White and Nerdy ... Strikes Again

All in favor of Weird Al videos, say, "Aye!"

["Aye!"]

Mr. Dude appreciates that I appreciate Weird Al. Of course, Mr. Dude has been listening to Weird Al's CDs since forever, whereas I just point out the fact that Al did most of a college education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, near where I grew up.

It's not what you know, but who you know, people.

Or who's famous from your hometown.

But I digress.

Our favorite Weird Al video is "White and Nerdy".

Let's just say it's spot on for how I think of Mr. Dude, except that he's not quite that awkward.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, you should probably watch it, too. It'll make your day.

Why am I thinking of this?

Two reasons:

1. Mr. Dude sent me a new "Epic Rap Battles of History" video to watch, with Weird Al making a cameo as Sir Isaac Newton. Internet gold, I tell you. [And whist you're at it, go ahead and just watch everything in that series. Again, it'll make your day. And take up a lot of your time that you could be using on, you know, useful things in life. But again, I digress ... ]

2. I've been sitting on my own treasure trove of internet gold with footage of Mr. Dude and one of his fellow nerds attempting to play DDR. I'm not sure if the game had them attempting to do the same steps or not because I couldn't actually see the screen, but I'm pretty sure that makes it even better. So allow me to help you meet your laugh quota for the week:

God bless the nerds!

Excuse me while I go clean up the Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. that just spewed out of my mouth while I was laughing so hard ... 

Computer Thief ... Or, Why It's Helpful to Have Lots of Browsers

[We interrupt this broadcast to tell you about this awesomeness in a jar: Trader Joe's Lemon Curd. Put it on toast and enjoy with a cup of Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Or drizzle over plain yogurt, then toss in some sliced almonds and dried cranberries. Better yet, put it on top of ice cream. Trust me, you'll be glad you spent the $3.99, and I'm not even getting paid to tell you that.] 

Look at me. The post hasn't even started and I'm already digressing.

If you've been paying attention, you've noticed that I'm somewhat addicted to having lots of internet browser tabs open. As a visual processor, it's just how I function, okay? I know that the browser tab's inherent "to do" item is completed when the tab is closed. Until then, it stays open. Deal with it.

So, some days the top of my browser may or may not look like this:

[Pay no attention to the fact that my arrow via Microsoft Paint is horrendous. I know that. If you'd like to get me a subscription to Adobe InDesign, then I'll make pretty graphics for you. Until then, you get the cheap stuff. Or you can pretend that Little Guy was helping me with the illustrations. :D]

[Also, you know you're married to a nerd when ... you see the Lifehacker tweet and exclaim to your husband, "You can randomize your MAC address?!?!" ... because you actually know what a MAC address is and some of what it's used for ... ]

But telling Mr. Dude that I need all those tabs open to work on my projects just makes him shake his head and sigh. It also makes him require that any machine we purchase for me needs to have as much RAM as possible. [I haven't maxed out the 12G of RAM on his super computer yet ... perhaps that should be a personal goal for the summer ... ]

Anyways, whenever he needs to use my computer, he's just learned to open a new browser. Not a new window for whatever browser I had open - no, a new browser entirely.

What?

You're surprised that we'd have Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer all on one machine?

You must not know us very well.

So while Chrome chugged along with my 46 [!] and counting tabs, Mr. Dude pulled up Firefox to start Pandora since we had friends coming over for the evening.

As I was shutting down the computer for the night [and this is where I thank whoever had the brilliant idea to make browsers capable of resuming where you left off when you turn your machine back on again - hurray for saving all the tabs!], I noticed this video was the other tab he had opened up:

Surprising? Not in the least. It's one of his favorite franchises, all kinds of previews are coming out for games with E3 going on, and he's easily distracted. So of course he was watching that while pulling up Pandora.  

I right-clicked on the video to get the link so I could share it with all of you, and I started giggling. Bonus points if you see it in under 10 seconds: 

Did you get it? Oh, c'mon!

"Stats for Nerds". 

REALLY?!?!

I have no idea what stats it pulls up - I was laughing too hard to bother looking. And I have no idea if that's a standard option on the right-click menu, if that's special to Chrome, or if Mr. Dude was messing with my machine again.

To be honest? It's getting hard to tell anymore.

