IN WHICH intellectual options for Halloween dressing strategies are discussed, and the specter of writing an entire novel in one tiny month is raised.
Briana's pick: Nerding up your Halloween
Halloween is upon us and I’m having some trouble deciding on a costume this year. I’ve been considering some nerd-themed costumes. Here are some of my ideas thus far:
- Albert Einstein: An obvious choice. Dig the hair.
- Robert Oppenheimer: Only one of the most famous theoretical physicists EVER! Chicks will totally dig you.
- Isaac Asimov: The guy had major mutton chops and a bolero tie with a robot clasp. He’s basically the Wolverine meets John Wayne of sci-fi.
- MC Frontalot: He’s a nerd that raps. Clever.
- The Solar System: Utilize your own human head as the sun!
- Black Hole: Come on. It’s easy. Just dress in all black and avoid anyone who’s outside of your event horizon.
- The Hubble Space Telescope: Don’t you wish you were one of the most significant contributions to science in the last 50 years? Now you can be!
- Bill Gates: Just sayin’. Total nerd. And you wish you were him.
- Or of course why not be one of the hundreds of thousands of awesome comic book heroes/heroines/villains out there? Don’t pretend you haven’t dreamed of this moment.
Or if you’re feeling extra lazy, pick up a nerdy pre-fab costume at your local novelty store. Here are some non-custom, ready-to-wear costumes I came across recently:
- Star Trek: I mean HAVE YOU SEEN Uhura’s uniform? Meow!
- Star Wars: Classic. It’s called a lightsaber. Ever heard of it?
- Napoleon Dynamite: Kind of lame to be honest. I don’t need to spend 30 bucks on what basically amounts to a “vote for Pedro” t-shirt. But that’s for you to decide.
- Mad Scientist / Doctor Lab Coats: No graduate degree necessary!
Now get out there and get that candy! Your kids will never forgive you!
James' pick: NaNoWriMo
I'm so very, very fired up about this. November is National Novel Writing Month, and I'm signed up and committed.
The premise is simple: Anybody can write a novel. Anybody. Yes, you can. It doesn't have to be great – heck, it doesn't even have to be good. It just has to be 50,000 words. And if you're diligent and stick to it, come the first of December you will be able to say with pride, "I have written a novel."
The event is run by a charitable organization that collects donations from participants and funnels them into literacy programs. Its prime mover is the website, NaNoWriMo.org, which features a bunch of motivational tools and tips, plus a very active forum community.
That's perhaps the coolest part – it's extremely regional. There are more than 400 people in the Louisville group, for instance – 400 people from right here that have committed to write a novel this month. And they have regular meetups ("write-ins") at places like Heine Brothers, where like-minded would-be novelists gather with laptop in hand.
As both the month and your book progress, you'll upload your story to have the word count checked (you'll encrypt it first, so don't worry about anyone stealing your prose). An elaborate leaderboard system will show how participants are doing relative to one another. They also have regular visits from "real" authors – Jasper Fforde will give the Halloween night kick-off pep-talk, for instance.
This is going to be really fun, and really rewarding. Wanna do it along with me?
[podcast]http://archive.wfpk.org/Podcasts/20091030-nerdy.mp3[/podcast]