Week the Third: Nerd Survey

Good news, friends: It's time again for a Saturday post for the Internet Social Hour!

 Saturdays are supposed to go along with the current topic but once again this week is a sequel so I'm skipping it until I've done the first part. So you get another vintage topic today, and this time it's a nerd survey. I can tell already that my response is going to be long no matter what so I'll keep my answers as short as I can, but you know me by now, sooooo... yeah, you may want to get a snack before you start. I'll wait.

Ready then? Ok, here we go. 

1. Kirk or Picard?  

 
Seriously? I mean, I like Picard better for many reasons but even if I didn't, COME. ON. Do you SEE these pictures?! PICARD! 





2. Warrior, thief, or wizard? 
Hmmmm... I'm definitely not a warrior, and I suck at being sneaky or dishonest, so I guess wizard? 

3. Favorite subject in school? 
ALL OF THE SUBJECTS. I've always... well, since my teen years, at least... loved math, science, history, government, grammar, literature, the arts, and everything else I can remember studying, in a broad general sense. I can tell you a few specific areas that I don't enjoy much (such as plane geometry, ancient history, geology, etc), but choosing a favorite? Not possible, sorry. 

4. What would your patronus be? 
I think a patronus is supposed to be like a cross between a "spirit animal" and a protector. I've always thought it would be cool to be a cat because they tend to be strong, agile, quiet, and independent, all things that I value highly. So a protector cat... maybe a male lion? The mane gives it the sense of awe and beauty that a patronus deserves, I think. 

5. Favorite Superhero?
Ugh, I've been all over the place in my lifetime. When I was very small I was obsessed with Batman. Later I came to love Captain America, then Hulk, then Superman, then Spiderman, all for lots of different reasons. In recent years I've come to admire Green Lantern because he basically has all of the superpowers at his disposal. But if I have to choose one favorite I'm gonna have to go the unconventional route and say... the Doctor! *swoon* 

6. Star Trek or Star Wars?
If you read my last blog you'll know that the answer to this is Star Trek, mostly TNG but all the series are cool. I do like Star Wars too, though. 

7. Marvel or DC? 
As you can probably tell from my answer to #5, I'm seriously on the fence about this, but if I'm forced to choose I'd say Marvel. I just like their style a little better, plus: Stan Lee (Twitter). 

8. In what un-sports-related way do you keep in shape? 
Again, you'll know this one if you've been reading my blogs. Swimming! I'd swim 24/7 if I could. Best thing ever!

9. What is your dream career choice?

An editor of books. I love editing more than anything. Copy editing, line editing, fact checking, polishing, formatting, you name it, any sort of editing at all is fine by me. I also love writing and in a perfect world I'd do some of that too, but primarily editing. (So if you ever need an editor........ #shamelessselfpromotion) 

10. Favorite video game? 
I don't really do video games and never have. I've played a few here and there but never gotten into it on a regular basis. I guess I'll have to say the one I've probably played the most in my life (which isn't much): Tetris. I'm terrible at it, but better than I am at pretty much any other game, so... *shrug* 

11. Favorite author? 
Another impossible question. My favorite in terms of his entire oeuvre is probably John Steinbeck, but some of my favorite books are by people like Harper Lee and John Irving, so does that make them favorites? I've read probably 60% or so of everything Stephen King has ever written and I plan to read it all eventually, but I wouldn't call him my "favorite". I just like his books a lot, that's all. I love children's books -- Kevin Henkes and Jon Scieszka are wonderful, for a start -- and then of course I pretty much have to mention John Green (Twitter) and Maureen Johnson (Twitter) as some of my favorite young adult authors. I've recently started getting into Jodi Picoult (Twitter) and she seems seriously promising, so we'll see. And no list of authors would be complete without mentioning two lesser known but awesome authors that I've come to love, Matthew Cody (Twitter) (who writes middle grade lit) and the inimitable Doyce Testerman (Twitter) Seriously, people, how do you choose from a list like that?! (Side note: There seem to be a lot of people on this list named John/Jon. Weird.) 

12.   Favorite Indie band? 
Sigh. Who writes these questions?! How can a music lover choose just one band?? Plus they didn't specify whether it means just that indefinable "indie sound" or truly independent artists. My list is gonna be a mix of both, I think, so that my answer will fit either way.

Any list like this pretty much has to start with the Mountain Goats (Twitter). Am I right or am I right? Then you have the Black Keys (Twitter), Gary Jules (Twitter), and Mikey Wax (Twitter) with similar kinds of sounds. Rock Sugar (Twitter) and Chameleon Circuit (Twitter) are oddities of sorts, the former doing live (not electronically created) mashups of '80s pop and '80s metal to produce amazingly wonderful results, and the latter doing nothing but songs about Doctor Who, also with amazing results. And I can't possibly end this list without mentioning my friends Dr Noise (Bill Martin; Twitter), J.B. Dazen (Twitter) and Paul Turner (YouTube, Twitter), all of whom make some of my very favorite music.

