The Nerd Factor

“…because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. [...] when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.” -John Green

I am a proud nerd. Always have been. For fun today, I thought I would mention a few of the things that my nerdy side revels in.

Harry Potter - Rowling's series has always been one of my favorites.

The NeverEnding Story - though the film(s) were good, I'm talking about the book. It has been my favorite for as long as I can remember and is still the book I love most on my shelf.

Les Miserables - If I had to get rid of all but one of my VHS videos, the one I would keep, no contest and no questions asked, would be my 10th anniversary Dream Cast edition of Les Mis. This is the first musical I saw performed on stage long before I knew anything about theater.

Magic School Bus - Yes, Ms. Frizzle was one of my teachers. No, I am not in the least ashamed to admit this.

Wayside School - The school was supposed to be one story tall with thirty classrooms on that story What they got was a thirty story building (with no thirteenth story) and one classroom per story. I think the altitude may have affected the students at the thirtieth floor.

Vlogbrothers/Nerdfighteria - one of my newer obsessions, the Vlogbrothers are John and Hank Green who completely revel in their respective nerdy sides and encourage others to do the same.

Animorphs - I own almost the entire series. Still. I also can't wait to get them out of storage.

NaNoWriMo - the insanity inducing challenge I take up at least once every year. Thirty days, 50,000 words. I've been participating for six years and intend to take part again this year.

Pogs - No, I'm not a 90s kid. (Still own these.)

Gigapets - Totally not a 90s kid. (Still own one of these.)

Furbies - I should have one of these guys still. Somewhere.

Game Boys - Yeah, I had all the Pokemon games to go with them. And owned a regular Game Boy and a Game Boy Color. Those I think I finally gave away, which was a big move for me.

Monty Python - British humor. Love it.

Star Wars - yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Star Trek - I'm a big fan of Next Generation. I also consider myself part Vulcan - I'm far too logical to be completely human.

Lord of the Rings - ah, my favorite of all my nerdy fandoms. I was a late comer to this one, particularly The Hobbit, which I didn't read until last year. My favorite thing about The Hobbit - the story doesn't just end when Smaug is defeated. It keeps going.

Rocky Horror Picture Show - a musical I have not seen live, I'm sorry to say. It took me three viewings to make sense of what I was watching, but I finally did.

Holocaust studies - Yes, I'm a sick sick puppy. This is my favorite period of history to study.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - a new obsession on my list. I'm still trying to decide exactly how I feel about some seasons of this show. So far, season three is my all time favorite. Favorite character is tied between Spike and Oz.

Well, there you are. A (short) list offering a glimpse into my nerdy side. Do you have a nerdy side? I'd love to hear about it.

National Coming Out Day

The act of coming out for gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, is always considered a big deal. It's a little sad that it has to be such a big deal, but it is. For a lot of people, coming out is a deliberate choice and a deliberate action. For me, not so much.

My first girlfriend and I were friends first. We got together when I was sixteen. It all started as experimentation and things went from there as feelings developed. One day, I woke up to hear my mom reading a letter aloud. It was a love note my girlfriend had written me. I'd left it in the living room the night before without meaning to. Cue my laying in bed having a total heart attack. No, I didn't get out of bed. I was too numb, unable to believe what was happening.

Later that day, after I managed to swallow my heart and get it back to my chest where it belonged, Mom commented out of the blue. "I found this note and I think she's in love with you." She asked why I had hidden from her and I apologized and said I'd had a stupid moment. I had known from moment one that my Mom would not care and I was proven right.

From that day to this, my mother has fully supported me even in things she does not agree with or understand, such as my religious beliefs. I am so very grateful for my numerous parents, all of whom support me fully. 

Have you ever had to "come out" with a big issue that you thought might change the way people saw you? How did that happen?

Friends Paying it Forward

This is a guest post from Crazed Mind

To kick off Crazed Mind's 2012 Christmas Gift Guide I wanted to share.  Share with you and share my friends.  And I am doing this by hosting a $100 Gift Card giveaway!  I mean what gift is better than friends helping out friends.  And gosh, who can not use an extra $100 to help out with the Christmas budget?

You see when I first started this blog I had the help of a very good friend, Nessa of Texas Housewife.  She spent so much time with me sharing the ins and outs of blogging and social media.  Little by little I grew.  Then I shared with some of my friends and they did with theirs too.  That is how this whole community grows so.  We meet others while hopping from blog to blog and before you know it we have been sharing our lives for 3 years now.

Well when I first started out every single new follower was the most exciting thing.  IT was like Christmas every day.  So I wanted to do just that....make Christmas every day for others.  So with the help of my friends and then add in the friends they want to support we came up with Friends Paying It Forward.

It is really easy.  Just meet the following bloggers.  Then enter via the Rafflecopter below.  We ask that you leave a blog comment here.  That you follow the friends via GFC (that is the Christmas part!).  Then you can follow also on facebook or twitter if you wish.  It will give you extra entries.  Oh and of course you can tweet!  That is an extra daily entry!  On November 1st a winner will be randomly chosen.  They will be notified and when they respond within 24 hours they will win $100 gift card via pay pal or through the mail with a Visa or Master Card gift card of their choice.  The physical gift cards may be broken down into two $50 cards.

So meet my friends!

The Adventures of Scotty & Me

Ink & Grit

The Fibro Frog

Rants & Raves

Insights & Thoughts

Love My 2 Dogs

and of course you know me, Crazed Mind.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Goals in ink

My apartment is finally set up. Work has been busy, as usual, which is one reason I have not been blogging. Despite this, I still have my goals in mind. They are actually in arms reach right now, written up and taped by the desk. Some of them include:

One published novel (minimum) in the next five years
One NYT bestseller in ten years

It's no surprise that my focus is still my writing, even when I don't have the time I'd like to dedicate to it. Now, it's a question of making time. I grew up hearing a phrase so important to me that I'm considering having it tattooed on my arm. The entire saying is one my mother cites often. "You have time for what you make time for and you make time for what's important." The second half of this saying, "you make time for what's important," is what I intend to have as my tattoo.

I spent this weekend recovering from a virus and was so glad my apartment was clean. To be there sick and dealing with the mess would have been too much for me. Now, after a full recovery, I'm back to work and my schedule is, for the moment, back to normal. What's normal, you ask?

Job #1 I work most days, usually morning shifts that end in the early afternoon. Here, my hours have been crazy because we've had people quit and have been training new hires.

Job #2 consists of closing shifts on the weekends. The past few weeks, I've been scheduled extra hours here because a co-worker had to take some time off for personal reasons.

Yeah, things have been crazy. Last weekend, I believe, I worked 58 hours over four days, pulling double shifts (one at each job) Thursday through Sunday. I am so proud of myself for making it through those difficult cluster of days - and a little not shocked that I ended up getting sick. Now, I'm back at work and trying to set more goals for my future.

Hopefully, I'll be able to blog about more than work. Anything interesting happening to anyone right now? Please share!