Evidence?* Watching Antiques Roadshow (now free for viewing online @ pbs.org-wahoo!!!) or BBC/Nat'l Geographic specials is as delightful as slurping down a bucket of ice cream for me, plus-- my knowledge is the only thing that grows bigger when I slurp down a history special.
* We don't own a TV and like it that way (we do any DVD viewing on our laptops). We miss out on TV & movie trends, but that is A-OK with us.
* Like most women, I like to shop... but what I like to shop for is books. My public Amazon wishlist is quite lengthy... and I have a private Amazon wishlist as well, and it's even longer.
* Learning about history is a main event in our home... (case in point: the night before last, we all lined up on the couch-- even our 1 & 2 year olds were sitting still-- for an hour while we watched a PBS special about Thomas Jefferson. That's right, Thomas Jefferson. I'm telling you, we are dweebs.)
* I'm far too excited about the twenty-or-so tomato plants growing on our balcony.
* After trying out the lemon juice ink trick for secret messages (it didn't work for us, maybe we did something wrong?), my almost-7-year-old and I had a blast writing each other notes throughout the afternoon yesterday in a fancy cipher spy code from a new book of his.
And these are just a few examples. Really, I'm a geek. And I'm completely OK with that. :) Anyone else willing to own up to geekiness?
Oh, I am such a geek - and too many ways to list anywhere in the blogosphere! Welcome to our world! ;)
ReplyDeleteJess,
ReplyDeleteI'm just one of your readers out here--thanks for the blogging. I'm the same kind of bonafide geek and am blessed to know a bunch of others.
This is a quick comment on the stairs post: We've been with and without stairs; had children and adults fall up and down stairs; and currently have a house with two sets of stairs our favorite (and the cats')being the spiral staircase. My best tip about having stairs is to have a bell that you ring versus yelling--teach kids to come when they hear it. It works on adults too; at our homegroup meeting my husband rang the bell and the adults just got up, kept on talking and proceeded to the kitchen--just like Pavlov's dogs :)
I'm glad I popped over from my Reader... I hadn't even realised that you changed 'curtains' over here! Looking good.
ReplyDeleteApparently, I'm a certified geek as well, because every single thing you just wrote applies to me....with the exception of the lemon juice trick (but I only have one tot, so far...there is time). ;)
In addition, we three really enjoy watching nature videos on National Geographic for kids.
I am such a geek. I love Antiques Road Show. I even bought the board game. I am so over-the-top with history studies that I planned a year-long unit on Colonial America (before my children were born) and made sure to it the year of the Jamestown 400. It was a dream come true when we took our kids to the Historic Triangle that summer. Colonial Williamsburg is my Disneyland!
ReplyDeleteThe most exciting things around here this week:
ReplyDeleteMy wife got a new book. My daughter got a new educational video. I got a cheap fm transmitter to tinker with. Pretty soon we'll be able to listen to the music on the computer anywhere on our property.
We're all geeks here too.
My son came home from college the other day and said, "Mom, they were giving away books but none of them were history books, so I didn't get you anything."
ReplyDeleteTotal geek here.
PS Been without TV for 7 years now. Don't miss it. We have a monitor for DVDs and also watch things on line.
All of those things apply to me too (except the lemon juice bit) so I'm a geek. Or a nerd. Not sure, but I'm something. Geek sounds a little cooler, so we'll go with that.
ReplyDelete*sigh* I wish I wasn't so cool and was more of a geek, I'd be smarter.
ReplyDeleteI don't comment a lot online, but this post made me smile so much! In fact, my husband and I were just discussing how nerdy we really can be the other night! For example, when we had a duck nest in our yard, I read up on everything I could find about the nesting/hatching habits of mallards! Oh, and my favorite cookbooks are the ones that explain the science behind the recipes (like King Arthur's 200th Anniversary Flour Ckbk--and I have read pretty much the entire book from cover to cover!)
