d-i-c-t-i-o-n-a-r-y

Okay, so sometimes i get dictionary happy. I LOVE to look words up and find out EXACTLY what they mean. By whose standards?! I know not. But the standards are someone's standards and generally America accepts them to be the standards. I am an American too, so i also accept those standards.

I like to look up words to gain a better understanding of my role in this world, and also to expand my vocabulary. The mere existence of dictionaries is why i don't really like the habit of consistent swearing. I submit we all get a little more creative! (Like in Princess Diaries "Shut UP!" "I beg your pardon!" "Oh no, ma'am, it means any number of things! -Oh my! -Gee Whiz! - Golly Wolly!") There are so many words to use. I want to be able to use them all.

But often times i like to look up words that apply to me in my situations of life. My responsibilities at work, for instance, require me to "teach" and to "assist." So I looked those ones up. When I have to write papers or give talks in church i like to look up the words i'm concentrating on. It often helps me focus and see those words in a different light.

Reflecting back on the work comment, however - please note that I work for the Office of Information Technology, as of this past fall. Yes. Technology. Today I voluntarily sat down to learn about things called "WAMP," "PHP," and "MySQL." We talked of open source programs, operating systems, processors, codes, and other strange computer jargon, and i became awfully excited when i figured out how to do all the neat-o things on a mac using "MAMP" and downloading programs off "drupal." I figured out what to do when my Apache server was connecting but not my MySQL server (and for those of you who were wondering i just had to go into my system and change the location of where the PHP looks for the socket file. Duh! :)
It's unbelievably gratifying to do all this and quite frankly, it got me rather excited to pursue more of these great tricks.

But - fearing the inevitable, and realizing what i've become - I looked it all up in the dictionary.

enthusiast
-noun.
1. a person who is filled with enthusiasm for some principle, pursuit, ect.; a person of ardent zeal
2. a religious visionary or fantatic

computer
-noun
1. Also called processor. an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations.
2. A person who computes; computist.

geek
slang. -noun
1. a peculiar or otherwise dislikable perosn, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual
2. a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
3. a carnival performer who perfroms sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken

:)

Yeah. Okay. I'll wear the title proud.