Why Write?

The words I type are a part of me. These words represent my choices, ideas, relationships, and feelings. I describe things in ways I never could before; the cold-moist feeling of morning dew, or the red-searing joy of running, or the sweet-wet thirst of wine. I write what I write because of the picture I see; a picture full of delectable dreams, or melted mountains. My inspiration comes from authors who have also written their choices and their feelings, and a teacher who forces me to grasp for creativity.

As the mild-summer turned to a milder fall I transformed my visions into a craft of words that represented my being. I told stories from my own viewpoint, and then tried to turn them into another viewpoint. I always used my own experiences to drive my momentum of creating an ultimate word count. I was high on words. I let a poem drift from my fingers to the computer and then to an online magazine. A poem of mine was published; a poem that represented the deep, dark, empty pain of the death of a child. Yet, my longing to write continued. I thought being accepted into the literary world would satiate my hunger to write, but it didn’t. I drove along the highway, thinking of new ways to write. New ideas began to flare. I wanted to write everything and on everything, and I did -- the sand at the Great Salt Lake speaks to that.

How to tell a geek from a geek.

In my wanderings and musings of the world I've noticed there are geek-cliques. Not the bad kind of cliques, but the kind where geeks fit into their own geek genus. There are sci-fi geeks, music geeks, fashion geeks, book geeks, and comic book geeks. I know there are more out there, but these are the ones that I've encountered in the last 6 months. Now, you're probably wondering how to differentiate between them. That's easy, or it seems easy to me.

Before I get started, let me address one thing I've noticed; geeks love their t-shirts. I don't blame them. They're comfortable, stretch easily, and can disguise a geek as being better groomed. As in, not wearing those dirty white tank-tops people use as beer gut cover-ups, and then go shopping for more beer. If you would like to know which shirts I'm talking about go here or here. I'm not saying that all t-shirts are better than the beer gut covers, but they help.

Moving on. When you desire to find the group of geeks that best suit your wants, you'll need to follow a few simple steps:

Quote any sci-fi TV show or movie you've seen. Any. Such as: Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (old or new), Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome, Terminator, and so many more. This will help in narrowing down the sci-fi geeks.

Look for certain tics. This is usually indicative of a music geek, but not always. These tics can be anywhere from a slight head-bob to a full blown air-guitar. If you notice someone using a chopstick to conduct a concerto with their sushi, you know you've found the music geek.

Find someone who is wearing (or has in their closet) Ugg boots. Anyone who buys these boots is considered a fashion geek. Why? Because no other person in their right mind would wear these. Okay, okay not all fashion geeks wear these, or have them, but it's a good start on your quest for geeks. Note that 99% of fashion geeks will have, at least one, 9x9ft. walk-in closet full of clothes, shoes, and accessories. The other one percent will have four closets.

Feeling like someone just walked all over you with their words? You've found the book geek. They're the best because they can make any person feel less of a person just by speaking. Why, they have a verbal IQ of 140. Words can seem so innocent on paper, but when they are used by someone who devours books by the minute, they cut deeper than the paper they're written on. Book geeks have the propensity to speak verbosely and use the five-dollar SAT words. Like cacophony or loquacious. Use those two words in a nice, neat sentence. They can also use words for fun. The next time you sit down to dinner with a book geek, try using wordplay instead of foreplay; it may not be as physical, but could be twice as fun.

Finally, we have the comic book geeks. The best of the bunch. They can encompass most of the previous forms of the geek genera. They're able to quote sci-fi movies and TV shows because they watch most of them, and are also able to quote comic book movies. Some comic book geeks even have the fashion geek mutation. This mutation gives comic book geeks an entire year's worth of ironic tees. They'll listen to almost any music and appreciate it, that covers music geeks. Plus, book is in the name of the comic book geek. When you see a comic book geek, you'll know it! If just by the fact that they call their car Clark or try to fling webs out of their wrists.

Hopefully, this list helps in the search for your type of geek. Maybe it will help you the next time you find your way into a random festival or convention.

Shining sun with hair?

Why do I only come out during the sunny months? Apparently, I'm a bear. I hibernate. Remember folks, you poke an angry bear you get to see it's mean side. I try to come out during the dreary months, but it's so much more cozy in my house with the florescents and computer screen illuminating my waking hours.

The sunny months are more tantalizing to actually be out in it all. Plus, I can actually see what I'm doing at four in then afternoon instead of having to search for a light. Daylight hours in winter can suck my lily-white toes.

Since that we've established I'm a spring-summer-autumn gal, we can discuss more important things, like shopping or hair dye. Let's go for the dye.

The other day I was in the grocery store and I overheard some chick say something about my hair, and how could I go out looking like that. Well, I'm sorry, but I used to dye my hair black and now I don't. It has to grow out. I look horrible with short hair and I'm not cutting it. I would have liked to give her a thing or two. Alas, I just thought about slapping her and walked out the door.

So, my hair is two shades. It actually is quite hilarious to look at and every time I look in the mirror I look like some sort of mutant skunk. I avoid cameras when my hair is down.

I like my more natural color. I will continue to dye my hair. I refuse to grow old gracefully.

