On Being a Nerd/Geek

So, according to Facebook, today is Geek/Nerd Pride Day. (From this point on, I will use the terms "geek" and "nerd" interchangeably.) You could say I've always been a nerd, even from the time I was a little kid. While most 5-year-old boys liked playing outside, there was nowhere else I wanted to be than in front of that old Commodore 64. We don't need to go into what caused me to be a nerd from that age, especially since most of my Facebook friends have heard about it a million times. I'll talk about what being a geek means and doesn't mean to me, how not everyone with A.S. should be considered a nerd, and how I'm different from some other geeks you might know.
First off: What does being a geek mean to me? Well, for one, it means showing interest in things that are somewhat abnormal. In a previous post, I asked you to think about the things the guys in your life liked. Well, now, I'm going to ask you to think about what the 22-year-old guys and girls in your life, whether that includes you or not, like. In most cases, you'd probably say things like some form of sports, computer/video games, R-rated films, current prime-time network television, etc. Well, guess what? I really am not a fan of any of those things. I'm not saying that being a fan of those things, no matter what age you are, makes you a bad person. What I am saying is that most 22-year-olds, at least in my experience, aren't really fans of Star Trek, music/shows/etc. from the 70's and 80's, Disney/Nickelodeon sitcoms/movies, and the like...but I'm a fan of all those things. I'm not ashamed of any of that; in fact, if I'm the only person my age who likes that stuff, I'm proud of it.
Now, you may be asking: What does it not mean to me? First off, spending a lot of time in front of a computer does not make you a nerd. In the past, it would have, but, nowadays, with the addictiveness of sites like Facebook, it seems like people everywhere are spending more time on their computers than they used to. Also, being smart, even ridiculously smart, does not necessarily make you a nerd. If you had one of the highest GPAs in your graduating class, or if you were in a bunch of Honors, AP, or IB classes, that doesn't make you a geek. Don't get me wrong; if your grades were that high, you were definitely smart. Still, I know a good part of the people who were at the top of my graduating class, and I definitely would not call them nerds. A good part of them were involved in sports, which, IMO, disqualifies them from being geeks right there. My lack of interest in sports is one of the things that makes me a geek. Being a nerd isn't just about your intelligence; it's also about your interests.
On to my second point: Why shouldn't everyone with A.S. be considered a nerd? I'll admit that my A.S. gives me somewhat geeky tendencies, but my upbringing is also part of that as well. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: It is not an autistic thing to like sci-fi/fantasy, dislike sports, or like/dislike any of the other stuff I do. In fact, I have heard of cases where people with A.S. loved sports, hated Disney, etc. I don't need to go into the details, but I will say this: If my life situation had been different when I was younger, I might very well be a sports freak today. (Note that, by using the term "freak," I am not insulting anyone. The term "freak" means a lot of things, and one definition is "ardent enthusiast." You may be a "sports freak," but I'll readily admit that I am a yard/garage sale freak. Look it up if you don't believe me.) A.S. doesn't affect what you're into; it just affects how much you're into it. On to something else.
My final point: How am I different from other geeks you might know? Put simply: My tastes are not completely different from popular opinion. I mentioned before that I like music from decades past, and, yes, I do have a lot of it on my iPod. However, I also have plenty of popular songs from the past decade on there as well. I have songs such as "Cupid's Chokehold/Breakfast in America" by Gym Class Heroes, "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers, "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles, "Smooth Criminal" by Alien Ant Farm, "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne, "Then the Morning Comes" by Smash Mouth, and plenty of other hits from the 2000's, alongside older songs. Also, some of the things that people would think all geeks like, I don't. For example, I hate Lord of the Rings. I couldn't even understand the first book, and the first movie was drawn-out and boring. I am not really a fan of computer/video games, either. I'll admit I used to be a big fan of them, especially Nintendo games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, but I sold all of them years ago, and I don't have a single game installed on my laptop, other than the ones that came with it, which I don't play. When I'm on a computer, I'm usually blogging, chatting with friends, etc.
In closing, I will say this: I realize that I may be different from anyone else you know. I'll admit it; I'm unique. Still, that doesn't make me any less of a person than you are. I deserve to be loved, respected, and to have friends, even if they don't have the exact same interests. My friends will tell you: If you don't want to be my friend because I'm different, then you are missing out. I admit I've lost some friends because of mistakes I've made, but, as one of my favorite people in the whole wide world once said to me, "A lapse in judgment does not define you." We all make mistakes, and I'm no closer to perfect than anyone else you know. You can accept me for who I am, or you can shun me and refuse to be my friend. The choice is yours.

