  
Laurie Anderson George Antheil Nicholson Baker J.G. Ballard Bjork Mel Blanc Albert Brooks James Burke Nancy Burson David Byrne Ada Byron John Cage Lewis Carroll Wendy Carlos George Washington Carver Roz Chast Arthur C. Clarke Joel Coen Ethan Coen Quentin Crisp R. Crumb Charles Darwin Roald Dahl Walt Disney Albert Einstein M.C. Escher Richard Feynman John Flansburgh Max Fleischer Ben Franklin William M. Gaines Theodore Geisel Terry Gilliam Rube Goldberg Jane Goodall Karen Elizabeth Gordon David Greenburger Matt Groening Larry Harvey Danny Hillis Alfred Hitchcock Douglas Hofstadter Jenny Holzer Mark Hossler Penn Jillette Chuck Jones Spike Jones Franz Kafka Frieda Kahlo Ernie Kovacs John Kricfalusi Stanley Kubrick Ursula K. LeGuin John Lennon John Linnel The Brothers Quay Eleanor Roosevelt Raymond Scott Harry Shearer David Siegel Carl Stalling Steve Speer Jonathan Swift Nikola Tesla George Tooker Alan Turing M. W. Turner Mark Twain Brenda Ueland Tom Waits Chris Ware Andy Warhol Orson Welles Ed Wood Jim Woodring Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Zappa |
   to me, "weirdo" has never been an insult. Okay, maybe in junior high. But since then I've learned to think of it as a term of respect. Imagine that first amphibian, the one who made those first slippery steps onto dry land. When she at last returned to her watery home, don't you think her friends must have said, "Jeez, what a weirdo!" But look what happened: walking around on the beach caught on in a big way, and now we have life forms paid millions to play volleyball there.The point is, weirdos are mavericks, rebels; they don't live by the rules of society. What's more, they get noticed. For better or worse, they make us ask the big questions. They jostle us a bit, out of our comfortable ruts, out of our easy answers. And when they're done, we may go back into our former lives, but we do so with the knowledge that the world around us is just a little bigger, a little deeper than we had imagined.The Weirdo Pages are my own humble tribute to those who have expanded my mind, made my life richer, and inspired me to go a little nuts in my own special way. When this project is complete, each and every Weirdo on the list will have a link to their very own page, which will contain a short biography, pictures and links to more information.Very few of these Weirdos have I discovered on my own. I am fortunate enough to have good friends, books and magazines, and the beloved 'net exposing me to Weirdos regularly. Whenever I get depressed by the Nielsen ratings, the front page newspaper headlines, the dreck coming out of Hollywood, etc., I take comfort in the fact that new Weirdos are being born every day. And the old Weirdos are just as inspiring as ever. As you peruse the list at left, you'll quickly notice there are plenty of Weirdos left out. There are those individuals who are definitely weird, but not in any way that deserves promotion, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Adolph Hitler, or Martha Stewart. And there are others who I think of as Outrageous rather than truly Weird. Dennis Rodman and Madonna would fall into this category. As I see it, these people try too hard. Then there are those with serious mental problems, who are seemingly weird through no fault of their own, such as Vincent VanGogh or Michael Jackson. Their stories are tragic and not an inspiration to me, though their works may (or may not) be. And lastly, there are grade-A Weirdos I left out because either I forgot about them when I was compiling the list or I've never heard about them. That's where you come in.
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