Wake Up, Geek Culture

Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die
In the beginning of the article, Oswalt defines "nerd, geek, and otaku" as the word used to describe himself and his friends while they were growing up in the 80's. They were the kids who liked comics, sci-fi, Dungeons and Dragons, and Stephen King novels.  Later in the article, however, Oswalt asserts that today, every person is an "otaku" in their own way, whether they follow Lost or any other "popular" show or activity.  The point of this essay is to explain the thought that all things that are now popular were once part of "geek culture"; therefore, geek culture is the basis for all pop culture. Throughout the article, Oswalt points out the hypocritical nature of people in that they are so influenced by what is "popular" that they don't realize they are immersing themselves in the things that were once "nerdy."  Also, Oswalt speaks as though he is offended that people are now interested in things that were once nerdy.  Through this statement, he transitions into the idea that people have a shallow obsession with various movies, TV shows, books, etc. and do not appreciate them to the extent that he and his friends did.  At the end of the article, Oswalt insists that we have to stop making everything popular so there is a basis to actually call something popular in the first place.  In order to reinstate pop culture, people have to stop making a big deal about everything through Facebook, VH1, and MTV.
I think Oswalt's point is a very valid one, because so many people today claim to be passionate about something, and yet, that "passion" eventually falls from their life and is no longer appreciated.  I also agree with his assertion that everything that is now popular was once looked down upon as being nerdy, mainly because he gives so many great examples to back it up.  According to Oswalt, geekiness has become normal, because so many people follow various shows, writers, and comic books religiously, and they don't even think of themselves as being nerdy because everyone has their own little niche now, and "nerds" are no longer singled out for having their own niches.

Supermarket Pastoral
Supermarket pastoral is the "literary form" adopted by large produce companies to describe organic food products.  Supermarket pastoral includes the stories printed on organic products that allow the consumer to envision the lives of the animals  that contributed to the products they are buying.  Pollan is talking about Supermarket Pastoral to convey the idea that the main reason people buy "organic" food products is because of the story printed on the package, not because the product is superior to other "normal" products.  These stories are effective because they essentially work off people's emotions and/or political views.  For example, many people like the idea of buying meat that came from a cow that was range-fed and was kept very comfortable throughout its life, instead of a cow that was not free range.  The sales of organic products, according to Pollan, promotes the industrialized of the organic food business, and does not promote small farms, which are the heart of the organic food production values people "see" through the literary form known as Supermarket Pastoral.  This says that the culture of organic agriculture basically doesn't exist, since the "culture" is based on the stories written on food packages, not the organic agriculture values that originated from small farms.  Therefore, the organic food business is now lead by the industrialized companies and the organic food products are produced on commercial farms instead of small farms, which are really the heart of the organic industry.