On Reviews and Die-Hard Fans

I don't know about you, but I have read tons of reviews online. I've read people's moral critiques of movies, noting all the profanity, sex, violence, etc., in them. I've also read people's opinions of things, such as albums, films, TV shows, video games, and the like, that were just based on an artistic perspective. One of the things that I've seen mentioned in all kinds of reviews is a statement to the effect of, "You'll only like this if you're a die-hard _________ fan." An example of that would be a review of a Super NES Power Rangers video game that was titled, "Unless you're a Power Rangers fan, if not...!" Usually, when people say, "Unless you're a fan," they really mean, "Unless you're a die-hard fan."
Honestly, when it comes to media, I wouldn't call myself "a die-hard fan" of anything or anyone. Granted, I do have some shows, movie series, book series, bands/artists, actors/actresses, etc., that I like, but it's not like I'm going to like absolutely anything from them. In the past, though, it was a different story.
I'm about to talk about one of my previous addictions again, so be warned: Way back in the late 90's/early 2000's, I was a huge fan of Scooby-Doo. I wanted pretty much anything that had the Scooby-Doo label on it: shirts, videos, albums, books, calendars, posters, and plenty of other stuff. Around that time, some friends of mine told me that a somewhat close theme park--I won't name what it was, because I don't want to give out my geographical location--that had a store with Scooby-Doo shirts, and maybe other memorabilia (it was so long ago, I don't remember.) As soon as I heard that, I would not shut up about wanting to go to that theme park. It wasn't the rides; it wasn't the food; it wasn't the shows; it was just that store. Some years later, when I was either in middle or high school, well after I gave up on that cartoon, some group I was involved in--don't remember what it was--invited me to go to that theme park, and I told my mom I didn't want to go. She was shocked, saying, "Why don't you want to go? You used to be obsessed with wanting to go there!" She didn't know that it was only because of one thing they had there: that Scooby-Doo store.
It wasn't just that theme park, either. There was a song recorded by CCM artist Chris Rice called "Cartoons" or something like that. It went something like, "I was thinking the other day/What if cartoons got saved?/They'd start singing praise/In a whole new way!" and then Rice proceeds to imitate various cartoon characters (from Fred Flintstone to Elmer Fudd) saying their own version of the word hallelujah, i.e., "Yabba-dabba-doo-jah!" When I first heard it all the way back in 2000, I loved it only because it mentioned Scooby-Doo. Truth be told, I didn't even really know what the song was about when I first heard it! My original understanding of the lyrics was, "I was thinking the other day/What about cartoons?/Scooby-Dooby-Doo-jah!" In fact, I currently think that, if taken literally, the song is stupid! Most fans of the song don't know that Rice actually meant it as a satire of Christian entertainment companies making Christian copies of popular secular media. I think that's a message that needs to be taken to heart, because, even though that song was released over a decade ago, there have still been blatant Christian rip-offs of secular stuff, like Sunday School Musical, ApologetiX's parodies, etc., in the past few years.
I got a little off-topic there, so let me get back to my main point: There are things everywhere that people could say one would only like it if he/she was a die-hard fan of something. You might think that, based on my posts on here and Facebook, that I am a die-hard Sha-bon-bon (that is, fan of Siobhan Magnus.) Well, I've got news for you: If you think I have it bad for Siobhan, you should have seen how bad my addictions to things like The Magic School Bus, Growing Pains, Mork & Mindy, Garfield, Hilary Duff, Putt-Putt the talking car, and other things were when I was younger. You'd know then that my love for all things Siobhan Magnus isn't that bad after all.
Any comments?

Return Today

RETURN TODAY
To the tune of "Tell Me On a Sunday" by Andrew Lloyd Webber

This world's so evil, I just want to leave.
Thought many people were friends, then they really were not.
And on the tube, nothing but bad news.
I would love to just walk those golden streets.
Jesus, return today, please.
They think I'm crazy, won't give me a chance.
Ugly insults, dirty looks.
Such brief conversations.
While my friends marry, I've been on no dates.
Come when I'm shelving at the library.
Jesus, return today, please.
Yes, I do know who's to blame, and where he is going.
You could come any day or night, but, when, You're not telling.
Those who have defied You, You'll destroy them all.
Well, I can't take this anymore, so why don't You just end it?
So much of my life just make me want to cry!
So, to You, I sing this desperate plea:
Jesus, return today, please.
(INSTRUMENTAL BREAK)
When I turn out my bedroom light, I always feel lonely.
So many liars tell no truth at all.
Every girl just slams the door when I think of dating.
Oh, how much I want to say goodbye.
I'll happily leave all earthly things.
I'll forget about all my addictions.
I'll go to the best place there's ever been.
Take me to the place where I will be free.
Jesus, return today, please.

