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

Just The Facts, Ma'am

Have you heard that more domestic violence occurs on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day? That statistic was reported years ago in an article on gender equality and has been incorporated into countless messages since. It sounds barbaric and likely compels the hearer to feel that something should be done. As it should. But there’s a problem. The problem is that since the article first appeared questions have surfaced about the research techniques used in the first place and the dissemination of the information after the fact. However, that disclaimer usually gets left out of any citation and the study keeps getting validated. Maybe rightfully so. It could be accurate, but we don’t know because the authorship of the study always seems hard to pin down. Another piece of information often (incorrectly) cited from the original article was that thirty million people, mostly women, die every year from eating disorders. Which, of course, made women’s groups go the proverbial ape you-know-what. Until someone took a second and realized that would mean the equivalent of the entire state of California would be dropping dead annually. That seemed unlikely. After a lot of digging and dead ends, it was discovered the original source claimed thirty million people are affected by eating disorders each year. That seemed more likely. But tracking down the truth was a big job. In Harriet Ziefert’s Who Said Moo?, Rooster has a heck of time getting to the bottom of things. Ain’t that the way of it?

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Said-Moo-Harriet-Ziefert/dp/1929766475

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000018411,00.html