Some Thoughts, Updates, and Bits of Random

I’ve been reading like crazy, converting friends to nerdism, and finally have a decent novel idea. Also, I’ve discovered I’m a snob about musicals.

Soooooo, I was thinking about doing BEDA 2 to make up for my inconsistent blogging as of late. I’ll let you know what I decide soon. I’m just worried about computer access as I have some epic adventures planned. Hmmmm….

It’s funny that you can say what you mean without meaning what you say. It’s like knowing someone (i.e who they are) without truly knowing anything about them.

This post has no real point. But I’m going to keep going. Feel free to stop reading.

Have you ever come across something and though, “Hey! I came up with that idea a long time ago!” ?  It’s extraordinarily frustrating. Or, on the flip side, have you ever come across an idea that you really wish you had thought of but didn’t?

Do you have a time travel theory? I mean, do you believe in the butterfly effect or that time is in flux or…. what? Doctor Who holds that time is in flux, which makes sense, but is a little strange. For every change in the past, the future simply reshapes itself to accommodate it.

And now I’m off to listen to trock and research study hacks.  Someday, I will be less random.

Maybe…

The Beginning of the End…

… of Summer.

August is all but here. Back to school ads fill the television.  Decisions get harder and harder. Choices that I make now actually matter in big, life-shaping ways. My stomach is tied in knots.

Soon, I’ll have to put away fun and spontaneity. They’ll be replaced by planners and deadlines.  My carefree days will become crammed full of places to be and things to accomplish, expectations to meet and rules to follow.

And I hate it.

I hate the tense that fills the air as my friends and I begin to separate. I hate the fact that I’m going to have to figure out a plan- soon. I hate the lined paper, #2 pencils, and fresh pressed smiles that you buy on sale at Target. I hate having to change.

And I hate the fact that my world is slowly being dissolved by the real world. The cold-faced realities replace the kind looks of my childhood.

When we come right down to it, I guess I hate growing up.

Capture the Flag

Guys, I’ve found my calling. I want to be a professional capture the flag player. Yep.

 

What’s Up with Poetry?

Poetry isn't about dead, boring old men jabbering in a foreign language.

So, I write poetry. Poetry has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Because of this, it is strange to me when I hear people saying they dislike poetry. Dictionary.com (oh how I love thee) defines poetry as: “the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.”

How could anyone dislike that?  I mean, I understand disliking a particular poem, poet, or type of poetry, but I do not understand how anyone can dislike the genre as a whole.  It’s like saying that you hate art or that you hate music. It doesn’t make sense.

I think that the reason people feel like they hate poetry is because they associate it with classrooms, syllables, rhyme patterns, and analysis. It’s something you have to “get” in order to pass a test.  But if that’s all you see, that isn’t poetry at all.

Poetry is “the measured language of emotion.” It’s a way of taking what you feel and turning it into something that others can understand. It’s about using language as a sieve through which you filter the messy existence of yourself and see what you find.

In the words of poet Babette Deutsch, “Poetry is important. No less than science, it seeks a hold upon reality, and the closeness of its approach is the test of its success.”  But I think Elizabeth Dew describes it best.

“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”

I don’t know if that makes sense, but I hope that you “get” poetry a little better.

Mirror

What is the person in the mirror thinking

as she sees my smirking face?

She is in league with my shadow-

both copy me. It’s a disgrace

They know no manners. So rude

to imitate another’s ways

This is one of those random little pieces that have been floating around in my head for a while. It’s not a masterpiece, but it made me smile and I thought that you guys might enjoy it.  It reminds me of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “My Shadow”.

I’ve missed you!

Well, hello! I feel like it’s been a while. I’ve been off having adventures, and as a result, I’ve neglected you. Please forgive me.

I’m back now! Hope your summer’s been as lovely as mine.  I’ve explored a new library, bought sock moneys, turned one friend’s house into candy land, turned another friend’s yard into a Hawaiian paradise complete with inflatable flamingos and palm trees, written poetry, done a lot of thinking, and overall, been a busy, crazy, lazy teenager!

Honestly, it’s all been great. There are only two things I’d change about my summer. I haven’t read anywhere close to as much as I would have liked, and I wish I had more alone time. I love my friends, but spending this evening by myself has reminded me of my love for solitude .

The trick is balancing the two: socialization and solitude. Too much of either isn’t wise. Over-socializing is the one I have the most dislike for. It’s funny, because my sister is exactly the opposite.

On another topic altogether, have you ever done something and had the distinct feeling you were doing something wrong even though you weren’t? Or, to phrase it another way, have you ever felt guilty about something there was no reason to feel guilty about? How do you deal with that?

