6 posts tagged “ego”

March is National Women's History Month.  What women are making history today?

Me, with my astonishing ability to grow other people inside me.

What's the most drastic change you've ever made to your appearance?
Submitted by Laurie.

I guess that would be the time I shaved my head. It was summer, it was hot, and I was just damn tired of taking care of all that stuff on my head. The woman at the barbershop pretty much refused: "You will look like man!" Yes. Yes, I would. People proceeded to call me "sir" even if I was wearing a dress. Is my face so very manly? I think not. I think people are just not all that observant. People can apparently only take in one physical characteristic at a time, your gender being assigned according to whatever catches their eye first. If people were calling me "sir" today, I would laugh. But when I was single, I started to regret the shaving of the head. Lady looked like a dude.

Once I match, I'm dyeing my hair pink. Just you see if I don't!

How many places have you lived in your life?

1. Atlanta, Georgia - born and bred in the briar patch, as it were. Growing up I lived in three different houses and one apartment, briefly.

2. Cleveland, Ohio - where I attended the Cleveland Institute of Music. In Cleveland I managed to move every year I lived there, for a total of four different residences.

3. Port Jefferson/Miller Place, New York (Long Island, y'all) - where I was in grad school for music at Stony Brook. I continued the trend of moving at least once a year while on Long Island, living in three different places in two years.

4. back to Atlanta - where I worked as a musician for a couple of glorious (i.e. I got to sleep till noon) years. I lived with my mom for a little while then in an apartment with my friend Lee.

5. New York, New York - where I currently reside, as I have done for six years now. In New York I have lived in four different apartments. The last three years have been spent in one apartment, which is the longest I have stayed in one place since I was in high school. Is that what it means to be an adult? I don't know. All I know is I can't wait to move back to the Southland.

So. If you're keeping track, that's four different regions (one of them twice), and SEVENTEEN different dwellings. Now you know.

Take a picture of your reflection.

Sp

That's me right there in the Pepto Palace that is my bathroom. I took it after a haircut a while ago; I desperately need a haircut right NOW. Note also the dartboard on the bathroom door. Clearly that is a necessary feature.

What's the nerdiest thing about you?

Oh, man. Are you kidding? It's all nerd, all the time over here. In thinking it over I have decided there is no one nerdiest thing. In the wise words of one Inigo Montoya: "Let me 'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up."

First and foremost are my two greatest loves: words and numbers. Though my writing may tell a different story, I love me some good grammar. Syntax totally turns me on. Years of disuse have left my grammar and punctuation skills in a fucking shambles, but I'm working on it. Bear with me. And numbers? WOW. Watching Brainman made me cry repeatedly. One of my dreams is to take more and more math classes, just to see exactly how much I am capable of understanding. At the very end of my forays into calculus I began to glimpse how extraordinary numbers are, and how incredibly abstract. I want to know more!

I don't consider my love of music to be a form of nerdery, but probably most people do. I am a classical musician, after all. Apparently this means I'm a nerd. Even when I was in high school I didn't get that. I was never ashamed to carry my viola case around. Much more ashamed to have to wear a retainer with fake teeth in it. Yeah, I was hot. Look here for proof.

And yeah, I love science fiction. Lots. We can talk about it, if you want.

But we must not forget that I am that most nerdy of nerds, a Medical Student. Going to medical school gets you a free pass into Nerdville. Do not, if you value your sanity, ever spend time with two or more medical students at once. There is some unspoken law among us that we MUST, we are COMPELLED to, share in-jokes and horrible stories of bodily functions. Some kid pooped on your clogs? Oh yeah? Well, a placenta landed on mine! Take that! The nerdery is excessive. It is unspeakable--let us speak of it no more.

I am a nerd who loves children's books. Mostly the ones that are now out of print, like Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.  UPDATE: That trilogy is back in print! Trust me, you need a copy.

That's all I can think of right now. There's undoubtedly more. Gobs more.

On vox. Wheeeeeee!