I came across a bunch of posts that I'd marked as drafts, but never published. Most of them are ideas that never turned into actual posts, or things I wrote and decided not to post for some reason I've since forgotten.
This one was originally written in November of 2009. I'm not sure why I left it unpublished for over two years.
"Hey," I said to Anne while we stood in the kitchen last night, "remember that song from Avenue Q, 'The Internet is for Porn'?"
She made a gruff Muppet voice and sang, "The Internet is for porn, the Internet is for porn ... porn, porn, porn." She stirred whatever was on the stove and said, "that song?"
"Yeah. That song."
I put my hands in my pockets, and leaned back on my heels, striking my famous I'm-so-proud-of-what-I'm-about-to-tell-you posture.
"I ordered a T-shirt last week, and it says 'The Holodeck is for porn' on it!" I smiled and waited for her to join me in laughter.
At first, all she did was blink. Then, she frowned, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Finally, she just cocked her head to one side and looked at me like I had spoken in some foreign language, which I guess I had.
"You, um . . . you don't know what the holodeck is, do you?"
"I know that it's from Star Trek," she offered, helpfully.
I told her what the holodeck does, and how it works, doing my best not to speak in geek, which as it turns out is very difficult to do when you are describing the primary functions and inner workings of the freakin' holodeck.
"So, you see," I concluded, "if the holodeck was real, everyone would use it for porn, and that's why that T-shirt is so funny."
"...okay..."
We looked at each other for a few seconds.
I said, "I can't believe you've been married to me for ten years, and this is the first time we've ever talked about the holodeck."
"Yeah, I don't know how we managed that."
---
Sometime during the two years since we had this conversation, something changed for Anne. I honestly think it was when she got an iPhone, and was able to have quick and instant access to the sort of technology I've embraced since before we met. She's made friends who are into the same sort of sci-fi and fantasy that I'm into, and I guess she's just absorbed the things we love by being geek-adjacent all the time.
I don't think I'll be able to convince her to watch Game of Thrones or Doctor Who with me, and it's unlikely she'll want to read a stack of comic books every Wednesday like I do... but she knows what the holodeck is, and she agrees with me that it's for porn.
So... baby steps. Baby steps.
