Real Talk: Nerds Versus Geeks

This seems to be a topic that people aren’t clear on, so I’m going to do my best to make it a bit less hazy on the similarities and differences of what it means to be a nerd versus a geek. Since it’s apparently trendy now to hold onto a label that used to be attached to someone you wanted to insult, I’m also going to get into what doesn’t fall into the realm of nerdhood and geekery. And, for the heck of it, I’ll use myself as an example to show how a person can be both.

1. What it means to be a Nerd:
   Know what I think is a lot of fun? School. Not even going to hold back on this one, but I love learning and participating in class. I take the time to learn the concepts and find ways to incorporate what I’ve been studying into my everyday life. Except for physics, since all I understood and retained from that class was that North is not “up”. Not only that, but I pride myself on being someone that can join in class discussions and have something to contribute to the conversation. I don’t consider going to lectures to be a chore, even if they are at 8:15 in the morning. I value education, yo.
2. What doesn’t constitute as being a Nerd:
   Your flannel shirt, high-waist jeans, and suspenders are not representative of your intelligence. Being quirky or having a beard, and wearing a pair of Raybans doesn’t reflect your ability to analyse post-post-modernist reflections of Molière. Can you recite five digits of pi? Can you differentiate between a credible and unreliable source? No – then find yourself a more fitting label.
3. What it means to be a Geek:
   Do you have a thing that you like? Do you know a lot about it? There you go, you can be categorised as a geek. Anything that can be followed or consumed can grant you geek status if you’ve invested enough time into it. Music, books, tv shows, sports (and not just Quidditch), musicals, movies, video games, art, photography, comic books – if you have a deep appreciation for it and have taken the time to learn more about it or participate in it, then you fall into its fandom and can call yourself an X-geek. You can usually spot us by our respective fandom’s paraphernalia. Don’t even get me started on the fan-fics.
4. What doesn’t constitute as being a Geek:
   When you call yourself a Harry Potter fan and have seen two of the movies. Saying you’re a trekkie because the one with the white dress and her hair in the big buns on the side of her head is your favourite. Pretending to like something (while either being clueless about it or straight up hating it) to impress someone. I’m pretty sure that you have something you can binge-watch or happily obsess over. Focus on that instead, because I can guarantee you’ll get more geek-rage than I’m already throwing your way if you say something like my above examples.
5. Where I stand:
   I care so much about school. So much. I’ve had teachers cut me off from answering questions on the first day of class. The difference here, is that I’m studying classes that I want to be in, so of course I’m going to invest time and energy into what I’m taking in from a given lecture. I also love Harry Potter (scroll back to early March if you don’t believe me). I’ve read the books in two languages more than once, I’ve seen all of the movies many times over, and I have all of the soundtracks and other various paraphernalia. You need a Potter Trivia partner? I’m your girl. But I’m also deep into other fandoms – and other media. For example, I will “watch” a movie just for its soundtrack, especially if it’s mostly an original score. Could I tell you who plays what instrument in a given piece from a certain movie? No. Nor would I be able to recognise every instrument or note by ear. I appreciate it, but I haven’t studied it. I also have a strange addiction to binge-watching Let’s Plays on youtube, despite my inability to play the video games myself.

What I’m trying to get across is that you have to work for these titles. It’s not something you’re born into (let’s not spark a nature versus nurture debate about this), but something that is entirely up to you to maintain. So if you say you’re a nerd, I will ask you how quickly you dry out a pen. And if you claim to be a geek, you should know that a tri-force isn’t shorthand for the original Star Wars trilogy.

Real Talk: Weird Things I Do

I’m going to start off by apologising for bringing up things that you may not have noticed that I do that you will never be able to unsee after this.

You ready?

