Nerd Alert

There are certain tests to determine if someone is a nerd and to what extent. If you know what species Jabba is, you are probably somewhat of a nerd. If you can distinguish between peripheral species in galaxies far, far away, you are definitely a nerd. If you know the name of the Klingon on Captain Picard’s Enterprise, nerd. If you know what today is for Klingons, irretrievable nerd. If you know Neil deGrasse Tyson on sight or get a quickening of the pulse when “Mythbusters” comes on, you really are a nerd. If you’ve ever remarked on a continuity mistake in the theater, corrected the grammar on a public sign, or know the director for any movie made earlier than 1950--nerd, nerd, double nerd. I pass (if you’re a fellow nerd) or fail (if you are a normal) all of these tests, so I’m a big time nerd. And I proclaim it with pride (or nuH bey on Kronos). But I think one of the most convincing tests of nerdhood is the fascination with how stuff works--how it’s made, what’s inside, where it came from, and other process-related things. My personal nerd passion is documentarily following something from the beginning of its journey to the destination--blown glass, bills becoming laws, “Trading Spaces“--so, I really liked Harriet Ziefert’s Birthday Card, Where Are You? In it we get to see Sam’s birthday card for Sally travel from his mailbox to hers--and all the stops in between. Now Scarlett is a nerd-in-training.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Birthday-Card-Where-Harriet-Ziefert/book/0140505369/

http://www.answers.com/topic/harriet-ziefert