I Wonder

I've been saving up a few things to tell you but they are random--not related. I wonder if you mind?

First of all, last week at church I wore a wide elastic belt over my dress. Midway through sacrament meeting it exploded off me and I had to catch it before it whipped someone in the face. I demurely folded it and put it in my bag. I think of it as madcap instead of as me being really fat or something. Maybe it was a tender mercy. But I don't have the perspective to see it like that yet.

I also got a new calling. So that's exciting. I'm the counselor in the primary presidency over cub scouts. My mom has the same calling. Tell me if you have the same calling and we can form a supportive clique. We're getting the yellow scout leader shirts, right? Are we doing scarves? My ward has the most awesome bridge you guys--I'm not even kidding.  I've been teaching primary for the last year (since the Activities Committee was dissolved) and while primary doesn't afford me as many opportunities to make playlists, it's a perfectly nice place to be. My husband and the primary president's husband are both in the bishopric, so you'd think we would form a very powerful and effective quadfecta but as it turns out I can't even get a replacement for my primary class yet. We sought to strengthen our respective powers by combining them but we made a mistake. By increasing our power we weakened it. Was it greed? Only time will tell what the consequences of this perverse lust for control will be. Prediction: One day my whole family will sit together at Round Table. The table itself will be made of stone and Aslan will die on it. (Leave Sharing Time ideas and links in the comments, please.)

Last night I saw a movie called The Big Year. It was rather a pleasant movie but I wouldn't say it's a MUST SEE, unless you've waited your whole life to see Steve Martin wild-and-crazy-guying it in the same frame as Jack Black Jack-blacking it, which I have. It's about the competitive nature of birding. It's not a hilarious spoof like Best in Show but it is amusing and in this day and age of ironic mustaches and refusing to weigh in on things until you know if it's cool, I appreciated the earnestness of The Big Year.  I like spotting birds. I have a birding life list and I keep trying to get my kids into it. Since I'm lazy and impatient my life list is short.  However, on my life list is Owen Wilson's nose. He's a very hard-core birder in the movie. Reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaal bird nerd.

Which brings me to my last observation--it's just an observation. People now use the word "nerd" to mean "enthusiast." It's interesting. Nerdy used to apply to computer and math stuff. But over the last few years I've noticed that everyone says it about their hobby. "I'm a real choir nerd." "I'm a total film nerd." When was film ever nerdy? But see, it's a way of saying "I'm a film enthusiast" while also acting self-deprecating (I'm a total nerd, guys!) but really you are a film nerd because you think film is cool in the same way that computer nerds think programming is cool, which it is. It has become an interesting way to sort of brag or discuss your interests safely, in case the person you are talking to does not share your passion. See how it works? Calling yourself a nerd is short hand for, "I recognize that some people think its dumb but I'm actually very passionate about it and if you laugh and shrug it off I won't mention it again but if you are the same kind of nerd I am then we can drop this pretense and really talk about graphic novels in depth." It's just something I've noticed. And I say that as someone who reads Webster's Dictionary of English Usage for fun so in terms of nerd--I know whereof I speak. (See? I just did it too.)