Today I gave a presentation on Ottoman history to a group of 20 Americans passing through the city. It was a Powerpoint presentation full of arcane quotes, maps, and an alphabet soup of unpronounceable Turkish names.
However, I gave it at 9 a.m. so it was quite an effort to keep everyone awake. A couple of guys were nodding off, which is what I did in virtually every class in college so I didn’t take it personally. In fact, there was a political science class I took where I nodded off so much that I had one of my friends stationed next to me, ready to elbow me somewhere between the ribcage and the solar plexus if I started to lose it.
I also realized that many people aren’t as enthusiastic about Ottoman history as I am (OK, about 99.999 percent of people) which is important to keep in mind because if I dont then I will cross the line from nerd to spazz — which is someone who assumes that all the world is equally fascinated by their silly interests, and will talk for 3 minutes straight about some incomprehensible topic while their listener pretends to show interest while at the same time trying to find an excuse to leave.
Nobody likes a spazz. Nobody.
I feel your pain. History is so under-appreciated. From one history spazz to another: Keep the faith.
You need to give it to the Iowa team when they come. I told Jodi that she needed to have you do that. It was fun, and from her and Erin’s apartment, you can see everything you are talking about. So it sweet.
umm . . . we like spazzes . . .