The Myth & The Majesty

(I briefly considered naming this post "The N Word" but decided I didn't like Internet trolls that much.) Nerd: 1. A foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious: "one of those nerds who never asked a girl to dance." 2. An intelligent, single-minded expert in a particular technical discipline or profession. Or from the Urban Dictionary: 1. One whose IQ exceeds his weight. 2. A stereotypical label used to describe a person who is socially inadequate. A four-letter word, but a six-figure income. There was a point in time where I found the term "nerd" insulting. Of course, at that time I was shy, awkward, scared of boys, acne-prone, brace-faced, and four-eyed. Nerd was meant as an insult. Nerd was an indicator that I was a lesser form of human and therefore mockable. And, truth be told, I didn't help that any. While I wasn't necessarily comfortable with that view, I didn't exactly try to esc

After a lot of increasingly crazy videos, they've gone low-tech with this one ... and I couldn't be more thrilled. Those of you who know me well know I happen to be into Argentine tango. So when tango meets OK Go, I get to have a very good day. Enjoy!

I'm going to be lazy again and I. Don't. Care. I think I need to add this to my list of random units of measure to be used regularly...

As I wrote this, I kept thinking of these ... Anyone else remember them? I love Animaniacs. Even still. Anyway! It's been an up-and-down, good news/bad news kind of week. And everything's been subject to the volatility. I won't dwell on the bad news here. We'll summarize it as "Hey, freedom of movement!"and keep going. But then there's been the good stuff. Things like a surprisingly larger tax return. And the return of income in the form of a truly random, temporary "part-time" job. All a bit of a relief as I've made my post-real-job savings stretch about as far as I humanly could. Hey, it's been okay. But I'm happy to be able to be social again. And start saving up for a few things. Like a moving truck. And a new bike. And gas money. And ... ooh, a Boundary Waters trek. It's good to be back.

Our first thunderstorm actually happened in February. It was an almost-thundersnow -- just above freezing, enough to make it sleet instead of snow, with a background of thunder and lightning. More than a little nutty. Even with that, it seems odd to me that our first real risk of tornados this year happens to be today. March 19th. North of Kansas. Heck, we've already had a few hailstones. And it's dark enough to need the kind of lighting usually reserved for just at sunset. March 19th. This is odd.

A year and some ago, I made a list . Consider this a brief update. 1. The Kardashians, officially and as my number one. If Barbara Walters calls you talentless, what more hope do you have? 2. Twitter as used by your average Joe. I kind of get the appeal of following a celebrity here and there -- that connectedness thing gets people. But why would I ever really need to use it? 3. Similarly, the constant need to update one's Facebook status. 4. Why someone so universally disliked (try to find a fan ... I dare you) as Pauly Shore can continue to make movies. That people watch. Allegedly.

... Randall Munroe is my hero. Try this . If you're pulling a blank, copy and paste my url [http://musings-of-a-demented-mind.blogspot.com] and use that. In fact, I'll happily take the advertising since it really does do exactly what it says on the tin. And if you're feeling spunky, come back here and tell me where it sent you. (Using a couple different addresses, I found a blog in England and a strange little gif...) Oh, the simple joys of amusing internet things.

I have a bad feeling about this week. It makes me very, very nervous. I honestly don't remember the last time one of those bad feelings wasn't correct. (And I don't mean in a self-fulfilling-prophecy kind of way.) I'm mostly just hoping it's something fairly ... benign. Too bad it came after my laptop's power cable stopped working. Then at least it could be explained and I could relax. (Apparently I was begging for that one after I bragged to Shorty about how well it'd been doing. It was my third power cable, after all -- but it was still working! The very next day? Nothing. It just ... died.) Must ... relax. Hrm.

1. Barb (from the days of Connolly Hall) and her husband Tyler had their first baby yesterday! Which means that a) Barb's a mom (how odd does that sound) and b) their son is a leap year baby. Both of which are pretty cool. Congratulations, kids. 2. Daz has officially accepted an offer to go work in Amsterdam for two years. Doesn't that sound rough? 3. On a related note, I think it's high time I went to Europe. Maybe in awhile, after someone's settled in and I've saved up a bit. (And when he has vacation time...) 4. We had our first thunderstorm of the year. On the 28th. With a temperature hovering right around freezing. It's been an odd winter. 5. Mia Sorella got moved to her new apartment and today I got to see it via Skype. Very cool -- it's a real apartment and everything! More than 200 square feet! A separate bedroom! Two, even! 6. I wonder if part of the catalyst there was realizing that having two guests in her old place got really crowded v