With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of things that science fiction/fantasy geeks (like myself) might do to celebrate the holiday. Here are just a few examples, please feel free to add your own!
You know you’re a science fiction/fantasy geek when, for Thanksgiving, you…
• …realize that, come November, turkeys are very much like the red shirts from Star Trek: doomed,
• … talk the rest of your family into watching a Lord of the Rings marathon after dinner instead of the traditional NFL football game,
• … prepare a meal from A Feast of Ice and Fire by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer, the official companion cookbook to George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga. (Leek soup, white beans and bacon, spiced squash, black beer bread, honeyed turkey drowned in butter, fig tarts, tourte of pumpkin, and wildling cider sound delicious!)
• …just before the meal, give thanks to the founding fathers – Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein.
•… slather cranberry sauce all over your face and inform your family that this year it’s a Zombie Thanksgiving,
•…spend hours watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade just to show the kids the Spider-Man balloon,
• … secretly begin hording the leftovers in preparation for the Mayan end of the world,
• … make plans to watch Black Friday – the 1940 classic horror flick starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi – instead of actually going out and shopping on Black Friday.
• …almost come to blows with a know-it-all in-law who thinks Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake saga is paranormal porn,
• …almost get hit by a female in-law after you say disparaging things about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga,
• … drink a little too much wine after dinner and begin yelling out SF/fantasy quotes like "Klaatu barada nikto,” “You maniacs! You blew it up!” and “Soylent Green is people!”
• ...grab a turkey leg, pretend you're at a Renaissance Festival, call your wife a wench, and demand more ale,
• ...spend the night on the couch (aka Azkaban). 
Are you a self-confessed SF/Fantasy geek? What are your plans for this Thanksgiving?
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for the last two decades and has written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and BarnesandNoble.com. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. You can follow him on Twitter at @paulgoatallen and get all the latest Barnes & Noble book news from @BNBuzz.
Great article! This article made me laugh out loud. Luckily I had swallowed my coffee. Sounds like a fun holiday you have planned. I can actually picture some of these delivered and the reactions. Be careful with calling your wife a wench and demanding more ale, that ale comes in a heavy container that hurts if she accidentally dropped it on your head.
