April 13, 2009
By NerdNerd at 10:53 am
[Editor's Note: NerdNerd usually posts over the weekend, and she would have posted this past weekend too if her editor hadn't been off gallivanting at Saturday Seders (?) and Julia Roberts movies.] In my mind, there is a cultural tier of communication. At the top is a gold-leafed, quill-signed letter enclosed in a handmade paper envelope, [...] read more →
April 5, 2009
By NerdNerd at 10:06 am
Despite living in the U.S. my entire life—including a four-year stint in the Midwest—I had never, not once, ever touched a gun until last week. I’m terrified of them. Everyone talks about how the media desensitizes kids to violence, but I think growing up on Terminator and True Lies made me more wary of guns: [...] read more →
March 29, 2009
By NerdNerd at 4:21 pm
Only kids are allowed to like science. Up to a certain age (maybe 10?), dinosaurs, astronauts, bugs and physics experiments are the coolest things in the entire world. But after that, science is strictly off limits in polite conversation. Unless, of course, it’s in the context of how “green” something is or you’re directly quoting Barack Obama. [...] read more →
March 21, 2009
By NerdNerd at 7:58 pm
Before I knew it, I had spent 35 minutes in the shampoo aisle on Sunday afternoon, desperately weighing my options. The trouble for me with shampoo isn’t choosing the one that will make my hair sleeker, shinier or more “volumized.” I just take a long time trying to find the shampoo that insults my intelligence [...] read more →
March 15, 2009
By NerdNerd at 11:04 pm
Once a year, 100 teams of five people each dress up in wacky costumes and race shopping carts between popular bars in Portland. The guy who registered my team this year had a penguin costume on hand, so my team called itself: “AntarctiCart.” So, while most people probably pre-gamed for the race by drinking shots [...] read more →
March 8, 2009
By NerdNerd at 12:20 pm
This was the plan for Wednesday night: Let’s get drunk and debate the budget. It was a plan some political kids and I schemed up. These political kids are gainfully employed organizing events to “engage Portland’s youth voters” for the local PAC, The Bus Project. Their events typically incorporate free cupcakes, a megaphone and someone in [...] read more →
March 1, 2009
By NerdNerd at 10:47 am
As the square dance was wrapping up, I stayed by the wall concentrating on my beer. I didn’t know anyone there. My friend Carl was talking to a guy in overalls, and more intently, to the girl who’d played the fiddle all night. Square dancing is always a love fest. Most people don’t wear shoes [...] read more →
February 22, 2009
By NerdNerd at 10:01 am
It’s Friday night and I’m ankle-deep in shredded newspaper. It’s crunch time for the big art show on Tuesday. My friends and I have exactly 72 hours to complete this pancake-themed minature-golf hole we’re constructing out of paper mache. We finally got the physics of the goddamn short stack section worked out, and [...] read more →
February 15, 2009
By NerdNerd at 6:31 pm
I love hanging out at The Independent Publishing Resource Center, a six-room space in downtown Portland that smells like photocopiers. The Independent Publishing Resource Center is the world’s largest zine library. Its clientele is a diverse cast of total weirdoes. The best thing ever happened on Thursday: I am now a volunteer staff member there. [...] read more →
February 8, 2009
By NerdNerd at 1:02 pm
So I wouldn’t say this guy and I are dating. But I would say that we read comic books on his bed together until 2am one night and then made out on New Years. I have no idea what that makes our Facebook status. Mostly when I have a crush on a guy our interaction [...] read more →
January 30, 2009
By NerdNerd at 11:04 am
Yesterday, I accidentally superglued my glasses to my face. This happened because I’m convinced I can fix anything. When I was 10-years-old, the elastic in my socks wore out, so right before the elementary school band concert, I infamously (but, I argue, ingeniously) stapled the socks to the bottom of my pants. These days, [...] read more →
January 24, 2009
By NerdNerd at 3:30 pm
As the sun rises over Ashland, Oregon on a freezing January morning, I’m standing alone in the middle of a cow pasture, holding onto a loose piece of string that’s supposed to represent my connection to … society? Community? Actually, it’s not clear to me what anything represents because I’m having trouble staying [...] read more →
