Friday, April 08, 2005
If I were to use one word to describe myself...geek (n): An intelligent, eccentric person with an interest in the perceptably useless and esoteric. A geek is not interested in the mainstream; their expertise is to be found in that which society scorns or misunderstands. They have many realms of interest, most of which coincide with computers or science fiction. The social life of a geek revolves around their particular interest or expertise, and they will organize gatherings based on their common interest. A geek is capable of normal socialization, but prefers the company of other geeks. (Except that I don't even have a geek-style social life. Which is sad.)
The above definition was culled from the
GeekSpeak Dictionary. Other entertaining examples include:
mid-twenties breakdown (n) [Douglas Coupland, Generation X, 1992]: A period of mental collapse occuring in one's twenties, often caused by an inability to function outside of school or structured environments coupled with a realization of one's essential aloneness in the world. Often marks induction into the ritual of pharmaceutical usage.
Law of Juvenile Omnipotence (n): Anime Law # 42. Always send a boy to do a man's job. He'll get it done in half the time and twice the angst.
video store auteurs (n): Filmmakers who learned the art of filmaking by working behind the counter at a video store rather than through attending film school or art house showings. Famous examples include Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith.
Real World (n) /2: The location of non-programmers and activities not related to programming. /3: A bizarre dimension in which the standard dress is shirt and tie and in which a person's working hours are defined as 9 to 5. /4: Anywhere outside a university. "Poor fellow, he's left MIT and gone into the Real World." Used pejoratively by those not in residence there. In conversation, talking of someone who has entered the Real World is not unlike speaking of a deceased person.A slew of interviews, assessment centre activities etc. coming up next week. The NSS is looking less and less attractive. I mean, a B.Sc in 3 years flat? No gloriously irrelevant liberal artsy courses allowed? What would
be the point of a US university education under such conditions?
Meanwhile, I continue to plow through 'The Company', a hefty tome by Robert Littell chronicling the multi-generational saga of the CIA. It's part thriller fiction, part history course, part spycraft tutorial. The academic instinct persists with tenacity, so I dutifully make notes as I read. (I
did mean
plow.) Notes on how spies are "perfectly sane human beings who become obsessed with trivia", for instance. Ahem.
24 is a fascinating TV series. I have never seen so much torture, ranging from the bloodless electroshock kind to the scalpel-and-hot-poker variety, being carried out on a TV show before. As a bonus, the US government is responsible for a good deal of said torture. (horror!) Characters have a dreadfully common tendency to die - and die horribly. (In fact, one of the best parts of the
24 experience is placing bets on who's going to croak next.) No one's untouchable except for Kiefer Sutherland, people are Never Who They Seem to Be [TM], key witnesses almost never survive long enough to make a difference, the LAPD's astonishingly incompetent, phone batteries are inexhaustible, the broadband's amazing, and best of all, everyone seems to run on pure adrenaline, with no need for coffee. (shock!)
At the end of each season, you are yawning in sympathy with those poor schmucks who had to stay up for over 24 hours straight. I tried it once, and believe me, it didn't work out. Even with the aid of 2 servings of coffee, I was nodding off in the 23rd hour.
words were spilled on Friday, April 08, 2005
