I’m appealing to you – yes, you, the readers! – to answer a simple question: what, if anything, would you consider yourself to be relatively expert in?
I’m not looking for post-doctorate study here or anything. I’m just curious to know what my readership knows a lot about, mostly because there are lots of things I don’t know and I like to write about lots of things, and I’m sure it would be a benefit to all and sundry if, when I decided I wanted to write about, oh, let’s say llama farming, if I could email the llama farmer who reads me and ask him about the everyday minutiae of llama farms, so I don’t get something really basic wrong (“llamas are insects. You heard me. Insects.”).
So spill, people!
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110 users responded in this post
Kate Bush. I am a huge fan of her work and I know a lot about her musical career.
I knows me some fencing, I knows me some biochemistry, and I knows me some very brief history of Western mysticism.
Movies (from the birth to about 1930 and then 1970 onward), the band Metallica, White Wolf RPGs, the restaurant business. Garth Ennis comics.
Jesus Christ I am now depressed.
Hmm, donkey ranching (we have 4 miniature donkeys and 3 full-sized), Flash development, and heroic illustration would about cover it for me.
Nerdy: Medieval history, English philology
Manful: Running
It saddens me that it took this long to come up with this many.
Um, third edition D&D? Although, given how fast my 2nd ed knowledge decayed in 2000, I’d bet in a few months I’ll only be competent to answer fourth edition questions.
But seriously.
I spent a couple months working for an environmental/disaster remediation company, so I’ve got a working knowledge of the most common kinds of petroleum spill cleanup products and techniques, and experience on a medium-sized highway/creek/marsh cleanup site.
I also spent several years as a metalworker in a small machine shop, doing welding, fabrication, and lathe work. Small-to-medium scale steel or aluminum projects, as well as a variety of decorative stuff.
There’s the trivial stuff I know far, far too well: comics from the Silver Age to today; movies from about 1950 to today; old-time radio programs; general pop cultural zeitgeists; baseball; American football. It’s all useless, but there it is, taking up head-space.
Then there’s the useful stuff: American history, from both the “dead rich white guys” angle and the “everybody else” angle; Middle Eastern, Chinese, and European history; world religions, particularly Christianity and Islam; history and techniques of advertising and propaganda; the chemistry and physics of food; American politics.
The literary analysis of Julia Kristeva, the writing of Nabokov, horror films (I write academic papers about them!). 70s and 80s punk and new wave, role playing games, Irish history, medieval epics and classy dancing.
I’m finishing up my undergrad in English lit and I’m going to attend UChicago’s English PhD program in the Fall of 08.
Hello, I read the LJ feed and have done for a while – I’m an ornithologist, mainly specialising in seabirds of the North Atlantic, but I’m pretty good at all the birds of Europe and North Africa, and I know where to look to find out about the rest.
Which is probably completely useless to you 😀
I have a pretty decent knowledge of movies that are upcoming. To a lesser extent television. I do work at the world’s largest on-line retailer where I purchase digital frames and CCTV systems for a living. I also buy camcorder, binoculars, telescopes and work with people who buy cameras. So, I know a decent amount about the inner workings of all that (and with some investigation could easily learn about most other electronics). Some of I can’t tell you, though, so…. Take what you can. I know a decent bit about comics but you have me more than beat there. I’m a Classics nerd….
Oh, and something totally bizarre and useless: printing presses from the eighteenth century. Setting type, maintaining the press, the minutia of printing and paper-prepping.
Yeah, it’s never, ever come in handy. “My god, we’re all doomed unless someone here knows how to operate this reproduction printing press from 1750!” Not once has that happened.
My geekeries include (but are not limited to) houseplants, knitting, radical hair colors, Dostoevsky, Russian hockey players, what your skin does when you spill scalding hot minestrone on it, names and where they come from, and the ability to plausibly fake expertise in anything.
Well I have a law degree and go to law school, but that doesn’t exactly distingush me from anyone else does it? I wouldn’t consider myself an expert in the law. Merely more informed than most people are.
I suppose I could sound off on the history of the law better than most people with my level of education, seeing as I opted for a lot of the historical courses at uni, but then compared to the people that took those courses I’m a dribbling idiot who thinks that laws were created by sky angels back in the 60s when they saw that Jimi Hendrix was just rockin’ out too damn hard.