In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy my toast and lemon curd with Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. while the Little Guy sleeps. And who knows? Perhaps I'll get enough done so there are only 30 Chrome tabs open at the end of the day.

Hey, it could happen!

NinTeethO

[Near Gear Mondays. Where I tell you all about the random gear that Mr. Dude - or I - may or may not own. Or gear that we may or may not plan to own. Or gear that we may or may not find interesting. You're welcome.] 

Once upon a time, a long time ago, baby gear was all about what baby actually needed. 

And then along came things like dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, vacuum cleaners and electronic baby swings ... suddenly, people had time on their hands for more than the bare minimum. So they started coming up with things that would be cool for baby to have, which usually coincides with "things baby definitely doesn't need to have". 

[As a long time babysitter and nanny, I've seen my fair share of the ridiculous things that people could swear they "need" for their kid. Wipe warmers, anyone? But I digress.] 

There are some baby items which - admittedly - baby does not need. 

BUT! Mom and Dad find them cool. 

Bonus points if Dad finds them cool, because supposedly that makes Dad more interested in hanging out with baby ... or at least feeling like he has a say in some of the gear that you buy. [Let's be honest. Most dads don't care about decorating the nursery or picking out a diaper bag.]

Enter: Geek Teething Toys. 

God bless the Canadians on Etsy who designed this: 

Bonus Points: It's even made of maple. How very ... um ... Canadian of them, eh? 

Whenever Little Guy gets a Little Gal or a Littler Guy to teach about all things nerdy, I can almost guarantee you that we'll buy one as a teaching prop for him to use. You gotta equip the next generation, you know. 

Can you hear the conversation now? 

Little Guy: Here, baby. This button helps you jump and this one makes you go faster. This one helps you get the extra star ... No, no, no! You don't eat it! That will make Mario fall down and die!
Future Little Sibling: [blank stare, blink blink, continues chewing]

[Sigh. This is the part where I resign myself to my fate of always living in a house of nerds ... in case you hadn't caught on to that yet ...]

Xbox One vs. PS4 ... GO!

Mr. Dude used to have a collection of consoles.

When we got married, he had an original Xbox and a PS2.

Then came an Xbox 360.

Then, somehow, he weasled his way in to buying a PS3.

Mr. Dude: But, Stephanie, we need a BluRay player. The 360 doesn't have one.

Me: And why should I care about that?

Mr. Dude: Because this:

[Image via Amazon.com]

Mr. Dude: And because it's available on Amazon Prime. 

Me: Ooooooohhhhhh ... well that's different. Fine. Get the PS4. BUT! New rule. For every console you purchase, you must get rid of one from here on out. And, there must be some benefit to me, as well.

Mr. Dude: DONE!  

[BluRay comes in handy for all sorts of things like the LOTR Extended Edition Trilogy, the bonus features for Enchanted that aren't available on the DVD, Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth ... you know - the important stuff.]

Then sometime this year ... last year? ... [the timeline is foggy because we have so many discussions about what gadget he's going to buy next and why] ... he started musing on whether to get an Xbox One [which was confusing, because that's what we had been calling the original Xbox over here] or a PS4. Fortunately for him, he had already sold off the PS3 in favor of playing BluRays via his computer, so there was "room" for another console.

Want to see that conversation played out in real life? Here, we took video:

Okay, so really that's Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory. But you get the point.

I think I've mentioned before how it seems that the writers must just follow my life story for materials because I've had so many of the exact conversations that go on in that show.

It's getting kinda creepy, Chuck Lorre ...

Thankfully, we've put off buying anymore consoles for the time being. Mr. Dude believes that the consoles must be advanced enough technologically beyond the last generation to justify the price, so we're safe.

For at least the next five minutes.

Until he actually makes up his mind.

Halo: Taking Over the World

[One cell phone and Atari console at a time ...]

In this week's [or maybe just today's?] edition of "news Stephanie notices now only because she's married to a geek", I saw an article from TechCrunch about Microsoft's answer to Siri.

I know we all want some sort of personal assistant who knows what we need, when we need it, and can get it for us. Heck, if I had someone who could bring me coffee and do my paperwork and clean my house while I just played with Little Guy all day, that would be fantastic. And I know how hard it is to find a good assistant - I've actually worked as an admin assistant on several occasions, once for an executive director. [Do you know how hard it is to stay one step ahead of a boss who we all joked had more energy than the Energizer Bunny?!]

