But it wasn’t until after the tragic events at Columbine High School that I formally adopted the word ‘geek’ to describe myself.

Not everyone knows this, or some may not remember, but there was a backlash against people who were ‘different’ at that time. If you want to know more, I strongly recommend reading “Why Kids Kill” and the “Voices From The Hellmouth” essays at slashdot.org (or look for mirrors on Google), as well as the book Geeks. They were all written by Jon Katz.