Innate knowledge
My best friend through high school and college was very good at science. Particularly physics. I have always been keenly interested in science, but I'm bad at math, and I found the very concept of homework offensive. I felt that it was an attempt on the teacher's part to steal my free time, and I resented it. As such, my academic career was not as stellar as his. One day he picked up my entry level physics text book and thumbed through it. He looked perplexed. I asked him what was wrong.
He furrowed his brow at me, genuinely confused and said "I wasn't aware people had to be taught this stuff."
Why am I bringing this up? Because that's exactly how I feel about little bits of basic stage-craft like the one in this week's strip. I used to sit in the audience at open mic night and wonder "Why is he looking at his feet?" "Why is he mumbling?" "Why did he start the joke with the punch line?"
Failing to project was always especially mystifying to me, but then again I've always had a loud voice.
On the subject of jokes, I think all right-thinking people can agree that an April Fool's Day joke only counts if it is perpetrated ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY. On the day before April first, or the day after, it goes down in the ledger as "Douchey behavior" and will be held against you when the revolution comes.
posted by Scott Meyer at Wednesday, April 02, 2008
5 Comments:
"Douchey behavior" As douche is among my favorite words in any language (I speak Spanish, but not well enough to have found a comfortable equivalent) you have brightened my day by illustrating it as a different part of speech.
Come up with a clever way to employ it on a T-Shirt and I will buy one for each member of the family and maybe my boss.
I am Australian. For us, the Internet celebrates April Fool's day on April 2nd.
So you're all douches, Internet.
Heh, I was always interested in science, but not that good at math. I mean, I was able to get through Calc I and II, but had a real hard time with Diff Eq. (hard like, I didn't finish.) I wasn't used to working hard to learn stuff (nor doing homework), so it was a shock to run into that kind of wall.
As to being taught stuff, after a while you forget you ever had to learn it. I remember teaching some younger scouts how to tie knots, and was couldn't understand why they weren't getting it. Then suddenly I remembered when I learned to tie those knots, and realized that I hadn't always known, and that it wasn't obvious. The training sessions went much smoother after that.
> So you're all douches, Internet.
Oh, yeah. :) This is not news.
It appears that Rob P is still learning English.
Do you think he can tie knots in Spanish?
Gosh, Anonymous, you got me!
I'm really good in a narrow set of technical fields (not, unfortunately, engineering or physics).
I'm not good at humor or creative writing. I'll never have a book published, nor be a hit on-stage.
Sorry to have ruined your day, Anonymous.
Hasta la vista.
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