For some of us unfortunate souls, the closest we get to having a personal assistant is being good friends with apps like Remember the Milk, Evernote and Google Calender. [God bless those developers!]

Apparently, there are some people want a pseudo-friend who will organize their lives and talk to them, too, even if it's their OS wearing those shoes [wasn't there a movie nominated for an Oscar this year about that?].

Video gamers, say goodbye to Siri. Your new best friend [as long as you like Windows Mobile] is now Cortona.

Oh wait, she already was, wasn't she? For all those years you played Halo? [Or still play Halo?] 

Yeah, she's that creepy AI that helps you with the crazy amount of information you have to store whilst you're beating the bad guys.

Um, methinks I already have enough video games in my life without having my phone talk to me like a character from a giant gaming franchise that I'm pretty sure Mr. Dude could play through while blindfolded.

Thanks anyways, Microsoft. I'm sure it's the thought that counts.

In last week's edition of "news the family only pays attention to because they have a geek for a son", Mr. Dude's dad dropped off a photocopied article from the Smithsonian magazine. [Yes, he can be old-school like that. Photocopiers do still exist, people!]

The Scrabble rule in Mr. Dude's family is that if you can use it in a sentence, it's a legit word.

So now, thanks to someone who wanted to "demake" Halo by cramming it all into just 4KB of memory on an Atari 2600, I have a new word to use and hopefully score triple word points on. If only I could get Mr. Dude to play a game of Scrabble without taking 10 minutes for each turn ...

There. Now don't you feel so much more informed about the important events of the day?

[GASP!!!]

[The title is an onomatopoeic reference to me gasping for air after drowning in the ocean that is buying a home and moving into it ... all with one very wiggly and mobile Little Guy and a Mr. Dude who is working overtime right now.]

That's right, people. We bought a house. And Mr. Dude officially has a "man cave" that is his to do with as he pleases. 

[Can you say "ridiculously happy geek"?] 

Aside from putting our laundry machines downstairs eventually to accommodate a larger dining room, Mr. Dude has a sizable space to use with plans for a full bar, a media area [with surround sound for him ... and sound-proofed floors for his wife's ears], his computer desk and an extra table for working on tech projects. 

That extra table is important, people. 

Because there are stories from his past that still haunt him. 

Stories of using a soldering gun to repair a laptop. 

Indoors. 

On his mother's dining room table. 

With a tablecloth. 

That now has a small hole burned into it. 

So he's banned from doing said tech projects in such places. And thus we're getting him his own tech work bench/table/space. 

But I digress. 

For Christmas, I promise I actually did get him a tech-related present, despite me listing a few things I vehemently declared I would not get for him. 

Yes, that is a Companion Cube Ice Cube Tray. And warning sign coasters. Because a geek's bar needs to be tricked out with appropriately geeky stuff, right? 

The full bar is going to be Tron-themed, complete with blue and orange neon mixed in with acrylic. 

[Mr. Dude really likes acrylic.] 

I figured that Portal 2 was the same colors and cool enough that he'd be okay with something of a mash-up for his theme. 

The wife guessed right. Booyah!

And as a bonus, I got Geek Points from ThinkGeek AND my husband. Double booyah! 

Also on the list of "you-know-I-love-my-husband-a-LOT-when-I-buy-him-ridiculous-stuff-like-this": 

[Exhibit A: Valentine's Day gift - Mario Mushroom Tap Lights. That I found in a consignment shop. For $3 each.] Before you think I'm a cheap-o gift-giver, I also told him I'd play one of the Mario games with him for an evening. If you believe this infographic about how much a stay-at-home-mom's time would be worth in the "outside world", then my time is worth about $20/hour, give or take. Assume that an evening of video games is about 4 hours [because that's all I think I can handle before I go cross-eyed and want to pull all my hair out], then the gift is at least $80. There, now you can't think I'm a cheapo. And Mr. Dude is ridiculously excited for me to voluntarily play video games with him. Yes, I love him that much.

[Exhibit B: Command Gold Onesie, 24 months. That I found at the same consignment store. Also for just $3.] Yes, that's Little Guy's size. But when I called Mr. Dude to tell him I found him a present, and he saw it when he came home from work, he definitely agreed that it was a gift for him. Because what nerd wouldn't want their son to proudly sport Kirk's uniform? As long as our son doesn't end up doing commercials for an online travel company, we're okay ...