Geeky stuff probably isn’t what you’re looking for; but there is very little I don’t know about Doctor Who or Terry Pratchett. I still wouldn’t call myself an “expert” on these subjects when there are people out there who can remember the production codes of every Doctor Who serial since An Unearthly Child and the name of every walk on character in the Discworld books.
Not aimed at anyone on this thread but too many people on the internet seem to think themselves “experts” on a subject because they’ve read a couple of books on the subject aimed at the non-academic audience and got into an edit war on the wikipedia page.
Heritage conservation (current job), Macintosh repair (old job), sailing (really old job), certain aspects of Canadian railway history, the music of Pink Floyd from 1967-1979. Not a lot of the things I wanted to know all about when I was a kid, but not a hugely shameful list.
Anyone else with a law degree that goes to law school there obviously.
Steven Seagal movies. That’s it.
Fields of interest.
Communication theory
World of Warcraft
Pecan Pie
Spiders
Caramel
Dogs. Big, small, gentle, aggressive – I love ’em all, and they love me. I volunteer at a large-breed rescue organization, and it’s gotten to where they ask me to walk the big, wild, out-of-control ones, because by the end of the walk, they’re calm and happy and relaxed. Dogs are the best thing on Earth.
Special Effects, particularly compositing (creating a scene from various different elements, like a greenscreen actor, a CGI dinosaur, some stage miniature volcanoes and a matte painting background). I’ve been doing it for 13 years now, and I’ve helped win a couple of Oscars, so I feel pretty competent. (That said, there are compositors who can kick my ass up and down the block, so I can’t feel too cocky.)
I think I might be too humble to refer to myself as an expert in much of anything. I’m 30 and I’ve been waterskiing since I was 10, but I do it for fun and not competition, so I hesitate to call myself an expert. I’m an editor for three smallish trade magazines and I teach remedial reading and writing to college freshmen, but I don’t really think of myself as some kind of super grammar god because I know how to properly punctuate subordinate clauses in compound-complex sentences. I was a lifeguard for seven years, so maybe I’m an expert at rescue breathing and CPR, but there’s really not much to that.
Very Important and Serious: Canadian domestic feature film production (or international co-production), Canadian tax policy as relating to same, basically any non US-studio-model film/television creation. Practical application of Entertainment Law / Copyright / and a passion for intellectual commons/ actual non-corporate-interest-based copyright reform. New media approaches to serialized video.
Very Important and Less Serious: LSH of all v’s (although I’ll admit to a fondness for the first few years of the SW6/ZH reboot), Giffen/Dematties era Justice League, lots of modern indie / small publisher / alt comics.
Hobbies that meet my minimum criteria of “will come in handy if I ever become a spy”: Fencing, lock-picking, playing a serviceable ukulele.
Pinball, pressure points, sleep deprivation, mad cow disease and making DVDs. Honorable mention: dentistry, j-school (community media and convergence) and cockatiels.
I’m a great person to talk to about musical instruments; they’re a hobby of mine, though I can’t currently play any due to health issues. From piccolo Heckelphone to ondes Martenot, I’m your man.
Also a good person to talk about music theory, history and performance, though I’m only passingly familiar with the obscurities of jazz and there are many people more into the pop & rock business.
Want to know something about absinthe? I can probably help you there, and if not, at least direct you to the people who can.
Food. Comics. Alexander the Great. The sexual objectification of men.
Well, I’m a huge Simpsons geek and I can recite most of REM’s songs. Quite useless stuff, but here it is.
Java (the programming language, not the island nation or the tasty, bitter beverage) and software engineering in general. I’m not a front-end expert, but have over a decade of experience with infrastructure development.
No less geeky: I’m also pretty knowledgeable about Harlan Ellison. Being fanatical about trying to be a completist in my youth, I have a huge collection of his works, including some ridiculously rare pieces. So what I don’t know and can’t find as quickly as anyone else online, I can almost certainly find amongst the millions of words of his weighing down my shelves.
Superhero trading cards and transcendant heterosexual monogamous sex.
