Nerdfighters, Nerdfighters everywhere

On Sunday, I went to a Nerdfighter gathering at the Prudential Center in Boston.

I arrived shortly after 2 with my ukulele, etc. and some Nerdfighters had already taken over one corner of the food court. They had already hijacked a lot of tables and made them into an L-shape. I helped more people (because more and more were arriving) make a little island in the middle of the L. We talked about fandoms and ages and things we'd done, tried to play Munchkin Space, tried to play Bang, and then I migrated to another corner. Then my girlfriend and her friends arrived and then we played a game with a beach ball covered with questions that somebody had ingeniously created. Then we took a group photo and thoroughly freaked out the rest of the food court by shouting, "DFTBA!"

Then we migrated to Barnes & Noble and played the "In Your Pants" game. If you're not familiar with it, it's the theory that if you add "In Your Pants" to any book title, it instantly becomes hilarious. Some of the best selections include:

That's the Way I Blow

Justin Bieber

Katy Perry

The Dust Bowl

Fire

World War II

The Casual Vacancy

You've Gotta Have Balls

and more, which I can't remember just now. We looked around for a while before finding "Must-Read Books by John Green."

Worship at the altar, worship at the altar.

And Harry Potter.

Worship at the altar, worship at the altar.

Then we went and looked at books and the rack of hand puppets which included a Hedwig-style snowy owl and a puffy hedgehog and a dog and a squirrel.

After the Barnes and Noble people were well and thoroughly freaked-out (and a lot of Nerdfighters had started to leave), we went and sat in a corner and played more beach ball question game. Then I had to leave, and everyone exchanged hugs.

I think it was one of the best days I've had lately. I've been told how lucky I am to have Nerdfighteria, and I really am. I think the whole world is lucky to have such a beautiful community. There are so many bad things in the world, so many people who say that we're only getting worse, that we're getting more and more apathetic. But then there's Nerdfighteria. And just as one lamp can light a room, Nerdfighteria gives hope where there might not be as much.

DFTBA!

September?!

How?

The Hogwarts Express chugged along to Hogwarts at 11 am today and now Asylum of the Daleks is airing and high school is starting in three days.

Huh?

IBIL

International Baroque Institute at Longy.

Explanations

1. My mom is a flutist.
2. My mom is a baroque flutist.
3. Baroque is "a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music." (Or so Wikipedia says. To my personal knowledge, Wiki is right.)
4. Longy is a school/conservatory of music in Cambridge, MA near Harvard. I have been around the school for as long as I can remember.
5. My mom teaches at Longy.
6. My mom is teaching at IBIL.
7. My brother and I went along with her to IBIL today.


We arrived near nine for the first class of the day - my mom was teaching flute, I attended the cello master class, and my brother went to the violin class. I didn't have my cello, since my teacher hasn't yet had the chance to return it to me after she kept it when we were in Israel, but that was okay, since it was a master class. I learned a lot about shifting, fingerings, and bowing - sometimes watching is the best way to learn. One of the cellists had a shirt that said "cello player fueled by chocolate." One of the cooler shirts I've seen. Also, one of the cellists memorized dates connected to composers and loved Harry Potter. How much better can you get?


Then they had coffee break until eleven, and my mom took me to the Conservatory's other building, where a Medieval/Baroque dance class was held. I managed to follow along well enough - the footwork isn't particularly difficult, even though some of it is exactly the opposite of ballet technique. Often it's more about the use of space and travelling around with your partner than the actual footwork, which is nice.


After that, we left the Conservatory for Border Café for lunch. I love that place - good food, and according to my mom it's fairly inexpensive. Also filling. Very filling. It's Mexican and southern-US-style food. In Harvard Square, if ever you come by there.


Then, after stopping by the newly reopened Bob Slate Stationer, we went home.

At IBIL, I found the same kind of intensity that you find at a summer dance program. It surprised me a little, since I always had a part of me that took music for granted - I've heard early music since before I was born. But I suppose that's the way it should be. I'd love to do this kind of thing for writing, as well.


This is exceedingly like a written version of a "Thoughts From Places" Vlogbrothers video.


Anyways.


DFTBA!

Incorporation

We had a quiz on Shakespeare's Sonnet XVIII (18 for those who can't read Roman numerals), which was a veritable piece of cake. However, before that, the entire class was freaking out. At the end of math, someone was asking me if I had a summary for it. "I don't know," I said relaxedly, "I didn't study."

"Well, you don't need to," they said.

"Of course she doesn't, she's pretty much Shakespeare-Obsessed, Inc."

Well...there you go. That says it all.

Though I suppose, if I am Shakespeare-Obsessed, Inc. then I am also Doctor Who-Obsessed, Inc. and Harry Potter-Obsessed, Inc. and A Lot Of Things-Obsessed, Inc. Obsessions are my thing.

Crazy Home Thoughts

Yesterday I was watching Wizard Rock, a song that I really do love. It's about, well, Wizard Rock, which is a music genre about Harry Potter. It's a good song anyway, but it's about Harry Potter so...it's awesome. It's also about depression a bit, which, well, is okay.

But what I was going to say is that listening to this song made me really sad, not just because Potter is "over" but also because my friend would always play it on her iPhone and we would sing it. We used it to annoy our cabin mates on a school trip - they ended up shooing me onto the porch when we had to do written work because I was the louder one of us.

And that made me wonder: how will it be when I get home? Will I look at Doctor Who and Hunger Games and be really sad because it reminds me of the days here? I don't know, but I can't help thinking that after this I won't have a home. It's scary, not knowing where you belong or if you should be here at all.