In the first Austin Powers movie, Vanessa Kensington begins to unpack her suitcase. Upon seeing how incredibly organized her packing was, he exclaims, "Nerd alert!" (He says something British before that like "good limey" or something, but I'm having trouble finding that online.) That exclamation is very appropriate for today's post, because I'm coming out to all of you as a nerd. Wow, it feels great to get that off my chest.
I enjoy knowledge quite a bit. I love watching Jeopardy because it serves two of my most-enjoyed hobbies: learning and feeling smart. The things I learn inevitably come up in board games, crossword puzzles, or basic conversations and I love being able to call up something that I didn't even know I stored away. (Your Nerd Radar should be reading high levels by now.)
I remember sitting in class once as people around me started discussing their favorite Shakespeare passages or speeches. I chimed in, noting, "Nothing really surpasses the emotion of the St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V for me." They all agreed that that scene was great, and then class started. Listening to the lecture, I realized that I had just come across as a Shakespeare buff to those people. It's true, I knew a good amount about him at that stage in my life, but what if that was the only thing I knew about Shakespeare? What if there were little things like that about every topic that I could insert into conversations and appear to be extremely knowledgeable?
I wrote a brief article about this for our residence hall's newsletter. I said that if you're around people who are discussing great feats in sports history, mention that "Jordan dropping a double-nickel on the Knicks at the Garden just 5 games after his first comeback" was pretty frickin' sweet. They'll all agree with you, and they'll assume that you're a pretty knowledgeable basketball fan. I had a couple of other examples too, but you get the point.
The next few times I was in a bookstore, I looked through the reference sections, eager to find something like what I was searching for. I wanted a book to help me learn a little about everything. Just enough to artfully have conversations on the topics, but not much more or less. A couple of years later, I was thrilled to see that Bill Bryson had come out with A Short History of Nearly Everything. I truly enjoyed other books by him (and own four or five), so this reference book (in the reference section) seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. And it was...to an extent. It's full of fascinating topics, like an extensive explanation of how scientists know the weight of the Earth, etc. It's a little too dense to just pick up and learn something, but it is packed with info. I like it, and I certainly like his writing of this information, but it didn't satisfy that need I had completely. It was much more science-based than I hoped, rather than a broad stroke across the education spectrum.
I came home last night after work, and I saw a book on the kitchen table. Our friend Danielle (who will be giving birth to little Tyler any minute now) sent us a gift because, well, she's an incredibly sweet person. I picked it up, and it's called The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim. The subtitle is Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class. Perfect! I opened it up, and there are pages of information for each day of the year. It covers literature, science, visual arts, religion, and more. I know I can't stick with one page a day (even thought that's the intended purpose), so I think I might read the week's worth a few times each week before moving on. Last night, I read the synopsis of James Joyce's Ulysses, and I learned about the plot, the writing style, and a little history about the book itself. Basically, I'm hooked.
I know, I am such a nerd, but I don't care. Unknowingly, Danielle sent us something that I had been searching for. I'm going to learn about the suffrage movement, Verdi, stem cells, and so much more. And when I'm done, you'd better not be on the other side of the Trivial Pursuit board.
I enjoy knowledge quite a bit. I love watching Jeopardy because it serves two of my most-enjoyed hobbies: learning and feeling smart. The things I learn inevitably come up in board games, crossword puzzles, or basic conversations and I love being able to call up something that I didn't even know I stored away. (Your Nerd Radar should be reading high levels by now.)
I remember sitting in class once as people around me started discussing their favorite Shakespeare passages or speeches. I chimed in, noting, "Nothing really surpasses the emotion of the St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V for me." They all agreed that that scene was great, and then class started. Listening to the lecture, I realized that I had just come across as a Shakespeare buff to those people. It's true, I knew a good amount about him at that stage in my life, but what if that was the only thing I knew about Shakespeare? What if there were little things like that about every topic that I could insert into conversations and appear to be extremely knowledgeable?
I wrote a brief article about this for our residence hall's newsletter. I said that if you're around people who are discussing great feats in sports history, mention that "Jordan dropping a double-nickel on the Knicks at the Garden just 5 games after his first comeback" was pretty frickin' sweet. They'll all agree with you, and they'll assume that you're a pretty knowledgeable basketball fan. I had a couple of other examples too, but you get the point.
The next few times I was in a bookstore, I looked through the reference sections, eager to find something like what I was searching for. I wanted a book to help me learn a little about everything. Just enough to artfully have conversations on the topics, but not much more or less. A couple of years later, I was thrilled to see that Bill Bryson had come out with A Short History of Nearly Everything. I truly enjoyed other books by him (and own four or five), so this reference book (in the reference section) seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. And it was...to an extent. It's full of fascinating topics, like an extensive explanation of how scientists know the weight of the Earth, etc. It's a little too dense to just pick up and learn something, but it is packed with info. I like it, and I certainly like his writing of this information, but it didn't satisfy that need I had completely. It was much more science-based than I hoped, rather than a broad stroke across the education spectrum.
I came home last night after work, and I saw a book on the kitchen table. Our friend Danielle (who will be giving birth to little Tyler any minute now) sent us a gift because, well, she's an incredibly sweet person. I picked it up, and it's called The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim. The subtitle is Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class. Perfect! I opened it up, and there are pages of information for each day of the year. It covers literature, science, visual arts, religion, and more. I know I can't stick with one page a day (even thought that's the intended purpose), so I think I might read the week's worth a few times each week before moving on. Last night, I read the synopsis of James Joyce's Ulysses, and I learned about the plot, the writing style, and a little history about the book itself. Basically, I'm hooked.
I know, I am such a nerd, but I don't care. Unknowingly, Danielle sent us something that I had been searching for. I'm going to learn about the suffrage movement, Verdi, stem cells, and so much more. And when I'm done, you'd better not be on the other side of the Trivial Pursuit board.
2 comments:
Haha, I'm famous now, I guess! :) Glad you like the book. I have managed to keep to one a day so far by rereading entries from previous days. Jesse was particularly excited to learn a little more about Hammurabi, who is described as the world's first lawyer. ;)
Oooh, I forgot to add: you have WAY too much free time on your hands! Yikes! ;)
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