One of my favorite new-ish blogs I've found is this lovely lady, Heather from The Nerdy Fox & Cheaha Soaps. She's a geek girl, who is also from Utah, but lives in Alabama now. Too bad we didn't connect when we were practically neighbors! Anyway, I've loved getting to know her better, so today I want you to get to know her better! I interviewed her, and here's what she had to say:
How did you get started blogging at The Nerdy Fox?
I’ve blogged on and off for years. The Nerdy Fox has always been something I’ve wanted to do and never gotten around to doing. You don’t see a lot of geeky blogs and less that are kind of all-encompassing. The hardest part was thinking of a name that wasn’t already taken. My bestie was actually the one that was like, “Why not something like, The Nerdy Fox?” and that’s what stuck and has been.
How did Cheaha soaps get started?
My mom has been making soap for oodles of years. Like, 20 + years. It’s something she did while I was growing up and as soon as we moved closer to each other, we decided to get a business going.
What first inspired your love of geek culture?
I’ve always been a gamer, I grew up with them. I remember waking up early and playing Yoshi’s Island and Fester’s Quest. It’s always been a part of my life. I’ve never not had geeky interests. It’s funny because my parents are particularly geeky. My dad is a hardcore outdoorsman and my mom was always really crafty. She was always reading, though. I think that might have contributed to it. She read a book a day and I remember being so impressed and wanting to be able to do that. My parents were always very supportive and wanted me to be the person I wanted to be. I didn’t really realize I was a geek until Junior High when I started seeing Lord of the Rings a ridiculous amount of times in theaters! That’s what really sealed the deal. I had these two friends, Sam and Chelsea, and we went every chance we got. When we weren’t watching the movies, we were in the LotR chat rooms. Chelsea’s mom was super cool, she started a Tolkien discussion group at the bookstore. She taught everyone elvish and we had a pretty big group of people talking about it. Sam and Chelsea were so cool, they were into Sailor Moon and read these really awesome books. Without those two, I don’t know if I’d be as geeky as I am today.
What are your top three favorite fandoms?
Oh man, I can only pick three? This is rough. Tolkien, Doctor Who, Star Wars……. And Star Trek. I know. I can’t pick only three. Tolkien because the Middle Earth universe is just SO cool. Doctor Who is a more recent obsession, like within the last couple of years. I am a fan of Nine. Crazy, I know. I love the others, but Nine is my doctor. Star Wars because who doesn’t love light sabers and the Jedi?? Star Trek has always been amazing. I recently watched The Next Generation from beginning to end and let me tell you, I thought I had watched every episode. Nope, there were definitely episodes I had never seen or forgotten.
I worked at a booth for the first Salt Lake Comic Con. It was amazing. I worked it with my friend Anne, she was working for a local artist that makes tshirts. It was a crazy, whirlwind experience but we had so much fun. We were totally dead by the end of it. I met Manu Bennett and he hugged me. I met Peter Mayhew and I totally almost cried. I met so many awesome people at that one. I went to the Fan X right before I left Utah, the one with Patrick Stewart, and it was a totally different experience. It was a lot of fun, I saw a lot of people. I saw Patrick Stewart and the guard said, “You look like you’re going to cry!” which was true and kind of embarrassing. I missed the Comic Con here a couple months back. I had no idea there was one. I’m planning on attending next year.
Do you cosplay? If so, what is your favorite thing to cosplay as? Any new costumes in the works?
I love to cosplay. I love making costumes. I have been making costumes with my bestie for years. It started out as simple things… Zombie Ballerina and Pikachu and has gradually evolved into bigger things. My first real cosplay was dressing up for Lord of the Rings midnight premieres. My most recent one was Sonic and Tails. I was Tails. It was a lot of fun. My favorite cosplay was Poison Ivy – that’s one that I’d like to remake one of these days. My next cosplay is going to be a Harley Quinn cosplay. I’m pretty excited about it. I have been planning it for months. I just need to actually start making it at this point. I’m sure it’ll be on my blog soon!
What made you move from Utah to the south?
The question that never gets old. The short and sweet version is that I moved to be closer to my parents who were stationed here. The real version is that I was (technically, still am) going through a messy divorce and couldn’t stand to be in a state that brought me so many sad memories any longer. I had always said I would want to move closer to my parents when they got back from Germany and this was the perfect opportunity. I didn’t realize it was going to be Alabama but here I am.
Is there anything you miss about your home state?
I miss Utah every single day. The list of things I miss is endless but off the top of my head: Mountains, a grid system, visible street signs, Beans & Brew, Juice N Java, Coffee Pod, Café Rio, Zupas, parks with shade, sidewalks, and snow. Now, because I know someone is going to ask, no we really don’t have sidewalks. The only places I’ve seen them are places like strip malls. The neighborhoods don’t have them. It’s really the strangest thing to me.
Is there anything cool and exciting you love about your new state?
Alabama is surreally green. There is an abnormal amount of trees. I mean, an abnormal amount. It’s beautiful. Coming from a place like Salt Lake where you can see across the valley and have kind of a sense of direction, it is really … surreal, there isn’t another word for it, to live in a place where you really are just surrounded by trees. All the time.
If you could offer one piece of advice to any other geek girl, what would it be?
Embrace geek culture. Don’t hide it and don’t downplay it.
If you could offer one piece of advice to a new Etsy shop owner, what would it be?
Patience. It’s not going to get big overnight. Keep making high quality items and it’ll eventually take off.
