Everyone ages at some point. How do you retain your nerd interests while taking on things like kids, marriage, etc.? In the first of a series of articles, our own Steranko provides us with some insight.
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Greetings. This here is the first in an occasional series of articles about what it’s like to be a nerdult. These articles will not always be about living with a nerd, but they will help you if and when you inevitably do live with a nerd. