Can I borrow your suspenders?

Last night my brother got all up in my grill over a stoned conversation with the twins who hang out with him. They had caught wind of the post I wrote a while back which insinuated that they were nerds because they engaged in video games. My brother being the incredibly difficult to communicate with guy that he is said that I am a fault of society because I label people as nerds and perpetuate stereotypes that if it were not for people like me, would not exist.

Now, I am not going to get into the many ways in which my brother is wrong, but for him to say that I, a liberal minded social who gives a shit kinda guy is perpetuating a what he perceives fault of the people, itches me to the point where he was way off, and more importantly he was way off over a slight of slander which revolved around the term "nerd". First and foremost being a nerd is cool, and before I explain the need to embrace stereotypical definitions of the self, I would here and now like to defend to term nerd as it implies in the year 2005.

I am not talking about the revenge of the nerd stereotype. I am talking blogs, video games, books, crafts, cars, art, science, and really everything and anything else taught in a Canadian University setting, outside of social science because well social science types are a whole different breed.

Embracing your nerd traits is important to defining who you are. I will defend my biggest of nerd traits, that of writting this blog, until I die or stop being able to garble out nonsense on a whim. Having a blog is the nerdiest thing you can do. A self created world of commune brought together by one phrase comments and spewed happenings of the everyday. A self righteous need to express; it says so in my title blurb. But you know what, I am so happy with having this journal, sharing with new virtual relationships which spawn up out of the blue from far off reaches like the UK, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, where have you that there is truly no negative in possessing this journal in my eyes; despite the amount of slander I get from a group of guys that work at banks in toronto but whatever. Francisco

If anyone were to bash the nerdity that exists within keeping a blog you are a closed minded fool who is wasting their time lurking and perking your inssessent nothings into an otherwise utopic sense of community; huh? Right, so what this rambly rant leads to is that one should embrace their nerd traits until the end, the be all, as a righteous description of something that makes your life uniquely better to the conformed collective.

That is all a nerdy trait is. Something that others bash in order to prop themselves up as a immediate social circle symbol of status. Its how it started on the playground. The bully dubbed you a nerd because you could read faster than him, do math quicker than him, pick up french quicker than him, and in turn what did that classic bully/nerd dichotomy result in. Well ten years later the latter has a University degree, while the former STILL works at a Jiffy Lube where his dad got him the job checking tire pressure when he was 15. Good on ya cool guy, I embrace my nerdity.

Just as an FYI, I really wasnt picked on as a kid, I just can paint a mean tale.

So to my brother, who was offended by the comment of being a nerd, all I am implying by my compliment is that the traditional concept of the nerd has died in the wake of the benefits and social well being that so many nerdy traits bring about. The modern video game is one of the most intellectually engaging and motor skilled past times available to human kind. Your hand to eye, eye to mind reaction time is by far faster than any non gamer and as a nerd I am overjoyed at mentioning that I could kick your ass at Goldeneye any day of the week.

Embrace your nerdity, for it is your nerd traits that define your worth over the common, make you unique and more talented in the realms that really matter, networking and thought creation.

On a sidenote to that which my brother tried to falsely slam me for. I am not perpetuating social stereotypes, I merely recognize that which is understood by the masses as a stereotype as a defining characteristic of the individual. Be it nerd, jock, artist, new bohemian, or playa, you cannot deny the existence of the communal elements of self that run through the traits of so many on the planet. There simply is not enough stylistic nor social variation in that which you can choose to do to ignore the presence of stereotypes. Yes we live in a somewhat free weilding world, but it is a free wielding global world that is defined by the groups you are a part of.

It gets back to the ultimate stoner conversation where you trace everything back to the hunter and the gatherer. Thats right I said it: hunter fukin gatherer. In the world everyone is part of a primal pack, and in the modern definition of these packs it is not family, it is not fur colour, it is the social choices and image creating items you choose to define and enjoy yourself with that define yourself as an individual.

Straight up we need stereotypes because it lets us define who we are in relation to another, giving us a greater sense of autonomy as we can then as an individual say why or why not we are like something else. We are a world of comparison and commodity, and to deny the fact that those choices and purchases and social pass times that we engage do not categorically define us is taking the left too far as an ignorant action of self righteous better thans, where you think not being a part of something is better than realizing that a part of something will always regardless of outlook will revolve around you.

end rant. end point. i dont know if one was made. stop wasting your time here. kiddin i love you. come back soon.
Embrace the nerd within you. That is all I am saying

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Tuesday, August 30, 2005