Dear Frank,

Some kids pick up being a nerd on the streets. I learned it in the home. We’ll never know if the person I am today is the result of nature or nurture, you see, because I am the daughter of nerds, and my mother raised me on Star Trek.

Officially, my gateway drug was Star Trek: The Voyage Home, because I spent most of my childhood trying to decide if I wanted to be a writer or a marine biologist when I grew up, and THERE WERE FUCKING WHALES in Voyage Home. I wanted to be Dr. Gillian Taylor SO FUCKING BAD, Frank, you can’t even imagine — a marine biologist who gets to go to the FUTURE? And gets to go on a date WITH KIRK? I like being a writer, but let’s be clear — I’m settling.

Let's be clear: I'd even agree to the hair.

Shit like that is how you get a little girl into sci-fi. Just for the record. And then Mom sat me down with the original series from time to time, and while some episodes lost me, you’d better believe I loved “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Most of my taste as a kid was pretty suspect, but not in this case — almost fifty years later, “Tribbles” still holds up. Read the rest of this entry →