A memorial service.....with beer

Tomorrow (April Fool's Day) there is going to be a 'wake' for CEHIP - really just a bunch of epis getting together to drink - how is that not fun??. Its at the Bier Markt so that's my suggestions for this weeks gathering.

I am the Easter Bunny

I never intentionally set out to become the Easter Bunny, but here I am. I guess it all started 13 months ago when Paige was born. See I did purposefully (and most robustly I might add) set out to become a mom, but much like acquiring a cell phone, you must then sign up for a package to manage said new acquisition.

With so many plans to choose from, we ultimately went with the VIP Holiday Bundle. It does cost a little more, but it allows me to concurrently coexist not only as Mom, but also The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the less observed, but fun non-the-less Nancy New Year. I am also licensed to go over-board in any of, but not limited to the following events: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween. Certainly there was a basic package, the Jehovah’s Witness Economy Pack, but it was quite restrictive and required more weekend commitments. Admittedly the Vodka Martini Roam Plan promised more free time for myself, but had foreseeable long-term complications.

She’s not even going to get it for a couple of years. There will be a couple of good years where she just sparkles at the thought of all that stuff, but she’ll never thank me for it. And then eventually she’ll figure it all out and harbour a small resentment for being the reason that she died a little inside that day.

So here it is my lunch hour and I’m heading out to buy chocolate eggs that she’s too young to eat and toys that she’ll ignore by 10 a.m. on Sunday, but that’s what being a parent is all about isn’t it? And if I have to eat every last one of those chocolate eyes by myself, then by God I’m just going to have to do it.

Not so much a PAWA, but an event never the less

On Saturday, there will be merriment.
At around 6ish we (we being me and anyone who joins me) will be going to Tortilla flats for a little mexicana then heading across the street to see Danny Michel at the Rivoli. If you're interested, be sure to bring enough money to buy Jeff a birthday drink.

That's it. All very simple.

Allow myself to introduce....myself

For those of you I have not met, I work with Karen. My real name is Angela Glidden, but I decided that if I was ever going to be a stripper my stage name would by Angel Glitter, so that's what I'm going to go by because let's be honest, how often do you get the opportunity to use your stripper pseudonym for anything?

I'm married and have a 1 year old daughter. I'll try to refrain from describing b.m.'s and such but when she squats down and shakes her grove thing to the Dirty video, I might be forced to share.

I will likely never get the opportunity to attend any of the GTGtPAWA alumni meetings, but if you don't mind, I will live vicariously through you and use my resources to come up with hangover cures for you (since there seems to be a chronic need for it among the group). My other talents include spinning my eyes in circles really really fast and baking the best chocolate chip cookies in the entire universe.

friday drinks

i'm calling it. with 45% of all votes cast, the winner is...

the black bull, friday march 18th, after 9ish. (click click for the map)

be there, or be... somewhere else.

also... i changed the poll to an old one i had lying around. i did not spend any time on it, so judge me if you dare!

Plan B?

I've heard through the rumour mill that Mississauga is out for this weekend (personally I think Geoffrey is just embarrassed to be seen with us by his friends. And, really, who can blame him). So I was wondering if there are any alternate plans. After all, I have to celebrate my final week at CEHIP and prepare for my first week at CIHI. And me and my newly removed wisdom teeth could use a night out (maybe without tequila, though, 'kay Karen?)

Slogans

I think the gtgtpawa needs a slogan.....something that can be put on a t-shirt, for example. Like this one, which is very to the point. Or, depending on the plans for the night, maybe this one, which is a little more subtle....

You're right, this isn't a democracy

I can't believe more people think Nerd over Geek. This is disgraceful and I must now pull out the big guns to prove my point. A quick meta analysis of studies on the topic proves my thesis: A Nerd is a Geek who can't get laid.

Like any other rapidly researched rant, let me begin in the style of "Webster's defines X as..."

The Jargon Lexicon includes this in its definition of geek:

Originally, a geek was a carnival performer who bit the heads off chickens. (In early 20th-century Scotland a ‘geek’ was an immature coley, a type of fish.) Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative. Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a computer geek as one who eats (computer) bugs for a living — an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a cheese grater. This is often still the way geeks are regarded by non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more dependent on technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended to shift towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now ‘geek pride’ festivals (the implied reference to ‘gay pride’ is not accidental).

While a nerd is defined thusly:
1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.
(emphasis mine)

Delving further into the topic using the official repository of the sum-total of human knowledge it is plain to see that anyone who votes nerd is clearly a dork.

The discussion here concludes that nerds take their geekiness to such an extreme that they lose all social skills. The conclusion: nerds wear pocket protectors; geeks have friends (best line:a geek is a nerd with social skills. A geek is a nerd who knows more than three people. A geek is a nerd who can hold is own liquor).

In this debate, they maintain the idea that a nerd is a geek with possibly more skill in the field but again, no social graces. They also add the concept of a dork, which is purely derogative -- more of a wannabe geek/nerd. The general idea here is that a dork tries too hard to be either a geek or a nerd but just lacks the brainpower. Nerds try to move beyond their nerdiness to escape or elevate their field, but are held back -- perhaps as a result of too much focus on the field or just desire to not associate with anyone outside the field. Geekdom implies some pride in the status. Because they accept and relish the label, they tend not worry about being called geeks and are more successful. This is perhaps because Geek has become the new cool while nerd is still seen as somewhat derogatory.

Another discussion here expands on a geek's contentedness with her status as a geek while nerds aspire -- unsuccessfully usually due to the afore mentioned lack of social skills -- to become something other than a nerd (out of desire to finally have sex?).

One interesting point is the ability to simultaneously be a geek, a nerd and a dork in different fields. For example: I am a computer geek, a Canadian Football nerd and a car dork.

A good lexicographer will allow common usage to define a term rather than imposing an uncomfortable definition on the public. This analysis shows that common usage points to a geek's social superiority over a nerd. Obviously, without a major credit card, social skills are required to get laid. A geek can potentially possess these skills but a nerd, by definition, cannot.

As for which category this post puts me into -- I'll leave that one up to the judges