My Sister The Nerd Lover

She complained that my college wasn't nerdy enough. "But seriously the college got rid of the Linux lab my sophomore year. That was a huge factor in my decision. Tsk Tsk."

I didn't understand. Nor do I have sympathy for her. You, my dear friends, are nerds enough for me.

The problem is that we have different frames of reference. My high school didn't have so much of the nerds. Her's was an extreme.

Case in point. She's applying for cool jobs now, so I'm stalking the jobs page of every cool start-up. This apparently leads to me looking at photos of "generic looking nerds." My sister's reaction, "Hey, I think I know that person."

So today, she mentions that one of the people from her high school is working at a well-known start-up (whose page I happened to be examining yesterday). I go back to the page and scroll around as we talk about the lack of women in the field. (The recruitment team was skewed toward women though maybe not as much as engineer team was toward men.) I comment about how there are nerds and then there are people who really stand out as nerds. Extra pale skin. Extra nerdy props. Turns out of all the people working at the start-up, the guy I picked out as the nerdiest is the one she knows.

A nerd among nerds I tell you.

Now then, I'm off to read Girl Genius.

I don't really care that you can see the end of the story coming a mile away

I'm writing it to remember it for me, more than to amuse you

Rites of Passage

I've been spotted around his neighborhood. Ran into matchmaker's father two weekends ago. I worried that I was hungry and tired and coming down with a cold, but was assured, "The whole neighborhood is pleased with your visits to his parents house."

His parents pulled out the baby pictures last weekend. Diapered-butt on full display as he hung on to the crib and stared out the widow.

My parents got to see a picture of the two of us together. Dressed for church and cooking breakfast. (Thank you Aunt who stalks Facebook.)

I've heard some of his family stories often enough that I could probably tell them. Might get some details wrong, but could probably catch the spirit. (It's funny which stories get evoked most often. I hear more about his sister than I do about him.)


We're planning our first trips together. Reunion for me. Cabin weekend with the matchmakers. I'm curious about what stories we'll add to our repertoire.

Something to make me smile

Two weeks ago was the funeral.

Which means that two and three-quarters weeks ago I changed my computer background to what it was through most of my undergrad years.


My grandparents. Years and years ago. I think of it as "the courtship photo." My sister refers to it as "argyle socks."

But really it shows me love and style. Something a little bit classic and a little bit comfort.

It lets me sneak a glimpse of the past to give myself hope for the future.

You should comment on the adorableness of the photo.
Maybe not so much the opening sentence,
though know your thoughts and love are felt and appreciated.

Sliver of the awesomeness of the past month

42. Lead a swingout.

I need to practice a whole lot more before I can lead a swingout on the social floor without, as the friend I tried it on phrased it, "concentrating so hard." But, I can do it!

44. Go to the opera (and stay for the entire show)

Made it through the whole show without a single cough!

Five Weeks

Five weeks ago I added this to the list:

30. Skating around a city ice rink holding hands with a boy

Maybe not “my boy” but it felt adorable just the same. The night before I left the county, I took some friends up on their ice skating invite. It's one of the parts of living in a Northern city that I feel like people talk about wanting to do, more than actually doing. I'm glad I did it.

Three weeks and a couple of days ago I bought a pair of ice skates. Renting them costs $6-$10 dollars a time. Good skates from a good store cost about $80. I have at least three winters left in a city with free rinks. The math seemed favorable.

The next day I went on a first date. We went ice skating.

We have been ice skating every weekend since. Yesterday was our first time at my city's most visible rink. Skating around a city ice rink holding hands with the guy I'm dating and feeling pretty adorable. Check!

Young'un

Finding of the day: I am 8 days older than one of the youngest students in the first year cohort.

She got very puzzled trying to do the math of how I ended up two years ahead of her in the program.

Also, almost everyone I'm TAing is older than me.

Sometimes I forget how much earlier I came to this program than most people do.

