I've gone over to The Dark Side

I have a confession: I'm a geek.

A huge geek, when it comes to "Star Wars," a movie that came out 31 years ago, when I was a tot of 3 years old.

I've gone from being just a regular, casual fan of the movies to a geek, a dork ... a Dark Side dweeb.

Just in case plunking down $100 for a Darth Vader lightsaber or owning all of the DVDs or snapping all these pictures on a recent vaca to Disney World wasn't enough, I find my geeky-ness in full effect at the mall.

I've become that guy, the one I used to make fun of back in the day.

You know the one: In his 30s, perusing the toy department at, say, Taget and looking for the rare "Star Wars" action figure (again, they're NOT DOLLS!) that no one else has.

And then, the best part comes at the cash register when, with my special-edition Biggs Darklighter in hand, the girl in the red Target vest takes a second from ringing me up and gives me that look and I have to come up with, "Um, it's for ... my nephew."

I'm an only child, for God's sake! I don't have any nephews! No nieces, either!

I do, though, have a problem. A "Star Wars" problem.

To which I say: Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.