know I won't! ;)

And now for the plug:

You can check out the publishing services offered by Irri-Aepha Publishing at: 

http://millarpress.com/services-and-packages/

 

and submit manuscripts here: http://millarpress.com/submit-your-manuscript/

 

And if any Trekkies/fellow geeks are interested in publishing their work through Irri-Aepha you can use the discount code STARFLEET for 30% off all products!

Don't tell me Wrath of Khan is on tv then expect me NOT to quote it!

It's been a Star Trek kind of day today (but then again, when is it ever not a Star Trek kind of day when I'm around?).  First, this popped up in my facebook newsfeed:

Well played, facebook.  Well played.

And of course, I couldn't let this go without being lame and commenting on my own status update in relation to this image "I have been... and always shall be... your friend... live long and prosper.  RESISTANCE WAS FUTILE!".

And then there was this conversation later on:

Mum: Bec, Wrath of Khan is on tv followed by The Search for Spock.
Me: He tasks me! He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up!
Mum: What the fu...
Me: FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE! FOR HATE'S SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE!
Mum: Exactly how many times have you seen Wrath of Khan?
Me: I dunno, like three? That's all from Moby Dick.
Mum: And how many times have you read that?
Me: Once. Hey mum? I have been...and always shall be... your friend.

At which point she walks off in disgust while I yell out 'live long and prosper' at her.

But honestly, she was the fool who brought up Wrath of Khan.  She should know that it's all she's going to hear for the next week or so!

Uber Trekkie Weirdness Syndrome

I'm currently working on my bucket list, which you can read about here.  One of the items on my list was to have an epic Star Trek DS9 marathon.  

The problem with this is that I develop a psychological condition known as Uber Trekkie Weirdness, which leads to an uncontrollable desire and ability to make obscure Star Trek references to every single topic imaginable, an overactive imagination and a tendency to overact everything and speak in a slow dramatic voice without realising it.  It can also lead to excessive quoting of Wrath of Khan, despite Wrath of Khan being totally irrelevant to DS9. 

An excerpt from the blog post: #471 - Watch every episode of Star Trek: DS9 from bucketlistingblog:

"It happened almost instantaneously. I was barely three episodes into the seven seasons of Deep Space Nine (DS9) that I was aiming to get through when I began to talk like Benjamin Sisko, the commander of the space station featured in the series.

I began… to speak…in a slow voice…with lots of pauses.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I also began to use similar facial expressions so people could truly feel the moment I was trying to communicate. Because, after all, moving your head in a strange tic like movement ,widening your eyes and taking five minutes to say something like ‘I don’t believe you’, is much more effective than simply saying it. It didn’t stop there though…

I decided that I would name my next daughter Jadzia, after Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax.

I actually threw a shoe at the television when Odo was too busy getting it on with the other shape shifter to help Major Kira, and Rom the ferengi was sentenced to execution (of course they saved him in time).

Conversations with my family members and friends started to go something like this:

Friend: Maybe you could outsource this particular piece of work, if it’s giving you a headache?
Me: I bet you a bottle of bloodwine that I won’t be able to find anybody!
Friend: A what?
Me: Bloodwine! The Klingon drink of choice. Qapla’!
Friend: Are you speaking English?
Me: Well you’d know it if I was speaking Klingon, wouldn’t you? *exasperated sigh*

I began doing things like yelling ‘your mother has a smooth forehead!’ at inanimate objects when they displeased me.

People would tell me stories of how they broke their toe/had a cold/found a cure for cancer, and I would in turn tell them stories about the time Major Kira smashed a Cardassian in the face, about the virus that infected the founders, or how Dr Bashir found a vaccine for an incurable illness on some random planet in the Gamma quadrant.

It wasn’t until I caught myself attempting to exterminate an arachnid, Wrath of Khan style, that I realised I had a problem.

Useful tip: bug spray kills arachnids. Yelling ‘from hell’s heart I stab at thee!’ does not.

I made it through all seven seasons of DS9, and just as I was about to start tackling #74: Watch every Star Trek episode and movie in chronological order, I had a moment of pure clarity (something which Major Kira has in DS9 right before she decides to get together with Odo). I realised that I probably should take a break from Star Trek before my family and friends started bat’lething me, because I’d lost the plot."

This pretty much says it all...

I totally want a sign like this on my front door...

Exterminating arachnids, Wrath of Khan style

I think my whole quoting Wrath of Khan thing this week is getting a tad out of control.

The second worst kept secret in the universe is that I absolutely loathe arachnids.  To the point that my hatred of them extends to loathing crabs because they have similar leg joints and move in a similar fashion.

This is an issue, given that I live in Australia where arachnids are plentiful and seriously effing scary.  They also refuse to die.  No joke, these things are like Superman - faster than speeding bullets, and immune to everything bar Kryptonite.

