Recently, while surfing around YouTube (a site I find helpful in reaching my maximum procrastination potential), I stumbled across the term “nerdfighters”. Introduced by two nerdy brothers on their video weblog, Brotherhood 2.0, Nerdfighting has swelled into an entire movement, spawning its own legion of self-proclaimed nerdfighters with blogs, activities, and a common cause behind which to rally.
What is nerdfighting, you ask? I’ve read a lot on the subject, and from what I can tell, it’s a call for nerds everywhere to stand up and be counted, to utterly reject the social pressure of conformity, and to embrace their inner (and outer) nerdiness. Nerdfighters (who, by the way, are “made of awesome”) fight against the constant sucking pull of popularity. Nerdfighting is a mandate to love and accept your MMORPG-playing, Battlestar-Galactica-loving, intelligent, bespectacled self for what you are. A nerd.
Talk about inspiring! As soon as I heard about nerdfighters, I felt my inner nerd sighing in soulful recognition.
Of course, I had to share my discovery with Paul, who was entertained, though perhaps not as inspired.
“You know what I’m thinking, right?” I asked.
“You want to be a nerdfighter, don’t you?”
“YES! I really, really do!”
He laughed. “You can’t, you know.”
Indignant, I asked him why not.
“Because you’re not a nerd.”
What??? I was flabbergasted. I am SO a nerd! I have nerd credentials out the wazoo! I started to run down my nerdy attributes for Paul, enumerating them on my fingers as I went, but no matter how many nerd qualifications I listed, he refused to acknowledge my essential nerdiness. Perhaps he didn’t realize just how geeky I was when we married, and now must either live in denial or face the fact that the woman he loves is only one small step away from applying to Star Fleet Academy.
I’ll let you be the judge. Here are the nerdy facts:
*I play World of Warcraft.
*I have written fanfiction.
*I know the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
*I have attended the Rennaissance fair in costume.
*I have an intellectual crush on Joss Whedon.
*My laptop has a name: Penelope (after Penelope Garcia, the hacker/computer whiz on Criminal Minds).
*I know what ragdoll physics are.
*I can explain the entire X-Files story arc in detail.
*I scrapbook.
*I care about punctuation. Deeply.
*If someone invited me to LARP, I totally would.
*I have used internet shorthand in spoken conversation: “brb, honey; I’m grabbing a drink from the fridge.” “You got the raise? Woot!”
*I know the difference between a Trekkie and a Trekker (and which one I am.)
*I use big words. Er…I mean…I employ a substantial and variegated written lexicon.
As I finished presenting the evidence to Paul, he asked, exasperated, “What? Do you want to be a nerd?”
At that moment, I couldn’t think of an answer. Do I? Do I really?
But somewhere in the middle of watching the latest Nerdfighter video (“Please Google, Take me to Mars”), I finally realized the truth, and it is this:
Yes. Yes, I do. I want to be a nerd.
Because from what I can see, nerd is the new cool.
Notes on a Napkin 
Katrina, you are too funny! You silly, silly girl. You crack me up. I say go for it – it’s freeing to be who you really are, no pretense, no facade, no hiding. Enjoy nerd-dom and all it entails, if that is your quest. But I have to agree, if you join the ranks, ‘nerd’ must be synonymous with ‘cool’ now.
BTW – I love Penelope on Criminal Minds too!
Right on, Cori! Don’t you just love all the witty repartee between Garcia and Morgan?
You are a nerd.
Why, thank you! You really mean it, right? You’re not just saying that?
That video was hilarious! OMG! I’m not a nerd…more of a dork, really. Such is life!
There’s a fine line between nerds, dorks, and geeks. I believe more research needs to be done.
Katrina, I’m sure that you were taught as a little girl, just as I was, that you can be anything you want to be. So go for it. I know you can do it.
You are, like, such a supportive friend.
Well, from the wife of a nerd to a wanna-be-nerd, I think you’re very close to nerdfighter status, if you haven’t reached that pinnacle already! I am forwarding this post to my resident nerd and will let him be the judge…he is a self-proclaimed nerd, but I’m not sure if he meets all of the qualifications…in which case you win and have definitely reached that to which you aspire to 🙂 Rock on girlfriend!
Thank you for submitting my inquiry to an impartial panelist. I will await his judgment with trepidation…
Oh, please. Nerd it up, baby!
You know it!
