Nerd appreciation thread!

[eyesroll]

"The Nerd" was my elementary-school nickname, since I always sounded like an academic. I had a big vocabulary and wasn't afraid to use it.Of course, I was a clod at sports -- first to be picked for a group project, last to be picked for kickball. I preferred books to people, and later online conversation to real-life interaction (still true today). I've never dated anyone who didn't wear glasses -- not even contacts, but glasses.

My first nerd "boyfriend" (in that we didn't really date and didn't do much other than a brief kiss goodnight but we probably would have, had he lived closer) was at the end of my freshman year in high school. He was a friend of a friend, and he bowled (and was good!) and programmed computers. He showed me how ASCII art could be animated. We saw "Total Recall," and talked about lucid dreaming.

Now? I'm thinking of using "LiberalNerd" in my new URL, when I have to change blog hosts. I refuse to get contacts. I show off my laptop (it's the first thing I'd remove from my house in a fire, after knowing all people and pets are safe). I have a giant crush on Alton Brown -- a nerd and a foodie!

So, I am a nerd (with a hint of geek and dork, too), and I love nerds.

Anyone else have nerdish tendencies, or like those who do? Speak up!

[GOPisEvil]

1. Me, me!!

Although, I did make the move to contacts, I still wear my glasses 1/4 of the time. The move to contacts was mostly due to the high heat down here. It sucks having your glasses fog up when going into and out of air conditioned buildings in the summer.

I was in the first classes at my high school to focus on computers and programming. I did the RPGs through college.

These days I'm more of a history, politics and trivia geek, but I've come to embrace it.

P.S. - I love Alton Brown, too! He's on tonight! :bounce:

[eyesroll]

3. Politics geeks rule!

(Of course, I wouldn't be here if they didn't.)

Trivia's fun, too -- Vince and I can play a game of Trivial Pursuit in minutes, depending on our moods and which editition we're playing. Did I mention we have 6? Genus I, IV, V, VI; 20th Anniversary, and the 1980s.

[GOPisEvil]

4. I once entered a TP tournament.

It was celebrating the release of the TV edition. (Which is surprisingly difficult.) I won my first round match and got a free copy of the TV edition.

[flamingyouth]

34. You get the opposite glasses problem here

Coming in out of the cool rain into a warm building, your glasses will steam up. And it's kind of a pain in the ass wearing glasses in the rain. But I can't wear contacts, so such is my lot in life.

[GOPisEvil]

58. You have Neko Case in your sig line!

I (HEART) Neko! The New Pornographers are great, too!

[pmbryant]

2. My partner likes 'em.

Or so she claims. :-)

Peter

[eyesroll]

6. Get down with your nerd self, Peter!

:wedon'thaveanerdsmiley:

[pmbryant]

24. LOL. Always preferred the word geek, for some reason

:shrug:

:wedon'thaveageeksmileyeither:

Peter

[Lavender Brown]

5. Oh yeah

I had it all: glasses, frizzy hair, clumsy in gym, nose in a book. Most of my high school yearbook pictures look something like this:


At least I never had braces. And I wear contacts now.

[eyesroll]

8. I had the braces...

(and I had mall hair for half of high school, but anyway)

My hair is always frizzy (gallery pic represents lots of hair product and photoshop). I once was told I looked like Gilda Radner -- quite a complement, but I don't see it...

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. I wear glasses most of the time.

Not sure if I qualify as a nerd, though.

[eyesroll]

9. Dunno...

Do you like virtual people better than real people?
Do you read a lot?
Do you know more about something (cars, baseball, cleaning, whatever) than anyone else you know?
When you hear someone say, "pie," do you think of the number or the dessert?

You could be something closer to a geek or a dork, which I think fits nicely in the nerd family.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

11. Geek, definitely. I read a lot and know historical and cultural stuff

I'm a culture geek.

[eyesroll]

23. Someday, we need to figure out how to do a big DU

Trivial Pursuit contest (without the severe pain-in-the-assness of trying to actually do it in a thread).

[arwalden]

10. Here's To Nerds Everywhere!! -- To All Of Us Who Wore Glasses...

and whose ears were too big for our head. To those of us who felt awkward in our spindly bodies that were growing faster than our moms could let out the hem in our pants. To the nerds who were bigger than most and who had to endure wearing jeans with a sewn-in label that said "HUSKY". For everyone whose hair stuck up in the back and who wore braces and who carried around too many books. In honor of the folks who joined the chess club, Key club, FFA, 4-H, and the math and latin clubs... HERE'S To US!

Cheers :toast:

[eyesroll]

13. Cheers, Allen!

Former Mathlete here!

