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GeekMom Secret Origins: Cathe Post


Cathe poses as "Crazy Drumstick Minion" for the Paul and Storm Brigade of Minions

I was able to introduce myself as a GeekMom core contributor October 8, 2010. It was a wonderful way to start celebrating my 32nd birthday.


I was born and raised in Vancouver, Washington. Early on, I was interested in music, art, and photography. I also enjoyed spending time watching science fiction movies with my family, playing board games, and looking at my environment through scientific eyes: when so many other girls wanted to be a princess or a fashion model when they grew up, I wanted to be a forensic analyst! I took theater make-up classes, music lessons (including flute, tenor saxophone, and bagpipes), and did hands-on activities about snakes and squid dissection through the local science museum, OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).

I attended Clark College in Vancouver, and Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, intending to obtain a degree in music and become a band director. Half way through my senior year I changed majors to Communication – Broadcast Production to feed my need to fiddle with technology. I also did some audio and camera for the campus TV station and helped run and make shows for the local PBS. After graduating, I did audio (knobs, sliders, and dials), cameras (robotics and joysticks), and master control (buttons, computers, and tapes) for Northwest Cable News in Seattle, Washington, and KGW (NBC) in Portland, Oregon.

My best friend from high school (oh yes, we were band nerds) eventually became my husband (and still my best friend). He complements my geekyness with an in-depth understanding of how electronics work: building my college computers, and most recently doing electronics safety testing.

We now have a second generation of geeks in the household, and they are included in game playing. I wanted to make sure my children had the same geeky opportunities that I had (and more!), and started early with crafts and video games for my kids. The older daughter’s favorite is Rock Band, because she likes to sing and dance; the younger son enjoys trying to swipe dice from the table during D&D play (and put them in his mouth, which is not so good).

Up-close with a Lizardmen army from Warhammer Fantasy

Being a GeekMom does influence how I raise my children, from the choices I make for my kids in movies (original Star Wars trilogy with Rifftrax), to toys (Hero Scape miniatures for my daughter to play with instead of my nice metal Warhammer miniatures), and from games (our daughter is a Nintendo DS fiend, and our son has a growing keyboard addiction), to technology I use for my kids (we used an Itzbeen meter after the birth of our second child).

I currently play as much Dungeons and Dragons as I can manage, crochet cute animals and adorable eldritch horrors, desperately try to find time to paint my Warhammer Lizardmen, listen to Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm, and I played World of Warcraft for several years before kicking the habit. You can find me on Twitter as @GamerMom1_0.