Thursday, December 16, 2010
Quiz Show
So I've taken to doing pub trivia lately. In addition to giving me an excuse to drink on Monday nights again, it also brings back some fantastic and tragic memories for me. You see, when I was in middle school and junior high, I was a quiz bowl star. Boy, oh boy, could I press a buzzer and answer questions about children's literature and simple arithmetic. And I was even better at riding in someone's station wagon to a competition and making obscene noises on their CB radio. And I was probably the best at gorging myself on curly fries and milkshakes at Hardee's afterwards. Let me tell you, West Central Illinois was a paradise in those days. The men were like Gods and the women were like Melrose-Place-era Heather Locklear.
These days it turns out I'm not quite as great. Our record so far is 2 and 2. And one of those wins came on a night when only four teams showed up. Plus, a lot of the questions were about pop culture and television. Does identifying Ross and Rachel even credibly count as a form of knowledge? As my sister put it, it's not just that we're losing, it's that we're losing to people who have requested Justin Bieber songs. It really kind of puts things into perspective.
So I've taken to doing pub trivia lately. In addition to giving me an excuse to drink on Monday nights again, it also brings back some fantastic and tragic memories for me. You see, when I was in middle school and junior high, I was a quiz bowl star. Boy, oh boy, could I press a buzzer and answer questions about children's literature and simple arithmetic. And I was even better at riding in someone's station wagon to a competition and making obscene noises on their CB radio. And I was probably the best at gorging myself on curly fries and milkshakes at Hardee's afterwards. Let me tell you, West Central Illinois was a paradise in those days. The men were like Gods and the women were like Melrose-Place-era Heather Locklear.
These days it turns out I'm not quite as great. Our record so far is 2 and 2. And one of those wins came on a night when only four teams showed up. Plus, a lot of the questions were about pop culture and television. Does identifying Ross and Rachel even credibly count as a form of knowledge? As my sister put it, it's not just that we're losing, it's that we're losing to people who have requested Justin Bieber songs. It really kind of puts things into perspective.
