DUH

A NERD BY ANY OTHER NAME

One of my friends always introduces me as, "the coolest nerd you'll ever meet."

Not one to be pigeonholed so easily, I decided to test his label online by taking this QUIZ.

And the results are in: The test reads "Pure Nerd."

The site elaborated, "For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/ interactions. You scored better than half Nerd (82%), earning you the title of: Pure Nerd."

And went on to say, "The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations!"

Go ahead and take the test for yourself. I dare you.

GOOGLE GAME

first line
stare blankly at the wall
divide your argument
play the seashell game
the spatula
how would you know
a hummingbird's guide to
daria
the date rolls around again
typical days
prayers
while rebooting
message like a fish
getting started
honorable mention
fiction
noise abatement
film
going mobile
solar charged
headcheese
drug thing
infiltration
evolution
if you stare at someone long enough
sports machine
cup of lukewarm
chapter two
people who suffer
madhouse
stupid questions
sampler
I'm still going
everything
alone at last
he screams on the floor
the evidence
elephant
chemical
search

FRAGMENT WITHOUT A FIGHT

We all know the type.
. He only took what she wanted.
. Stealing everything
. He never said, "I'm sorry."
. Just, "I'm sorry for you."
. And he believed it.
. And she questioned herself.

REQUIRED READING RESOLUTION

Here's an early New Year's promise to myself. Besides finishing Gordon MacDonald's Ordering Your Private World, I'm making two additions to my must read/finish reading list:

Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class
Corrine Maier's Bonjour Laziness : Jumping Off the Corporate Ladder

...

AT THREE

I put on my little boots
. And my feet take on a life of their own
. Im not one
. But three
. And We
. Can go anywhere
. Step over anything

WORKING FOR PEANUTS

aaahhh!!! I have, like, a kazillion eBay auctions closing, and I have to get all this stuff boxed up and shipped. I need more packing peanuts!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

What are your plans for Turkey Day? In about 7 hours I'll pull myself out of bed and drive to my brother's house to spend the day visiting with his family.

Hope your day is filled with food, family, and fun. What great things to be thankful for!

One of the toys I'm auctioning this month...

EBAY

I'm doing pretty well on my eBay auctions. I'm almost to 20 listings. It is so hard selling what I own, especially when I know I'm selling at a loss, but it will be worth it when I'm debt free! The process is gradually getting easier with each listing. When it's over, I should be able to carry everything I own in a few suitcases. I wonder what it will feel like to own nothing but clothes?

THANK YOU!

I like to practice my writing with trivial stuff that I find amusing or annoying or whatever, so I don't normally directly address my spiritual life in this blog, but I've got to do it today.

Church hit me right between the eyes. I knew I had it coming, but in both services it was like the sermons were spoken right to me. Even the Sunday School lesson was a bullseye.

The main thing I came away with was this life lesson: I've got to admit that I'm depressed before Jesus can help me recover from it. I've been spending all my energy denying the problem instead of just owning up to it and asking God for help. So, here's my real first step: Help, God!

Here was another thing I need to write down before I forget it. Men tend to look to their careers to define their self image, and when work goes bad or stops, men are more vulnerable to depression and temptation. That's normal. Another one that I'll file away for later: women tend to look to their relationship with their partner rather than work. So they tend to get depressed and tempted when they perceive the relationship as having problems, or when they are between relationships. I don't know if that's true or not, but the work thing is for me.

But I don't want it to be! I don't want to be defined by a job, good or bad. I want to be defined by God's design and plan for me as his creation and the object of his affection. And I want to be stable emotionally no matter what my work circumstances are. Like Paul and Silas, I want to sing out from the jail cell! So I'm going to rally my faith and fight this thing like my life depends on it. I'm going to focus on Jesus and not my circumstances, and (it's Thanksgiving for cryin' out loud so this part should be easy) praise God with a thankful heart for his blessings, most of all his gift of Jesus, who, by the way, has stuck with me like glue through this whole ordeal!

BEAUTY FOR ASHES

I accept.

Peter Paul Rubens
The Triumphant Entry of Constantine into Rome, 1622
Indianapolis Museum of Art

PERSONIFICATION

I feel like a triumphant Constantine entering Rome. The hideous wallpaper border in Keri's apartment is finally down. And all it took was two days of elbow grease and two kinds of stripping solution. When a friend suggested painting over the stubborn eyesore, I balked AND scoffed. Surrender was not an option. I would win this one: defeat the enemy at all costs.

Ever find that a simple possession, an inanimate object, can seem to take on human characteristics when it stands in your way? Well, I put this one to bed and tucked it in. At least one of my life's battles is won.

NEWSWORTHY

Since I have no permanent address right now, my parents are getting my subscription to USA today. I've been missing getting a daily paper, feeling isolated, but I just realized that I can get the newspaper online, sort of - even the comics. Check out this link.

COUNTING DOWN

20 Days Until Narnia...YAY.

easterncoastcostume.com...

REALITY CHECK

I don't recognize myself. Where did my tan go? Where did these funky glasses come from, and where did I put my contacts? I can't remember the last time I tucked in my shirt. My belts are still in the suitcase. And when was my last haircut? I'm sitting here on a Friday night barefoot in my 3-year-old Gap t shirt and worn out AE shorts, (OK, they were worn out when I bought them) sporting a four-day beard. Working on eBay, I glanced over and saw a Tommy ad on TV with lots of well-dressed college-age kids looking happy & fulfilled. Being here in Ruston, a college town if there ever was one, is reminding me of what it was like to be in school full time - spending an hour on my hair every morning to get the curls just right or buying new clothes for that party on the weekend. I think about those days, a time when my biggest worry was which shirt I was going to wear. I had a wardrobe that probably cost what I make now in a year. I'd like to go back in time and visit those days.....and smack myself into reality. Isn't growing up fun?

I don't think any of my friends would label me socially retarded, but I'm questioning myself. Have you heard Jamie Cullum's song "Twentysomething"? How can I be a 30 year-old twentysomething?

GOOD GRADES

My nephew finished his finals. He earned a 4.0 this quarter. I'm a proud uncle. Ben's GPA made me think about getting report cards in college and high school. I always earned A's, but in the end, the grades didn't mean that much to me. They didn't seem to be accurate measures of my level of learning in the different classes. It's strange to think about being graded again, but I'll experience this phenomenon just the same when I return to school in the Fall. Were (are) grades important to you? What would be a better alternative?