I work as a science and engineering librarian so I’m an expert on how to find information in those fields, the state of scholarly publishing and I keep a close eye on electronic publishing as well. My research is in science information literacy so I know a bit about finding reliable and accessible scientific information for the general public.
Outside of that, I take a pretty technical approach to cooking and have make a particular study of ice cream, sherbets and sorbets.
Also, I still have my notes on the research I did for articles on sleepwalking murder, the discovery of new world drugs in old world mummies, and high end plastic dinosaur toys.
I’m really better at knowing a lot about a lot of things than being particularly expert at any one subject. I’ll rock your face at Trivial Pursuit.
Decision Theory, Cognitive Science, Educational Psychology. Employed as a researcher on an AI project.
I am a physicist, so I guess I qualify as an expert there. I have a very good, if not professional, knowledge of history and philosophy. I used to be mean a Yie-ar Kung Fu for C64.
Failing to live up to potential. I have it down to an art form by now.
Short of that, I know a hell of a lot of Beatles trivia.
I’m quite good at movies, from the 30s to the 40s mostly musicals and screwball and more modern movies, from the 90s to present.
I’m good at british print culture from the late eighteenth century and the early netherlandish renaissance (15th century). I could also point someone in the right direction for a lot of Western Art History.
Also anything Joss Whedon has done.
For me I’ve got a degree in Biology and I could play an expert in English History on Youtube. Otherwise I like to think of myself as a modern polymath – I know know enough random facts to clear up at Pub quizzes.
Dinosaurs. I’ve been a knowledge databank for all things Terrible Lizard since age 3.
Norse and Greek Mythology (since pre-school)
Parkour/Free running
And I’m sure I could keep up quite the conversation on a selection of Sci-fi/Fantasy novels.
I’ve also been told I have a knack for word-choice.
I’m a physicist and computer programmer. I work in the pipeline industry. I have strong interests in evolutionary biology (focuses in metazoan origins and vertebrate paleontology), US con-law, linguistics; RPGs (mostly D&D; Hero to a lesser extent, and then all others); fantasy, SF, & mystery; and superhero comics. I can intelligently discuss most other areas of knowledge.
For every area I might consider myself an expert, I know someone who knows much, much more than I ever will, so I don’t know if I can truly consider myself an expert at anything.
I know a lot about a lot of topics, but not necessarily to “expert” level. I have a memory that involuntarily sucks up trivia like a sponge and spouts it back out at random, so there’s a high chance that I know /something/ about any given topic, but particularly those in my LJ interests list.
All that said, I’m also a librarian and a cataloger, so between that and the above, I’m pretty much an expert at searching for information on darn near ANY topic.
I guess that makes me an “expert generalist.”
Engineering, particularly fluid mechanics as used in Aerospace and Biomedical. Various other sundry
There’s always someone who knows more, but heavy metal is my area of expertise.
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I’m fairly well versed in comics, pro wrestling, and anything related to Joss Whedon.
Oh yeah:
Cats and dogs and the care thereof (used to work at a shelter), adn City of Heroes and Villains.
Generally, I’m a dilettante. I’ve got a broad knowledge of any number of geek hobbies, but bugger all depth. In a group of non nerds, I probably know more about medieval history, most aspects of computing, mythology and religion and SciFi/Fantasy than anyone else. In a average group of geeks, I still stand a moderate chance of being the most knowledgeable in those areas.
The only areas that I’ve been focused on enough to even consider myself expert are;
Computer networking (it’s my job)
Historical hacking (things that nerds did with computers before we lost the debate about whether hacking meant criminal activity or not)
Miles Vorkosigan (The only SciFi series that I still own a complete set of, since I’ve shed large chunks of my book collection every time I relocated)
To clarify and, hopefully, look like less of a self-impressed ass-head, my working definition of “expert” is not “could write a book about it” or “scholars consult me on the topic,” but rather “could talk about it knowledgably for an hour without notes or resorting to bullshitting.”
Though I do so enjoy resorting to bullshittery. “During the presidency of John Quincy Adams, the American economy relied upon the production of waffle irons and their export to Pomerania, the Waffle Capital of Europe.”
The novels of Terry Brooks and David/Leigh Eddings.
Courtney Love.
Nightmare On Elm Street.
Buffy and Angel.
