yeah, i'm a big nerd, and proud of it!

[arguchik]

added later (forgot to include this earlier!):
Overall, you scored as follows:

13% scored higher (more nerdy), and
87% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

High-Level Nerd. You are definitely MIT material, apply now!!!.

awwww...i'm sure it's because i knew that Mn is the symbol for manganese and not magnesium (which is Mg)--and i *knew* that answer, didn't have to look it up. (yeah, i was a chemistry major once, long time ago...my associate's degree is in chemistry...) probably also because i use a mac, and i knew which one of the programming languages isn't actually a programming language. i'm happy to say that i actually knew, at one time, how to program in 3 of the 5 languages listed (basic, cobol, and fortran...), and that i could write pretty decent, serviceable programs without consulting the manual for help with commands and syntax. nothing flashy, mind you--i was never going to be the one to invent 3-d gaming--but solid stuff.

this is reminding me how much i used to enjoy writing computer programs. it would be really fun to learn how to do that again. it has been a really long time, though, and computers have gotten so much more complex. i was never into learning about the guts of the computer, how microprocessors work and stuff (though i know how a transistor works, from a physical chemistry lab i had at michigan state, and also from being married to an IBM chip designer for almost 5 years), but i liked programming because it appealed to my linguistic, grammarian nerdiness. i can't help it, i was at the mercy of grammar nazis during my very formative years, while my psyche was still very soft and impressionable. when i was a *really* small child, my parents used to correct my phrasing before answering me in conversation. like...i can't remember them *not* doing this. (my dad still argues points of grammar with me--though he also stubbornly refuses to let the english language evolve.) and in junior high, my school hit me with the double-whammy of mrs. bogart (7th grade english) and miss martz (8th grade english). yeah, 2 years spent diagramming sentences, memorizing prepositions, cases, and verb conjugations will do this to anyone. then, just to make sure the grammar spike was driven all the way in to my reptilian brain, i took 2 semesters of senior comp with mrs. bove. she also teaches (taught) spanish, so she was a major stickler.

if programming is all grammar, and i'm a grammar nerd, and programming pays way better than anything related to "real" language...why am in not a programmer right now???

answer: politics. cultural theory. the big picture. the belief that, while electronic gizmos augment life nicely, and are fun to play with, it is not strictly necessary for me to understand how they work, or what specific innovation each one embodies. and...um...the desire for a social life that doesn't revolve around gaming, chess, bridge, and/or anime. ;-) ;-) ;-)

Comments

[the-kender.livejournal.com]

Well you can always come out here for a nice dose of anime (which we don't have to talk about) with massages with orange scented lotion and bubble baths with mint oils while I hand you a cup of tea lol. It's not the total pay-off, but it's something ^_^