Review of the Nerds

By Jocelyn Geboy in Miscellaneous on Oct 25, 2006 8:51PM

Chicagoist headed out to Guthrie’s last night for the Dating for Nerds event put on by Nerds at Heart. We weren’t really looking for a hook-up; all we heard was “board games,” and we were there. We met up with a fellow Chicagoist and checked out the scene.

We were pleasantly surprised at the nearly even ratio of women to men and the overall diversity of the attendees. Since we have never managed to make it over to Guthrie’s, we were also incredibly impressed with their stock of board games. Not only do they have a wide array of games, but they have duplicates of some of the more popular choices (e.g., Pictionary, Yahtzee, Sorry).

There was some group “nerd trivia” whereby co-host Julia asked questions and the first one to respond got a prize. We won two stellar prizes: a librarian action figure and some marbles. Our amazing accomplishment? Knowing the protagonist of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man* and who won this season of Project Runway.** We like to think we’re well rounded. Our Chicagoist consort was not to be outdone, however, and won a Marie Antoinette action figure as well.

More about the nerdtastic event after the jump ...

There were three “rounds” of playing board games where the various teams (people were sort of randomly sorted into groups via numbers, etc.) would head off, choose a game, and play on. This was okay, but there were times when we would be forced to cut things off in the middle of a game. Being complete nerds, we like to finish a game and declare a winner.

We didn’t find anyone we would have liked to put a smooch on, but had we felt a certain desire, there was the “secret admirer clause,” where an attendee could email the hosts, and their message would be passed on to the other person in question. We thought that was kind of nice. As co-host Bathsheba put it, “Nerds can be kind of shy.”

However, we do have to admit that one of our favorite moments of the night was hearing someone shriek, “That’s a fucking trick question!!!” We like a nerdgrrl who can lay down the f-bomb.

*Stephen Dedalus
** Jeffrey (the one with the neck tattoo)

If you’re interested in attending one of these events, the next event is being held at Guthrie’s Tavern, Tuesday, November 28, at 7 p.m. $15 in advance, $20 at the door. More info: 312-351-3285 or www.nerdsatheart.com.

Image via tschaapveronica