Finding Geeky Nerds

Last night I went out for dinner with two of my cousins and their daughter. I have temporarily relocated to my hometown area--although I hope it won't be for very long. One of the delights of the experience has been re-connecting with some of my cousins that I had been close to growing up.

I realize the definition of 'geek' and 'nerd' kind of varies, especially among generations. In my eyes, I am one and proud of it. I love to spend hours on the internet--reading and surfing my way around the world. I love to spend hours talking about little details, playing trivia games and having debates about ideas. Back home (my real home) my friends are just like that. One New Year's Eve we spent the whole night discussing 'terminal velocity'. The concept, not the movie. It's my idea of fun.

These cousins are like that too. We love many of the same t.v. shows, read the same books and articles. Our conversation jumped from Sarah Palin's crazy resignation speech, to the recent article about Goldman Sachs in Rolling Stone. We were happy that the current Attorney General is now considering prosecuting some of the previous administration for their involvement in torture. We hope that the prosecutions will expand to include War Crimes, and treason for the outing of C.I.A. agent Valerie Plame.

We are big fans of "The Office" television show, and of the old show "West Wing". On the drive home we debated different ethical situations some of the characters faced and how we thought they should have handled it.

It was fun. It was nice to relax and not think about hospitals and funerals for the first time in ages.