[Bonus Items: Classic Children's Books] Because there are some titles that you buy immediately when you see them in such good condition at the consignment shop. So while Mr. Dude is trying to convince Little Guy to be a computer nerd, I'm going to be instilling a love of books into him. Hurray for a growing library!

In the meantime, my apologies for leaving you all hanging for so long. I know you were just dying to hear about all the funny things Mr. Dude has been up to in all of his geekery these past couple of months. Or maybe you were just living life as usual. Or perhaps you were too busy playing Age of Empires with Mr. Dude to realize I hadn't been writing about his antics? 

Nostalgia in the News

If Mr. Dude had his way, there'd be a giant arcade game - or multiples - somewhere in our home, with a library of all the best titles from days gone by.

For now, he's stuck with an emulator on his original Xbox, the arcade library on the Xbox 360, and his dream.

But wait! There's more!

The BBC posted an article a few days ago about the Internet Archive making a bunch of games available to play on any internet browser.

[Yes, I read the BBC news. And yes, this article caught my eye. Can you tell that Mr. Dude and I have been married for a while? He must be rubbing off on me ...]

Sound isn't available yet, but apparently it's coming. The article also speaks of bespoke [haha! I think I made a funny there ...] cartridges that the old games used to run on and are getting harder to find. So they're doing the equivalent of translating old photographic slides into digital jpg files.

Source: Internet Archive homepage

This may sound weird, but I am oddly encouraged by the fact that I have never heard of "bespoke cartridges".

Yet. 

Mr. Dude's excitement about computers and consoles of the past has never reached that level of detail.

Or maybe he just hasn't found time to wax eloquent on the subject yet because he's been so busy telling me all kinds of other technological tidbits?

Whatever.

Anyone want to take bets on when the Internet Archive homepage makes it onto his list of favorite bookmarks?

Reasons for Pursuit

Mr. Dude is what you might call "persistent".

Before we started dating in college, the story goes [no matter what he may tell you], he pursued stalked me.

You heard me.

He'd somehow manage to show up wherever I was, whether he was invited or not.

If our paths crossed on campus and I told him I couldn't talk because I was on my way to class, he took it upon himself to walk with me, even if that made him late to his own class.

If I told him I needed to end our phone conversation because I was going running [and let's be honest - sometimes the running was just an excuse to end said phone conversation], he said he'd see me in five minutes and come running with me.

Say what?!

Not sure about you, but I didn't hear an invitation - or even the hint of one - in my statement.

I happen to mention that I'm so happy to finally be free on a Saturday so I can get some stuff done ... and he somehow convinces me to go bowling with a "bunch of friends " ... who end up being two other couples ... and us.

Uh, I'm pretty sure that made it a "triple date". And I'm pretty sure that's not what I had agreed to.

You get the idea.

Since we've been dating and now married [for a grand total of seven and a half years!!!], Mr. Dude's one. constant. request. has been for me to play video games with him. Any of them. Arcade games. First person shooter. Tower defense games. Heck, he's even tried to get me into Minecraft lately.

I knew it was getting desperate when he had a game day with a friend who works at XBox, and they played through Gears of War 3. I asked him how the day was, and all he could say was, "Stephanie, won't you please play through the Gears of War series with me?"

Uh, no. Remember this picture?

Yup. Still applies. Even after seven and a half years of you asking.

The Facebook feed today has since enlightened me on why Mr. Dude wants me to play, courtesy of a former high school friend who now works at a video game developer company in the area and shared this photo:

Source: 9GAG

Did I mention that Mr. Dude and his friend couldn't beat the last boss in Gears 3 while playing insane mode after playing the game all day? He told me later that they made something like 50 attempts, but to no avail.

He could try telling me that he wants me to play with him because I'm the most important person in his life

Or he's really desperate for help in beating that last boss.

Seriously, Mr. Dude. That's why there's this thing called "YouTube". I guess you'll just have to think of another reason for me to start playing video games. :]

Virtual Flowers

Poor Mr. Dude.

He married a gal with very particular - and seasonal - tastes.

So many gals would list roses as their favorite flowers, which is great since they're available year-round in most places. [We won't mention how expensive they are - that's beside the point.]