Final Fantasy (excepting III, Tactics and XI).
Ancient Chinese History (Three Kingdoms and Sung Dynasty eras particularly,) And Science Fiction Lit and Gaming trivia.
Probability and, to a lesser extent, statistics.
Tell me where you want to go and I can tell you the best TTC route. My abilities have been described as “bordering on autistic”.
As an art history grad student, I am fully qualified to say that I am an expert in ancient art and archaeology, particularly late bronze age pottery and wall painting/reliefs. If you ever need to ask your friends anything about “the Sea Peoples” in the Mediterranean, I am the person to consult. This also goes for questions about early Christian iconography, medieval illuminated manuscripts, and 13-14th century Tuscan art. And to a certain extent, contemporary museum practice.
Outside of what I learned in school, I’m also an excellent canoeist (with certifications to prove it), an expert waitress, a connoisseur of mustard, and very informed on the nuances of Thai food.
I’m good at stuff!
P.S. WordPress thinks I’m spam.
I have the misfortune to be an expert in american radio journalism having spent entirely too long employed in news broadcasting and more recently by clearchannel in a thing that is almost but not entirely unlike news broadcasting. I am also of late an expert in indie rpg publishing through a series of improbable events too odd to recount here
Diseases, especially from a historical perspective.
Food chemistry and development, especially yogurts, ice cream, jams and chocolates. (used to be a food development engineer)
WFB Skaven (my former geekdom)
European Thrash/death metal
Skydiving. Specifically teaching it to other people. I’ve learned from the best in the world on how to take people who know nothing about jumping from planes and making them into self-sustaining jumpers.
Comics history in general, and Marvel Comics continuity in the more specific, X-Men continuity in the super specific.
I am a huge nerd.
I know some stuff about math. Not a lot. I seem to know less each time I attend class.
I know some stuff about clothing in Egypt in ~1200. I know about fountain pens, Christian theology, Australian and New South Wales politics, Australian education system, Australian – well, yeah, Australia in general, tea production in China, Yunnan province in China, and the differences between the Australian and New Zealand accent.
Australian politics, in particular a disturbingly in-depth knowledge of the short but glorious Prime Ministership of Gough Whitlam. Also I think I can explain the ‘declared’ rather than merely ‘devised’ theory of the common law reasonably well, which is good because it makes no gorram sense. (I wonder if they have that theory in Canada, or ever did?)
Paranoid conspiracies , occult , cryptology some video games and movie, and amatuer at history
Atheism and creationist crackpots
Vampires, werewolves and urban legends.
magic.
for real man.
Let’s see. Children’s literature, especially 19th-century and early-20th. The history of animation. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (this skill seems to be redundant). I am sort of a craft dilettante, so in addition to knowing a lot about knitting and handspinning, I am moderately knowledgeable about jewelry making, scherenschnitte (papercutting), embroidery, sewing and historical costume. I used to know a fair amount about the art and architecture of ancient Egypt, but I’m rusty. Oh, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Coming from a random teenager… Uh…
I have a pretty good working idea of Biology and Biochemistry, not expertise, since I spend a lot of my time reading books like The Selfish Gene or Nature’s Call, but I can officially state I have the nerdy expertise in Anne McCaffrey’s series “Dragonriders of Pern”, and would have the whole series if my dog hadn’t destroyed some of the books. -_-
I’d say my expertise lies in adaptation in moving from country to country. God knows I’ve moved enough times, and I get pretty good at comparing societies through force of habit.
I am also pretty good at Scuba Diving. I got my certification at the age of 13, and am proud to say, got a 100 on the test to get certified : D : D *inane grin*. Of course, lack of use means I am forgetting a few things…
Uh, yeah, *hides*
I claim the prize for most useless area of expertise: medieval heraldry, as practised in the Society for Creative Anachronism, specifically the arcane art of conflict-checking. Also: filking (the song-rewriting that Weird Al Yankovic is the most famous practitioner of), as well as about thirty programming languages to varying degrees of ability with particular expertise in PHP, XSLT, Delphi and Forth.
