I've just spent 4 hours with a theater packed with LOTR nerds – at the "one night only" screening of Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers – Extended Version. The delight in the room was palpable, as if we were all boarding the same rocketship that would take us on a 3.9 hour tour… (Hey wait! Wasn't that Gilligan's Isle?)
People were taking photos of each other and uploading to Facebook, shouting out the answers to the pre-show LOTR trivia flashing on the screen, and happily trundling up to their seats with extra-large bags of popcorn.
They earnestly discussed the fact that we were all nerds, and I started thinking about how the word "Nerd" has changed over the decades.
If you look up Nerd in the dictionary, it says:
1. a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.
2. an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.
However I think we need to come up with a third description of the word:
3. a brilliant but socially quirky person, totally obsessed with an eccentric or obscure hobby, who delights in gathering with like-minded individuals. Often has an offbeat sense of style and could care less what anyone else thinks.
Think "Big Bang Theory", Comic-Con in San Diego, Star Trek conventions…. and Quilt Festivals!
I mean – really – we make our own tiaras and then get together to parade our creations through the aisles of quilt shows. We make matching patchwork outfits and go on quilting bus tours together. We see a quilt made out of a certain group of fabrics, and can't sleep until we have every single exact fabric in our sweaty little hands.
Nerds used to have thick glasses, pocket protectors and slide rules. Now nerds are cool – maybe still with thick glasses but they are tiger striped or studded with rhinestones. Nerds ride scooters, driver Mini-Coopers, hunch over their iPads in coffee houses, collect "stuff" from the various decades of the last century, and have secret intellectual online pursuits.
Nerds also cluster together and get absolutely giddy and hilariously frenzied when discussing their hobby of choice.
I also found this in the Thesaurus:
"A geek is any smart person with an obsessive interest, a nerd is the same but also lacks social grace, and a dweeb is a mega-nerd."
So I admit it. I am a quilting dweeb, a fabric fool, a needle-turn nerd, a design dork, and an embellishment geek.
The photo below is from the Pan-Asian festival parade last week, which took 3 hours to snake down the main drag in Waikiki, and had lots of hometown Hawaiian parade moments like ladies strolling in ornate kimonos, young men demonstrating judo on the street, hula girls and Tahitian dancers, and in this image we have Miss Hawaii International with her own lovely tiara, waving from the back seat of a vintage Mustang convertible.
Feel free to share your own profound thoughts about Nerds!
Happy Summer Solstice – and may all your nerdy pursuits bring you Fat Quarters of happiness.
I had to smile a lot. I admit to being a Nerdy Geek. We explain our use of such terms like this. A nerd means= lover of books and organic use of materials for the betterment of mankind. Geeks = lover of technologic and mechanical use for the betterment of mankind. My husband is more geekish than I. I still say Nerd’s rule. LOL Like you I love fabric and have been a customer of yours for a little while. I love your blog and the way your ideas point to fabric pages (very clever btw). As for the phrase growing up, being Deaf, I did not know the words or meaning. All I knew was that smart group was the group I wanted to be the part of the most, not the cheerleading or the jocks. Never could make their grade though. I eventually found my group among artist. Smile. Take care,
Nancy McCormick-Kovacich
You are an amazing writer! Thanks for sharing this other talent as well…
Edith
http://www.renaissanceribbons.com
I loved this blog about nerds, geeks and dweebs. I am one of the dweebs. Definately. I wonder how many of us quilting dweebs are out there.
I think that I may be a quilt history, antique quilt nerd or geekette! Since I can name fabric designers from the 1870’s and even a few from 1830 and earlier, I guess I’d better admit it.
My husband loved your post! He is a proud nerd, and celebrates his nerdiness! In fact, he posits that all of the change-makers and trend-makers are, in fact, nerds. Isn’t it interesting how tv shows like “the Big Bang Theory” have brought nerd culture into the mainstream? Nerds are becoming defined as eccentric and quirky, as you mentioned, and don’t seem to be the social misfits they typified when I was growing up.
Long live the nerds! (Hey, I think there’s an art quilt in there somewhere)
Shine on! Kelley
Perhaps the new definition of “geek” is better than its former one: a geek was the circus performer who bit the heads off live chickens. No kidding. I’m 72, and this was the common definition in my youth. I’ve always wondered why “geek” was chosen for its new use among techies.