A chapter in Benjamin Nugent’s American Nerd: The Story of My People describes the use of childhood nerdiness as an inner defense against a disordered home life. Nugent cites Dungeons and Dragons, a quite orderly role-playing game, as one of the tools used by a childhood friend to cope with the chaos of a dysfunctional family living in a cluttered home. A [...]
Archive for June, 2009
Finding your people with a roll of the dice
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Bon Jovi, books, chaos, childhood, clutter, coping, cretins, D&D, Depeche Mode, dice, friends, jeans, Marillion, nerds, school, Sex Pistols, teenager, Violent Femmes on June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The most awesome customer you’ll ever lose
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged customer service, gym, manners, Oprah, Southern, weightlifting on June 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I don’t know why flagrantly bad customer service still shocks me, but it does. I’ve been trying to join a gym this week. When my husband accepted his great new job a couple of weeks ago, I lost access to his uncrowded, well-appointed company gym. My inner cheerleader was all, “Yay, dynamic career move,” while my inner weightlifter was all, “Crap, [...]
A hint of hilarity
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged birthday, brother, children, gift, hint, imagination, niece, toy on June 18, 2009 | 5 Comments »
My brother’s almost 4-year-old daughter called to wish me a happy birthday a couple of weeks ago, and immediately launched into one of her famous, almost decipherable monologues. Apparently she was informing me what I was supposed to bring for her upcoming birthday: a pink and purple mask on a stick, in a white box [...]
Go ahead, ask me anything
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Buffy, curiosity, Mini Cooper, office, parents, predator, reading, urine, wolf on June 17, 2009 | 3 Comments »
How does one become the office’s resident expert on wolf urine? You begin with an unquenchable curiosity about seemingly everything. Top with uncanny reading skills and parents who don’t ask too many questions about what you’re reading and/or why, and you’re well on the way to being the resident expert on everything from three-sided daggers to [...]
To camp or not to camp
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged adventure, alabama, animals, Bonnaroo, camping, coast, coyotes, hotel, humidity, Huntsville, insects, mississippi, South, travel, vacation, weather on June 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Since moving to Huntsville in 2007, I’ve been invited to go camping by everyone from co-workers and classmates to new friends and virtual strangers. I’ve explained time and time again that as natives of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, my husband and I don’t camp. We rarely even discussed camping until two years ago, except to mock [...]
No place I’d rather be
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bus, calories, city, commute, crowds, escalator, food, hurry, husband, New York City, public transportation, streets, subway, travel, vacation on June 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I just realized my watch is still set on New York City time. I want to go back. We spent our days and nights navigating subways and buses, seeing as much of the city as we could. We avoided shows and anything else with long lines, and ate whatever we wanted with no concerns over [...]
Shaggerty and the city
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bus, cattle gap, cities, city, coast, college, crosswalk, escalator, London, Louisiana, mississippi, New Orleans, New York City, pedestrians, restaurant, school, South, streets, subway, travel, Underground, vacation, World War II on June 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I’m planning a trip to New York City and I am PSYCHED. People who grow up in the rural South usually have one of three reactions to urban life: They are annoyed by crowded sidewalks, brutal traffic and the intricate layout of city streets. They are terrified by the city’s sheer vibrancy. They fall in [...]
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