Nerd was once an insult of high disregard. Glasses, braces, expertise in math and science, consumer of all books fantasy and science fiction. That description fitted me perfectly during my youth and while I wasn't always the first to accept it, I have been a part of nerd-dom pretty much since 7th grade.
Role-playing, the text-based collaborative writing as mentioned in a previous blog, was a very nerdy and unpopular hobby of mine. While I didn't dress up as my characters, I did often create pixel drawings of them and created one-shot side stories between them. Whenever I explained it to others, I got the same "Yeah, okay weirdo" look from most people.
Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men (especially the old 90’s cartoon) were just some of my favorite franchises, though two of them leave a lot to be desired today. I'm just not a fan of the new Star Wars or Star Trek. I'll stick with the stuff from my younger years.
I love pens, from the super fancy ones that you only use to sign things all the way down to the regular black ball point. Currently, I've recently discovered Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens, Medium point (0.7mm). The bright colors and smooth writing always puts a smile on my face. (This is not sponsored; I just really like these pens.) I jokingly say that people should just give me gift cards to Office Depot. No but seriously, easiest way to make me happy is to give me a good pen or set of pins.
I get excited when I find a new font from Google Fonts or DaFont. I like making custom notebooks for the large conventions I attend with my spiritual brothers and sisters. I enjoy fiddling with new technologies or packages in my personal coding projects.
There are plenty of times when I am rambling on about some new thing I found and my family would call me a nerd. It used to irritate me, but I’ve learned to accept and embrace it. After all, normalcy is overrated.