I used to run choir rehearsal camps and medieval feasts, and learned a lot about catering for vegetarians and vegans — did you know, for example, that while butter is obviously not vegan (because it’s made with milk), some margarines aren’t even vegetarian? They can often be made with fish oils! And then there’s gelatine, which is distilled from calves’ hooves. Weird.
Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Nothing else, anymore.
Math, physics, CS (degrees in all three, grad degrees in the first two).
Computer magazines (a bit–worked as an editor for a couple of years).
History of the Macintosh computer platform.
Some astronomy. Lots of random stuff about the sun; a bit about Jupiter.
Universities (the joys of being a hardworking academic dilettante–I’ve spent something like 15 years as either an undergraduate or graduate student.)
Hmmm…
– the theoretical stylings of Karl Marx, Thomas Hobbes, and Plato
– American professional and college sports
– films from the 1990s to current
– Russian history
– database conversion processes
– Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men(the titles)
– novels written by Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, and Thomas Pynchon
and honestly the thing I probably know more about than anyone else…
The Simpsons
which isn’t such a bad thing to know all about.
Beyond the obvious expertise at being a dick. . . .
Professionally, I seem to be the Winston Wolfe go-to guy in a crisis, and I’m exceptionally good at it — but I’m not sure that’s considered an “expertise.” Perhaps I’m an expert at telling people how to get their shit together.
Professional development, mentoring, I/O Psych, team-building, conflict resolution. Project, product, portfolio and program management. ITIL-based ITSM; including incident, problem, configuration, change, process analysis.
14th-century British Literature (especially Chaucer)
Feminist Criticism
Chocolate
Bodice-ripper romance novels (or vampire romance novels, or werewolf romance novels, or pirate romance novels, or…well, you get the idea)
Monty Python
Janis Joplin
Penis enlargement spam (Seriously, is google mail trying to tell me something? Talk about not hitting your target audience!)
I used to be a special education teacher, and taught learning disabled and emotionally disturbed students for several years in public and private schools (including an institution).
I’ve been an online instructional designer for the past 11 years, helping college faculy transition their classes from the classroom to the online environment.
Biology (specifically, Ecology and Evolution)
the Bible (despite not being Christian)
some aspects of Graphics (I can use photoshop and I have a tablet)
Hardware (nuts and bolts, mixing paint, cutting keys, what things cost, etc)
Final Fantasy games (7 specifically)
The Sims 2
Latin and Roman History (to a point–I was better when I was in high school, and that was 8 years ago now)
I’m an expert in awesome.
Beyond that, I have two degrees (science and literature), plus study in philosophy, theology, and sociology. I was a personal trainer (so I know dietetics, nutrition, fitness, and exercise science), a commercial producer (so I know Avid, budgets, what producers do, et al.), and a substitute teacher (so I know–well. Babysitting, really). I was an editor for a psychiatric nursing journal, so I know both the former and the latter. Lately I’ve studied writing, fiction, story, plot, structure, and film, and I’ve taught comp & rhetoric. Also: both the publishing and movie industries, as well as marketing and branding, and Jesus, too (I mean that in the sense of historicity/environment/context, not in the sense of “he’s our Lord and Savior sort of thing”). Oh, and Zen, Wicca, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz, Shakespeare, William Carlos Williams, and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Lord of the Rings Lore of the first through third ages.
as far as real life stuff I could get paid for, I’m working on a masters in Urban Planning and have a BA in US History with a minor in Women’s Studies, focused on GLBT issues. I’m a crazy socialist who knows how and desires to implement all sorts of lefty ideas.
as for fun stuff that I know a great deal more about, I have encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek, Star Wars, the Marvelverse (particuarly mutant issues), the buffyverse and God only knows how many other -verses.
also, scaring people away. I’m pretty good at that too….
Well, I don’t know about expert, but I have a passable knowledge of forestry, ecology, botany, permaculture, geographic information systems, vegan cooking, nutrition, knitting, spinning, and crochet. Oh, and garbage and landfills. I’d really rather not know all the things I’ve learned about those last two.
I know more than is healthy about tabletop role-playing games: their history, mechanics, trivia, etc. (Heck, I write a bi-weekly column about them.)
English grammar, specific animes (Death Note, InuYasha, Loveless), psychology, lying
Video game graphics and how to make them.
