Your name here!

Have you seen this? Starting September 1, sixteen American authors, including the inimitable Stephen King and John Grisham, are auctioning off the right to have your name published in one of their upcoming novels. Funds raised will support the First Amendment Project, a US non-profit raising funds and awareness for the freedom of expression.

The e-Bay page for the auction has some pretty funny requirements from each of the authors. For example, while Peter Straub warns that the name supplied may be attached to a character of “dubious moral character” and Andrew Sean Greer will be attaching the winning name to a soda shop or bakery that houses a pivotal scene, my idol Stephen King says, “Buyer should be aware that [work in progress] CELL is a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it’s very nasty and extremely satisfying. Character can be male or female, but a buyer who wants to die must in this case be female. In any case, I’ll require physical description of auction winner, including any nickname (can be made up, I don’t give a rip).”

Ahem. I know what I want for Christmas. Infamy at the hands of a zombie in a Stephen King story? Where’s my chequebook?

And that may in some part explain this quiz result, care of Andrea (who always finds the coolest toys first). Turns out on the Nerd-Geek-Dork continuum, I am:

Pure Nerd
75 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about
learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the “dork.” No-longer. Being smart isn’t as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!



So? Are you a nerd, a geek or a dork?

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

13 thoughts on “Your name here!”

  1. are there name tags or special shirts for this club?
    Pure Nerd
    56 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 21% Dork

  2. Anna, we posted at the same time…
    It really says something about the company you keep when Normal isn’t complimentary! Don’t worry, you’re plenty nerdy enough in my books.
    xo Dani

  3. Joe Normal
    30% nerd, 4%geek, 13%dork
    Thank gawd, I’m less of a nerd than Nancy…but happily on par with her dorkiness. I got absolutely nailed on the question about arranging your activities so as not to miss a TV show.

  4. Modern, Cool Nerd. (Too funny)
    69% Nerd, 69% Geek, 34% Dork
    I hope this isn’t a contest for each category. It looks like Dani and I are tied for total dorkiness.
    On the subject of getting your name published in infamy…I went to a reading last spring by Ian Rankin. He mentioned that he has been using real names and place names in his books for some time now. People write to him or meet him and apparently beg him to use their names. He’s also done the charity auction thingy to allow someone’s name to be used. It sounded like, more often than not, the names used in his books are actual real people and places. Maybe you could be the next axe-murdering psycho from down the lane?

  5. I guess I’m the only Dork…should I be admitting that??
    10% Nerd
    10% Geek
    74% Dork
    I’m blushing now
    Barb

  6. heehee. thanks andrea. i think it has something to do with my almost 10 years of post secondary education ๐Ÿ™‚
    what i don’t get is how my computer programmer boyfriend who plays with sound equipment in his spare time ended up all joe normal…whatever… ๐Ÿ˜‰

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *