Story from the city, story from the sea*...

Once upon a time,

(...) Climbing a mountain of air during the Red Bull Air Race in Rio de Janeiro - April 2007

Pilot: Nigel Lamb (?)

Picture source: www.redbullairrace.com

then descending a 35ft mountain of water at Mavericks (Half Moon Bay), Northern California - December 1994.

Surfer: the late and legendary Jay Moriarty (1978 - 2001).

Picture source: a still from the movie Riding Giants (2004)

* With apologies to PJ Harvey!

Embracing Geekdom and Nerdiness in (almost) equal parts

Picture: Jane Austen Heroes T-Shirt, featuring (clockwise from top) - Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, Edward Ferrars, Henry Tilney, Captain Wentworth and Edmund Bertram.
Source: http://www.cafepress.com

I swear my intention was to take the sophisticated and very proper "Classic Dames Test" which I had seen a while ago at Susan Hated Literature but then this other one sorta happened...

Your Score: Modern, Cool Nerd

52 % Nerd, 60% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

"You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!"

(errr... thanks?)


THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Bliss for some, nightmare for others

Here's one weird thing about me: I am scared of pigeons. They don't merely disgust me (which they really do), they freak me out. They are the enemy, the kryptonite. Just like the character in that excellent Patrick Suskind book, I am a fully fledged pigeon phobic.

So when I compare notes with fellow phobics (the vast majority seem to suffer from arachnophobia - they are so lucky!) I usually say I'd rather plunge into a pool of jellyfish than attempt a stroll through Piazza San Marco. Of course jellyfish phobics probably think I am crazy - but give me a good wet suit and watch me dive into that pool whereas no amount of protective gear (ok, perhaps an army tank) could see me advancing towards those Venetian pigeons.

It turns out I might not even need the wet suit to prove my worth. In Palau, Micronesia (one of the best diving sites in the world, according to "1,000 Places to See Before you Die") there is a natural pool of friendly, 100% sting free jellyfish one can swim through. In the video below they look so peaceful and harmonious - but almost unearthly too. More like my kind of freaky creature...

And they lived happily ever after...

...or did they?

Click to enlarge picture

Taken from "The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker'