from: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/02/growing-up-geek-sean-buckley/:

Welcome to Growing Up Geek , an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and telling stories of growing up to be the nerds we are. Today we have our own associate editor, Sean Buckley .

The most difficult question I’ve never been asked as a kid was what do you do when you grow up? When the boys all cried Fire! And the girls unanimously pledged their lives to marine biology, I came short. Having grown up? I did not plan this.

Peter Pan complex (and collection of books) aside, I had as good as any boy in the 80 / 90 split. I grew up in pre-Internet Stone Age, when the world was still a mystery that could not be Wiki’d away. Playground rumors went without unbolting, and the wild stories ran amok through the school yard – Pixies in England, foreigners in New Mexico, magical robots and cars in Japan. The world has been fantastic place to be. It is still, but I’d be lying if I said that the purpose of reality is no small disappointment with the lies I loved as a child. With the information highway still under construction, I had to find other ways to spend my summers. Of course, countless hours were wasted well spent saving princesses 8-bit (and the world of course), but the best weeks of summer have been had the Scout camp, the County Fair, and runs through the country on family road trips.