Sailor Moon, in all its various incarnations; The Last Unicorn; Old Disney cartoons and all their older movies; ultrasound techniques and what to look for when scanning a patient’s abdomen; CLEP exams; a little folklore from all over the world, including fairy tales, ghost stories, mythology, etc.; Diana Wynne Jones’s “Chrestomanci” books; finding the best sales, online and elsewhere, including groceries; art techniques, varying from drawing to metal casting and a lot of junk in between; Native Amerindian and mixed-race identity in America; more cleaning and cooking skills than most Americans; craft and costume/wig work for stage; ballet technique; organic cooking, cleaning, and hygiene; general hygiene cheap alternative products; proper brassiere fitting; survivalist methods and tools; basic sewing; interesting anatomy facts, including several related to killing a man quickly, quietly, and painfully; getting out of and around the public high school system; Odyssey of the Mind.
My sister also knows all-out about dogs, most reptiles, insect/scorpion care, and cats.
Most all else that I can think of has been said, or is not the kind of thing I can help you with over the internet.
Work related: I work as a supervisor at a library, so I’m pretty good at reference work and other library related things. If I can’t find something, I can likely find someone who can.
Hobby related: My big area of expertise is military history in general & world war two history in particular. By expertise I don’t mean “I watch a lot of the history channel” (although I do) I mean “I’ve been reading about this for two decades and have a small reference library on the subject in my house.” The last time I picked up a general history of WW2 of the type you would get as a textbook, I discovered that I had read every book that the author gave as references in the bibliography. I can also generally ID almost any gun and a lot of other military gear on sight. I have a fair amount of general geek knowledge, but nothing beyond the normal stuff you pick up from just liking comics, RPGs and sci-fi.
Literary criticism, American history, and technology law… that’s about it. Kind of depressing to think about how many disciplines I have amateur familiarity with compared against the one or two I think I could say I’ve mastered.
I suppose I’d say newspaper design/newsroom production is definitely one of my fields of expertise. Other than that, some of the typical geeky things (comics, Buffy, etc) that others have mentioned. I’m a good cook/baker, but I don’t know if I’d dub myself an expert.
I’m like the Bratz. I’ve got a passion for fashion.
19th Century American Literature
Cooking (but not baking)
Horror films
Role-Playing games
Video games
gaming. modern and historical. ya know, billiards, poker, casino stuff , cock fighting… etc
Tactics both in games and in real life.
Comics to a lesser degree. (I miss Deadpool.)
Some world history but I’m WAY rusty on it. Same with C.A.D.
Games computer, pencil+paper, and table-top strategy.
Tanks, yes tanks, don’t look at me like that. (the ones that drive around and blow stuff up)
Other various military vehicles.
Anime/cartoons/Manga, there are so very few that are good these days….
Firearms maintenance and usage.
Military history with a focuses on the American Civil War, British Army and Navy (Victorian), and World War II. The side effect of growing up with one of the best German Military Historians in the US. On the professional side, health and fitness.
My bread and butter expertise would be in the health and fitness field. Specialties in transformation style fitness programs, long term weight loss and managment. Workout program design. Exercise/weight loss psychology. Motivational writing.
I have a mystical relationship with three llamas and would be happy to share things that I teach in llama school. We don’t train the llamas to be anything but what they are and I would be happy to share that with anybody who is interested. They are the most unique animal in the world, from their blood down to their methods of communication.
East Asian history and culture, the 19th century for both east and west, video games, science fiction, feminist theory, gay rights issues, history.
We still have a ways to go before we become Global Frequency, don’t we?
I totally want some of these people’s e-mail addresses–what a great collection of obscure expertise!
Me:
– clothing design & construction, particularly 18th & 19th centuries (women and men)
– US nonprofit structures: accounting, tax laws, governance and economics
– bicycle mechanics and repair
– theater: past present and future, onstage and backstage
Doctor Who, Bill Hicks, Incredible Hulk comics continuity (sad), the works of Raymond Chandler, set construction (theatre), drinking until I make an ass out of myself.
Classical singing – opera, lieder, etc etc, including years learning how to sound like you might actually speak the language, seeing as you can sing in it quite convincingly; the years and years of honing your artistry for pretty much no fiscal reward and the odd moment of being told you don’t suck too much; the piranha-like nature of competing musicians; and why making music is a sub-intellectual pleasure that is fortunately still free.
oh – and choral and chorus goings-on.
