HOO! HA! THURSDAY!

Before I answer the previous week’s questions (answers for this week will be posted at the end) I just want to say how completely awesome I find all of my fellow Nerdfighters on this blog. After all, YOU KNOW WHO ROBERT FULGHUM IS! (If you don’t, there’s no need to admit it now and look less awesome, just find some of his essays and read them). He and Douglas Adams pretty much created my ideology on the Meaning of Life. And it’s always nice to know fellow Potterheads (can I get a *squee* for July?).

Now: A picture that I feel encompasses my personality. You'll have to click the link: http://agingsnob.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/delirium_sandman.jpg

That’s right. It’s Delirium of the Endless (have I mentioned my undying love for all things Neil Gaiman? If not I declare undying love for all things Neil Gaiman). I like her style, I like her random wisdom, and I like that her eyes are different colors, like mine (well, one of mine is blue and the other is blue with a brown strip, so, whatever).

If I have lived a long-ish time, I want my tombstone to say: “Brevity is the soul of wit,” but Casey didn’t give a sh*t. And if I can get that to fly with my family, I’ll have it be the oft used line from Slaughterhouse 5, “So it goes…” I prefer the former.

One year ago I had never lived on my own before. Granted, I have a roommate, but I pay for my rent and all my clothes, books, furniture, and utilities. I’m not being supported by my family at all. I have a job, a real job that I can get into for life should I so want to, and the Army won’t reject me so long as I don’t get any fatter and keep passing my physical training tests. I like this freedom, as well as fear it slightly.

Also, one year ago I was not a Nerdfighter.

I did know John Green. Sometime during junior year of high school, I found a wonderful little book in the school’s library. It had a white cover with multi-colored silhouettes of females, and a title written as a math equation. I read that book, and it was known to the world as “An Abundance of Katherines.” I loved it for its nerdy protagonist, its hilarious side characters, and the useless trivia placed in the footnotes (I love both useless trivia and footnotes so much J). I soon found “Looking For Alaska” and John Green’s wikipedia (wikeepedia) page. There I discovered that John did a video blog with his brother. “Wow, that’s interesting,” I thought to myself, then promptly forgot to bother looking up those videos because my internet wasn’t good enough to look at videos on you tube effectively.

I remained a fan of John’s, reading his short stories in “Geektastic” and “Let it Snow”, and “Paper Towns” as soon as it came out. I discovered mental_floss magazine. Then one day, in Arabic class, one of my classmates was looking at videos on Youtube, and one of them happened to be a really cool video on the Ten Most Freaking Amazing Explosions. “Wow, that guy talks really fast. And that Tzar Bomba was really cool.” I looked to see who made the video, since I like top ten lists, and I saw that it was posted by vlogbrothers. “Wait a second,” I said to myself, “isn’t that a video blog created by one of your favorite teen authors?” “Why, yes, me, I do believe it is.” “Golly gee, what happy chance smiles upon you.” I went home after class that night and watched the Intro to Nerdfighting video, and I was hooked. Been watching ever since.

The funniest thing, I think, is that I’d even known about the term Nerdfigher, and that it was somehow connected to John Green, but I never put together the dots until I watched that video. Life, what a silly capricious thing you are.

But yes, that is my journey to Nerdfighteria; I’m glad to have shared it with you all.

Now, to answer this week’s slew of questions:

My Patronus is most definately a raven. I often say "Nevermore."

I ask all of you, “What makes your blood so boiling hot that whenever somebody talks about it you can’t help but put in your two cents and fight to the death proving your perspective if someone dares to contradict your point of view on the subject?”

That’s all for now. Peace and Penguins,
Casey

And now, the Lovely Christina!!!!