There you have it. I will live to dye another day.

Woot!

I absolutely love www.woot.com I think it's one of the best websites out there. It's a website where they have one item to sell every day.  There are great deals and also the not-so-great deals, but deals that you would not find anywhere else.

I think the best part about Woot!, are the Bags of Crap. Every so often there is a wootoff, they have a giant sale of things left in their warehouse and when one item sells out a new item is up on the big screen o' Woot!

On April Fool's day they had a day of Bags of Crap. The catch? You had to play a flash game. Play the game to get to the level all the patrons were on, and then you could buy a Bag of Crap. It was difficult, not because the game was complex, but because of the obstacles they put in the way to get to the next level. Luckily, I had a brother help me get my Bag of Crap.

You must read the Bag of Crap rules, they can be found here: http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=16944 Plus it gives more of an explanation of the Crappy April Fool's day prank.

Anyway, I got my Woot! and was so excited, I got the bag, a monkey key-chain and a Striker Headphonie. All for just under $8.00.

So excited!

I posted my Bag of Crap loot on the Woot! forums, and someone said I didn't get all of my crap. My brother also told me I was missing a crap. Even though I didn't really need anything else, I wrote Woot! and they sent me my new crap, not only was the missing crap in there, but two extra craps.

In this new Bag of Crap; I got a set of Leak Frogs, an iPod FM transmitter, and another Headphonie. Now I can listen to my mp3 player in stereo without using headphones. w00t!!!

All I can say is: THANKS Woot!

For an awesome BoC idea, go here.

Sad post.

OUCH!
I'm pretty sure the world has been painted in a hue of pain. A little bit physical, but mostly emotional.

I had no idea it would hurt this bad. My Dad told us, when we were young, he wouldn't live past the age of 45. But he did, he lived to 61.

I'm pretty sure that he did stay alive long enough to hit Pi day (3.14) on purpose.  He was an intellectual geek, and thought it would be poetic to leave on that day.  Maybe, now, he can recite Pi to 100 digits, I know he was able to at least count to 31 in binary on one hand, I never actually saw him go up to 1023 on both hands, though.

I've heard people say, "just one more". That's actually what I wish for; Just one more hug, one more 'I love you' one more giggle.

Here's something he would giggle at:

I'm glad he gave me a sense of humor, and his thirst for knowledge.

I am a fashion victim!

I have no fashion sense. NONE. I like my t-shirts and jeans, throw in some sneakers or flip-flops and I'm set.  This being said, there are some fashions that even I know are wrong.

Jeggings. Who in their right mind makes leggings out of denim? Ewwwww.

Then there is the ever-present Ugg boots. The "ick" factor is in the name. Some designer thought they were cute, EVERYONE else said they were ugly. So what does the designer do? Names them after what they are: Ugly.

I was with my friend, at the mall, the other day. We were doing some people watching, and I couldn't help but notice how many victims fell prey to this horrible trend.  They're moon boots, people. You know, those boots that you wore as a child, running around for hours in the snow. Moon boots---in leather.   This lead to my next thought: Moon-deer. The most popular color of said moon boots is tan. As such, we have the moon-deer. The next color is a darker, we'll call it the moon-moose. Finally, we have the fur accented boots, which calls for the moon-yeti (when I see these I hear Chewbacca complaining).

I have to ask what these horrible boot wearers did with all that moon-meat. I mean, they got the moon-animal skin from somewhere, right?  I have to hope that they gave the meat to the poor starving Lunarians. Alas, I suspect they just threw away the moon-meat and never thought about it again.

Please be advised, that if I see you wearing these things, I will point and laugh. I am a fashion victim, but I will not fall prey to these horrendous styles.

No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot. -Dickens

In all my life, I never really thought that reading was all that wonderful. However, a little over half a year ago I met a great person who had an online/offline book club. She invited me to said book club, and I found out that I really do like reading.

Before this invitation, I read maybe 4 books a year.  This year alone, I've already read 4 books and working on 3 more.  This is weird to me. I know that I've always enjoyed the escape books can bring, but never actually relished in it.  I also learned that not all books can keep me entertained.

I, now, find myself staying up late at least once with every book. Even the ones that I find hard to read, like A Tale of Two Cities.  This isn't really a good idea since I need my sleep, but it can't be helped. I also know the reason why my brother and sister loved to do just that when we were growing up.

Since I started this new literary endeavor, I've found that not every book is really great....for me. I need to be clear; every book has it's fan, but every book doesn't need all fans.  Although I love Charles Dickens' writing, I can't read through 5 pages without getting a bit drowsy. I know there are many Dickens addicts out there, and this must be why it makes me feel bad that I don't like all the classics.  After all, aren't they classics because everyone enjoys them?!  I find that I need more than just beautiful prose to keep me interested.  I feel disconcerted for the need of pulp-fiction or the sensationalism of publishers to keep me reading.  That isn't to say that I always need the hype, but it doesn't hurt to have a bit of an intriguing plot to keep me going. 

But hey, at least I'll ALWAYS have some book or story to keep me entertained, and I'm glad I have so many choices to choose from to continue my new found infatuation.