 

Things I Like

There are 12 this time. I tried, but I loved everything on the list. Going over by two isn’t bad…

1

2.

 

3.

4.

5. 

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Nerds Works Cited

Cover via Amazon

For those of you who care about such things… Also, I have a list of other resources I perused if anybody’s interested.

Works Cited

Abele, Elsa, and Denise Grenier. “The Language of Social Communication: Running Pragmatics Groups in Schools and Clincial Settings.” Asperger’s Syndrome: Intervening in Schools, Clinics, and Communities. Print.

Anderegg, David. Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007. Print.

Green, John. “Quotes.” Good Reads. 2011. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1406384.John_Green?format=html&gt;.

Harper, Douglas. “Nerd.” Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001-2010. Web. 08 May 2011. <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nerd&gt;.

Hunter, Allison. “High-tech Rascality: Asperger’s Syndrome, Hackers, Geeks and Personality Types in the ICT Industry.” New Zealand Sociology 24.2 (2009): 39-56. Http://saanz.rsnz.org/journal/index1.html. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.

Klawe, M. “Refreshing the Nerds.” Communications of the ACM, 44.7 (2001): 67-68. Print.

Nugent, Benjamin. American Nerd: the Story of My People. New York: Scribner, 2008. Print.

Nerds are Cool Conclusion

A gratuitous pic of the most awesome thing I've ever seen

Breaking it all down, we find ourselves with an interesting shift in paradigm. According to what we have discovered,

“Saying ‘I notice you’re a nerd’ is like saying, ‘Hey, I notice that you’d rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you’d rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?’” (Green)

Being a nerd isn’t about computers, glasses, or video games. It’s about being a person who loves something, and who doesn’t really need others to succeed. Nerds are driven individuals whose only downfall is the fact that they are stuck inside their own world and so, find themselves unable to understand people outside of their “world”.  The reason people do not like nerds is, in the words of Neal Stephenson,  “One of the most frightening things about your true nerd, for may people, is not that he’s socially inept – because everybody’s been there – but rather his complete lack of embarrassment about it.”

You’ve just survived the 5 post equivalent of a nerd infomercial. Congratulations!

Nerds are Cool Part 4

Image via Wikipedia

Why is that? Why are nerds unable to empathize with the people around them? Surprisingly, the answer may lie in their brains. As early as 1986, scientists began studying unsociability in nerds. A common trait that keeps popping up is Asperger’s.  People with Asperger’s

“…often and unintentionally behave in what others experience as an irritating manner. They consistently invade others’ personal space, carry on about arcane topics, interrupt conversations, talk more loudly or softly than a situation dictates, or speak with an incorrect emphasis on words or word syllables in a sentence. Such a person might change the topic of a conversation abruptly, or gaze in a different direction from the person to whom he or she is speaking, exhibiting poor eye contact. These are the children who have few or no friends or the adults we might tire of at a cocktail party.”  (Abele and Grenier)

Nugent, himself a sufferer of Asperger’s, describes it as a “…neurological condition whose outward manifestations, at their mildest, resemble [being] …nerdy.” And there are many shared traits between nerdiness and Asperger’s, like social phobias, rule-bound speech, spastic movements, and an intense focus on a particular subject, or set of subjects. Does this mean that every nerdy person has Asperger’s?  No. But it does raise the question about similarities in the brains of the two.

Alison Hunter, a lecturer in the School of Computing and IT at Manukau Institute of Technology, was curious about the connection between Asperger’s and nerdiness, and she decided to take it a step further by adding personality exams. Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), she determined a “typical” personality file for a nerd, and then compared the results in behavior of all three categories. The typical profile was ISTJ or Introversion (“Inwardly oriented; Prefers solitary pursuits or small, known groups; Most comfortable with detailed knowledge based on concepts and ideas; Reflective.”)Sensing (“Perceives information through senses; Relies what is real or experienced; Practical Realistic, and Observant; Prefers factual, precise and concrete data; Best suited to practical, hands on approach, based on commonsense. Typified by a ‘specialist’”) Thinking (“Makes judgments objectively, dispassionately and analytically; Logical and consistent. Uses formal reasoning methods and ignores personal factors. Typified by a ‘scientist’.”) and Judgment (“Prefer orderly and controlled experiences; Rely on plans and orderly existence; Reluctant to deviate from goals set according to initial judgments; Decisive”).

When Hunter compared Asperger’s, nerdiness, and the ISTJ personality, she discovered many similarities. All showed a lack of desire to interact with others, poor communication skills, self-containment, diligence, interest in technical work, lack of empathy, fascination with technology, a dislike of change, and a love of order. The data is still being analyzed.