Epic Nerdiness

Want to know how much of a nerd I am?

Well.

You know how you can assign names to digital devices?

Mine follow an Odyssey theme.

Isn’t that neat?

I was inspired to share this because I’m teaching The Odyssey for about the fourteen millionth time this year, and reading through it yet again.

My laptop is named Telemachus, after the son of Odysseus. His name means “distant struggle.”

My backup drive, which tends to stay at home, keeping things secure, is named Penelope.

The mouse — although it doesn’t necessarily get an assigned name the same way the computer devices do — is Athena. She points the way, of course.

Noise-cancelling headphones? The Sirens.

My standing desk (where I am often trapped) is Calypso. (It probably should be Ogygia, the name of the island itself where Odysseus was kept for 7 years, but I like the sound of Calypso more.)

The printer is Hermes — the messenger of Olympus.

The document shredder is Scylla. (Yeah, I actually wrote it on there.)

My external displays are a departure from Homer and a nod to Tolkien: They are named Palantir 1 and 2.

Okay I’ll stop now.

Anyone else name your inanimate objects?