13. What is the nerdiest thing about yourself?

I know tons of academic-type information and can expound on it for ages but I know distressingly little about popular culture. I can talk your ear off about quantum theory, the relative merits of Jane Austen vs the Brontës, the US government and economy, and much, much more, but show me a picture of One Direction or Jennifer Lawrence or play a song by Justin Bieber, and I'm completely stumped. I obviously know about some things -- the music, movies, and tv shows that I've paid close attention to -- but my level of general knowledge about most things like that is just embarrassing. Such a huge nerd! 

14.  Nerdiest movie in your collection?
I think this depends on what kind of nerdiness we mean, so I'm gonna list types of nerdism and give a few examples of each in my collection.

• Stuck in the '80s nerd: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles
• Softcore sci-fi nerd (with a little bit '80s thrown in too): Tron, Blade Runner, Galaxy Quest
• Literature nerd: Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Becoming Jane
• Smartypants nerd: Schoolhouse Rock collection, Akeelah and the Bee
• Foreign film nerd: Cyrano de Bergerac, Amelie
• Documentary nerd: Connections, Around the World in 80 Days (M. Palin)
• Musical nerd: TOO MANY TO LIST!
• etc etc etc

15. Playstation, Xbox, or Wii?
Remember that part where I said I don't do video games? Yeah, this question is like asking me my favorite member of One Direction. I don't even know the options. 

16.  What is the biggest word you know?
I always think this question is a cheat because you can make certain types of scientific words as long as you want and they'll still mean something, and you can make up words from etymological bits that mean something, but the longest word that I know of that is neither scientific nor made up is "antidisestablishmentarianism". I will admit, though, to having a weakness for a slightly longer made up word just because it's so much fun to say: floccinaucinihilipilification.

17.  Greatest nerd accomplishment?

Probably writing for Crash Course. I pretty much pinch myself every day to see if I'm dreaming that. 

18.  Biggest nerd role model? 
Hmm. I think people like Neil deGrasseTyson (Twitter) and Bobak Ferdowsi (Twitter) are super cool because they're legit scientists who have somehow gained rock star status among the general public. I think that's awesome because it gets people to pay attention to science. But on the other hand you have your entertainer-types like Amanda Palmer (Twitter) and Wil Wheaton (Twitter), and many others who are ultra nerdy and proud of it, and I think that makes non-nerds relate to us better, which is a very good thing. I'd happily emulate either group. 

19.  What fictional character did you fantasize about as a kid? 
I'm honestly not sure what "fantasize about" means in this context and therefore nothing in particular comes to mind. I hate to say it but, unless someone wants to clarify in comments, I think I'm gonna have to wimp out on this one. 

20.  Jocks: Friends or foes?
They were foes when I was growing up, simply in the sense that I was scared and intimidated by them. But in my adult life I'm better at getting along with almost anyone, so now I'd say friends. 

21.  Old school bit games, or modern 3D graphics? 
Yeah, so.... I really, really don't know games, folks. I've seen some beautiful modern graphics though so I'll go with that. Cool.

22.  Nerdiest Pick-up line?

The pick-up lines that probably have made me laugh the most are Harry Potter based. I won't waste your time listing them here. Google "Harry Potter pick-up lines" and you'll find tons. One of my favorites, just as an example: "You don't have to say lumos to turn me on." (And that goes double if you happen to be Alan Rickman. Just sayin'.) 

23.  The nerdiest article of clothing you've ever owned? 
I have tons of nerdy tshirts but I guess the nerdiest of all, simply because it combines two nerd things into one, is this one. It makes me laugh. 

24.  Do you have a random, useless talent? What is it?
Hmmm. I can't think of much. I guess it's this impression that I do of a chola girl. (If you don't know what that looks/sounds like, look here. Terrible audio, but you'll get the idea.) People around here, where cholos y cholas (or at least their wannabe counterparts) abound, think it's pretty hilarious.

25.  Do you read the book before seeing the movie?

YES, always (if possible). There are a few cases when I didn't, but that's always the plan and I try hard to make it happen. 

26.  If you could have any superpower, what would it be? 
I've said for years that if I had a superpower it would definitely be the power to never sleep. I hate sleeping and I hate losing time to it. It literally annoys me that my body demands it from me. I would absolutely give it up if I could.

And that's it! Now you know!

Remember, if you have questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. I'd love to hear from you! And if you're interested in such things you can also find me on Twitter.

Thanks again for reading! If you've somehow landed here from some other source and haven't seen the videos that go along with this post, they are: 

Jill, Kristina, Frieda & Amy 

And that's it from me on this Saturday. Best wishes! <3