And then there's me - my favorites are quite inexpensive ... as long as they're in season.

Daffodils.

You know, the bulbs that bloom like crazy. For a month. And then they're gone.

So, for about a month straight, our home is filled to the brim with their yellow and white cheeriness as Mr. Dude stops by the store almost every day to bring me more.

It's cute, really, to see him come home with a big grin on his face since he knows I'll be so excited to fill yet another vase with one of the first signs of spring and the upcoming sunny weather.

Here in the dark and gloomy Pacific Northwest, that's a big deal!

But right now we've almost made it to the darkest day of the year, the holiday craziness is upon us, and Mr. Dude and I are in a particularly busy season with his work and our family life [uh, hence the lack of posts lately]. And there are no daffodils to be found to help cheer up the days.

Or so I thought.

I stopped by Mr. Dude's computer where he was getting some work done to ask him a question, and he quickly pulled up a picture that I just had to see:

[Source: Screenshot from the game]

He had been playing one of his newest favorite games earlier [Fallout: New Vegas, if anyone is keeping score ... and Mr. Dude would like me to remember that it runs on the same engine as another favorite - Elder Scrolls V: Oblivion ... which are both published by the same company] and noticed some daffodils hidden in a corner. 

One gaming screenshot saved in his Steam profile later, and his wife got daffodils in December. 

She also got proof that he thinks of her even when he's playing video games. 

Now isn't that just sweet? 

Scott Pilgrim vs. Stephanie ... and Spaceteam won.

Friends of ours came over this last weekend to enjoy some dinner and good ol' fashioned fellowship. The husband needed to borrow a router [and of course Mr. Dude had an extra one] and some troubleshooting in setting it up for whatever project he had going on at home. I told him any night of the week was fine [amazing how your evenings are suddenly all available when you're at home with your sleeping kiddo], and he'd get bonus points for bringing his wife along and staying long enough for us to have dinner together. He agreed and the date was set.

So our home-beer-brewin'-gotta-moustache-that'll-make-Moses-jealous-composer-extraordinaire friend and his lovely graphic-designing-film-photography-I-can-knit-anything-with-my-eyes-closed wife joined us for a fantastic evening in.

After dinner, the guys set about to work on their project while we ladies decided that chatting away with BBC's classic Pride and Prejudice in the background would be lovely. Suddenly, though, Mr. Dude quit out of the movie and went to the arcade games section on the XBox360, declaring that he had been waiting for Mr. Composer Friend to come over just so they could play this particular game together since they share a love of the movie by the same name.

Even more suddenly, a controller was in my hands and all four of us were trying to help poor Scott Pilgrim defeat all the bullies so he could go on a date with Ramona, or something to that effect.

Correction. They were all helping Scott. I was randomly pushing buttons and wondering what the heck they made my character do. It all seemed like a giant plot just to get me to play video games.

Attempted indoctrination via "gateway" games, I tell you.

[But, Stephanie! This is a really easy arcade game! You gotta admit that it's awesome! How could you not like video games when there's stuff like this to play?! Look at those graphics! Listen to that 8-bit music they wrote just for this game!]

And when we all got horrendously sick of the soundtrack [or maybe that was just me] and finally beat the level, our artsy and talented friends pulled out all four of their Apple devices so we could play an epic group game.

[I make the distinction about what kind of friends they are because there are very few people that Mr. Dude will recommend Apple products to or not scoff at for purchasing said products. He's a techie - and it irks him that Apple won't let him "under the hood", so to speak. But if you're a composer, a photographer, a graphic designer, an architect, etc, who actually needs some of their specialized software, then he's all for you dropping a ridiculous amount of money on an Apple product.]

Spaceteam is a cooperative game where you have commands flashing on your screen that you need to follow or one of your teammates needs to follow. And if you don't follow them all [or enough of them], then your space ship dies. Oh no!

Here's the official [and better-than-Stephanie's] description from the Apple Store:

Fluxtrunions? Beveled Nanobuzzers? Auxiliary Technoprobes? Outrunning an exploded star?!?!

Felt awfully Star Trek-ish to me.

I guess I'm just lucky that Q didn't show up to make it all the more confusing.

Also, have you ever tried to play a game like Catch Phrase, Pictionary or Yahtzee quietly, especially when there's an infant attempting to sleep not-so-far-away in a rather small apartment?