Why Siobhan Magnus Is In A Completely Different League Than Any Of My Celebrity Crushes

Okay, so, if you've been reading my Facebook status messages, or if you saw that parody of Gavin DeGraw's "In Love With a Girl" I posted on here some time ago, you know I like Siobhan Magnus. For those who have no clue who Ms. Magnus is, or even how to pronounce her first name, here's the facts: Siobhan (pronounced Shiv-on) was a contestant on this year's season of American Idol. She wowed a lot of people with her big voice, not to mention her uniqueness; more on that later. This week, she gave a stellar performance of a Shania Twain song, but still got voted off, meaning that she holds sixth place out of 24 contestants this season.
Now that we've gotten the "fast facts" out of the way, let me get to why I like her, and why she is different than any other celebrity crush I've ever had. As with all of my current celebrity crushes, which include several other Idol contestants, I do find her physically attractive. However, there's something she has that Anne Hathaway, Ashley Tisdale, and even fellow Idol Crystal Bowersox doesn't have. What is that? Well, she's...different. I'm not saying she's autistic; what I am saying is, her and I both march to the beat of a different drummer. Siobhan's fellow Idol contestants talked about how different she was in a previous episode, and you can tell she is quite different by the outfits she wears during her performances. I think her and I could get along great.
Before I finish, let me say this: I know that there is little if any chance of me ever dating a celebrity. However, as somebody who has been single his entire life, a little dreaming about famous people doesn't hurt. Who knows? Maybe I'll be the envy of everyone at my high school reunion because I married a celebrity! Only time will tell.
Any comments?

Inter-Library Loans and the Blame Game

If you know me, or if you don't but have been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I volunteer at my local library. I have been volunteering more frequently since we moved closer to it back in October, and even more so since the weather has become nicer. Since starting there in March of last year, I have found out about something called inter-library loan. Essentially, it's just one library system getting things they don't have in their catalog from other library systems. I've gotten some great stuff from that service, including not only books, but CDs and DVDs as well. I've had limited problems with the service; the biggest issue involved a season set of The Cosby Show. Long story short, instead of getting all four discs, I ended up getting two severely scratched ones. However, that was nothing compared to what's happened in the past week.
What happened? Well, late last week, I got an inter-library loan in that I'd been waiting to get for a while. However, instead of coming to the library I can walk to, it came to another one in my city that is somewhat far away. I asked the people at the library near me to have the book transferred there, and they said it was coming, but that was two days ago, and it still hasn't come in. I'm hoping that it will come in soon so that I have time to read it.
You may wonder who I think is at fault for it being sent to the wrong library. Well, the library blames themselves, but I wonder if I may be to blame. I'm human just like everyone else, and I easily could have clicked the wrong button on the online form. Still, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. I could sit here and debate for hours why it happened and who caused it, but that wouldn't help anything. All that matters now is taking care of the problem. I've done everything in my power; now, we'll see what happens.
When it comes to blaming people, I haven't always been as mature about it as I am now. When I was younger, I blamed everyone else for my problems. Even if I got upset and did something I shouldn't have, I said it was the fault of the person who did whatever they did to cause me to be upset. I even blamed people I hadn't seen in years for current problems. For example, I was still blaming my elementary school teachers when I was in eighth grade. I guarantee you that if something like this had happened when I was little, I would have been getting all in the library employees' faces, saying it was all their fault and continuing to complain about it even after I got the item. I realize now that that's not the way to go. When something like this happens, don't worry about who caused it; just take care of it. It took me years to learn that lesson, but I finally did.
Any comments?

