Portrait of the Author as a Young Dork
Gizmodo is running a great contest asking for a scanned photo of readers “looking like the biggest dork in the world at age 10-18.”
Yes, I owned a thin tie with piano keys on it. Yes, I had parachute pants. But maybe I’m too close to this to judge.
What do you think? Should I enter? Be honest.

No, really. Be honest.
5 Responses to “Portrait of the Author as a Young Dork”
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
I'm John Tolva, Chief Technology Officer for the City of Chicago.
I make music with Beat Research Chicago.
» But, wait! There's more ...
Marginalia
- Literally Unbelievable
"Stories from The Onion as interpreted by Facebook" - Amtrak gets OK for 110-mph Chicago-Michigan service
Make it happen. - The Death of the Cyberflâneur
"The idea of exploring cyberspace as virgin territory, not yet colonized by governments and corporations, was romantic; that romanticism was even reflected in the names of early browsers (“Internet Explorer,” “Netscape Navigator”)." - Book Art by Brian Dettmer
Like carving soft stone with thousands of shifting layers. So very gorgeous. - Bricks in Space
LEGO experiments on the International Space Station. Yes, please. - Personified Teeth Dental Signs
They really are creepy when you stop to think about it. Creepiest: personified teeth *with* teeth. - Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Visualization, 1969
Very cool, multi-axis visualization of Apollo 11 landing, with audio. - Letters of Note: Dear Son
Wonderful, deeply moving letter from the father of the second American astronaut to circle the planet. - New Release: Orbital: Wonky
April 3 (U.S.)/April 1 (international). - Gmail Snooze
Oh how I wish this were available for non-Apps mail.
Immerito Tweets
- Snow's falling, which means you should get adopting: http://t.co/O90V2f0Y. (Great dev story about this one. Coming soon.) 21 hours ago
- .@gridchicago 'L' is correct use, dates back >120 yrs in Chgo; "el" is generic abbrev. for "elevated," 'L' applies to whole system. #settled 1 day ago
- Lakefront, architecture, making amazing things, @harper. These are Chicago's greatest assets. Most probably not in that order. 2 days ago
- RT @dansinker: Batshit crazy right-wing Midwesterners, ya done good. 3 days ago
- I got the Bieber Cleaver. And I am taking it to my daughter's playlist modifications. 3 days ago
ChicagoCTO Tweets
- Lend a hand, ask for help, loan to neighbors. Adopt-a-Sidewalk, the latest app at chicagoshovels.org, is available: http://t.co/fnsibMCp. 21 hours ago
- Just got real --> @ChicagoCDO: Met with Code for America fellows this afternoon. We are going to keep them very busy :) @codeforamerica 3 days ago
- RT @gregorywass: My 2.6.12 @uicegovernment class will feature @ChicagoCTO John Tolva and @codeforamerica fellows re #open311 & #gov20 . ... 5 days ago
- RT @juggernautco: Intersection: Civic Hackers (@ City Hall) | SessionCast http://t.co/hLGvMudk via @thetechweek 1 week ago
- Video from Chicago Tonight talking city data and civic startups: http://t.co/JWuvuCQj 1 week ago

post away – this is top three material
Hey, I saw that episode of “Friends”!
(do it)
YES. You must enter. This photo is too classically dorky to let fade into oblivion.
John — you are a fool if you don’t enter! btw, what does the t shirt say? And, you would clearly win if you could include a mp3 of some original music by your old garage band…
wow – you haven’t changed a bit
If you don’t enter this, someone will do it for you.