My attempts to change the world.

[* amanda]

For lack of a blog, no limit on space in this forum, and because I have a captive audience here, I've decided to start a thread to post some random things that I think will help make our world a teensy bit better. Don't underestimate these little things... God is in the details, after all! Hopefully everyone will learn a thing or two here.

Please, feel free to post your own little things if you feel as though you have some knowledge that everyone should know!

My nuggets of knowledge begin in subsequent posts...

[blackngold]

I'd love to change the world
but I don't know what to do
So, I leave it up to you

Sorry, Amanda. Couldn't help myself.

[* amanda]

Okay, first of all, the pronunciation of "often" with the "t" absolutely drives me insane. It's WRONG. Everyone mis-pronounces this word... Brits, Canadians, Americans. On TV, on the radio, celebrities, politicians, intellectuals, everyone. Often is NOT pronounced with the "t"; rather, it is pronounced "ofen."

I know some snobby people at my school intentionally pronounce the "t" in an attempt to sound sophisticated, but they mostly sound arrogant:

From wsu.edu: "People striving for sophistication often pronounce the T in this word, but true sophisticates know that the masses are correct in saying “offen.”"

and from alphadictionary.com: "We have mastered the spelling of this word so well, its spelling influences the pronunciation. In fact, T drops out between F and N regularly in English (compare soften)."

[* amanda]

LOL B&G

[* amanda]

Here's my next attempt to change the world (this one is for all of the single women out there...) I find it brilliant, true, and "often" think of it:

Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It
By: Anonymous (source: craigslist.org)

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less attention to the flashy boys.

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are... plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such... but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra... all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models... They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo...”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind...”

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on...” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code... a geek can dream).

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce...

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps...

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

[blackngold]

My wife just came in and saw me posting on an HP website and said (and I quote)

"OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE I MARRIED A NERD."

[Richard]

LOL, after reading that, that should have made your day, BnG!

Elle, I as surprised you didn't at a #16: Nerd pronounce often as offen...

Richard

PS LiveJournal has great free blogs. I have one too. I mainly use it for writing my own movie reviews.

[* amanda]

Yes, BnG, did you print off the list for your wife?

Richard, I put the often thing in my MSN sub-name this week and I've had several people make fun of me for it. Honestly, though, it's been bothering me lately.

I am wary of blogs. I don't like them, especially since a few months ago when an anonymous person once left me what looked like a very serious threat on her LifeJournal. P.S. don't EVER work for a student newspaper, no matter how respectable the university, if it isn't accountable to anyone and is in a country where individuals don't usually sue each other. and the editors are mentally insane.

[phoenix73]

miss amanda, you should read Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.... you'd get a kick out of it. it's about the horrific use of the apostrophe, the comma, and other syntax snafus. now who's the geek? ME!

i totally married a nerd. We were enjoying birthday cake for my daughter when my husband took his party hat, put it over his nose and mouth, and said, "Look! I'm a restoration doctor!" I almost snarffed my milk, it was so funny. My immediate thought was, "WOW, we really are geeks!" My first clue on that should have been when we were playing with the kids wooden blocks and said, "Look! Post and Lintel construction!"

[Richard]

Phoenix, that is so funny!

I once read an article about HP fans being socially awkward people, just like the Trekkies (and Warsies) and LotR fans who dress up like elves and dwarfs. I don't really remember exactly what was in the article, but I do have to disagree about HP fans being socially awkward or nerds or geeks. We are more like obsessive, overanalyzing idiots... That's the category I would place myself in when it comes to HP anyway! ;D

Richard

[Kit M.]

To changing the world my #1 step would be for me to rule it! Then dictionary would be changed because sheep to sheep doesn't make sense! shoop to sheep, like tooth to teeth makes much more sense.

[Richard]

kitaurormarlow said:

Then dictionary would be changed because sheep to sheep doesn't make sense! shoop to sheep, like tooth to teeth makes much more sense.

LOL!!!!! ;D

Since language spelling/grammar has been mentioned here before, I have a question. As English is my second language, I sometimes get very confused. I don't understand when to use I or me, and I offen (sp mistake is deliberate) don't understand if it is Sirius's knife or Sirius' knife. Can anyone explain those two grammar problems of mine? Thanks!

Richard

[* amanda]

phoenix73 said:

i totally married a nerd. We were enjoying birthday cake for my daughter when my husband took his party hat, put it over his nose and mouth, and said, "Look! I'm a restoration doctor!" I almost snarffed my milk, it was so funny. My immediate thought was, "WOW, we really are geeks!" My first clue on that should have been when we were playing with the kids wooden blocks and said, "Look! Post and Lintel construction!"

ROTFLMAO!!! I almost snarfed MY tea just reading that. too funny. congrats, phoenix, you most certainly snagged yourself a geek.

