Wednesday, 08 February 2012
So…Two events happened in my life in the last 24 hours that are both, well, weird.
First: Yesterday, in class, the professor asked for thoughts on a certain chapter we were assigned to read. I raised my hand. This was about an hour into the class, and I – as always – was an active participant during that whole hour. The professor scanned the room and said, “Okay, I’m looking for someone beside James.” A couple students looked at me, as if to say, “That’s weird.” Later during the class period, the professor said something similar.
Then, today, I attended the biweekly Toastmasters meeting. During Table Topics, which is the portion of the meeting dedicated to extemporaneous speaking, the Table Topics Master called upon me to come up an deliver an impromptu speech. So I did. A few minutes later, when it was time to evaluate the main speeches, I got up and evaluated the first speech, since, after all, that was my job at today’s meeting. Then, when a fellow club member got up to evaluate speech #2, he began by saying that he wished he didn’t have to follow me.
About five minutes later, the Grammarian got up to deliver their report and, after citing some of the “ums” and “ahs” that other speakers said during their speeches, she looked back down at her notes and said, “I’m not even going to talk about you James, because you’re in a league of your own.”
Huh.
This is weird stuff to me. At both school and work, I feel much like a junior to many of my peers. This “junior” feeling is not based on chronology (because, after all, I’m not the youngest in any situation at school or work), but on ability, experience, and training. So…it’s kind of weird to be singled out as exceptional like this. And it’s not just a case of “good job, James, you get an A on this assignment” or “James, I enjoyed your speech today.” No, instead, it’s a case of, “The normal metrics we use to gauge our progress do not apply to you.”
So, I suppose they are compliments. But these occurrences are also weird (are you sick of me using the word “weird” yet? I know I am). In class yesterday, for example, how do I react or respond to the professor’s comment? On the one hand, I guess I’m on track to get an A in the participation portion of the class, but on the other hand, i’m being silenced for having already said too much. Would it be better if the professor just paused for a few seconds to see if other hands go up? Or maybe she just meant it as a joke – “James, you raise your hand all the time and, thank you for that, but I need to get these other students to share their opinions, too.” And in Toastmasters today, a co-worker joined me as a guest today, and it was kind of embarrassing to be singled out like that. Both times, my co-worker nodded at me as if to say, “Well, I guess you have quite a reputation here.”
Anyway, I don’t know what to say. I just think it’s weird. You probably think I just sound extremely cocky right now, which, I’m sure, confirms your suspicions.
Thursday, 09 February 2012
Here are some recent photos:
Look at all the nerds I live with! I snapped this photo over the weekend.Guess what they’re watching? A vintage Sesame Street YouTube video? A music video from children’s troubadour Raffi? Some cute kid video that was spammed to us? No, no, and no. They’re watching a video on the evolutionary development of life on Earth over the past billion years. Like I said, NERDS!
My wife took this picture earlier this week:
That’s my daughter wearing Jennifer’s glasses. She’s not allowed to play with them since, you know, 18 month-olds are prone to destroy eyewear. But, in the bustle of the morning, Isla clandestinely absconded with the. Sorry if this exceeds your RDC* limit.
Today we attend a Physics Force presentation at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It was similar to the program Owen and I attended in November. In fact, I would say there was about a 1/3 overlap between the two events (both presentations were put on by the same people). But today’s presentation was longer, louder, and more engaging. Owen thoroughly enjoyed it. He laughed at the corny jokes and he even got a thrill out of the metal drum that collapses under air pressure. This gives off a loud boom that, in November, scared him. But today he was expecting the loud boom, and even prepped my wife for what was aobut to happen.
Here’s a picture of him in front of the stage:
Do you see how thrilled he is?
*Recommended Daily Cuteness