"Don't know what a slide rule is for..." --Sam Cooke

I used to think I'd like to go to MIT. Not because I ever actually wanted to work that hard but just to hang around with the brainiacs. The fact that I didn't have the grades, or the test scores, or the extracurricular activities, or the money, or the ability to keep up didn't really faze me. If was a fantasy. I pictured myself socializing with these ubergeeks, catching threads of ideas and getting spun up in their intellectual hoohah.*

I never got to MIT although I've met some amazing people who graduated from there. And, let's face it, most realities don't hold much resemblance to the fantasies we carry, anyway.

On Friday, I got unofficial word that an assignment I'd casually suggested about six months ago may be on the radar for me. If this pans out, this means within a few months I'll be burning through my Metro card, have a higher dry cleaning bill, and be hanging out with some serious brainiacs. For real, these people can think circles around me. Circles, stars, clovers, you name it. Am I jazzed? A little. Am I intimidated? A lot. It ain't MIT but maybe I'll get to break bread with the ubergeeks yet.

Question du jour**: Have you ever found yourself significantly out-brained? If so, was it a good thing or a bad thing?


* See, if I had gone to MIT, I would have had a better term for that.

** This question is dedicated to Bowie Mike and his thirst for questions.