This was like that. As in, not possible.

Multiple infant-wakings aside, it was exhilarating, confusing, fun and stressful, all at the same time.

And I think I may actually like it.

[Gasp! Is this where I tell Mr. Dude that I found it on the Google Play Store, so we can install it on our phones, too?] 

So that was my epic Friday night. It was Scott Pilgrim vs. me. Or maybe that was Mr. Dude vs. me. Not sure if he won or I lost.

Either way, I spent my Friday night playing video games.

Definitely wasn't expecting that.

Uh, at least we can be on the same Spaceteam now? 

The Nerdy Christmas Un-Gifting Guide, Part 2

Oh, handmade gifts. 

They are either awesome and just what the person wanted, or they are incredibly tacky and very quickly headed to a local thrift shop. 

They can be a fantastic way to save money and give something meaningful, or they somehow end up costing a fortune. 

Handmade gifts are apparently extremists. 

In the latest installment of "Where on earth does Mr. Dude find this stuff?", I present to you the handmade gift I will not be undertaking this holiday season: 

Source: Imgur

No, seriously, where does he find this stuff?!

I can hear him protest now:

"But, Stephanie! It's a mix of Portal and BioShock Infinite! It's AWESOME!"

I don't care if I like the score of the BioShock games or if you think that Portal would be a good "gateway" game for me because it's a giant puzzle. 

I love you enough to spend my time making something else instead, like pumpkin pie. 

Sure, you couldn't hang up the pumpkin pie at your office like you could with this cross-stitched wonder, and I do like me a good embroidery project. 

Still. 

You're not getting this for Christmas, either, Mr. Dude. Lo siento. 

College Nostalgia

No, not our own nostalgia for college - although we are headed to our own 5 year reunion soon.

[Gasp! We're old!] 

We stumbled upon this nostalgic video game art in all of its 8bit/Post It Note glory during an afternoon family walk. It's brought to you by a dorm at a college here in town:

Mr. Dude, of course, thinks it's awesome.

Meanwhile, I'm starting a list of all the reasons why he can't do the same thing in our apartment windows, just in case he asks. Good to be prepared, you know! 

Happy Veterans' and Armistice Day! 

The Nerdy Christmas Un-Gifting Guide, Part 1

[Like every blogger (and their mom) this time of year, you gotta put out a gift guide in time for the holidays. Most of them will tell you what you should buy for this group or that one. As the wife of a nerd, I know there's a give and take to when I simply shake my head and smile about what he puts on his wish list versus when I put my foot down and say, "Absolutely NOT!" Thus, I'm here to tell you what items I won't be buying for my very nerdy husband, no matter how awesome he may think they are.]

Mr. Dude has a very (for him) fortunate birthday of a few days before Christmas. Most kids would be scared of their birthday being overshadowed by everything holiday, but Mr. Dude loved it.

He liked having so many decorations and lights and songs and parties all around the time he was celebrating another year of life. Plus, it's meant that he's gotten some pretty epic presents over the years when people combine birthday and Christmas budgets.

Case in point: the latest graphics cards, super quiet power supplies, terabyte hard drives ... it makes it rather easy for all of our parents and sisters to go in on an otherwise expensive gift when it's one item for both occasions from all of us that we've seen on his Amazon wish list.

Computer upgrades? Those I can handle.

Minecraft light from the ThinkGeek booth at PAX?

Source: ThinkGeek

Oh sure. I was actually present when he bought it.

Full size replica Portal gun?

Eh, I didn't really have a choice on that - he bought it without telling me he was going to.

[But, Stephanie! They only made 1000 of them, and they're already going for hundreds of dollars on ebay!"]

But Star Trek: Next Generation uniform hoodies?

Source: ThinkGeek, and yours for only $59.99! Working combadge and pips not included, unfortunately. 

In the words of Grumpy Cat:

Source: MemeGenerator.net

I can only go so far, Mr. Dude and dressing in costume outside of PAX, ComiCon or Halloween definitely doesn't make the cut.

So no, these won't be under the tree or in your stocking. Don't get your hopes up.

More Nerdy Christmas Un-Gifting Guide items to come ... 

Double Vision

I've mentioned before how Mr. Dude got some free t-shirts from PAX this year.

What I didn't realize was just how many free t-shirts he got.