Last night I discovered a huge whitetail on my bathroom door.  After some mild hysteria, I managed to get my crap together long enough to grab the bug spray.  And when I say bug spray, I mean industrial strength, fast kill bug spray which is marketed as rendering any form of insect or arachnid dead with one small spray.  Clearly this was not developed in Australia, because it was utterly useless in killing the filthy arachnid.

So I stood there spraying it, and shrieking "DIE ARACHNID, DIE! HE TASKS ME! HE TASKS ME! FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE!"

Yes.  I decided that quoting Wrath of Khan while attempting to exterminate it would be more effective.

It was not.

I used the remaining spray in the can on it, and it was still moving.  Specifically, it was still moving towards me.

Eventually it met its demise, thanks to the aid of a thong (flip flop for non-Aussie readers).  And the lesson in all of this?  Don't waste time quoting Star Trek at arachnids.  It doesn't kill them quicker, and it actually seems to piss them off more than anything else.

The best thing about being a geeky parent

Without a doubt, the best thing about being a geeky parent is the fact that I can indulge my love of all things geeky and not deal with any buyers remorse, because I can buy things for my daughter.

Some of my favourites:

My addiction to buying Star Trek related onesies is still going strong!  The science officer outfit was from ThinkGeek, and the other two I ordered off cafepress.

These were part of the "Trekmas" presents last year.  In the top left are TOS cloth nappies.  Even my child's butt has to be geeked out!

More ThinkGeek purchases.  The green thing is a plush microbe - Malaria to be specific.  We named her "Mary Malaria"

Why one should not 'play' Star Trek when one lives on a main road

So I just got busted doing one of my many Spock impressions.

I live on a main road, so there are always people driving and walking past.  I went to put something in the bin, and my daughter who remained inside was standing at the door with her hand on it.  So of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to put my hand up to hers through the door and be all "I have been...and always shall be...your friend...live long...and prosper" *die*

But in my overly enthusiastic portrayal of dying Spock, I neglected to check whether anybody else was around.  Yep.  I had an audience.  A very amused audience.

I'd like to say I'm embarrassed about this, but really I think it's just awesome ;)

You can watch the scene I was re-enacting here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekBOxnyzszo

Mission: Quote Wrath of Khan at every available opportunity

My sister got a new phone/phone number and I absolutely couldn't resist doing this to her.  She wasn't impressed, despite how funny I thought it was:

Best. Bathrobe. Ever.

Photo Credit: Think Geek

Set phasers to AWESOME!!

Found this bathrobe on Think Geek and I've totally found my own Christmas present!

Best. Bathrobe. EVER.

View the product here:

Think Geek: Star Trek Next Generation Robes

And the geek of the year award goes to...

Photo Credit: F. Lewecke via Wikimedia Commons

Why that would be me!

I've kept my inner geek hidden for years, but recently it came to my attention that:

a) suddenly it is cool to be a geek and
b) I'm 30.  I can't be bothered hiding it these days.

When I was 7 years old everybody else was declaring they would grow up to be doctors, nurses, teachers or firefighters.  I, on the other hand, was dead set on becoming an astronomer.

When I was 11 years old everybody else was watching Friends.  I was watching The X-Files and pretending to be Scully.


So now I'm 30.  I've studied science, I'm still studying science and planning on completing my phd in astronomy and I make my living as a freelance science/medical writer.  I'm batcrap crazy about Star Trek, I spend too much money buying my daughter 'bazinga' t-shirts, pyjamas with 'future starship captain' or 'mummy's little Klingon' splashed across the front of them, and I'm also oddly obsessed with buying her plush microbes (Mary the Malaria is her favourite).

I spend my days writing about 3D bioprinting, stem cell research, abdominal surgery procedures and the latest innovative healthcare trends.  I spend my nights either gazing at the stars through my telescope or watching Star Trek or The X-Files, and my weekends are spent going to trivia nights dressed up as Spock/Uhura or dragging my niece along to Comic Con with me.

I'm socially awkward.

I have a not-so-healthy level of contempt for stupidity.

I'm obsessive compulsive about a lot of things.

I get ridiculously angry over really random stuff (stupid kids "dinosaur" stickers which contain Dodo birds led to a rather impressive tantrum on my part).

I prefer my own company, and that of my daughter.

I hate crowds and I'm not a fan of people in general.

Put simply, I'm as geeky as they come.  The thing is though, I love my life.  Like really, really, really love my life.  For the most part, it's a hard concept for people to grasp because it's generally so different to how they live their lives.  But still, I'm lucky to have a wonderful group of very understanding friends who indulge my "quirks" *cough*craziness*cough*.

On that note, I think I'm going to go curl up in bed with some Original Series Star Trek, because that's how I roll ;)