Two things about me:
1. I am a fierce overthinker. (on a resume it’s called being “analytical” but that masks the raw consumptive energy I spend on mulling over thoughts into pulp)
2. I am a nerd.
News flash: #1 is a part of being #2.
In a desperate attempt to find something to do while Matt is gone, I looked at the Westword and found that Chris Hardwick (@nerdist) would be podcasting an episode for the Nerdist in Boulder. The curious creature that I am—with a particular fondness for anything I suspect of being This-American-Life-like--investigated further... “What makes someone a nerd is how passionate they are about something and how they will try to understand that thing on a grander level, like, more than life” – Chris Hardwick. In other words, it’s not the subject matter that makes nerds…nerdy, but the obsessive extent of their focus on that subject that elevates them to nerd status.
Where is this going?
In a mad dash of truly inspired procrastination, I watched the The 99 Percent video above (via 55 Hi’s blog). So many things that I love welling up inside of me. I love The 99 Percent. I love 55 Hi’s graphic design work. I loved this video. I know the video is over 20 minutes long, which may truly, truly distress the short attention span of the average 2012 audience, but I couldn’t help myself. Because? I’m a nerd for English.
The movie explains the forces that make (video) games so compelling and explains how the could be applied to our lives to make them as engaging, challenging, and, yes, fun as playing a game. This is not to say that we’re trivializing the projects in our lives, rather, we’re mentally raising the stakes so that we are more engaged in our own lives (yeah, I’m italicizing stuff a lot). While I was listening to Aaron Dignan I was desperately thinking back to my classes and see how Dignan’s words complimented the fantastic new media, online forums, rhetoric, and communication lectures of my younger years. I’ve always felt inept at “Englishing.” Like, that I could really enjoy it without being able to discuss it competently or understand it completely, but man do I like it. So I wish I could give you a more thoughtful summary of the video, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy watching the video better.
All those separate events lead to this one epiphany: That’s it; that’s what being a nerd is: It’s being overwhelmed with inspiration about the things you’ve learned in comparison to your own experiences…and then wanting to blog about it.
Thanks for that, English department.
(Sorry I don’t understand punctuation).