Uh, is it just me, or am I seeing double? 

I discovered the multiples while putting away laundry with Little Guy and sent Mr. Dude a text message about it, wanting to investigate, you know.

[Is now a good time to mention that PAX was almost 2 months ago, and I'm only just now noticing these?!]

Me: Can you tell me what is wrong with this picture?
Mr. Dude: We're missing a halflife 2 t-shirt.
Me: Moooooooooo

I'm hoping that means his t-shirts don't have an inverse relationship with socks in the washing machine gaining a nerd t-shirt for every sock you lose.

We could end up with a lot of nerd t-shirts that way.

First Gaming Console

Intermissions.

They happen in the theater, and sometimes they happen in real life.

Like when Little Guy hits a growth spurt and decides that a full meal every two hours between 10 pm and 6 am for a week straight is necessary to life.

There's not enough coffee in life for me to function well after that, let alone blog.

In the meantime, Mr. Dude has made a declaration:

"Look, Stephanie! Little Guy's first console will be a Nintendo Gameboy. I'm going to start showing him how to use it!" 

Aren't they just the cutest? 

Okay, okay, I'll confess my bias. I only think they're cute because they're mine. But you have to admit that it's cute to watch a munchkin and his daddy hanging out together.

Side note: Curious as to how Mr. Dude acquired a Nintendo Gameboy?

A friend of ours decided to have a "Hipster"-themed birthday party and posted this as the cover photo for the event: 

Source unknown. My apologies to wherever he downloaded this from! 

Mr. Dude saw the guy on the right and immediately yelled out, "That's awesome!" 

A search on craigslist and ebay ensued for a Nintendo Gameboy in good, working condition. 

A trip across town and $20 later, and he had a new toy. 

A trip to Goodwill and $5 later, and he had the appropriate gold chain. 

A pair of shorts, a button up shirt, an origami paper bowtie and white socks helped him look like the hipster version of a guy from Weird Al's "White and Nerdy". 

Ergo, more proof that my husband is most definitely a nerd. And a sucker for nostalgia. 

Was there ever really any doubt, though? 

Red Flags

It's always reassuring to hear that your spouse didn't have cold feet before your wedding.

But this weekend, I heard about a (at least semi-) serious conversation between Mr. Dude and his parents before he proposed.

He was home for just one summer during his entire college career - he had an internship back in Seattle after working at the on-campus IT help desk for a few summers. It was the one long stretch we were apart for while dating.

And it wasn't fun.

Towards the end of summer, we were heading into our senior year at college and getting serious about marriage. As in, I may have told him I was willing to move to Seattle after graduation just to be close to him, even if we weren't married.

Mr. Dude's parents were wanting to help him be sure that he was making a thoughtful decision because marriage is for a lifetime.

[Uh, random side note - He had also just managed to burn a hole in their tablecloth that summer after soldering a powerjack back together in his laptop while working at their kitchen table. You know, because the garage would be too inconvenient. And sensible.]

Mr. Dude's Mom: Now, Mr. Dude, we know you're getting serious about Stephanie. Are you thinking you're going to propose to her soon?
Mr. Dude: Yeah, I think so. We work really well together and she understands me really well. She's my best friend!
Mr. Dude's Mom: And you haven't seen any red flags go up? There's nothing about her that makes you concerned, right? Because marriage is forever and we want you to be sure.
Mr. Dude: Nope. No red flags that I've seen. Well, aside from the fact that she doesn't like to play Quake 4. But I think she'll still be okay. 

Quake 4? Really?! You were considering asking me to be your wife and that's all you had to say about red flags?!?!

Then again, that's the only red flag he had.

Okay. I'll take it. :)

Epiphany

#supernerdalert

Mr. Dude: Stephanie, I've had an epiphany.
Me: Oh really? What's that?
Mr. Dude: I'm a super nerd.
Me [guffawing, chortling, snickering, LOLing, etc, are all appropriate here]: Oh, please. Do tell me what made you realize such a thing.
Mr. Dude: I'm playing Defense Grid while wearing a Defense Grid tshirt.
Me: Yup, that makes you a super nerd, all right.

Zoey the Cat would like to complain about how she's not the center of attention by making sure she was part of the picture. Literally. 

And in case that wasn't nerdy enough, later in the week he was watching videos on the making of Defense Grid 2 (complete with multi-player! And no, I won't be joining him in that).