ReplyDeletePAHAHAHAH! I had to laugh about the tomato plants - it's the ONLY thing I can seem to grow! We're big on reading around here...my 6 year old would rather curl up with a book than watch movies (we don't watch TV programs either).
ReplyDeleteI haven't been big on history...most on self-help books lately (currently reading Mother Teresa's "Simple Path"). Perhaps that will change as my 6 year old starts The Story of the World here soon....
My husband and I are geeks too!
ReplyDeleteNo TV, which used to be tough but you realize you can "catch up" quickly since there's nothing new under the sun. (We do read a lot on the internet, so I'm not sure if we're giving up much, although I don't miss the noise.)
On Sunday evenings after we put our little one to bed, we "arc" passages of the Bible together online. It's a great way to study the Bible together. (I don't think Bible study is dorky at all, but it's like our weekly date together!)
We also like to drive around on Sunday afternoons--checking out the neighborhoods, enjoying the changing landscape.
I love our geeky life!
I can relate to pretty much every single one of your points, Jess! Add to that the fact that my husband is actually a profession geek (computer engineer) and is currently building a self-flying airplane with our aeronautics-engineer-neighbor, and our kids just doomed (I mean destined!) to be geeks!
ReplyDelete~Bethany
Those things you listed are geeky?! I guess I am the ultimate geek for not even realizing how geeky I am ;o).
ReplyDeletebut you're such an interesting and fun geek! :) You have interests and passions and you think about things - do you know how rare and wonderful that is? keep it up, we like you this way.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't take me so long to realize my geekiness; I studied computer science so that's pretty much a giveaway at an early age.
ReplyDeleteNow though I can and do struggle with pride that can be associated with knowledge; maybe as in "Knowledge puffs up. Love builds up."
I've too-often made skills, training, know-how, and occasional bouts of good judgment about how smart or how clever I might be. If I were more thoughtful and remembered a little better, for example, the Lord gave my entire "geek" job/career to me in a tremendously obvious answer to prayer. Essentially every job I've had can be traced back to a dramatic answer to prayer when the Lord said "yes" to a request.
About the rest of your thoughts: I enjoy history, tomatoes, Antiques Road Show, ordering books is one of my favorite forms of shopping (ooops, I like technology products as well).
I take the geekiness into other areas such as cooking -- " wow there are lots of cool kinds of flour that can be used in breadmaking." If that's not enough, I was really, really tempted to dive into a DIY project when I learned that weak Wifi signals could be mitigated using a home-made antenna. Plans can be researched. Parts can cost under $10 US. And I start thiking "hee hee hee, how cool...."
In some ways I really want to push myself to the max in using every bit of what I can use. If the Lord has given me capacity to learn in many areas, I want to be as agile and engaged as I can - to the blessing of others and the Lord's glory.
But then I believe that I can stumble in terms of worldliness ... becoming so absorbed with the details of learning and interesting things in this world that I become sleepy and dull to the more important spiritual matters. :(
A. Moose
Ahaha...if all of that makes you a dweeb, then I must be one too!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I've never gotten the lemon juice ink to work :(
Geek here!
ReplyDeleteI'd rather buy books then clothes or even food sometimes. My kids think Little House is exciting and that science experiments are normal Saturday morning fare.
No TV here either, how did I ever get anything done when we watched TV?
Wasn't cool in school, have never been cool since and not cool now!
ReplyDeleteMy kids hate it!
Love being a GEEK!
Ellen
Our shower curtain in our main bathroom has a very accurate map on it...
ReplyDeleteAnd we listen to sermons instead of music while we run...
I'm right there with you. We're all geeks over here.
ReplyDeleteGeek is the new 'cool' Jess; don't worry!! I'm all about the geek: babywearing, cloth nappy using, veggie growing, 2nd hand book shopping...LONG Amazon list!! (AND we've tried the lemon juice trick too).
ReplyDeleteSo let's celebrate the super geek - we're with you - it's FUN!!
