I'm doing a combo blogpost here, as the going back in time is closely linked to my geekiness.
I...am a geek/nerd/dork/whatever. One things that I've always geek pretty hard about is comics, more so as an adult than as a kid because, for whatever reason, I wasn't allowed to buy them as a kid.
A year or two worth of collection, plus a few action figures to help given some life to a bookshelf.
For most of my life, I've been a DC/Vertigo nut. I love Batman, Green Lantern, the occasional Justice League, and Swamp Thing; fuck yeah, Swamp Thing.
I was proud of my geekdom, and never hid it. Until...I went through a bad breakup. I decided, as any emotional distraught and possibly idiotic person would, to turn immediately to self-loathing.
"She didn't leave me because she was so emotional fucked up, she couldn't empathize with someone else, no it was because there's something wrong with who am I, and what I enjoy." -Me, being a dumbass.
I have not bought a single comic, graphic novel, figure, anything since October 2012 (I know this because of the publication dates on all of them).
So, a few days back, as I'm going through my collection (quite literally cleaning the dust off them), I realized how much I missed coming home from work on a Wednesday, reading a 22 page book intended for 12 year olds, and putting it on a shelf to re-read whenever I felt like it.
And with that, for the first time since October 2012...I bought myself a Batman graphic novel, and there will be more purchases like this in the future.
I'm a geek. I'm proud to be a geek. And no one will make me think otherwise again.