Warm Fuzzies

“What are we doing here?” he asked.
Whamamambaaaaaeerrmmmmm.
“Playing along.”
He looked at me. Thought a second. And then he went for the kiss.

~~~

A mutual best friend played matchmaker. Without actually giving us much to go on. So two dates in, he was wondering if I was out of his league. I was wondering if I was nerdy enough for his league. We were both wondering if we actually liked the other person.

Two days later, after an hour of chatting online, he sent the message “why are you here?”

You know me, I started making a list.

1) because we've managed to actually have conversation for hours and hours
2) you used my line on me without knowing that you did

I made it to 10 that night.

~~~

The next morning I had another 5, so I sent them. Ten more by that evening. It’s continued the exponential growth* this week. But that’s not sustainable, so I’m restricting myself to a linear pattern in the e-mails.

~~~

Of course, one of the reasons I’m continuing this is because he started making a list too. I see a new e-mail, get all happy smiley, and then I get to read the list. And reread the list. And then, an hour later reread all of both of our lists.

The warm fuzzies bubble up. Some points are recognized, “Oh, that’s me. You get that.” Some are more of the vein, “Huh. Guess I do that, don’t I?” Some make me feel adorable. Some resonate, “A fellow nerd!” Some plain-out make me feel special.

~~~

A week ago, the jury was out on whether I liked him. By number 40 on the list, I think the answer was obvious. And when we both reach 100 reasons for being here, I think I'll stop playing along and start dating the guy.

*I was corrected. Quadratic.

Number 48

48. Learn to shimmy. (Without wiggling my butt.)

Complaining

I've started becoming a complainer.

~~~

I bought a pair of Blondo boots last winter from a local shoe store. Love the boots. But when I pulled them out for this season, I noticed the heel had worn funny. Looked at the brand's website and saw this:

Our Blondo products are guaranteed against manufacturing defects under normal wear. The defective product must be returned to the retailer who will apply its own return policy.

Okay then. Took my boots to the store before I left town for three weeks. "The website said I should bring them here?" I *think* they would have let me return the boots. "No! I like them! Is it possible to get them repaired?"

And they did.

I picked them up today. No charge. ('Cause there shouldn't be.) Bought a pair of socks though.

~~~

There's a tube of toothpaste sitting on the back of my couch. It's the same brand I always use, but crazy bad batch. The minty flavor didn't get stirred in with the paste. Or something. There's a number to let them know, and, y'know, I think I will.

~~~

I have a new favorite store for clothes. Bought a couple hundred dollars worth of merchandise there this fall (which is a lot for me). One of my cool new shirts got holes in it from threads breaking. I sent the store an e-mail to let them know.

It wasn't written with the intent of whining. I told them all the things I liked about the store too. But there was a message that said, "I thought you were better than this. This isn't what I thought I bought."

We'll see if anything comes of it.

~~~

My internet company sent a letter that they're increasing the speed (more than I need) and raising prices. While I might have done enough complaining in the past week, it may be about time to see about switching companies for that service too.


~~~

It's strange becoming the person who complains. It's not something we respect per se. Too easy to hear it as whining or being a jerk. But there is something empowering in claiming "This is not what I expected." When something doesn't last as long as it should, it's okay to use the warranty. When something is bad straightway, it's okay to return it. It's not about being cheap. It is about getting what I paid for.

Smartwool socks are always a good gift idea for me
Especially if they're cute ones
My parents know this
So me buying the socks
Actually is kinda a big deal

Life Checks: Adding to the list

I'm 40% though the existing life check list in 30% of the time. Since I think it's working for me, I'm going to add some more. While I like the, "by the time I'm 30" for the original 25, I like the five years better. So these are some of the ideas I'll be keeping in mind between now and 2017.

~~~

26. Listen to all of the SXSW download tracks during the calendar year I download them.

37. Fill out grownup documents. b) Keep documents updated. Fill out more as necessary.

38. Ask a woman to run for office

39. Submit an oped

40. Get published

41. Apply for dissertation year fellowships in the fall of 2012

42. Lead a swingout

43. Read a poem at open mic (or participate in a poetry slam)

44. Go to the opera (and stay for the entire show)

45. Use Victoria’s Secret coupons until I don’t run out of underwear

46. Mail a letter or card every week for three months

47. Buy something at the cafe across the street from me at least once a month