Unless it's on Gödel's incompleteness theorem. That's exciting.

A few weeks later, it was the extra credit question on an exam.

One day, I walked into English class and decided I was going to memorize the names of all the main group bunnies in Watership Down. It was a good day to do that, because it was the bonus question on the quiz.

My funny story is a whole-class story. We had a teacher who was maniacal about us learning and understanding Emerson's transparent eyeball metaphor from "Nature" (it's a transcendentalism thing), and we all read and reread the metaphor and talked it over and blah blah blah. Come the spring, and we've long since moved on, and the AP US History exam rolls around, and the whole class takes it.

At break, we all come clustering into the break room going, "Did you correct it? Yeah, me too!" The transparent eyeball metaphor was quoted in toto on the exam, and it was quoted incorrectly, and 80% of the class had corrected the quote in addition to answering the question.

Nerds do best when they are in packs, don't you think?

Ha ha ha ha ha.

That's a great story.

Nerds do best when they are in packs, don't you think?

Well, until we are pitted against each other.

Signed,

Knowledge Bowl is a Blood Sport, Damn It.

This whole conversation is cracking me up. I had no idea they served plates of shrimp at AcDec!

(I'm also feeling like the only Buffista who wasn't in AD, but if my school or state had had it, I would've been! Really!)

My school didn't have AD, but we did compete in the Science Olympiad. We took state in NC and then went to the nationals in Flint, MI. I'd just moved down from Alpena, MI two years before and spent most of the trip telling the others on the team that no, most of Michigan didn't look like Flint. 'Cause they were looking at the city, then looking at me and going, "Dude. I'm just . . . so sorry."

I didn't even know what it was, 'til the first time P-C and/or Gris mentioned it.

The holiday season approacheth, and I seek recommendations for books to give as gifts to my 7 year old nephew. He's in 2nd grade, he can read but I don't think does it addictively for pleasure or anything. He is currently obsessed with airplanes, especially US military. I can't think of any books he might like! I was thinking of a kids' magazine, if they still publish National Geographic World maybe... ideas?

Also, at what age do people think is right to start reading chapter books to a kid? Casper has a great attention span at just over 3, and can grasp whole movies. Do you think it's too soon to start with something like Stuart Little? Other suggestions?

flea, I bet you could start with episodic chapter books, like Frog and Toad are Friends. If she can hold on for the whole thing, fine; if not, every story basically ends at the end of a chapter. Also, I suspect she has graduated to the longer picture books, like Bill Peet and William Steig. (Do you have the family copy of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble ?)

For the 2nd grader, you might ask the children's librarian if you can peruse her back issues of School Library Journal -- you might find a few good reviews of age-appropriate airplane books.