Nerd. Dork. Geek. Dweeb. Funny, I thought they all meant the same thing. However, when I went to thesaurus.com to look up synonyms for 'nerd' (yes, I actually did that), I discovered that apparently they all have different meanings:
Geek: Any smart person with an obsessive interest.
Nerd: The same, but lacks social grace.
Dweeb: Mega-nerd
Dork: Apparently this doesn't mean any kind of smart at all. A dork is apparently a stupid person. Although, Geek is used as a synonym...which is confusing so somewhere in there, the thesaurus.com people are confused.
So after reading these enlightening definitions, I technically fall under the 'geek' label...at least I think I do. I do have some (limited) social graces, although I am known for saying what I think without really thinking about the ramifications, cursing in inopportune settings (like during a wedding when I realized my iPod was still on low volume blasting 'I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys right before the bride was supposed to walk down the aisle), and having the uncanny knack to ask about someone's boyfriend that had broken up with them two days previous. Oops.
But, I like the word 'nerd' better so that's what I'm going with. Substitute the definition of 'geek' for 'nerd' and now we shall carry on...
I have always been a nerd, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I became proud of it. When I was younger I would watch Sailor Moon and X-Men and wish I had special powers too. Every year when it was my birthday and it came time to blow out the candles, I would wish for special powers. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th and my parents gave me a necklace with a moon charm. I thought I had hit the jackpot. FINALLY I would become special. I waited around all day, wondering when I would feel different, and...yeah, that never happened.
Around that time I transitioned from super hero worship, to my forever-obsession, Harry Potter. If you ask me the name of a character, I can 99% of the time tell you who they are. I immersed myself in the world of Hogwarts, hoping my owl had just gotten lost and would eventually deliver my letter from Hogwarts, where the sorting hat would place me into Ravenclaw and become Head Girl my 7th year and develop a love for pumpkin juice and eventually firewhiskey. Um, yeah...Hopkinsville Middle School and Christian County High School were nothing like Hogwarts. The only group I got sorted into was the 'nerd' category, because I didn't go to parties (re: I wasn't cool enough to be invited) and because I got really good grades.
College was when I finally started to come out of my shell and be okay with sharing that I spent a lot of my time writing short stories about teenage girls with super powers. I was in a sorority (which I became President of, oddly enough), had a ton of friends, and was very social. However, I still kept my nerdiness intact. Time off from class was usually spent at the bookstore looking for new worlds to immerse myself into. I went to every superhero movie that came out (although I was never much of a fan of Spiderman...Tobey McGuire didn't do it for me) and continued my love of Harry Potter. I remember skipping class and staying up all night the day the 7th book came out my senior year. I holed up in my bedroom and barely left to eat.
Nowadays my friends fully embrace and accept the fact that I get very wide-eyed and excited when I talk about Harry Potter, or my rediscovered obsession, Game of Thrones. I remember reading the first couple of books of that series when I was probably too little to be reading them. However, I only read the chapters narrated by the characters I liked, so I really only followed the story of Arya and Dany. I had no idea I was missing out on one of the greatest characters to ever be written, Tyrion Lannister. I also totally missed the fact that the Queen and her brother were in love and produced three children together. Boy, was that a shocker when I watched the first episode of the show! Way to miss a major plot point, Anna Charles.
Sometimes my friends will ask me about things in Harry Potter, just because I know what they are and they think my descriptions are funny. On the way back from a road trip, I was asked to describe what a Patronus was. So, I proceeded to explain that a Patronus took the form of an animal and only appeared when you were thinking happy thoughts. It could protect you from evil, such as Dementors. K thought this was especially amusing...and I must admit, to a non-fan it sounds ridiculous. However, for those of us who know what a Patronus is, we fully appreciate them and I really wish I could use one when a certain supervisor on the 7th floor is looking for me...I'm pretty sure it would chase him away, just like it did the evil Dementors.
So yes...I'm 27 and I still like reading books about magic, heroes and mythical creatures. I mean, with all of the bad stuff in this world, can you blame me for wanting to escape once in a while? But don't tell me if you do blame me and think I'm silly. Because one day, if I do ever get superpowers/magic, you're the first one I'm going to use as my guinea pig. : )
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