Ooh. This reminds me that I need to go to the secondhand bookshop down the street and pick up a few things for Summer reading -- cable's getting canceled in June! :)
ReplyDeleteI teach Latin at a classical school. Surely I get, like, triple nerd points for that, right?
Assuming no one else pipes up and objects, Laura, I'll let you have the honor of saying you've outgeeked us all. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there are so many of us. Solidarity and all that.
Ooh, ooh!, I forgot to mention that my glasses have been held together with a twist-tie.
ReplyDeleteWhy throw away an otherwise perfectly good pair of glasses? ;)
Chuckling,
Moose
Well, let's see, I started watching Antiques Roadshow around 1993, and at that time you could only catch it once a week on Saturday mornings. I really loved it and still do! And, about 30 years ago, I received a Mary Ellen's Favorite Hints Book, and that started me on loving "all that stuff" - I would give myself and your dad manicures made from lemon juice, and I can't remember the rest of it, but it was great! I think I tried almost everything in that book. It's packed somewhere, and I need to get it out again! ha! That's also the first time that I cleaned the mirrors & windows with vinegar. I think my "geekness" comes out in my office work & even in my jewelry making. I love it when they use buttons, hardware washers, springs, strange items and create jewelry. My favorite lately has been taking an old computer keyboard that you might throw out . . . oh no, don't do it - you can take it apart and make jewelry with all of the pieces - the letter keys, and inside the keyboard itself are all sorts of little neat items you can use for necklaces, etc. So, you probably didn't stand a chance with me as your mom! ha!
ReplyDeleteOh honey, how I wish you lived in the states and I could sit down to a cup of coffee with you!
ReplyDeleteMy DH and I are bonafide geeks as well! We LOVE the library! Can't read enough. We still have cable but honestly the only things are on Discovery channel or the miscelaneous car shows on BBC America.
Ooooh have you seen that series "Drive Thru History"? Hubby and I have been watching through this series and it's history with a Biblical bent. The guy who hosts the show is kinda quirky and I'm sure your kids would get a kick out of him.
-Jen K.
Uh...total, complete, utter geek. Yep. 100%. Out and proud. Well, proud. Not so much out. But that's because I'm too busy being a geek to get, well...out.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I find an old looking jar/container/painting/object, my first thought is always, "Gosh, I wish I could get on Antiques Roadshow with this."
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I could watch the History Channel all day....and then research what they reported about to see how accurate it was. Yes, we have actually done this.
I am completely geeking out over my soon-to-be herb garden and cherry tomato plants.
Ahem. So, does that count?
My husband and I are obsessed with the History Channel's series, "Life After People." It's a computer-generated show that shows what would happen to the world if all the people were gone. Shows how the buildings would fall apart, which animals would make it, etc...
ReplyDeleteQuestion about your tomato plants: How do you do them on your balcony? We tried patio tomato plants last summer and pretty much failed miserably. Is there a trick?
I want to see your book list from Amazon - I always need new ideas! :)
ReplyDeleteI love being a geek!
ReplyDeleteI'm always reading, whether it be a book or on the internet. And shopping for books is my favourite pastime. I'm just sad Australia has no good online book store. Amazon's prices are great, but once you add the shipping on its no longer such a good deal, and it takes ages to get here. That doesnt stop me from buying 10 books at a time every 3 months though :P
I don't think you even need a tv anymore. Anything and everything you may want to watch is on the internet,with no ads, and you can control what you let into your home instead of letting some media baron do it for you. Everybody wins!
Blessings!
I've been reading your blog for a few months now and have thoroughly enjoyed it!! Thanks for your honest and willingness to be open about all that you have learned.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to make you aware of two great websites that my sister and I use all the time now...
swaptree.com
paperbackswap.com
Both allow a person to trade all kinds of books and the only cost is what it costs you to ship. The books you'll recieve will be totally free!
My sister has done over 40 trades and I've done about 6, but we both love it!
~Cari~