Contributor (Race & Culture)
Tom Moen is a self-professed eccentric and queer Cambodian American geek with a penchant for Japanese anime, video gaming, DIY, cosplay, creative writing, Asian cinema, and YouTube. He also has an unhealthy obsession with music due to choosing it as a career. In other words, he’s kind of a chaotic good bard.
Within music he’s a fully self-taught DJ, producer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and all-around fan of music ranging from alternative hip hop to K-pop. He has a particular fascination with musical instruments from other countries, especially East and Southeast Asia and specifically his ethnic home country of Cambodia. Outside of music, Tom has a professional background in information technology and tech support and has a passion for fusing technology and music with DIY sensibilities and exploring the technical side of music.
Tom admits to being a late-blooming geek, having become a hardcore anime fanatic at 19 years old and openly embracing his geekdom in his mid-20s. Now in his 30s, he now wears his geekdom with pride and has begun to embrace his quirkiness and differences. Tom is well known in Minnesota convention circles as the Cosplay Repair Guy, going to conventions adorned with a tactical backpack filled with supplies and tools to help other attendees fix their props and cosplays if issues or malfunctions should occur. As a YouTuber, Tom vlogs about a wide variety of topics ranging from audio equipment, hobbies, creativity, and general encouragement. He also covers geeky topics revolving around anime, professional wrestling, video gaming, geeky music, cosplay, and anything else that tickles his fancy. In addition to YouTube, Tom can also be found on Twitch, where he streams video games and showcases his strange personality. Outside of writing for Twin Cities Geek, he is also working on an urban fantasy novel series.
Tom currently lives in St. Paul with his many guitars, a boatload of other music equipment, and an equally nerdy roommate.
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Articles by Tom
- 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from the Cosplay Community Jun 4, 2018
- Love Your Geekdom and Love Your Differences Dec 23, 2017
- The Importance of Empathy in the Geek Community Nov 12, 2017
- Embracing the Special Creativity of Being a Solitary Geek Oct 23, 2017
- How Being Raised to to Give 100 Percent Made Me the Fanatical Asian Nerd I Am Oct 7, 2017
- How Being an Asian Geek Trained Me to Stand Strong against Criticism Sep 19, 2017
- A Geek’s Guide to Creating the Ultimate Cosplayer’s Emergency Repair Kit Dec 24, 2016
- The Surprising Difficulty of Being a Cambodian American Geek Nov 3, 2016