Fire By Night by Josh Garrels
People C'mon by Delta Spirit
I am a nerd/geek.
I know. I know. Shocker.
It's not like I hide it.
I wear Doctor Who t-shirts to church, much to the puzzlement of some of my church family.
Iron Giant + Doctor Who = Geekdom Win
I have multiple Pinterest boards devoted to my favorite fandoms, nerdy art, and geek apparel.
I've designed and stitched cross stitch samplers portraying some of my favorite characters.
I usually include at least two movie/tv/book quotes in any real conversation (most of the time people don't get them).
I use Tumblr (the confluence of most things nerdy) on a daily basis.
Ryan Gosling vs. Nathan Fillion? Pssshhhttt, my Captain any and e'ry time.
Ariana Grande vs. Gina Torres? Girl, please. Zoe Washburne FTW.
This is Zoe. We love Zoe.
Heck, even the description of myself on this blog is pretty dang nerdy.
I could go on and on with the proof of my nerdiness, but I'll spare you.
Being a nerd is something I've been my entire life, but it's only within the last three years or so that I've really started living nerd life.
What changed?
Two reasons.
1.There's so much awesome stuff out there to geek out over.
2. I got exhausted.
We nerds try, for the most part, to keep of fangirl/boying at a low simmer.
I try my hardest not to do this in public, but it does slip out at times...
You really have to ask that question?
It's because we feel the need to protect ourselves.
Being a nerd is very slowly becoming more "acceptable" among society (geeky events like the San Diego Comic Con have become huge pop culture touchstones), but it seems to be something that the majority of people still look at it with confusion or even derision.
How many times have we geeks been told "You'll never find that special someone because you're such a huge nerd."?
How many times have we nerds been sneered at because maybe we like putting a Victorian spin on everything (that's called Steampunk, folks), dress a little different, can recite the Periodic Table, maybe wear a little too much black, dye our hair in rainbow shades, or listen to obscure music?
How many times have I seen a kid's face drop because their older sibling or in some awful cases, their parents laugh and call them a nerd because they had to get glasses?
How many times?
Too many.
And frankly, I got frickin' tired of it. Tired of hiding.
"Well, then, why identify as one?" you may ask. "If you're tired of it, don't do it anymore."
Really? REALLY?! Why should I have to hide or stop doing something I love?
What's the difference between someone who cosplays as their favorite Avenger for a convention, and someone who crams a wedge of dairy by-product on their head to watch "The Big Game"?
I don't get how you can sit and watch grown men in super tight, shiny capris (seriously those things are tighter than anything Mr. Darcy ever wore) tackle, pummel,and inflict blunt force trauma on each other, but the thought of opening a book makes you whine and pitch a fit like two year old.
Why is idolizing some athlete who cheats on his wife or a reality tv star (cough, Kardashians, cough, cough) more accepted than fangirling over a couple of gentlemanly Brits who happen to play your favorite detective and super villian respectively?
Tom, you'll always be my first choice...
Why is physical ability valued over mental capacity?
Popularity over kindness and a love for graphic novels?
Look, I get it. We nerds a little bit of a different bunch. We're the outcasts, the "uncool", the "a little" socially awkard, the intorverts, the artists, the present and former speech and band geeks, the goths, the non-jocks, and the smart kids.
But let me tell you a little something about those kind of people, those kind of kids. Something that's very personal to me.
Way back in 1999, I was entering my senior year of high school. It also happened to be my first and only year of public school. Previously, I had attended a tiny (no seriously, there was only 60 kids) K-8th private school through junior high, and then I was home schooled for my freshman - junior years.
As you can imagine, I was petrified.
I was so nervous the first two weeks that there wasn't day I didn't feel like I was going to throw up as I was getting ready for the day.
The only people I knew were my freshman brother, his few friends, a handful of kids from my old school, and a few popular, athletic kids, who happened to go to church with me.
I was scared out of my mind.
I didn't fit in.
I didn't belong...anywhere.
But you know who opened up their circles to me?
(Well, besides my little bother, who acted like a protective older brother to me that whole year. Thanks for watching out for and hanging with your socially awkward sister, bro-ski!)
That's right. It was the band kids, the social misfits, the rave kids, the smart kids...the nerds. They made me feel a little less alone, and a little more accepted.
They helped me survive that year.
They accepted me when no one else would.
And those popular kids I had known for years at church? Well, they barely said 10 words to me all school year.
I'll let you take from that what you will.
It's because of those kids when someone call me a geek or a geek, I take it as a compliment, and sincerely thank them.
It's because of those kids that whenever someone sheepishly says to me, "I'm such a huge nerd!", I reply enthusiastically "ME TOO!!"
And you know what? 9 3/4's of the time, their face lights up, they get a glimpse of my TARDIS earrings and Serenity emblazed t-shirt, and cry out "Carry on, my wayward son! Nine, Ten, or Eleven??"
It's because of those kids, I'm proud to call myself a nerd.
And it's because of those kids that 12 years after graduating, I finally stepped out of the shadows, and into the light of geekdom.
How are we so different from the sports maniacs, the weekend athletes, the hunters (no, not Sam and Dean Winchester. Sorry, Supenatural mention.) and outdoors-y people?
We're not.
We're all passionate about something. Which is good! Life would be so boring if we were all the same.
And maybe one day soon, we'll see a Trekkie mountain biking club.
A football player with a Tardis emblazoned on his helmet.
A model walking the runway with a Marauder's Map festooned ball gown.
A Browncoat hiker (Oh, wait! That's me! Go progress!)
Thanks for always being there for me, my nerds. Always stay your Sherlocked, fantastic, pie obsessed, bow ties are cool, wand waving, anime drawing, up all night to get Loki, Buffy loving, Impala driving, Middle Earth dwelling selves.
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