I have a nerdy mind

I’ve been hearing some of the same statements from my friends and family lately and it had me wondering if they were all getting together to swap geek stories about me.

Two weeks ago, I hacked my own cell phone, wiped the entire thing clean, upgraded the software to the newest version and installed a new operating system. What can I say? It was running really slowly because it was an ancient version of Android, but I didn’t want to just toss it and get a new phone when mine was still perfectly fine, albeit slower than molasses in February. So, I did what any intelligent, cheap gal would do, I researched, hacked and perfectified (yes, that is a word I just made up and it satisfies me immensely. Piss off, spelling nazis, I’m way out of your league. True story). My adorable, loving husband said something along the lines of, “My wife, the extreme nerd” and then asked me to do the same to his phone as soon as possible (we have the same cell phone).  My sister called me a “Hacker geek”, but laughed at me because it took me three days to pull it off and there may or may not have been some intense swearing, grinding of teeth and fits of grumpiness involved.

Two days ago, one of my clients popped by to pick up a few of her canvas prints and, when she saw them and her eyes filled up with happy tears, I squealed and jumped up and down. I know, super professional. She told me I was “refreshingly uncool in a totally good way”. Hmmm…

And, just last night, I was chatting on Facebook with one of my buddies who lives in Alberta and I was telling her about how excited I am to renew my Copy Editor and skating skills certifications next month and she wrote, “Woman, you are, seriously, the nerdiest athlete I know. I often wonder what people think when you coach them or skate with them for awhile and then, when they get to know you, they learn that you have degrees in chemistry and English/psychology, but you’re a photographer with a propensity for hacking.” To which I replied, “I wonder what propensity means…” bahahah!

My point is that I really am a huge geeknerd and I’m totally okay with it.

Here is some evidence to support my self-assesment:

1. I do happy dances when I get bookings that I really wanted to get! I also do happy dances when photo canvases and books and other products arrive for my clients because I get really excited to see their reactions!
2. I snort, really loudly, when I find things ridiculously funny. Snorting is not what I would classify as cool, but our mom was a snorter, so I figure it must be genetic.
3. I spend a lot of my time daydreaming about anything that inspires me or motivates me. Some of my biggest motivational inspirations come from daydreaming and, well, I think that is actually fairly cool (contrary to what the rest of society may think).
4. I eat up anything Fantasy (novels, shows, movies, etc.) because my imagination is vivid and unrelenting. MUST. FEED. NERDY. MIND.
5. I spend time each week reviewing grammar, punctuation and other writing rules and keeping up on the latest word changes. I also blatantly ignore a lot of this stuff when I write on my blog because it makes me feel rebellious.
6. I don’t just watch derby, I study it. I will watch a jam 40 times in a row until I completely understand what is going on, with both teams and with each and every player. Then, I will stop watching and write down exactly what happened and how I can apply it to my own skills and knowledge of the game and teach my teammates how to do it too. I actually can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent doing this, but again, sometimes while I’m immersed in derby videos, an entire evening will go by and I won’t notice it.
7. I have an insatiable mind, so I give my curiosity free reign and research things that have nothing to do with my life or business. For example, last week I spent an hour learning about self-sustaining water purification systems that have been developed for third world countries and yesterday I spent 45 minutes reading about how hurricanes form and all the stages they go through. I can guarantee that I will never put any of that information to use, but my brain enjoys learning, so I feed it with geeky fuel.
8. I watch videos on wolves and wild dogs to better understand dogs and their body language, then I watch my dog and analyze his body language and try to interpret it. Who does this?
9. I sing to my plants. I sing poorly, but I figure they don’t really have ears so they won’t be all, “Dude! You suck. Stop singing.” Instead, they will just be grateful that I’m paying attention to them at all and that I care enough to entertain them. I believe this is the only reason my plants grow like weeds and never die while I’m caring for them. I also believe each plant has a personality and I sometimes give them names. My Christmas Cactus (which has been blooming every two months since Greg brought it home to me three years ago and which is only supposed to bloom twice a year) is named Lurleen (after another beautiful bloom I know and love) and my English Ivy vine’s name is Rapunzel (because, well, duhhhhh). Actually, I’m not sure if this makes me a geek or the equivalent to a crazy old cat lady…
10. Every night before I go to sleep, I choose a random word and try to think of as many words as possible that mean the same thing. For example, last night, I spent ten minutes thinking of words that mean the same thing as “united” (joined, together, amalgamated, entwined, intertwined, unified, coupled, fused, etc.). This little ritual keeps my vocabulary sharp and forces my brain to work hard after being on the computer for a large chunk of the day.
11. I just finished reading two geek books: Light, Science and Magic (all about the behaviour of light) and I will teach you to be rich (all about simple, but little understood ways to improve your financial situation). Both were equally fascinating to me.

Seriously, the list could go on and on, but I have work to do and I’m losing interest in listing all my geeky traits.

Long story short, I have a nerdy mind and I think it’s a huge part of my charm (because, yes, damn you, I am charming)!

Here’s a sneak peek of one of my ridiculously beautiful clients. Her hubs doesn’t read my blog or surf the web, so she said I can post pics. Sassa Frass!