by Kimberly Learned Kane, Reporter

So my boss asked me what I did this weekend. My friends and I went to a small town called Raven’s Claw where we met a band of dwarves, and after tipping a number of ales, we hit the road in search of an old sage that lived in a keep, high up on a mountain. On our way we felled a hungry hill giant and narrowly escaped death by mastication. But it all worked out because the sage was able to give us sound advice on finding the lost treasure we were seeking. “Just relaxed by the pool,” I answered. Watched a little TV.” She doesn’t know that every Saturday night my friends and I enter a world where there are no cubicles, computers or files. There are no cars, cell phones or night clubs. There is only our small troupe of adventurers and a story teller to guide our way. She wouldn’t understand about the trips and traps that lie in wait. This is what it means to be a geek-in-hiding.

If you look up the word “geek” online you’ll find the definitions range from “an unfashionable or socially inept person” to “the people you picked on in high school and wind up working for as an adult.” My favorite, however, is “a person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who passionately pursues skill and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance,” because I feel that best describes me. And while some people in my life know that I love Star Trek and routinely frequent the numberless renaissance fairs and comic conventions, they don’t know that I am an avid player of good ol’ tabletop Dungeons & Dragons; more specifically, that I am a red-headed, half-elf thief who is neutrally aligned. No, I don’t wear fake pointed ears and a cape while I play. No, we don’t dress up and “have at” each other at the local park (although that does sound like a lot of fun). I do however have multiple sets of colorful dice: 20s 12s 10s, percentiles, 6s not to mention tens of the dread arch impaling, d4s all stuffed into a chainmail dice bag.

I feel almost as though I live a secret life. Like Peter Parker or Clark Kent, I’m an everyman by day: get up, go to work, come home, rinse, repeat. But on Saturday night, when the air is cool and the ale is flowing, I am Sable (and to become her I don’t even have to wear a mask!). Maybe it’s my own fault that I feel I must keep this part of me a secret. I mean, geek has become so much more socially acceptable what with the recent surge of superhero films and events like the San Diego Comic-Con packing its hallowed halls to capacity. But while the population as a whole has embraced the geek with open arms, try confiding in your co-worker that you play D&D.

I’m happy and lucky not to have had my imagination amputated by adulthood. I still believe that a fairy used to steal my teeth, a bunny used to lay chocolate eggs in my yard, and a fat man in a red cat suit used to deliver gifts to my living room once a year. And I absolutely still believe in the magic of getting together with my fellowship once a week to feast and to drink and to tell wild tales of grand adventure. Don’t be jealous.

Get your geek on regularly at ComicsOnline.com for more geek editorials and everything geek pop culture!