Monday, August 2, 2010

2 AM Ramblings

I've been reading again. That's never a good thing. I've also been imbibing massive amounts of meat lately thanks to the caterers at my school and my period is going to start in a few days. What does this mean for you, the reader? Well, it means that I'm a tired, half cold-infested, hormone packing person, who's been reading.
So far I've restrained myself from putting the PB&J in the freezer, taking apart an electric tooth brush, and cooking a bunch of Pad Thai, so I'd say that I'm still salvageable. I've been reading Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs. I like his name. I think if I ever get published I could do it like that. It's very rhythmic. A.W. Towzer, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien (he had two middle names?).

As I've read the book I've found it funny and very informative. I've also found it to be something I relate...almost perfectly to. And here I sit, wondering, why do I find it so relate-able? Is it because this guys works for Esquire and therefore has the skills to write to the general masses? Is it because of the bit of facetiousness in that the author assumes that he's a bit smarter than average but treats the reader as an equal? Do I relate because I like feeling a little smarter than average? Am I actually a bit smarter than average and that's why I relate? Do I relate because this is a tale of a man who is knowledge obsessed, just as I am? Me, who finds the idea of memorizing the dictionary a noteworthy goal. Is it because it's about a man who is slightly socially awkward, who shared too much and never quite knows the exact right thing to do, and how I feel that I am very similar? Is it because it's a story of a geeky man with an IQ complex, and I am a geeky woman with an IQ complex?

You know, an IQ complex. It's for people who are a little smart, or fancy that they are, but realize that they're not geniuses. They know they'll never win a Nobel, never have a hospital wing named after them, never contribute something absolutely astounding to society. And yet, they are smarter than your average Joe, smarter by just enough to notice it, to feel it, and to hate it. They are torn by feeling superior to the average man and vastly inferior to the genius. These are the people who hear "You sure know a lot" and "You're pretty smart" often, but never "That's amazing!" or "OMG! I wish I could do that!"  I am coming to the conclusion that there are only two things for people like us to do. 1. Procreate (really, we're the best candidates for it. Not so intelligent that our lives will end in suicide or homicide but smart enough that we might at least contribute to a cleaner environment, trustworthy services, and the neighborhood watch) or 2. Write a book. As far as I can tell we're pretty useless for anything else. Too smart to like ourselves, too dumb to make other people envy us. Sometimes I wonder if I should just get my slow decline into stupidity over with by bashing my head into a wall or snuffing glue (though that would probably result in puking, which I hate). Heck, who knows maybe I'd be able to find a husband then. It does seem that all the more average ones are married (and the really smart ones, and the nice ones, and the ugly ones, and the mentally ill ones....).

Since I have thus started to digress into the level of purgatory known as "Why can't I find a bleeding husband?" I'll stop myself now.

Know-It-All is a laugh out loud book for anyone with neurosis and a desire to win at Boggle. I would definitely suggest it, and give it a solid 4 out of five Korean bubble stickers.
'Night all.

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