Nerd Heroes are not just people you admire. They are people who make you act.
Last year I met Sarah Vowell at a book reading/signing for her book Assassination Vacation. (the looks I got from people at the gym when I was reading that book were shall we say, priceless.)
First, let me tell you, meeting someone you admire or aspire to emulate is often anti-climactic. Why? Well, you’ve built this entire emotional and intellectual web about this person, but they have no idea who the hell you are. You’ve read their books, their blog, press about them and they’ve just laid eyes on you (and probably not heard your name) the moment you step up to have them write their name on a book. I was a round girl in a red “The Cheat” shirt and oh my god my grandma has sprue too!
Not knocking Sarah Vowell here, afterall, how is she to know that I once dreamt of doing precisely what she does (aside from voicing a cartoon character in a movie)?
What really made me latch onto Sarah Vowell as a nerd hero was the fact that yes, you could write essays about yourself and people would read them. Damn yo! I love to write about myself! In fact, it’s the only thing I can write that has an actual ending. My fiction pieces all tend to miss the same thing–a clear story line, a climax, an ending. When it comes to real life the plot is laid out for me. I just have to blah blah blah about it until I’ve analyzed and characterized to my satisfaction.
Who’s rising on my list of nerd heroes? Jennifer Weiner. I’ll be posting a “review” of a couple of her books soonish.
) and nerdy. I like too many things, but love too few. My lack of clear passion lead me to stacks of library books about personality, resume writing, and career planning.