But not for more cowbell. And it’s got nothing to do with pigs.

Nope, I’ve got Star Trek fever.

Confession time: I was a huge Trekkie back in middle and high school. I went to conventions. I read the books. I never missed a first-run episode of The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine. I freaked when I realized I would have to wait the whole summer to see what happened after Riker told Worf to fire, I even read the autobiographies of the cast members. Family vacation in California? Meh. Getting to see some extras in Star Trek uniforms on the Paramount lot? Made the trip. Posters, cardboard cut-outs, toys? You know it.

I never actually owned any uniforms, never dressed up as a Klingon. Today, I’ve got a Star Trek poster hanging in my kitchen, a die-cast model of Kirk’s Enterprise on a bookshelf, the DVD sets of TOS, TNG, and DS9 on a shelf. I even kept a few of the tie-in novels, they’re somewhere lost among the piles of books.

JJ Abrams’ vision of Star Trek hits theaters in two days. I’ve been trying not to get excited. Over the last year, there have been so many movies that I have been so disappointed by, that I’m afraid I’m going to walk into the theater with the excitement of a 12-year old, and walk out bitterly crushed, like I did with Indiana Jones or The Dark Knight.

I set my laptop to download the soundtrack as I slept. I’m listening to it now, and I listened to it on the way in. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when Michael Giacchino’s score paid tribute to Alexander Courage — the tracks “To Boldly Go” and “End Credits” at the end of the album.

I am off from the Bookstore Friday night, and last night. So I did what any self-proclaimed dork would do: I stayed late at the Office yesterday (sadly delaying my arrival at the Cinco de Patrick celebration at Mackey’s) so that I can leave early on Friday, and either catch a matinee, or bone up on some old classic Trek episodes before viewing the new film.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t apprehensive. I don’t want my spirit to be crushed. I want to be a bundle of energy jumping, running, skipping, out of the theater on Friday.

Meanwhile, I’m astonished by the reactions of people like a guy in my Office, who when I asked if he planned on seeing Star Trek, opened his mouth to respond, then looked perplexed for a second, then replied: “You know what? I think I am! Actually, I really really want to see it!” He further elaborated: “Dude, if you’d told me I’d want to see a Star Trek movie heck, a year ago, I would’ve called you a dirty liar.”

To share my enthusiasm, I dug through my archives for some of my favorite Star Trek related posts. Enjoy:

Star Trek: Zombie Planet. Kirk & Zombies. C’mon, it’s pretty self-explanatory, I think. I really should finish it.

How Do You Define Klingon Culture? “Hulk Smash? Fight?” Eh, Close Enough! A group of DC bloggers attempt to answer ten basic questions regarding classic Trek. Their failure is massive win.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield At its best, Star Trek was a show which allowed its writers to address contemporary issues in a science-fiction setting. At its worst, it was all about how many hot alien chicks Captain Kirk could get nekkid with. If someone who’d never seen a single episode of Star Trek asked me what episodes to watch to get an idea for the ideology of the universe Gene Roddenberry created, this would be that list.

A lot of the episodes from the above list are available on YouTube, here are the links for your work-place time waster:

Arena
Devil In The Dark
Day of the Dove
The Corbomite Maneuver
The City on the Edge of Forever
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Obsession
The Doomsday Machine
The Trouble with Tribbles