December 2014 – My Geek Wisdom

“Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!”

From: Mean Girls

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Damian

The story behind the quote: The quote comes the cult classic, Mean Girls. Even though it was released over 10 years ago, many fans still remember the quotes from the film. While some of these quotes weren’t put in the film to be memorable or quotable, the writing of Mean Girls as well as the delivery of the lines actually inserted them into the public consciousness. One such quote comes from the middle of the movie.

Cady and her friends (Janis and Damian) continue with their plot to take down The Plastics, the most popular and meanest clique of the school. One of the ways they plan to do it is to get Gretchen Wieners to turn on Regina George, the leader of the Plastics. One such way was to trick Gretchen into thinking Regina was cutting her out of the group. In order to do this, Damian starts distributing candy canes which were supposed to have come from the other students. And, apparently, Glen Coco, managed to score four candy canes…

Geek wisdom: When people do things that are spectacular, we do take these achievements for granted or, even worse, tell them what they did wasn’t anything special at all. Always remember to give props to people who deserve it as it does help them recognize that what they did was actually something to be admired.

“‘Maybe, Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, in fact, means a little bit more.”

From: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: The Narrator

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the Dr. Seuss’ classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Dr. Seuss’ book was already very popular but what catapulted it into the public consciousness was the 1966 animated version. It’s been repeated on television ever since.

The quote comes from the very end of the story. The Grinch after stealing all of the Christmas gifts down in Whoville, waits upon a mountaintop, hoping to hear the villagers wait out in sadness as all their gifts have been stolen. However, instead of crying, The Grinch sees the citizens of Whoville singing for joy. After pondering as to why they’re celebrating, The Grinch comes to a realization about the holiday.

Geek wisdom: Every Christmas, we all get wrapped up with all of the gift buying and all of the gifts we’re going to receive. But, like the Grinch realized at the end of the story, Christmas is much more than that. Christmas is about spreading good cheer to your fellow man, regardless of race, religion and gender. It’s a time to get together with others.

Merry Christmas!

“I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee.”

From: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Lots of NPC guards in the world

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. The game is a massive game that has many people to talk to and many places to explore. However, the game’s most memorable quote doesn’t come from any of the main characters. Rather, it comes from the lowly town guards you see throughout the your time in Skyrim.

The guards have a lot of stock dialog but the most popular one is regarding their past before they became guards…

Geek wisdom: As we grow older, it becomes harder to do the same rigorous activities we used to be able to do in our youth. We also tend to outgrow all of the ridiculous and dangerous activities we did in our younger days. But that doesn’t mean that these days should be forgotten. These are important parts of our life and actually help form you into the person you are now.

There’s nothing wrong with reminiscing about the past. It’s only a problem if we get stuck in the past.

“I’m the best there is at what I do. But what I do isn’t very nice…”

From: X-Men

Genre: Comics

Who said it?: Logan/Wolverine

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Wolverine, everyone’s favorite yellow spandex wearing, cigar chomping Canadian mutant. He is probably the most popular and most recognizable X-Men character in the world today. Which is kind of astonishing since, originally, his first appearance was in Hulk #181 (as an opponent to both The Incredible Hulk and Wendigo). It wasn’t until much later that Logan joined a new group of X-Men to rescue the original members.

Logan pretty much acknowledges that he is a vicious killer and will do things that may seem unnecessarily violent. But he does recognize that his skills do serve a purpose as noted by his catchphase.

Geek wisdom: Everyone has his or her own special talent and, no matter what it is, it’s something that you should be proud of. There may be times when you feel your special gift should be hidden away or it should be something you should be ashamed of. But everything you’re good at has to be shared with everyone… because it deserves to be shared with others.