Running University graduations (or: why you should never prematurely console yourself that at least none of the graduands have brought along their pet ferret and demanded they take it on stage with them to get their degree because: “Roger has been a greater support to me than any of you EVER could have been, not that any of you bastards WERE”; which only ultimately leads to the question: just how close WERE you and Roger the Ferret?).
Everything.
As many others, I hesitate to use the word “expert”, but…
US Navy
Submarines
Photography
BDSM “lifestyle”
Hmm… I know me a little something of English Literature, and Contemporary and 20th Century Literary Theory.
I also know a lot about the life and times of Wentworth Miller, star of Fox’s Prison Break and extremely handsome man.
The second one is more important.
VoodooBen Says:
April 10th, 2008 la 6:52 pm
Comics history in general, and Marvel Comics continuity in the more specific, X-Men continuity in the super specific.
I am a huge nerd.
…Ben? Fancy meeting you here.
All supposedly at an undergraduate level:
Lichenology
Lichen Ecology
Air Quality Monitoring with Lichen
Parasitology
Ecological Parasitology
Environmental Monitoring With Parasites
Environmental Science
The Work of Buckminster Fuller
Other areas of lesser knowledge include:
Philosophy of Science
The Work of Michel Serre
PS, I wish that was the real John Hodgeman
Nothing, really. I’ve always been one of those people who knows something about everything, but everything about nothing. ‘Feng Shui’, I suppose, since I did write or co-write four books for the game line, but beyond that, I’m really just the guy who can give you a layman’s understanding of whatever you’re interested in.
Which isn’t a bad thing to be. 🙂
60’s and 70’s science fiction, TCP/IP, 3rd Ed. D&D (3.5 = phayl!), West Wing, and the Ultimate Marvel continuity.
you think that post is really from John Hodgman?
“Expert”? Well, I can answer questions about:
Judaism (texts, philosophy, practice, different streams – again, “expert” wouldn’t be the word I’d use, but anyway)
Bus lines in Jerusalem
Hebrew (amateur translator)
Israel’s immigration process (notice a pattern here?)
Jewish anti-Zionism across the religious-political spectrum (wrote a paper on it in 12th grade)
Those are the things I’d probably know most about out of the people commenting here. But I also love Simpsons trivia and other stuff.
Since I’ve been around the internet long enough to know that most people who claim expertise don’t actually have at, a lot of these responses are actually kind of depressing.
Then again, maybe I’m just a hopeless cynic.
No, do not think that was the real John Hodgeman. I would just get a little bit of glee out of know that we read the same blogs because I think he’s an interesting person.
Medieval wine making techniques
I totally think that was John Hodgman.
I can make overcooked spaghetti, and put my foot in my mouth.
White Wolf’s Old World of Darkness, and fancy coffee drinks.
This is a long effing post. I assume you’re just going to use “Find in this page,” so I’ll toss in the things of which I have a solid grasp.
Latin, Logic (not just the usage, but the terminology and history, etc.), The Question, DC Comics in general, ancient history (in general, from the Fertile Crescent to Rome, though check back in a year or so for Eastern history), anarchism (both the kind on the streets and armchair anarchism), Christian history, Christian theology, Islamic theology, neo-paganism, atheism (once again, terminology and history), magic both with and without the k, modern poetry, H.P. Lovecraft, Alan Moore, Henry Rollins, ska music, punk rock music, Archie Comics, the Mario Bros. universe pre-64, Virgil’s Aeneid, African mythology, vampires (both the folklore and the modern subculture of people who actually claim to be), MST3k, fine cheeses, gin, Nabokov.
“Well, I was going to say a ducky and a horsey, but I changed my mine.”
“MIND”, damnit!
All that effort trying to be clever…
Peeling out SIDEWAYS. Yep, it takes practice. Also Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.
The Legion of Super-Heroes (not that you’d need my expertise on that), The Eagles (the rock group), Bruce Springsteen, and the manned space program (in particular, the space shuttle and astronaut training).
Yes, I’m late to this thread.
Warhammer :3