1. (Re)Naming things:
   Know how some people feel the need to name their electronics, cars, or … body parts with names that only people should have? I’m totally guilty of having named a phone Madison back in grade seven because I thought that was cool.
   But that’s not what I mean by this. I don’t remember when this started, but I have a weird habit of giving people (or locations) nicknames that I mostly never use out loud.
   Where does my train line end? Vaudrizzle-drazzle.
   Who do I skype most frequently? Adoumskies.
   Which professor do I have for Honours Seminar? The Cohalz.
   Who sits next to me in bio and stats? Merfew Twerkpherson.
   Who’s the exact same person as me? Kuhtaytay aka #KimJongKatie
   My best friend? Shmooplidops. Except she knows that I call her that.
2. Eating habits:
   For this, I’m not referring to how often I eat – but more so how I eat. As a kid, I had cavities in some of my baby teeth, which thankfully fell out before they became a serious problem. That being said, I only ever had them on one side of my mouth at a time, which meant that I would chew my food on the opposite side.
   After the second set of cavity-riddled teeth fell out, I took to chewing one bite per side, and I would make sure that it was even for an entire meal. If not, I would divide my bites differently to fit my weird food math – which I still do, with everything that I eat.
3. Copycat, part 1:
   I’ve heard that I’m not the only one who does this, but for the longest time I thought I was alone in making the same facial expressions, gestures, and reactions as a character in a book while I’m reading it. Being an avid reading and someone who is easily swept into a story, this has led to some interesting results when I forget that I’m reading in public and I go into an accent out of nowhere or while trying to imitate the grimace on a character’s face.
4. Copycat, part 2:
   If you didn’t already know, I watch an unhealthy number of vlogs/youtubers’ videos. My excuse is that it’s shorter than watching a full tv show episode, but that does nothing to curb my procrastination. That being said, after watching a few (see: too many) British youtubers, my accent is back in a snap. That, or I’ll pick up on any of their catchphrases/openers, like Marcus Butler’s “hello,” IISuperwomanII’s “what the shemur,” or Tyler Oakley’s general level of sass.
5. Random acts of dance:
   This one is probably the easiest to spot if you’ve taken a class with me, and I’ve sat in front of you. When I’m happy, I do a little shoulder shimmy in my chair. If I like the food I’m eating, a little head bobbing starts. If I find the information we’re covering to be interesting or that whatever’s going on needs a little bit of filler, I’ll be hosting a dance party of one at my desk. This is entirely due to how much I rely on dance to relay my emotional state.

So here’s to being flawed and odd.

Real Talk: Happiness

It’s icky out today, so I figured a list of happy-making things couldn’t hurt. It’ll be a mix of stuff that makes me happy and how I get myself in a better mood.

1. Bus drivers:
   I have a need to sit in the single-seat row on the driver’s side of the bus. It used to be due to not wanting anyone else sitting next to me (I know, anti-social). Now it’s because I get to see the passing bus driver wave at my driver, which I find to be the cutest thing ever. Always puts a smile on my face.
2. Beyoncé:
   I’ve got some Beyoncé for every emotion. Even if I’m in a bad mood to begin with, I can go from Ring the Alarm, to Resentment, to Crazy in Love, to Grown Woman, and end off with Get Me Bodied. And if that doesn’t work – I’ll listen to Buy U a Drank by T-Pain until I’m out of my cranky-four-year-old mood.
3. Dancing:
   I grew up dancing, so it’s a big part of my comfort zone. I stayed mostly with ballet in my training, but if I need to, I’ll bust out some of my classier moves (100% referring to the Running-Man) and keep going until I no longer feel stressed out. That or I just bob along to my music if I can’t fully dance if I’m in public.
4. Getting lost in a book:
   Nothing makes me happier than being swept away by a fantastic story. The best is when I can tackle a book in one sitting, cover to cover, and the writing is just so good, and you feel all the feels. I’m not going to list all of my favourite series, since I’ve probably read over 1 000 books, but that should say enough about how much I rely on reading for feeling happy.
5. Pizza:
   Slap some jalapenos, mushrooms and Brooklyn pepperoni over a layer of cheese and tomato sauce on a pan pizza and I’ll be beaming.There’s nothing more to be said about pizza, let’s be real.

 

Of course, these aren’t universals, and I’m not telling you that this is what you should necessarily do to feel better – but this is what works for me.