"Pearce Code"

[Tim Pierce]

The first thing to remember is that I hate codes.

The Bear Code was amusing to a point, to be sure. And it
certainly puts quite a spin on the relentless parade of
measurements and statistics people have been so eager to
present here on their own behalves over the last month or
so. When they created Smurf and Twink codes, I was less
amused. By the time the Geek Code came along, I didn't want
to hear anything about it. The only one of these systems
that has held even passing interest for me is Michael
Thomas' little-known Nibelungen Code. For the most part,
despite having a bit part of my own in the Geek Code, I can
hardly stand the blessed things.

Imagine my surprise, then, when my father forwards me this:

I was reading through the latest Boardwatch Magazine which has a
fun and interesting article on "The Geek Code." At the end of the
article it said:

So far, we have talked only about the Geek Code. However, there
are other such classification schemes in use on the Net. (The
Geek Code, in fact, was a replacement for other earlier codes.)
However, when it comes to social codes, there is a lot of work
being done in the gay community. For gay men, there are the Bear
Code, the Twink Code, the Pearce Code and the Smurf Code. For gay
women, there are the Muffdiva Code and the Womyns Grrl Code.

(In gay slang, a "bear" is a big, hairy man. A "twink" is a
cute, young male thing: the name comes from "twinkie": someone
who is "golden, cream-filled and ready to be eaten." The Pearce
Code is named after its inventor, Tim Pearce. A "smurf" is
someone who is irreverent, silly and cute. The Smurf Code is a
satire of the other codes.)

Tim Pearce?

love Dad

Now, I believe I've seen both another Tim Pierce and a Tim
Pearce around these parts in years past. And certainly
there's every possibility that one of these P*rces write a
code of their own. I don't believe I've ever seen such a
thing, however, and given that people regularly send me
entire copies of the Geek Code merely because I have a cameo
role in it, I would be surprised if there was an entire "Tim
Pearce Code" floating around out there which had managed to
evade everyone's attention for so long.

So, before I send Boardwatch Magazine a properly vitriolic
letter about researching their subjects properly, would
someone care to let me know whether there is, indeed, a Tim
Pearce Code out there on the net somewhere, and whether I
wrote it?

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