Then we got to watch the full version of this ad by Ford and Microsoft that totally makes fun of nerds who still live in their mom's basement and think Master Chief is the coolest person ever.

Oh yeah, and we learned that Steam OS isn't going to kill off console gameplay. Yet.

Excuse me while I escape his brand of nerdiness by reading LOTR: Fellowship. Frodo's trying to make it out of the Shire without becoming a Black Rider's lunch.

Just for kicks and giggles, we'll throw in a picture of this tshirt, too. NVIDIA was giving away tshirts at PAX that became your own greenscreen. You put on the tshirt, walked in front of a projector, and if the word "winner" showed up on the green controller, you got a prize. Otherwise something like their logo showed up and you just got to keep the shirt. AKA, you just won a chance to be dirt cheap advertising for them. It would have been funnier if the words, "I went to PAX and all I got was this lousy tshirt", had showed up for the non-winners instead. True story. 

Snacks: Dragons = Good and Vampires = Bad

We joke (in all seriousness) that in our house, we'll never watch or read Twilight because we eat FAR too much garlic for any vampires to come anywhere near. (We're not quite as crazy as my college roommate who bought 46 heads of garlic when the recipe called for 46 cloves of garlic, though. But that's another story. It also helps that we have standards when it comes to what can actually be called literature. Again, that's another story.)

We also are well-known fire breathers. (Does that make us part dragon? If so, I'd rather be Eustace than Smaug. Smaug dies.) As in, we have to remember not to put so many spices in when we cook for other people. We don't put jalapeños n our tacos - we use habaneros. Oh, and I may have found grinders of dried ghost chili peppers during the 5 minutes Trader Joe's carried them ... and bought 2. It's okay - ghost chili peppers only have 850k-1.5mil Scoville units (compared to a jalapeño's 3.5-8k) and they're only one of the hottest (non-genetically modified) peppers on the planet.

Side note: When I was trying to go into labor, people kept suggesting spicy food. Problem: I had been eating ghost chili flakes on lots of things during the whole pregnancy. I don't think they were going to be triggering contractions at the end if they hadn't done so in the first or second trimesters, and it doesn't get much hotter than ghost chili peppers ... 

But I digress. As always.

Our favorite snack of late has been stove-top popcorn.

Do you know how cheap popcorn kernels are - even the organic ones - and how easy it is to make that stuff?

First, gather your ingredients:

Next, put some of that coconut oil (or any other oil with a reasonably high smoke point) in the pot with a few kernels, set the heat to medium-high or high and put the lid on top.

Wait for the oil to melt and the kernels to start popping, then put in enough kernels to fill the bottom of the pan. I give it a good shake every few seconds so the kernels don't burn. 

When the kernels slow down their popping, or stop popping altogether, I take it off the stove, pour into a waiting bowl, and start dumping on the goodness. No measuring, just dumping. In the kitchen world, they call it "season to taste". In Mr. Dude's world, it's "Stephanie, I want the food to kick my butt. Please add more cayenne." 

Pro-Dragon/Anti-Vampire Mix: Coconut Oil, Granulated Garlic, Ground Cayenne Pepper, Salt

Steph's Favorite: Coconut Oil, Ground Ginger, Salt

"Traditional": Melted Butter (but cook in olive oil), Salt

Toss it all together, and hope that you don't eat it all in one sitting. But if you do, know that there weren't any crazy chemicals and it was dirt cheap. 

Oops. Empty bowl. Sorry, forgot to take a picture before we ate it. All. In under half an hour.

Bonus points if you aren't playing Defense Grid while eating it. 

Mario and Minestrone

You know you're a foodie when ...
it's 10:30 at night and you're waiting for your homemade Italian minestrone to finish simmering so you can taste it and then go to sleep. 

Apparently I got waaaaaaay too excited about my meal plan for the week yesterday and decided to do a bunch of cooking all at once rather than waiting to cook on the day(s) when we're supposed to actually eat each item.

So now we have [extra] spicy tomato soup and minestrone awaiting us in the fridge.

Oh yeah, and the last of the potato soup I made this weekend.

And a squash soup I pulled out of the freezer to make room in there for some of the new soup.

Note: Soup season has definitely come to Seattle. 

And with it comes "video game season".