Nerd Culture pt.1

my initial idea, if i ever went with a for-real-general-audience blog would be one about nerd culture. (jarret's idea for a collablog, by the way, is awesome... you may just see it pop up eventually, in some form...)

"Nerd" used to be a really negative term. it meant uncool, socially awkward, and bookish.
but now nerdy (or maybe more appropriately, "geeky"... yes, there's a difference) is in many ways, cool.
-the "bookish" poindexter connotations are still around, but are less relevant.
-we're only "socially awkward" in certain social circles. now that we have our own social circles (and our own expansive sub-culture), hey, we're normal as hell.

and in terms of cool? well... nowadays mainstreamers are, how you say, "jockin' our shit."

here is my working definition of the modern nerd:
One who indulges in certain facets of pop-culture deemed taboo by outdated traditional definitions of "coolness" and "maturity."

nowadays, graphic novels, comic book movies, video games, sci-fi, manga, anime... ALL of it is blowing up. and here's the geeks saying "nyah nyah, we were here first."

i realize how much i can talk about this. there's different kinds of nerd, and different degrees, different texts... which is why i tacked on that "pt. 1" to the title of this entry.

stay tuned.