Call It A Countdown You Mustn't - Day 3 - Geek Girl Edition

One of the things I like best about myself (stick with me here, I'm pretty sure this turns out way better than it sounds) is that I'm just a gigantic nerd.  Seriously.  Big.  Fat.  Nerd.

I am a geek girl.  (I watched a video a few weeks ago about calling yourself a geek woman rather than girl and, wow, it made totally awesome, valid points that I totally agreed with.  Geek girl just rolls off the tongue so much better though.)

And that kicks ass.  Like I said, probably the coolest thing about me.  Super big nerd.  It's where a lot of my humor comes from and I'm also kinda smart so that's cool too.  Pretty sweet package overall, the nerdiness.

Settle in for a long-ass story - because there's bonus Christmas nonsense today!  (Man I hope that's incentive.)

Awhile back Steve and I were in the car on the way home from somewhere and - searching for something we hadn't talked about already that day - I said:

"I was reading Wil Wheaton's Blog the other day and -"

"Whoa, wait," he interrupted, "you were reading Wil Wheaton's blog?"

"Yeah."

"You were?"

"Yeeeees." (This seemed pretty obvious to me, as I had just said so.)

"Why?"

"Because it's funny?"  (Again, these are the things that seem obvious to me.)

"But you don't like Wil Wheaton."

"Why wouldn't I like Whil Wheaton?!" (Seriously, we kept saying his full name.  What's up with that?)

"You've never watched Star Trek.  You're not into that.  What reason would you have to be a fan of Wil Wheaton?"

"Stand by Me."

"Are you kidding?"

"And Toy Soldiers."  (Seriously - Toy Soldiers was, and remains, part of my reasoning.)

"... I... what... that doesn't even make sense, Hun."

"Sure it does.  He's the kid from Stand by Me.  Which I love.  So I love him.  Then he was in Toy Soldiers.  Which I also love.  For some reason.  So I keep loving him.  Now he has a really funny blog which I read and love.  And he guest stars on stuff I usually watch and enjoy.  So I love him."

"But he's best known for a role on Star Trek, which you don't and never have watched."

"So?"

"So that's why people know him."

"But that's not why I know him."

"But that's not why everyone else knows him."

"I don't see how that's a reason why I shouldn't read his blog."

"... I guess.  Go on."

I proceeded to tell him whatever I'd read on Wil Wheaton's blog that had made me giggle and, as we were getting out of the car a few minutes later Steve said to me:

"Seriously, Hun, you should just watch Star Trek already.  You're so close to you're black belt in nerd, Hun, just go for it already."

...And that was hilarious.

A few days later I sent him an email that said:
"So I've been meaning to ask:  If I do watch Star Trek, do I get an actual black belt?  And if so, what does a black belt in nerd look like exactly?  Does it have decals?  (I personally think it should have decals.)  Does it come with a holster for a light saber?  It seems like any sort of belt for a nerd should come with holsters for various weapons - swords, stakes, phasers, light sabers, etc.  Is there a ceremony of some kind involved?  Like a crowning, but with a belt instead of a crown?  A belting, if you will?

Also, inquiring minds want to know (okay, well one inquiring mind wants to know): does nerdery follow the standard levels of belting:  i.e. white, yellow, orange, green, purple, red, brown, black?  What does one have to do to attain the various lever?  Am I really a brown belt nerd?  I know I'm nerdy, I like my nerdiness, still."

His response was:  "ummm... sure?  I don't know, Hun, it was just a joke.  But I this this conversation proves your a nerd already."

And because I'm unwilling to let things go:
"Well I'm not denying that I'm a nerd, sweetie.  I think that's been pretty blatantly obvious for quite some time now.  But... it was a good joke, and now I want a black belt in nerd.  I could do it, if I train hard enough... I can do the crane like Daniel-Son!  Sweep the leg!  Wait, no.  That was Johnny, dammit.  Wouldn't it be cool?  My black belt in nerd with like a little Nintendo controller on it, and - I don't know, like a Lego brick or something, and... a little TARDIS! and it could have a little holster for my blaster (cause hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side and all.)  It would be my nerdy badge of honor."

... And then Steve stopped talking to me about this topic.  That was probably the right plan of action for his sanity.  But we don't value sanity that much in our house.

I'm sharing all of this because tonight the super huge geek girl inside me had a very exciting night.  Why?

See that?

And that?

I made those.

HEEHEE!

I made paper snowflakes that look like Yoda and Boba Fett!  Hee!

I have more that look like Darth Vader, C3PO, a Storm Trooper and a Clone Trooper.  (When I showed them to Steve he said to me "You know it's seriously hot that you know the difference, on sight, between a storm trooper and a clone trooper, right?"  Which made me laugh.  Because, yeah, I kinda do know that.)

Now before we get too crazy I didn't just make these up.  I made them from templates.  Which I originally read about on EPBOT (which I love to pieces) but the TARDIS one looked way too complicated for me to attempt.  Then I saw them again, specifically the Star Wars ones, on Geeks are Sexy, which I check several times a day and may be the site I look at more than any other actually.  It's awesome sauce.  Plus - completely accurate title.  The Star Wars designs got me much more interested and once Boba Fett got into the mix (via Anthony Herrera Designs, which is also included in the GaS article) I was hooked.  It was tricky, especially Yoda.  There are some really teeny cuts in there.  But so, so cool.

