Sunday, August 19, 2012

Introduction to Dorkage

There is a word zooming around the buzzword world right now. It has become a catch phrase to pigeon-hole the type of person that is likeable but quirky. Characters played by everyone from Zooey Deschanel to Audrey Hepburn to Meg Ryan in the 80s/90s have come to be described as "Adorkable". You can be gorgeous, you can be a celebrity dating/married to another celebrity, but if you do things that normal people would consider "unusual" (such as singing or skipping in public), you are now an adorkable human being.


I am writing this blog to discuss the difference between being a "dork" and being "adorkable". I grew up a dork and still classify myself in the category of dork because I think the description actually fits. But here's the thing-- Being a dork would never allow you to be a celebrity. There is just no way. Napoleon Dynamite is the best and most accurate depiction of complete dorkage I've ever seen in a movie. Jared whats-his-face, who plays the title character, has gained fame and a few other roles due to his part in his original "cult classic" (another word for a movie a lot of people didn't get). But his other roles have flopped because once a dork, always a dork. Dorks don't hang out with the cool kids. And we all know that celebrities are the cool kids of society-in-general.


My first post (this one) is about the current picture in my background (and profile) as a classic example of dorkiness at its finest. This is me. I am 23 (and pregnant) in this picture, but 7 years have passed since this photo was taken. I imagine it would still look the same were it taken today, because I haven't changed much. I am the one in the purple shirt and blue overalls staring with wrinkle-nosed intensity at the sky. The rest of the people in the picture are my extended family (mother's side). Apparently, I walked into this picture while it was being taken. At that moment, however, an airplane was flying over. Interestingly, I remember this moment. The airplane was white, as many planes are, and was relatively low-flying. This moment sums up [encapsulates - thanks, Jed] my whole existence on this planet. I have always *felt* as awkard as I *look* in this photo. Everyone else seems like they have it all together--just like my relatives in the photo. But I consistently feel like I'm just that strange girl in the background who has an affinity for flying objects.

So, welcome to my blog about being a dork of the less-cute variety. Some things I plan to post on:

Eating rock salt on the playground
Playing the xylophone in band
Thinking Telletubbies were cool (in high school)
Walking into a screen door
Eating a gummy bear off the bathroom floor
Stuff like that

1 comment:

  1. I don't know if the photo "sums up" as much as it "encapsulate". Word choice, word choice!

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