{"id":196,"date":"2010-12-04T22:50:30","date_gmt":"2010-12-05T04:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2010-12-06T19:42:07","modified_gmt":"2010-12-07T01:42:07","slug":"everyones-a-nerd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"EVERYONE&#8217;S A NERD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I am a nerd. A geek. A fanboy. I know where to get a lightsaber. I\u2019ve watched all four versions of \u201cThe Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy.\u201d My desk has a Jawa on it.\u00a0But I\u2019m not ashamed any more, because this is the Golden Age of the Nerd. Because of mainstream brands like \u201cHarry Potter,\u201d \u201cAvatar\u201d and the upcoming &#8220;Tron: Legacy,&#8221; the nerds are inheriting the earth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span class=\"frame-outer  size-medium wp-image-198 aligncenter\"><span><span><span><span><a href=\"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/TronCory1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-198 aligncenter\" title=\"CoryTron\" src=\"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/TronCory1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/TronCory1-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/TronCory1.jpg 604w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px;\">The terms NERD and GEEK are actually cool now. GEEK culture has become POP culture. To be a GEEK is a status symbol now &#8212; a stylish archetype that the super-hip put on like a pair of horn-rimmed glasses or vintage high tops. Even hot actresses like to hang out at Comic Con and brag about how \u201cnerdy\u201d they are. Yeah, Jessica Alba. You\u2019re a total nerd. I think in high school, you and I would have been friends. Oh wait, did I say high school? I meant \u201cin my teenage dream world.\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>When I was younger, the word NERD really meant something. Something horrible.<\/p>\n<p>See, the REAL nerds can still remember the sting of laughter behind their backs. The smirks on the faces. The moment that one of your buddies discovers your \u201cGreatest American Hero\u201d Trapper Keeper notebook or your \u201cLabyrinth\u201d soundtrack cassette.<\/p>\n<p>But for some reason, I wouldn\u2019t give up the Nerd Life. At the risk of being a social outcast, I continued to stock up on action figures \u2013 which are NOT DOLLS, ladies, no matter what argument you use! I still wore my Star Wars T-shirts, the kind with the rubber transfer that makes your chest all sweaty. Because that stuff is my escape pod. It\u2019s the candy-coated shell that makes all of the dull stuff bearable. Especially in high school.<\/p>\n<p>Sci-Fi nerds are so strong, we\u2019ve got our own channel. Although I think the SYFY Channel doesn\u2019t really cater to the upper-crust of the fan base. Aside from \u201cBattlestar Galactica,\u201d most of the original programming on SYFY is geared toward the dumbest of basement-dwellers. Have you seen the SYFY ORIGINAL MOVIES? Man, that is some B-Movie monster poop. Most of them are great examples of how to make a movie with the least possible effort.<\/p>\n<p>SYFY movies always have a one-word title: MINOTAUR. CYCLOPS. YETI. INFESTATION. SUPERGATOR! Oh yeah. \u201cSupergator.\u201d See, if a title isn\u2019t SCIENCE FICTIONY enough, you can always take TWO words and jam them together to make one crazy NEW word. That creates great titles like EARTHSTORM. ICE-SPIDERS. MEGASNAKE. MAN-SQUITO! I\u2019m telling you people, these are REAL titles. You can look them up! There is a movie on there called MEGAFAULT! You know who\u2019s \u201cmegafault\u201d that is, Syfy? Yours.<\/p>\n<p>Go ahead and laugh. Laugh at the nerds. But chances are, you\u2019re a super nerd yourself. Just about something else.<\/p>\n<p>I like to say that EVERYONE is a nerd. It just depends on WHAT your poison is. Could be sports. Could be Def Leppard. It could be those home shows on HGTV. Doesn\u2019t matter. Once you know you\u2019re a nerd for something, you can embrace your nerdiness. You can find fan clubs, chat rooms, or kindred spirits out there who love the stuff you love.<\/p>\n<p>And why are some obsessions more legitimate than others? Sports fans love to make fun of guys who stand in line for six hours to see \u201cReturn of the Jedi.\u201d But they\u2019ll decorate their cars, wear the foam fingers, paint their bodies, and put aside weeks and weeks of their lives for their favorite team. It\u2019s the SAME THING, guys. Just different uniforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, but the game I\u2019m watching is in REAL LIFE.\u201d Is it? Because the fighting stops when the whistle blows, and the whole thing is brought to you by Doritos.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s okay! Hey, name your firstborn child Payton Manning. Put up a Justin Timberlake poster at work. Start a scrapbooking club. I don\u2019t care. Be the NERD you want to be! Because whatever your THING is, whatever you obsess over, once you feel comfortable waving your freak flag, it allows others to wave their flags too.<\/p>\n<p>So yes, I like to wear goggles for no reason. I own an X-Wing crash helmet. I can tell the difference between a Dalek and a Cyberman. And I\u2019m proud of it! Nerds of the world, put your hands up! Now for pete&#8217;s sake, go outside and get some exercise and sunshine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a nerd. A geek. A fanboy. I know where to get a lightsaber. I\u2019ve watched all four versions of \u201cThe Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy.\u201d My desk has a Jawa on it.\u00a0But I\u2019m not ashamed any more, because this is the Golden Age of the Nerd. Because of mainstream brands like \u201cHarry Potter,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/coryedwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}