By Amanda Burr
February 23, 2006 | Local Buzz

Still crying at night over your high school prom? A milestone event that inevitably exploits the geekhood of the senior class, prom can often be psychologically disastrous. Although many of us are geeks at heart, we can often pull off a pretty convincing act and slip into the quasi-cool category. For others the outcome is not so good.

Someone huddled up during the bitter winter months in Minnesota decided that when the spring came, the geeks would have their day. The fifth annual Geek Prom will be held Saturday, April 22, at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.

The website, www.geekprom.com, promises the same "awkward romance, bizarre entertainment and spastic fits of clumsy dancing that has made Geek Prom the best nerd-fest in the Midwest for the past four years."

Paul Lundgren, 33, from Duluth, Minnesota, had the idea for a Geek Prom since his own prom-going high school days. The event was finally realized in 2002.

"I was just a dork with an idea," he said. Although activities are planned for Geek Prom, explained Lundgren, "generally we can't compete with what the general public brings on their own."

After filling his coordinator duties, Lundgren was finally able to cut loose on the dance floor during the first Geek Prom. "I turned around and here comes seven naked nerds," he said. Each subsequent Geek Prom has honored the tradition. Now, it is simply known as the Geek Streak.

Each Geek Prom has drawn about 300 people and this year Lundgren anticipates that the number of guests will double. What the Geek Prom Committee has up their sleeves this year just might burst your beaker.

"This is the first year where attendees will have the opportunity to dissect cow's eyes," said Lundgren. What could be more romantic than that?

Unless you have been saving up for this summer's Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, we encourage you to go experience Geek Prom and send us your pictures.