Geek Love
Tuesday, Jan. 02, 2007 at 11:14 a.m.
On this day in 1611, Elizabeth Bathory is charged with the murder of 610 people, which she apparently committed as Countess of Csejthe Castle. Bathory had the theory that the blood of youth would give her everlasting youth. An eviscerated victim would have blood drained into a vat for her bathing.
Well, she was charged with 610 (or 650, depending on who you believe) but she was only convicted of 80. She mostly practiced on peasant girls and was only indicted when lower aristocratic girls started disappearing.
Again, why do I know this stuff? Actually, I didn�t, but I knew where to research to find out, which may be just as bad. However, in grad school one of my classes involved how to look for information back in the days before the internet, kiddywinks. In fact, I had to create a bibliography of twenty books that would be a scenic designer�s basic library, and I walked up and down the stairs of the U of Alabama (roll tide roll) Library until my feet were bleeding, and I knew the secret passageways to the half-floor between 4 and 5 that was only accessible from a staircase where some really nifty books were kept.
Face it, I love finding out stuff. I don�t remember it once I find out, but hey, I love me a good trivial tidbit, within reason, of course, and the defining line is the �Admiral Piet� question. The �AP� definition came about when I was playing Star Wars� Trivial Pursuit� with some friends and the question was something like Who the was dude second from the right to the dude that Vader strangled in A New Hope, to which the correct answer (according to the game) was �Admiral Piet�, but my answer (which was, of course, the more socially proper answer) was �what kind of geek knows that?? And furthermore, who cares??�
Well, apparently there�s quite a few people who do care, but then, those people are utter geeks. Like the Hubster. And I married him, so I guess I�m a geek lover. Gads. No wonder I�m on meds. Speaking of Hubster, he now has a New Project of Destruction so he�s a happy man. He�s in the process of removing branches from one of the huge-ass trees out front in preparation of cutting the tree down. Of course, he could (and probably should) hire someone to do this, but of course, in his own words, �Where�s the fun in that?� The only promise I could get him to make is that he wait to do the actual tree-felling until such time as I�m present with the phone in hand and 911 on speed-dial. Of course, I realize now that this whole thing was completely and utterly my fault, but how did I know that Hubster would go crazy-eight-bonkers upon getting a battery-operated 18-volt chainsaw that matches the rest of his battery-operated tools?
Yes, it�s battery-operated!
On the other hand, I could have a Hubster who has hobbies like this:
Or builds things like this in my front yard:
And while the Hubster may like to climb into trees and use chainsaws and all, at least I do know that he wears the proper safety equipment in the proper manner. As opposed to this guy:
Oh, my Hubster. He may be a geek with a Buddha belly, but I love that man.