On Past Enemies and Revenge

As you might expect, I had quite a few enemies when I was in school. I'm not going to name them here, especially since quite a few of my former classmates are friends with those people, but there were several of them. I expect that most of my friends were bullied or made fun of in school as well. For some people, it was just because of their name. Still others were made fun of for no other reason than that they were "different." Sometimes that was due to a disability; others, it was them being unique.
Whatever the reason, I know that I speak for a large community when I say that not having to deal with bullies anymore is one of the best things about being out of school. For those who are Christians, Jesus even mentioned us experiencing persecution, which would include being made fun of. Jesus said in John 15:20, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." The Apostle Paul also said in Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." As much as I feel like exacting revenge on those who hurt me, it's not the right thing to do.
Now, there were two points I wanted to make before I started this post. They might be a little long-winded, but I'm going to try my best to keep them concise. The first one is: I can sort of understand why I was made fun of in school. You may think it was wrong for those people to make fun of me, and I would agree with you. Still, I think that their insults were coming from being annoyed with me, and they had every right to be annoyed. Why? Well, I'm not going to go into a long list of everything I did in class that annoyed people from kindergarten until college graduation, but here are a few things: loud typing, singing in class, thinking I was smarter than everyone else, not being able to shut up about whatever I liked at the time, constantly complaining about problems in my life, etc. In fact, when it comes to not being able to shut up about whatever I was obsessed with, I'm reminded of an incident from 2003. Long story short, some of the kids in my youth group were teasing me, and I considered it harassment, so I sent an angry e-mail to the youth leader. One of the things I said--and this is not a direct quote, because that e-mail and its reply were deleted years ago--was:

I'm going to be honest here: Sometimes I think about leaving. Maybe I should switch to [another nearby church]. There was a guy I met there who liked [my obsession at the time] Hilary Duff. Maybe there, my obsession would be APPRECIATED, rather than continually made fun of.

The youth leader's reply was something to the effect of:

I'm going to be honest with you, too: Any time someone has an obsession (Hilary Duff, Redskins football, wrestling, etc.) they are going to endure teasing and from time to time it will hurt.

And, you know what? He was absolutely right. I don't know if I realized it when I first read it, but, what he said might very well explain why I was made fun of throughout school: I was obsessed. Also, it wasn't just me who endured teasing from church members, either. A fellow youth group member once was teased by someone up front because of his obsession with wrestling. I'm not saying that's wrong; what I'm saying is, whether it's playful teasing or flat-out harassment, people are going to say things when they notice someone being obsessed.
The second point I wanted to make was: At least some of the people who harassed me in school might regret it now. The worst bullying I endured happened in middle school. Those of you who remember what middle school was like, or have been around middle schoolers in the past decade, most likely understand why that's significant. Even some friends I went to middle school with don't even like to talk about what happened there. One friend said he "was a little crack-head back then." I did some dumb things in middle school, too; I claimed all but six people in my seventh grade lunch period weren't even worth the birth pains their parents put into having them, and I spent my entire eighth grade year obsessed with a dumb old sitcom and a washed-up celebrity. I don't even really like to talk about those things anymore; I'm just mentioning them to prove my point: most middle schoolers do things they regret later in life. I haven't spoken to most of those middle school bullies in several years, so I have no idea how they feel. For all I know, some of them could have become Christians.
Any comments?

My iPod and Me

For those who don't know: I got a Silver 16GB iPod Nano for Christmas last year. It was the number one thing I wanted, and I was so happy when I got it. It's actually my second iPod; I got my first one, a Black 2GB Nano, for Christmas in 2005, but it went haywire in early 2009. I love my new iPod very much; in fact, I take it with me almost everywhere. It makes the long rides I take go by faster.
Some of you may wonder how many long rides I go on. Well, actually, my church is thirty minutes away, and the long rides there and back used to make me cranky...until I started bringing my iPod with me. I don't just listen to my music; usually, I have a book to read, with a book light if necessary. It's been months since I've taken any trips that were more than an hour, and the last long trip I took was in March of last year, and that was only four hours. All of those trips, though, were before I had my iPod. I've yet to go that far with it; still, I'm glad I have the entertainment, just in case I do need it.
With any sort of new technology comes new features. My new iPod has some nice ones, including the ability to play video. A feature that surprised me was its ability to play music without being hooked up to any sort of speakers or headphones. It probably would come in handy at some point, but, to me, it has been somewhat of an annoyance. It has started playing music without me touching it twice. The first time was while I was turning something in to the library I volunteer at, and I thought it was someone's ringtone. The second time was after my dad dropped me off at a different library, and I heard some music that I thought was coming from the fire station nearby. In both cases, as I kept listening, I eventually realized it was coming from my backpack.
In conclusion, I'll say this: iPods are amazing things. I never would have imagined such a device when I was little. Still, like any technology, it's going to evolve. Who knows what amazing devices they'll come out with next?