A Nerdy Evening

No, tonight was not a nerdy evening. Tonight hasn't even occurred yet. But rather than a nerdy evening, I anticipate tonight to be a scary evening. I am going to a haunted ship tonight for some early halloween celebration – we're trying to avoid the crowds. Yesterday night, a couple hours ago, was also not a nerdy one. Well, I did spend my time grading homework – I'm a grader – and prepping for my midterm on Wednesday. But it was not nerdy in the sense friday was. Friday evening was nerdy in that I spent it at a puzzle shop.

I spent friday night at a puzzle shop with my engineering friends. Usually, I hang out with a core set of friends – I call these people core friends because I spend a lot of time hanging out with them – and we usually spend our time exploring, adventuring, walking, and you know, active activities, however we also do like to watch movies. But that core set of friend was busy friday night and my engineering friends – I call these people engineering friends because I know them through classes, engineering classes – had invited me out. So I took up their offer and joined them for dinner at Anna's Taqueria. After dinner, I showed my engineering friends around Coolidge Corner – they hadn't ventured out into the city as much as I have. And one of the places I took them to was a puzzle shop, Eureka's Puzzles and Games, I had stumbled upon while exploring with my core friends. And we spent a good chunk of time there. And it was fun! We explored the shop, and then the shopkeeper was kind and patient enough to let out try out several of the demos there. I ended up solving four puzzles! I'm actually pretty proud. Among the four puzzles I solved was the Raketti Puzzle, which had puzzled us for the majority of the time we spent at Eureka's. And when I solved it, I was genuinely, really happy. I was kind of in shock, because I didn't expect the happiness that followed solving the puzzle. And that's when I realized I was, in fact, a nerd. And also that I'm capable of thinking outside of the box. I am more proud of the latter. It reminded me of my youth, when I was smarter.

Now, I really want to purchase a puzzle. I probably will for Christmas. I like to buy myself a gift for Christmas. It's something I do. But the puzzle I buy has to be challenging. Part of the reason I was so happy when I solved the Raketti Puzzle was that it stumped me for a good period of time. The other three puzzles I solved took less than ten minutes to figure out so it wasn't as satisfying as the Raketti Puzzle.

I don't consider myself a nerd because I don't always behave nerdy. But there are occasions where I am nerdy and last friday evening was one of them. And even then, I'm not that nerdy. It takes me well over a minute to solve the rubix cube. (After our Coolidge Corner adventure, which included foryo for half of us and ice cream for the other half and a stationary store, my engineering friends returned to work on a class project. I, however, went to watch one of my core friend's concert – I had told her I would go – and then out with her to get ice cream. I didn't get any this time around. I can only handle a limited amount of diary products a day. See, I am not that nerdy. =])