When I finished Yoda, I said to Steve "Hunny, you have to come and look at this.  It's so cool!"  I'm not kidding, I was literally bouncing.

Steve loves the Fett.  So I knew I could get him on board with this.

I had decided earlier today to post a picture of our Yoda tree ornament tonight:

Because of course we have a Yoda Christmas tree ornament.  It may not be the first thing that occurs to you, but once you start thinking about it - you don't want to live in a world where we don't.  I don't want to live in a world where we don't anyway.  I mean seriously.  Yoda ornaments should be the new pickles (you know? the Christmas pickle tradition?) - and that's as someone who totally loves pickles too.

That reminds me - I have a pretty great story about standing up for the awesomeness of Yoda as a, like, 8-year-old that I'm not sure I've ever actually told anyone.  Once upon a time I joined some friends who were playing in the school yard by our house.  They were talking about Star Wars, which I had recently seen for the first time, and which characters were their favorites.  They asked me who I liked best and I told them - Yoda.  Because Yoda was, and is, the shit.  What I didn't know or particularly understand at the time was that they weren't necessarily talking about who was the best character (Yoda) they were talking about who was the cutest.  This was the Han Vs. Luke conversation.  (The answer is Han, by the way.)  So their response to me was a fairly incredulous "Yoda?  Ew.  He has ear hair."  No joke, this was like 20 years ago and I remember specifically that they pointed out ear hair.  I gotta tell you they teased me pretty hard for probably 10, 15 minutes or so and the whole time I was like "Whatever, Yoda is way better than Luke." (Which is totally true, by the way.)  And they kind of made me feel like crap.  It's not really their fault either, I didn't get what that conversation was really about until I reflected on it many years later.  And not even that I wasn't aware of boys being cute at that point or anything - I just wasn't there for the beginning.  Anyway - the point of the story:  Even at 8 years old, Yoda was freaking awesome.  And even now, faced with the question "Who's better: Han or Luke?"  I'm probably just as likely to say Yoda as I was then.  Because Yoda's still the best character.

Coup in the Zoo III: Back to the Habitat

Our adventure at the zoo continued with some under-the-sea life:

I don't actually know if this is coral.  This sounds gross but it looked too flesh-like to be coral.

I'm pretty sure this is a Sea Anemone, it was kind of entrancing; just watching it undulating in around itself.

This one actually is coral, I'm reasonably certain.

Another water dragon.

And on to some bigger animals:

Big Coup in the Zoo, Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

Our adventure at the zoo continued as we went to visit the fishies.

Or... more specifically, the sharks.

There were actual fish too:

And There's a Big Coup in the Zoo

"I mock you with my monkey pants!"

Over Memorial Day weekend Steve and I went out to the Minnesota Zoo with some friends.  Hilarity ensued, of course.  One of the major themes of the day was seeing the animals... relieve themselves.  And since all four of us (including the two who are soon to be parents) are, oh, twelve on the inside a hearty bought of giggling followed each display.

Anyway, we had lots of fun visiting the animals.  And I personally think the animals had fun being our entertainment.

Let's start our with a Prairie Dog, shall we?  Everybody loves prairie dogs, right?  They're like chubby meerkats.  They're fantastic.  And look how polite this one is:

He has his pinkie up!

From there we'll move on to a very big kitty, prowling about.

And... kind of hiding behind a tree...

I personally am a big fan of turtles.  The Minnesota Zoo apparently doesn't have penguins (TOTAL CRAP, Minnesota Zoo.  Shape up and fly right!  Lose the penguin hate.  They're adorable and you should have them!) so turtles may be my second choice.  They're not too flashy, that's true, but they look really cool

And I love they're little faces.  They look like little old men :)

This dude was just hanging out, chillin'.  

Continued...

Seriously, I'm Not Kidding

Know how I keep saying I'm a nerd? Not joking around. I seriously am.

You need examples? Fine.

Know what's SUPER HOT (if you're me)?

That man right there.

Okay, sure he's not hard on the eyes. He has very pretty blue eyes and adorable curly blond hair. The smile's pretty swoonworthy and the massive baseball player arms? Not counting against him. Plus who doesn't love a Canadian, right? These are not the parts of Justin Morneau being my baseball boyfriend that make me a nerd. (Those are the parts that make me a chick, for those of you keeping track at home)

The parts that are make me a nerd? Well, to answer that I have to tell you what is seriously the totally hottest part about him right now:

What is super, incredibly hot right now?

a .380 batting average.

a very nearly .500 on base percentage.

a .700 slugging percentage. Which makes:

a 1.199! On base plus slugging.

Not joking - I'm swooning over here.

And it's the stats (okay, the arms a big part too) that are doing it for me.

Nerd.

Yet More

Yeah... when I said I like Calla Lilies? Wasn't kidding. Really do.

Here is yet another variety showing off more of that "so purple it's black" look.

It's a very goth flower really.

If it had a bedroom it would be painted... well this color actually. And it would probably work at a Hot Topic on the weekends.

Freckles!

This orchid is much more the size you would expect. Doesn't it look like it has freckles? I kind of like it. It sort of looks like it's shy - blushing and trying to look away.

That is, if the flower were a person. Which it is, of course, not.

But if it were - totally blushing.