RICHARD - darling, dear, adorable Mugwump going off to a tropical island in a few days... I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you are a geek. Sorry. You're not an overanalyzing thingamabob. That is just a fancy name for a GEEK. NERD. We ALL are. Hello --- we have ALL posted on a HARRY POTTER DISCUSSION BOARD for the past THREE AND A HALF OR SO YEARS. Enjoy it. Be proud - nay, CELEBRATE - your geekiness.

It's not so bad. Geeks are actually the "in" thing this decade. When they make "I love the 00's" on Vh1, this is going to be known as the Decade of the Geek. The Geeks are Hot trend was sparked with the loveable Seth on the OC. In real life, with the popularity of HP, LotR, and Narnia, geeks have been a huge and important demograpic in Hollywood (and thus our American society, sadly, since it is largely driven by Hollywood and commercial interests) over the past few years. Movies like "40 Year Old Virgin" only further enhance the allure of the geek and draw attention to the fascination and revelry we all secretly hold for geeks. As for hot and successful, movie stars are out and tecchie dudes are in. I.e. the Google geeks. They're freaking rich...have a business that's a household name (thus fame)...oh, but smart, too... and all of this makes them desireable in many ways. And technology, formerly geeks-only territory, is the HOTTEST thing in the world. Hot people have hot technology, like the iPod. The best part of being a geek (male or female)? They can still be great looking, unlike the days of old when if you looked good, you couldn't be smart, and vice versa. i.e. I think we can all gag now that we've witnessed the messedupness of former "hot" and decidedly non-geeky individuals who are now part of bizarre coupleages *cough* Brad/Angelina, Tom/Katie, JLo/Marc, BenniferII *cough* and agree that those formerly so-called "cool" people are so passé.

In sum, you're cool if you're a geek, so enjoy it. "Cool" people are SO 90's/early 00's!!!

More changing the world in next post...

[* amanda]

richard said:

Since language spelling/grammar has been mentioned here before, I have a question. As English is my second language, I sometimes get very confused. I don't understand when to use I or me, and I offen (sp mistake is deliberate) don't understand if it is Sirius's knife or Sirius' knife. Can anyone explain those two grammar problems of mine? Thanks!
Richard

Richard, even native English speakers have difficulty with these two things.

where to place an apostrophe can get tricky. It can be used two ways:

- to show omission... i.e. "It's time to read." (It is time to read.)

The second way is much more complicated. It is used to show posession. Things get tricky here. Here are some examples (I'll admit I checked on a website for help to make sure I got all of the rules straight):

Posession: "We went to Dumbledore's brother's pub. (It is the brother of Dumbledore. It is the restaurant of Dumbledore's brother.)"

Some words sound awkward when an apostrophe 's' is added:

"Sirius's knife."

But, since the posessive word ends with an "s" and thus it's awkward to pronounce two "s" sounds, t is common to just write the 's' apostrophe:

"Sirius' knife."

HOWEVER - I once had an English teacher who knew all the rules who told us that this is not grammatically correct, and in the English language, you should still write the 's at the end, so, grammatically speaking, you should always write

"Sirius's knife."

Then, there are more rules when we run into apostrophes when used with plural nouns:

"At the zoo, the children were most interested in seeing the lions' den."

More than one lion owns the den, so we add the apostrophe after the 's' (this is the den of the lions).

So, the general rule is:
- if there's one owner - add an apostrophe and then 's'
- if there are two or more owners - add 's' then an apostrophe.

Naturally, there are words which form their plural by changing internal letters (instead of adding 's') and obviously in that case the apostrophe comes before the 's'.

"It was the children's turn to cast a spell."

When you have 'double possession' - when two or more people (or subjects) own one item and both (or all) of their names are mentioned, the apostrophe is applied only to the second (or last) name.

"We had a butterbeer at Snape and Bellatrix's mansion."

When you're using names that end in -S, you follow the same rules as with any other name and add apostrophe S:

"Chris's car, Bridget Jones's Diary."

Plural names also follow the same rules:

"Bill Thomas's car; the Thomases' new house (add -es to names that end in S to indicate plural form)."

Here's what I do: to make sure you never confuse the two rules, ask yourself if the words "it is" can be substituted in the sentence, if the answer is yes, then put in an apostrophe. If the answer is no, then don't.

"The phoenix ruffled its (it is?) feathers." (NO)

"It's (it is?) a lovely day at Hogwarts." (YES)

[* amanda]

As for the "me" and "I" question, again, this is tricky so I'll direct you to a website:

www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/meandi

The way I always make sure I'm using "Me" or "I" correctly in a sentence is by taking the other object out of the sentence. i.e.:

"My friend and me went to a party last night." to check it, take out "my friend" and you have "Me went to a party last night" which is obviously wrong (unless you are a drunken caveman). So, "My friend and me went to a party last night." is wrong. [Wrong]

"My friend and I went to a party last night." take "my friend" out and you have "I went to a party last night" which is correct, so use "My friend and I went to a party last night."