Jennifer forwarded this to me and I have to say i agree with you… you’re a nerd! 🙂 And you definitely out-do me. I say I meet about half those qualifications, but I do at least know what most of them are, and I definitely play WOW. Do you listen to The Instance podcast? You should check it out if you don’t. I get lots of great nerd-vocabulary defined for me there. 🙂
Sweet! I appreciate you weighing in with your expertise, which, I am told, is considerable. I have not heard of this podcast, but you can rest assured that my nerdy heart will not rest until I have checked it out!
I didn’t know scrapbooking is a nerdy thing… Is that so, or would that actually disqualify you? hmm… I might agree with Paul, you’re too sweet to be a nerd (oh please… you’d still read my blog even if I don’t think you’re totally a nerd, wouldn’t you?) OK, you’re a nerd, but a cute nerd.
I think scrapbookers compose a unique subset of nerd-dom, as does any group of people who pursue a unique interest or hobby with the intensity of a runaway freight train. (If you knew how much I’ve spent on scrapbooking supplies over the years, you couldn’t consider me anything less than nerdy.) And yes, I will definitely still read your blog, regardless of your assessment of my nerd status. 🙂
Who knew you were so far ahead of the cool trend? As for “a site I find helpful in reaching my maximum procrastination potential”. LOLOLOLOL!!!1!!! Amen!!
I see you are also a veteran of the YouTubes! It can easily suck an hour out of my day before I realize it’s even gone. Amazing.
I think Paul’s problem (whether he is conscious of it or not) may come from the fact that you are just flat out too cute to be traditionally “nerdy.” You are more like the “After” Lacy Boggs in She’s All That rather than the nerdy “Before.”
You just made my nerdy little heart rejoice. I love that movie! Nerdiness is an inner state of being, and not dented at all by the addition of a nice pair of heels, don’t you think?
I got three out of the ones you listed …
I scrapbook …
I use internet shorthand and I use high fallutin words with pride …
I am NERD! 😀 Woot Woot!
Congratulations! Your pocket protector and Clark Kent glasses are in the mail.
We what on the telly that doodle funny programme called ‘The Big Bang’ it just so funny about the life of nerds…….
I DONT think your a nerd…… I aint to sure about me though lol
x
Marmie, I am going to have to look up that TV show. Paul and I really enjoy getting Brit TV on Netflix–especially the comedies! We recently finished “The IT Crowd”; it was hilarious!
Wow! I need a Nerd Dictionary for Dummies. I can’t wait to get back to school and inform my self-proclaimed nerds that they are cool!!!
A Nerd Dictionary! That’s a great idea (although, given the self-starter mentality of most nerds, I’d be surprised if there isn’t already one out there!)
lol This was a funny read! I think nerds are cool, so go for it!!! It’s uncool to follow the crowd you know. 🙂
Thank you! And I am definitely down with not following the crowd–especially now that I have a kid on the cusp of adolescence and I see the crowd’s general direction…
Oh, Katrina… I love it when I come across a post that makes me smile through the entire thing (and, I must admit, nod sheepishly in recognition of my own inner nerd).
But- and here I borrow a term from junior high- You’re not a dork, you’re ADORKABLE!
Ha! I love it! And thank you for the compliment. I’m going to save that one to use on Paul…lol!
Paul’s response is proof that nerds are just as exclusive as cheerleaders and jocks. He may be afraid the his super nerd achievement of marrying someone from the drama crowd may be in question. Don’t take that away from him!
Marci, how I value your insight and wisdom! I hadn’t even thought of it that way. With my drama cred as the inimitable Peaseblossom in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the third housemaid from the left in “My Fair Lady”, I am the nerd equivalent of arm candy.
Melissa totally had the same thing to say as me — I’m a dork too!
I’m not cool enough to be a nerd — and I’m not smart enough. (Nerds are geniuses.)
I’ll just have to settle for dorkiness. (Although I’m pretty passionate about punctuation, too!)
Oh, dear. No one mentioned the genius requirement. I may be a dork, as well.
Hi Katrina — as someone who is able to pass back and forth through the nerd wall at will (I’m like that) I think the problem is that even if you have mad nerd skills (which you really do IMHO) you automatically disqualify yourself from membership by asking to join the club — sort of like the Masons. No matter how badly you want in, and belong, someone still has to invite/sponsor you, declare your candidacy and be accepted by the greater body. Patience…it will come!
Keep up the good blog work! 🙂
And I thought that breaking into the “cool” clique was difficult! I suppose I will just sit back and wait for the D&D crowd to find me here, languishing away in cyberspace while I scour Ebay for X-Files memorabilia. *sigh* Thanks for the comment! 😉