How I Earned My Nerd Glasses...

I recently bought a pair of nerd glasses.  My high school students seem to be fans of them and sometimes refer to them as "Li'l Wayne glasses," much to my dismay.  I absolutely love them, even if they make my head hurt behind my ears like a cheap plastic headband; but some of my friends do not feel so friendly about my nerd glasses.  Because they are not prescription and were instead bought in an awkward transaction at Forever 21, some, I fear, think I may be a poser.  Lest you think there is no nerd behind said nerd glasses, I would like to proudly plead my case.  I once denied my nerd status; I now embrace it-- hey, it's who I am.  Love it or leave it, I always say.  Well, I've actually never said that, but maybe I've always wanted to.

Life, through nerd-colored glasses:

 

1.  Look at my bookshelf (just one of several).  I read and collect (nay, horde) books of many kinds.  And I have read most of these.  Also, I decorate with books.

2.  I don't collect baseball cards, classic cars, fine jewelry, or designer bags.  I collect unique editions of Alice in Wonderland.
3.  I couldn't shout the answer of who sang "Breakfast at Tiffany's," but I could shout answers like, "Bay of Pigs!!!" while hanging with the Crew at the Applebee's on trivia night.  That's right, I came pretty close to the correct answer too. 
4.  I not only teach literature and grammar; I make notes like these (and relish them):

5.  Bestie Jr. recently said, "Sometimes Amanda uses big words."  Not sometimes, Bestie Jr.: habitually.  In fact, it is a quotidian occurrence.
6.  Sometimes when I am listening to instrumental music (hint one), I have a strong urge to conduct with my hands (hint two).  And I usually do it, too.
7.  I would rather have an unlimited museum pass in Chicago than an unlimited theme park pass.

8.  The morning after my friends and I returned from an exhausting six-week backpacking trip in Europe, I got up early with a friend to see King Tut's tomb at the Field Museum in Chicago because it was the last day of the exhibition.
9.  I love "Chuck."  Enough said.
10.  I have an unintentional cornucopia of "Star Wars" trivia in my brain thanks to my brother.  But I have only myself to thank for the fact that one Halloween, I dressed up as Princess Leia (but not in the white dress with cinnamon-roll hair; in the pretty Cloud City outfit with braids).
12.  I have seen every single "Star Trek" movie that has been made, thanks to my mother.  But I have only myself to thank for the fact that I've started watching the original series, and like it.
13.  I knit.

14.  And I'll stop here, because fourteen is my favorite number (that's kind of nerdy too, isn't it... to have a favorite number?), but this is what I have on my "nightstand," the window ledge beside my bed.  Not my phone, not a magazine... but The Grapes of Wrath.