One thing to remember are that you should never use "myself" unless you've used "I" first because "myself" is reflexive". You might not have a problem with this because you're probably better at this rule as a English as a second language speaker, whereas I notice many native English speakers don't understand the concept of "reflexive" and thus and use "myself" as a substitute for "I" or "me" which is totally incorrect in standard English.

Phoenix, I need to get that book.

OH! another unrelated grammar nitpick. never use "awful" as an adjective unless it truly is awful - i.e. rancid, horrid, terrible, etc. Some people use "awful" to support another adjective such as "good" or "pretty" and this is grammatically incorrect.

i.e. "She's awful good at singing, and awful pretty up on stage, too." WRONG! It would be better to say "She's very good at singing, and extremely pretty up on stage, too."

[* amanda]

I completely forgot my world-changing idea of the night after all of those grammar lessons. It was non-grammar-related and completely slipped my mind.

I guess I'll just have to settle for the first thing I can think of, which is that more people should pay attention to news.bbc.co.uk/ and less attention to www.eonline.com/ especially issues such as www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,18129,00.html?fdnews and should instead be looking at issues such as news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4620838.stm ... but I'll get off my ideological high-horse now and will be back next time with some more practical everyday world-changing tips later.

[phoenix73]

elle, i confess i read the awful truth on eonline for a good bit of goss on a very regular basis. but i also read the huffington post for some decent spleen-venting, ananova.com, and other fun ones.

well done on the grammar. you really would enjoy that book, i'm telling you. the author describes her horror at seeing a sign that read "BOXS'S" or some such nightmare. the title is derived from a joke about a panda with a gun in a restaurant. (pandas eat shoots and leaves, as opposed to our criminal panda, who eats, shoots, and leaves.) it's great fun.

[Richard]

Amanda, thanks for that!!!!! I just hope nobody expects me to be perfect in grammar now...

Richard

[Kit M.]

nah. unless people start calling you Mr. Perfect. ;D

[* amanda]

To add a quick clarification on my last post, I actually do think it's important for people to be up to date with pop culture things, including Hollywood stuff such as who's marrying who, who's procreating with who, who's going to Pakistan with who, who won what fashion award from Cojo, etc.

It's first important to note that, in my opinion, it's crucial to have the ability to distinguish between news that may potentially impact our world and collective lives and/or lifestyles, and futures, no matter how indirectly, and news that is simply for entertainment purposes and is relatively inconsequential. "News" that is reported largely for our entertainment purposes (i.e. news agencies to attract larger audiences and, consequently, larger advertising revenue) is often difficult to distinguish between news that is relevant. Then again, I suppose "relevant" is a relative term; each person find things to be of varying levels of relevancy in his/her lives. The bottom line is to be careful and not lose perspective in the constant waves of useless and sensational information. always be on the lookout for the news stories that aren't given enough notice. It may impact you more than you might imagine.

With that said, the purpose of this post is that it's still important to pay attention to random stuff happening in the world: more specifically, pop culture. I know someone whose mother never let him watch tv and never really exposed him to pop culture (music, showbiz stuff, etc.) as a child. As a consequence, he doesn't get references to pop culture things. He may be brilliant in academics, but falls flat in everyday life because he can't get simple and casual pop-culture references and jokes in social settings because he pompously and arrogantly thinks that he's a better person for not paying attention to the "trivialities" in the world. But my question to him would be (though I've never been brave enough to ask), what's he going to do when he has to relate to people in the world outside of academics? If you're the boss or superior of someone, you want to be able to bond and relate to them and one way is by bringing up common interests, which aren't thermodynamics, in most cases, but more likely to be something like what Brad and Angelina's baby looks like or who Trump's next wife is going to be. (I actually made a subtle reference/joke about Donald and Melania at a party last spring, and while others chuckled at my joke, he stood there confused and lost because he barely knew who Trump was.) If he's working for someone, how is he going to charm his boss next to the water cooler when his boss wants to make idle chitchat? Not by rattling off the prime numbers of 35, but rather, laughing about how silly that JLo movie was that their significant others dragged them to go see. Having a knowledge of popular culture allows people to relate and bond in a way which other knowledge banks do not always allow. That, my people, is called being socially adept. Be socially adept. It's a good thing.

so, kids. my earth-changing tip is to keep perspective on current events and news, but, like phoenix, feel free to read eonline so you, too, can relate to the masses when you one day rule the world.