What was your favorite geek toy?  There are a few I’d like to mention.

Wooden Building Blocks

The first toy I ever loved liked a geek were wooden building blocks.  Most were long and rectangular but some were triangles and circles.  They stayed in place by gravity alone so I fiercely guarded the fragile structures I setup like an igloo on a sunny day.

The greatest thing was that you could casually setup the blocks while laying on your stomach.  You were the architect of a city, home, or temple and completely relaxed.  The blocks were also very very simple and intuitive. 

Legos

Afterward, and for a long time, I very much enjoyed Legos.  The multi-colored plastic blocks have infinitely more potential because there were many pieces to arrange of different sizes.  They lock into place allowing you to create stronger, more resilient structures with rich details.  The possibilities are still astounding and I plan on showcasing them in an art studio in my first home.

In the past, my basement hosted a variety of creations such as a space colony, underwater SeaQuest-like scene, Amazon jungle tribe, medieval knights, and much much more.  All these arrangements were neighbors, as illogical as that seems.  There were even scenes that I created from scratch like the sleek, high-tech cruise ship I loaded with a rainbow of jewels for the “gajillionaire” that of course represented what I will achieve

Each and every creation could be unique or you could follow the instruction diagrams, which I usually chose to do the first time around.  Original or unmodified, you had made a new entry in your imagination.  Sheer curiosity led to robot armies with unique antenna ears, red hot barbecues, a space-age mailbox with magnets, and the transfer of Spider-man’s gadgets into the Lego realm.  Each night a new land was settled or rebuilt from scratch. 

TV Shows

In the mid-nineties I was hooked on different science fiction programming, including “SeaQuest: Deep Sea Vessel”, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, and “The [New] Outer Limits.” In between adventures in other worlds and times, I was using television to hear about science and technology like usual.  There were news shows on the Discovery Channel like “Next” and on PBS like “Bill Nye The Science Guy.” I watched the educational channels so much I could tell you within the first few seconds if it was something I’d seen.  I even made a huge videotape collection of my favorite clips which I hope lasts more than another decade so my kids or nieces and nephews can see it. 

Video Games and Computers

My imagination didn’t stop with Legos.  In 1995 or 1996 I was a video game fanatic, owning both Nintendo GameBoy, the original NES, and Sega Genesis along with a large library of titles.  I wanted what I knew was the best video game system out there---a computer. 

Luckily for me, ZeOS, a manufacturer later bought out by Packard Bell and then Micron, offered something within our family’s price range and I was the happiest kid in the world.  Being born in 1985 and having a computer before your Bar Mitzvah age was a blessing.  I truly had a way to be constructive and challenged, especially later when I started to see a love in myself for words and dictionaries.

Windows 3.1 and DOS were my new domains.  Always eager, I would mess with settings and have to have my babysitter fix it.  Michael was cool enough to show us “IDKFA” and other cheat codes for the original Doom.  He even explained privately what the gun called “BFG9000” stood for.  Yes, Big Friggin’ Gun 9000!

There was much more than games.  For years we paid over twenty dollars per month for AOL but had no real Internet access because I tried to over-clock our 14.4 modem as a 56k.  Then I was chatting endlessly with my middle school friends, and finally showing people my real feelings and thoughts.  The ease at which I was relaxed during Instant Messaging even helped lead to my first girlfriend. 

When I was typing to people and troubleshooting their technical difficulties, I was voraciously reading.  It was the golden age for my intellectual adventures and for the next few years I ate up whatever I could learn.  Until Wikipedia.org came about, I read almost exclusively technology-related content because the encyclopedias were not free and unrestricted.  Nonetheless, I discovered a lot about where the future could be and dreamed up science-fiction scenarios out of Back To The Future 2 almost every night. 

As I graduated high school my Legos were all tucked away along with the wooden blocks and the rest of my toy history, while my weakened bootlegging machine was crashing for the tenth and final time and simply needed to be thrown out.  I had worn the Dell out too much, through countless “upgrades” and experiments with new software including a day with Linux that had no audio support. 

My Role Model

My late grandfather, who was very smart and technical himself, was and still is my inspiration and for pushing the limits of my world and doing something creative.  He drew with me and as far as I can tell supported my toy addiction more than anyone else.  Papa is the reason I never give up in the end on all my projects, even if I don’t complete them alone.  Although he can’t be there, other people like my new friend Freddie have pushed me to build what I thought impossible. 

Macs and The Future

The hardware needed to be updated and I knew a radical change was coming.  Steve Jobs spoke at his MacWorld San Francisco keynote and all my uncalled-for prejudice against his brilliant company disappeared.  I had to have that cool new PowerBook 12”, the best looking computer I’d ever seen that I could remotely afford.  Later I’d find out that buying revision A, the first generation, is risky and the computer got to be as hot as one-hundred and thirty degrees F while the fans were anything but quiet.  I learned that I truly do take silly risks sometimes.

Here I am now, with my second Mac, a Cube---a nearly silent one---wondering what will be the next big thing to rock my leisure time and personal life.  I already went through five iPods so it’s safe to guess that there is more Apple in my future.  It could also be Linux, but I’m investigating that cautiously based on my past failures trying to use it for practical purposes and entertainment.  Perhaps this time I will rush to play with not a traditional toy, but words.