[terrya]

25. Nice post, as usual, Allen.

I was one of those who "didn't fit in" with any of the high school cliques. I loved to read and wasn't athletic. Very much a nerd.

:toast:

[eyesroll]

30. Nerds vs. Athletes -- who wins?

"Is it better to be a jock or a nerd?"
$ Michael Jordan having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, he makes $178,100 a day, working or not.

$ If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.

$ If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there.

$ If he decides to have a 5 minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.

$ He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage.

$ He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends.

$ If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours.

$ If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second.

$ He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.

$ Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), his contributions will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st.

$ If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you 'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year.

$ He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.

$ While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600.

$ This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined.

Amazing isn't it? However...

$ If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 450 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.

$$$ Game over. Nerd wins.

http://www.amazinghumor.com/jokes/sportsjokes/jockvsnerd.shtml

[flamingyouth]

35. "Who carried around too many books"

Indeed! Most excellent post, Allen! :toast:

[dolo amber]

12. I'm definitely in that category

although I think I may fall a bit more to the 'geek' side than the 'nerd' side...I was totally enamoured of the AV geeks in high school, the math nerds, the guys who were into building electronic monstrosities ...BUT, by the same token, they weren't so much the D&D/pocket protector/taped glasses nerdy guys. In fact, several of them were quite hot. ;):D

Maybe it was just an anomaly in my school...:shrug:

[eyesroll]

16. D&D was something I never got into, vicariously or directly...

...and to me, pocket protector/taped glasses and hot aren't mutually exclusive. (I'm weird, but you all probably knew that.)

I was very much enamoured (great word, BTW) by my nerd "boyfriend." He was in the A/V club. He had a black 1979 Monte Carlo with a green interior. It was in his basement that I saw my very first...computer porn (again with the ASCII art). He blew stuff up with homemade explosives...he gave me a copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook, downloaded off a BBS via the 300-baud modem that you put your phone on...

[midnight armadillo]

14. Do I count?

Glasses. PhD in physics. Bachelor's in philosophy. Occasionally referred to as a walking encyclopedia (yes, I read it for fun as a child) or alternatively as a garbage pit of unrelated facts. Recently surpised an interviewer by being able to describe in detail both the radon transform and the operation of a scramjet. etc. etc. etc.

I think I was saved from total nerd-dom by playing bass in rock bands for a few years, along with having some athletic ability and never growing my hair long. Some of my best friends over the years have included some extremely non-nerd social extroverts who kept me from being a wallflower. :)

[eyesroll]

17. OOh...a garbage pit of unrelated facts...

I'm the resident fact-checker here at work.

You most certainly count!

:thumbsup:

[redqueen]

15. Nerds rock. :-)

Yes, I was nerdy in HS - my dad believed in learning and not sports or entertainment, so I coulndn't play any sport at all. I made straight A's though. Oh, and I have always been attracted to intelligence, so I've had my share of crushes on nerds.

[eyesroll]

19. Oh, absolutely...

Intelligence is key. Dumb can be good eye candy (if you're into that), but beyond that...

[DS1]

18. It's a fucking Genesis concert in my room today

One main computer w/wireless keyboard, and a laptop on both sides, and yes I need all three to get done what needs to get done.

*sigh*

[eyesroll]

20. There are five computers in my house right now...

...six if you include the laptop from my husband's employer...

Two of them don't even work. But I don't want to get rid of them...

[DS1]

21. yeah, but how many are actually on?

:7

[eyesroll]

22. Well, right now, between zero and two,

depending on who left theirs on...

But you win. :7

[Culture Mind]

26. I was never an actual nerd

but i have always had nerdly tendencies (computers, sci-fi, anime, space, video games). My SO calls me a "nerd whisperer" because while not a nerd, I can pass myself off as one in a pinch.

Disclaimer: I may actually be a nerd.

[eyesroll]

27. Welcome to DU, Culture Mind!

:toast:

I think you'll fit in nicely with this thread...

I can't believe I didn't mention scifi...I have a huge scifi collection -- one bookcase of hardcover, one enormous bookcase of paperback.

[flamingyouth]

28. I've worn glasses since age 9

And I spent much of my childhood reading, and still leave the house with no less than two books - just in case I have a spare minute or two and can fit in some reading time.

Plus, well, if you ever had a conversation with me, you'd pick up my nerdiness right off the bat. :hi:

[eyesroll]

31. I do the same thing!

I have a purse that unzips at the bottom. Theoretically, you're supposed to put cosmetics in there -- it came with a bag and everything.

