Geekier than Thou—Stardate 2006.1028


And you thought your family was geeky? Left to right are Isaac, as Lieutenant Commander Data; Doug as Chief Engineer Wilcox, stationed on the USS Reliant; Naomi as her favorite Star Trek character, Princess Leia (yes, we know); Nichelle as Chief Medical Officer also aboard the Reliant, and David as Ensign Monroe, leader of the Elite Force on board the USS Voyager.

Yesterday we attended Phoebe Dunn’s thirteenth birthday party. Now, the Dunn family is slightly fond of Star Trek, and the only serious contenders in our immediate circle for being Geekier than the Wilcoxes. Phoebe wanted a Star Trek themed party, and her mom put it together wonderfully.


I look great in this uniform. Chief Engineer Wilcox, reporting.

Over half of the attendees were in costume. Nichelle whipped up great stuff for Naomi, who insisted on being her favorite Trek character, Princess Leia Organa. Phoebe and her brother Chas were Klingons (“old school” without the forehead ridges). Their mom Trish was an Andorian female. Their father Charlie, who took these wonderful photos, was the classic redshirt who dies on an away mission. Nichelle looked fabulous in a Starfleet medical uniform, complete with medical tricorder, that arrived literally an hour before we needed it, courtesy (like our uniforms) of eBay.


Trish Dunn as an Andorian female.

Trish Dunn made great Trek-themed snacks, or relabeled existing ones. We drank roctagina, and Klingon blood wine, and snacked on candied tribbles and targ-on-a-stick. Delicious!


David as Ensign Monroe, leader of the Elite Force serving on the USS Voyager. He appears to be eating some of that wonderful targ-on-a-stick.

Nichelle made David’s costume, based on the character Ensign Monroe in the Star Trek Voyager Elite Force video game. It came out great. David provided expert design advice, and was wearing the costume again this afternoon.


Isaac as Lieutenant Commander Data.

Isaac wore a uniform I used to be able to fit into in my academy days (we presume Data is now in a command position, as he’s wearing a burgundy uniform).


NaNi smiles as she hold up a tribble she “caught.”

One of the games for the younger kids was a tribble hunt. They had a ball finding these creatures.


NaNi hugs the birthday girl, Phoebe.

We also played a homemade Trek-ized version of Win, Lose, or Draw. Phoebe had made the topics, and they came in two flavors: “painfully easy” and “so-hard-a-Vulcan-would-be-stumped.”

I tried to stay in character and told stories from engineering, like about the time we convinced a cadet that we really did cook “hot dogs” in the dilithium matrix as a rite of passage on the Reliant, and got him to try it just as the Captain showed up for a “suprise” inspection. Then there was the transferee from the Enterprise we sealed in the Jeffries tube, and tweaked the environmental controls so they matched the conditions of a Borg cube. That was a bit ruthless, but he got though counseling just fine.


Doug and Nichelle as Lieutenants serving on the USS Reliant.

It was a great day. The Dunns hope to repeat this at least once a year.

7 Replies to “Geekier than Thou—Stardate 2006.1028”

  1. Glad to hear you guys had fun at our little shin-dig! I know it would have been nothing without you all there! I was so impressed with what you were able to get on eBay that I hav begun to do a little light shopping myself… hehehe… Uh oh, my propeller beanie is out of alignment.. Hey Phoebe! Grab a hyper-spanner and report to deck 2 for a repair detail! 🙂

    -Charlie

  2. Our QA department hosts a costume contest every year. Today I wore my Star Trek uniform, and won an honorable mention for “Person whose Costume is Most Like His Normal Personality.”

  3. OH MY WORD!! I am a huge Trekkie!! I knew you guys were into that stuff, but not to this extent! So cool. When I was with my parents in the jungle we would have Star Trek Marathons…ahhh, the good old days, sitting on dirt floors, leaving the generator running till 2 am, and swatting bugs just so we could we watch more and more and more. I then married into the McCobb family and my husband thinks I’m nuts! Scotty appears to be the only understanding one as far as my infatuation with Star Trek goes! I’ve always wanted one of those outfits!! Dr. Crusher and Geordi are my favorites. You guys are tooo cool!

  4. When you guys party, you really party! I am Jackie McCobb’s Aunt Pam by the way. I enjoy your family photos. I really appreciate the Scripture of the Day posted on your blog.

  5. One year I made Colin a costume as a character from “Battlestar Gallactica” (the original show). He already had motocross boots, so the rest was easy to sew up. I should have a “Doctor Who” party – think of all the different Doctors and assistants you would have to choose from!

  6. I wish I were tall enought to be a convincing Tom Baker. In junior high, we would have given our right arms for a scarf like his. One of my best friends had a Dr. Who hat, courtesy of his parents’ $40 donation to PBS, and the rest of us were hugely envious.

    By the way, I can’t believe you’re a Dr. Who fan as well!

Leave a Reply to Doug Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *