This is both an answer to your podcast as well as a manual trackback
from http://andfaraway.blogspot.com/2006/04/nerds-make-better-
lovers.html

“As a teenager, I had always considered myself to be a nerd, except
unlike popular opinion, I never thought that being a nerd was a bad
thing. I was always top tier in anything I ever did, I was always a
straight-A student, all my homework were always perfectly done, and I
always wanted to understand every single thing possible.
Perfectionist, I guess you can say. Or over-achiever. But I
personally preferred, and still prefer, the rawness of the word
“nerd”, which I proudly labeled myself as, ignoring the pink hair,
the over-pierced ears, the obnoxious loudness, the bright red
glasses, the baggy jeans and tiny tops. You see, I was also the
ultimate multi-hair-colored mean airhead- I ditched all the time,
there was never a party that I didn’t dance in, I was a bully to
losers, and there was never a fashion trend that I didn’t try.

Contradiction? I think not- it’s just that people are stupid at
labeling.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that labeling is bad, I
actually think it’s good, sorta like corporate branding, it’s just
that people are stupid at making good use of it. You choose the
labels according to what you’re comfortable with- that is, labeled
people.

Anyhow, highschool finished, and art school started, and although the
A’s and perfect homework keep rolling in, you can simply never be a
nerd in art school, because people just don’t label the part of the
populace wasting their time with colors and stuff as nerds. So I
became labeled a geek (never by the real geeks mind you, because to
them, I’m just an artsy-fartsy impractical wheeee-lover who doesn’t
know about anything but colors and stuff).

I’m really not comfortable with labeling myself with the word “Geek”
though, because I don’t feel like I have earned it. Yeah, sure, I do
spend way too much time on the computer, I have met a lot of my very
good friends through the bits and bytes of cyberspace, I am obsessed
with The Lord of the Rings, and I do know way too many things about
geeky-stuff that a 21-year-old female studying fine arts and design
really does not need to know. But I don’t know PHP, do I? I don’t use
Linux either. Or watch Star Wars.

But then again, the fact that I’ve been sitting trying to “blog”
these thoughts for the past 2 hours at 3:35 AM on a weekday may as
well make up for all of the above, and I’m still trying to figure out
where to fit in the two very things that influenced this post. Ok, I
guess that sort of makes space below doesn’t it?

The first influence was a podcast about labels- who are you? After
discussing labels, they end the cast with, “Listen in, and then tell
us, what does your label say?”

The second influence was much cooler and which probably deserved a
post all about it (and as you can tell from the title, this post was
meant to be all about it), it’s an article entitled “Nerds Make
Better Lovers” (via Saudi Jeans). And really, they do.

Perhaps a year back, Linda wrote a post asking people what their
ideal mate was, and I wrote a whole long post that, for some reason
or another, I never got to publish. Excerpt:

“Generally, the most important thing in “my perfect man” is brains,
to an extreme degree. I just go ga-ga for a person who is well
educated, well read, and socially, politically, culturally and
scientifically aware. I actually consider it an enjoyable experience
when I’m around a person who can challenge me intellectually, who
knows a lot about everything, and who always has an answer. I don’t
think I can do with someone who can’t teach me something new everyday.

I also find passion [adj : having or expressing strong emotions] a
necessary trait, and not in the romantic sense. I am, by nature,
excessively passionate, and so I generally find it impossible to
comprehend the mentalities of average-achievers, the jaded, and the
smug. I believe that passion is the road to success, and success- not
particularly a financial one mind you, but one in a much broader
sense- is vital to me. I respect someone who has reached a certain
level with who he and where he is in life.”

That’s pretty much a part of the definition of “geek”, “nerd” and
“overachiever”. And I hold that true to my heart.

Ok, enough blabbing, it’s 4:00 AM and I have to wake up in 3 hours.
You know, I’m actually a very untalkative person in real life- I’d
usually rather just listen.”
Roba Al-Assi • 4/11/06; 7:57:00 PM #
Wow, Roba - we are really glad that tonight you chose to talk instead
of just listen, and are honored that you did it on our podcast site.
So glad to know you are listening and thinking and nerding and
geeking right along with us. Next eclipse, we’ll be thinking of you.
Awesome website you have. I’m proud to be in the same galaxy with you. Susie Watson • 4/11/06; 8:11:02 PM #