When I travel, I keep a paperback in there -- usually one of my old scifi ones, that I bought for 13 cents apiece at the used bookstore, but haven't read yet.

My glasses came part-time at age 13, full-time at age 20 or so. Just last week, I was deemed too blind to drive without them (which is more a commentary on the lax standards at the WI DMV than on my eyesight for the last eight years).

I suspect we'd get along famously. :hi:

[flamingyouth]

33. Oh indeed

I just read your jokes in MuseRider's thread - I know we would! :hi:

[HughBeaumont]

29. Nerd women w/ glasses = HOT.

There's an underwriter who's right outside our office space that I have dirty dreams about. Glasses, kind of long, black slightly messy hair, looks like a librarian with something dark to hide.

Back to married reality though . . . oh wait, I'm married to a nerdy girl who's kinky. :evilgrin:

[eyesroll]

32. Lucky you!

and welcome to DU! :toast:

[GOPisEvil]

36. See? It's not just me!

The sexy librarian look is where it's at! :9

[eyesroll]

39. It's a look I unfortunately can't pull off...

The closest I get is ball-breaker yuppie chick (so I've been told) or frazzled teacher (my former life).

Oh well...so close...yet so far...

[NewJeffCT]

37. agreed

My wife wears contacts and I love it the rare times she wears glasses - part of the reason I'm trying to convince her to get that Lasik surgery is because she'd have to wear glasses for a solid month before the surgery (before you criticize me, she was told by a very reputable eye doctor that she was a perfect candidate for it...)

[HughBeaumont]

42. When the wife wears glasses . .

and nothing else . . . damn. It's like heaven. HEAVEN I tell you.

[NewJeffCT]

49. OK, I'm a D&D playing geek

I admit it. Well, I hardly play D&D now due to my recent move away from my old gaming group and an 18 month old daughter... but, I'm still a geek at heart.

But, I was able to overcome my geekiness enough to marry two intelligent & hot non-geeky women.

I also used to read comic books & like Star Trek.

[mac56]

52. Great song by Kenny Howes

"I like girls with glasses
I really don't know why
Sometimes 'cause they talk to you
Sometimes 'cause they're shy...

All the girls I ever loved
Had trouble trying to see
I like girls with glasses
Guess there's something wrong with me."

[DU GrovelBot]

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[terrya]

40. This is gratifying...Grovelbot is a nerd!

:-)

[eyesroll]

44. Hi, GrovelBot!

:hi:
You fit right in here!

[Guy Fawkes]

41. It depends on the defenition...

To some people, I'm just a computer/science/politics geek. To others, I am the definitive nerd. I fix computers for fun, I read constantly, I write political articles, I used to do computer securities (web security, encryption, decryption, spyware, etc.). Oh, and I'm a theater geek! All hail Dionysus, Gd of the theater!

[eyesroll]

45. I think you're that (not-too-rare) geek/nerd hybrid

:thumbsup:

[Magrittes Pipe]

43. God. Lookit all these fuckin' dorks.

:P

[eyesroll]

46. Oh, admit it...

Your head says, "gee, what a silly-looking pocket protector," but your heart says, "that would look really good on the floor of my bedroom the next morning..."

[Magrittes Pipe]

47. What? The bloody head of the nerd?

[eyesroll]

48. ...

:scared:

[Razoor]

50. I am also a nerd

I think I fit the nerd type. I like scifi, I got a huge bookshelf full of it. I also like anything related to space exploration.
I used to play D&D. I got all TOS movies on DVD. I am somewhat into computers.

[eyesroll]

51. I think anyone who uses TOS, TNG, etc. in a sentence

without explanation automatically fits.

Welcome aboard!
:toast:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

53. TOS? TNG?

Oh god, it's Star Trek, isn't it?
(took me a while to work that out)
:scared:

[eyesroll]

55. I once had to sit there and figure out whether someone

was referring to Star Trek or a user agreement.

Either way.

[Magrittes Pipe]

54. Once, I was afraid that I might be a nerd.

But I made my saving throw against my 16 Coolness, so I'm okay.

[eyesroll]

57. Eh. I botched that one.

Ended up watching every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus back-to-back with the dungeon master, while he spoke along with every line. Not pretty.

[Magrittes Pipe]

59. That's because you didn't have a +2 coolness sideways ball cap.

[eyesroll]

60. Ah. But I did have +1 coolness mall hair.

:shrug:

[eyesroll]

56. A kick for the afternoon nerds!

:kick:

[flamingyouth]

61. Who else was last picked for team sports?

And whatever happened to the kids who were always picked first? Because everyone I've ever met since high school was, like me, picked last. :shrug:

Signed,
Last-Picked Lisa