i might be a nerd, but i don't think so

I know I've called myself a nerd before, but at the same time I'm not really sure if I am really am a nerd.  For one thing my wife is was to hot.  Which might not be a true test to see if you're a nerd or not, but I believe it is one thing that might make me less nerdy than other people.  I've never really had any nerd friends either, all my friends have been normal with a punk here and there.  Plus I try not to fly my nerd flag in "real life."  That means I don't go around telling people I read comics and make comics.  I don't jump into conversations about Star Wars and Star Trek with people, even people I know.  It's been this way for a long time.  Since high school really.  I got rid of my Magic the Gathering Cards in Jr. High.  Then my junior year I transformed my look to a 90's punk rocker.  I shed as much nerdiness as I could.  Sure I read comics here and there, but  I didn't associate with people that did that kind of thing.

Fast-forward to 2013, everywhere on the internet people are claiming to be nerds.  They're throwing on glasses and seeing superhero movies.  They scream that they are nerds because they've seen all the "comic" movies, which I doubt, because that means seeing all these little film too.  Yet, I still feel like being a nerd is a bad thing.  Sure I can tell you almost complete history of most of Marvel Comics characters.  I watch reruns of Babylon 5, Star Trekn (all series), Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica.  I play with Lego bricks.  I even draw my own webcomics, but don't call me a nerd.  Most people I met don't know about any of those things.  I try to tell people about them, but no one has ever been interested in my hobbies.  I always keep them quite and try to blend in with other people at work.  My shyness makes that hard too.  Still even though I feel like maybe nerd culture is accepted on the internet, no one in the real world has heard.

So what do you guys think?  Am I nerd?  Should I be proud and fly the nerd flag even if it makes me an outcast?  Plus what should my nerd flag look like?  And what do you think a nerd is?  Allison and I don't totally agree on what a nerd is.  Allison thinks she's a nerd and I don't think she is.  Once again, she's just to hot to be a nerd in my mind.

Now here's the song from Adam Warrock that made me think about all these deep nerdy thoughts.

 

twenty-five facts

I know this is a little old and I posted it on facebook last year, but i thought it was good, so it's coming here to blogger now. I also haven't updated since i originally made it, so if it seems out dated it is. - michael

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I was born in Iowa, but I tell everyone I’m from Indiana; but no one remembers Indiana anyway.

2. I deeply love comic books, I spend more money on comics than any person should.

3. I love to draw. I draw mostly comics about my life, but I have dreams of drawing bigger and better comics someday.

4. I love watch good TV commercials, not lame ones like local car commercials, but good ones. They just make me feel happy. I really like the ones with a storyline that goes through looks on commercials, like the country crook hands commercials. They started single and ended up married with a kid. Great stuff.

5. I really like meeting new people, but I hate talking to new people. I always want to meet new people, but I never know what to say. Plus I don’t feel like I can be myself around new people for a while.

6. I hate being alone, but I don’t like groups of people. I always want to be hanging out with people when I’m alone, but then when I am all I can think about is all the cool stuff I could do at home by myself.

7. I like nerdcore hip-hop, I even have tried making a few of my own nerdcore tracks.

8. I hate making phone calls. It has something to do with my anxiety.

9. I love text messages. They are so cold and impersonal, yet they can say so much.

10. I don’t believe in having a favorite anything. I change so much so quickly that I can’t say one thing is my favorite forever. It just depends on the mood I’m in at the time. I enjoy to many things to have a favorite anything.

11. For the last year my favorite color has been green. I literally just bought like seven green shirt since I really embraced this color. Before that my favorite color was blue for a really long time.

12. My top movies would be (in no certain order): 1. Stranger Than Fiction 2. High Fidelity 3. Shawn of the Dead 4. Hot Fuzz 5. First Sunday (wow I didn’t even see that coming) 6. Lock Stock and Smoking Barrel 7. Star Trek: First Contact 8. Hot Rod 9. Forgetting Sarah Marshall 10. Empire Records

13. I say, “That’s what she said” way too much.

14. I love mcdonalds double cheeseburgers, but starting to enjoy the mcdouble a little more. It only has one slice of cheese instead of two.

15. I’ve worked at Arby’s, McDonald’s, Burger King. And Chicago Connection. Way to many different fast food places.

16. I graduated with a graphic design degree when I was 19 and worked as a graphic designer at OfficeMax (the copy center) and Health Care Excel. For a couple of years.

17. I like making short movies. I just made a stop-motion movie that was awesome.

18. I like action figures. I have a large collection back at my parent’s house. I’m trying to not buy so many here in Idaho.

19. I have five sisters and one brother. They’re the best.

20. When I was young, I never wanted to be anything but a father. When I say young I’m talking my teens. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life other than someday be a father.

21. I really like punk music. I’m not talking about emo punk that they have now. I’m talking about rancid, boucing souls, mxpx, nofx, and blink 182.

22. If I had to give a favorite song, it would be Surf Wax America by Weezer. Since I start listening to music when I was in my teens, I’ve loved that song. It’s the one song that always makes me happy. I don’t l know why either.

23. I don’t care about sports at all, never have.

24. I’m named after this random person is Manhattan, KS that was friends with my parents. His name was Michael Bradshaw. I always tell people I was named after Michael Jackson though. Then I tell them my parents want to mess me up, which is a total lie, unless you learn my middle name.

25. My middle name is Merriam.

i heart nerds

I am a nerd. I have no problems with the fact that I love comic books and know more about science fiction movies than football. I have always been a nerd and always will be. My nerdiness helped me land the hottest girl I’ve known. Yet my nerdiness comes from an odd source. I believe it comes from my love of nerds candy. I’ve been eating those sweet candies since I lived in Iowa. That would be my entire candy eating life. Over this beautiful Halloween season my wife and I bought candy to give out the tricker treaters. In the end no children ended up at our place (just like I wished). So now we have a ton of beautiful candy to eat. Could life get any better? One of the candies I picked to eat was nerds. I love those little candies. This got me thinking about why do I love nerds candy? It goes back to living in Cedar Rapids, when my father was the Parks Director for the city. I remember going to different sites as a kid with him. This was when I was quite young so I’m not sure what kind of buildings they were, but they had candy. That was the best thing about going out with my Dad on his calls. You would get candy at the different offices. One of the main candies they all seemed to have was nerds. They came in the small box with just one flavor, but it seemed like a ton of candy. All these delicious candies in a perfect sized box for a kid. I loved those candies, I still love those candies. It was a little frightening going to some of those building with my Dad, but the nerds made it worth it. I’m sure some of the buildings were maintenance buildings which have scary machines in them. In the long end of the story, my father is the reason I’m a nerd. He feed me so many of those nerds candies that I had no chance of being anything else. Good thing my wife loves my nerdiness or else I would have to do something about it.