Somebody asked me about my “geek pedigree” a couple of weeks ago. I spouted something about being a “multidisciplinary geek” at the time, but it got me thinking: How could you go about describing or cataloguing something like that?
Well, once upon a time, we could have relied on the Geek Code, but most of its categories have, sadly, grown quite stale. Nonetheless, here’s mine:
—–BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK—–
Version: 3.1
GAT d-(++) s+:++>+: a C++$ UBL$>++ P+>+++$ L+$>++ W+++$ N w+$>++ !O M>+$ PS++ PE Y+>++ !PGP>+++ t(++)@ 5+++>$ R+++()>$ tv+>$ b++>$ DI++++ D+ G e>+++ h r y+*>++*
——END GEEK CODE BLOCK——
(Decode it here.)
I’m stuck, though, wondering how to detail my “geeky merit badges” without it becoming just a laundry list of random minutiae.
Music has played an important role in my life, though not necessarily in an OCD, High Fidelity kind of way. For me, certain tracks will always evoke very distinct memories and images, some good, some bad, some just strange.
I’ve already touched on this phenomenon a few times [1][2][3], but I’ve long wanted to give it a more thorough treatment.
With that in mind, I’m introducing a new semi-regular feature to the blog, Soundtrack of My Life, in which I’ll share some of the songs of the defining moments of my life.
Backstory: I met and got to know Courtney (the woman that would eventually be first my wife, then my ex-wife) the summer after I graduated high school. After a tentative beginning, we started dating. A year into it, she moved out to Toledo with her folks. I followed.
Within a month of touching down, I was working atBest Buy, and when a second store opened in town, Courtney got hired on there.
We got the opportunity to move to the Cleveland market and help open those stores in late 1994, and moved out to Elyria, on the outskirts of the greater Cleveland area, where my store was. (Courtney worked at the North Olmsted store.)
Memory: We had just one car between us, so I spent a lot of time shuttling between Elyria and North Olmsted to pick Courtney up from work, or to drop her off.
Boingo was in the car’s tape deck almost every time I made that drive.
Even now, when any of the songs come up on a playlist in iTunes or on my iPod, I remember the snowy winter of 1994-1995. I remember making the transition from the turnpike onto the 480. I remember how miserable and isolated we felt out there. (My 1995 promotion and transfer back out to California was a godsend.)
“Mary” is an apt selection, I think, to illustrate the quiet melancholy of that winter.
Have you ever wondered what some of your favorite superheroes are thankful for, come Thanksgiving season? Me neither, because frankly, that’d just be pathetic. But hey, there’s a first time for everything, and now that you’re reading this, you’ve thought about it already, even if just to think about how glad you are that you’ve never actually wasted time and brain power thinking about it, so you may as well just keep reading at this point.
From: Bender Morris T LTJG
Date: Nov 14, 2006 10:51 AM
Subject: [U] Where I Spend My Day
To: [a bunch of people]
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
I thought it might be a good idea to tell everyone a little about where I spend a large portion of my day. In actuality it is about half of my day, but since 8 hours (once I get adjusted to an 8-hour time change) is spent sleeping, it constitutes about three-quarters of my time. [If I lost you, trust me. If you don't trust me, I'll send you a PowerPoint presentation (we use the words "death by PowerPoint" often in the military) stepping you through the formulas and equations. After that, you'll learn to never doubt me again].
The rest, including an explanation behind the name of the “Perfume Palace” (pictured above) plus a really nice shout-out to my blog, after the cut.
Last Monday, a guy from the libertarian We the People Foundation donned the mask of V, from V for Vendetta, and
visited security check points at the White House, the main Treasury, IRS and Justice Department Buildings and the Capitol. “V’s” purpose was to deliver the People’s Petitions for Redress of Grievances relating to the Government’s violations of the war powers, tax, privacy and money clauses of the Constitution, and to inform key Government officials that at least 100 more “Vs” would be at their doorstep on November 14th expecting a response to the Petitions.
What’s most interesting, I think, is that the Secret Service, et al, were generally very friendly with “V,” and listened to his explanations rationally.
When an agent asked if “V” would remove his mask for identification purposes, “V” explained that would defeat the very purpose of the mask, which was to give expression to the fact that the nation was becoming a police state, that too many people were becoming afraid to be identified as dissenters or protestors, and that this was not in the long term interest of a free people. The agents accepted the veracity of “V’s” message and refrained from veering “V” from his vanguard visit as the vox populi.
Really, though, how sad a state of affairs is it when it’s noteworthy that the agents weren’t jackbooted thugs?
The full essay and some [over-long] videos are here.
Here’s They Might Be Giants on a Carson-era Tonight Showperformance — guest host Jay Leno is holding up a copy of Flood. (This leads me to believe the clip is from Tuesday, April 3, 1990.)
It’s a great rendition of “Birdhouse in your Soul,” with some kick-ass horn accompaniment from Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra.
I guarantee that this (run time: 16s) is the most disgusting, horrible, embarassing thing you will see all day. It is, however, amusing in a schadenfreude sort of way.
Might not be safe for work, and is definitely not good viewing material while you’re eating.
As my friend Patrick points out, it’s probably a fake, but it’s a well-constructed fake.
!["Boingo" by [Oingo] Boingo](http://www.soulcookie.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/boingo-boingo.jpg)
![Bad grammar makes me [sic]](http://www.soulcookie.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/badgrammarsic.jpg)
