All or Nothing

I am the internet lurker. I drive up your hit counts and views but leave no other trace of my time with you. For me, internet communities are all or nothing. A couple of times I have thrown myself completely into an online fandom forum or actively commented on a daily blog. However, in the last 3 years, my time has been so absorbed with university and jobs and irl community involvement, that my internet usage has not been very interactive.

Last year (I think our common thread could have been 2010 nerdfighter class), my friend sent me a link to A Very Potter Musical on youtube. I had never made a youtube account before, choosing instead to just enjoy the viral videos with casual interest. The Potter Musical made me realize how much truly awesome content was available on youtube.

With my new youtube account I began a subscription treasure hunt with each cool channel leading me to another cool channel. I had seen Alex Day's 4 minute description of Lost and quickly found him again to subscribe. That led me to Charlie, and as the rest of you know, the vlogbrothers come up quite frequently once you actually start paying attention on youtube. Serendipitously, I was working my way (chronologically) through John's books when I discovered the channel. (Side note: I work my way through a whole lot young adult fiction because it is a really easy way for me to get to know my students. Also, I really like parenthesis.)

After just watching a few vlogbrothers videos, I realized that this time, I needed to go all in. Watching the unCultured Project's Nerdfighter's in Bangladesh video, seeing all the amazing things nerfighters have done WITH Esther, and hearing plans to increase awesome with moon pasta and puppy-sized elephants, made me want to purchase a one-way ticket to nerdfighteria island.

So I decided to be a full-fledged nerdfighter, not just a lurker. And I really am an all or nothing kind of girl. Youtube still doesn't believe I'm a real person after all the commenting I did during the project4awesome (I even won a shirt in the raffle!!). And now I'm here, on Stilllifeinyourpants, actively taking part in the aspect of Nerdfighteria that you just don't get from lurking in the shadows: real connections with awesome people all around the world.

I'm going to leave you with a quote:

Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.
Franz Kafka

Nerdfighteria celebrates and accepts people of all backgrounds and nerdy obsessions. I'm definitely all in for that.

Happy Thusday!
Elise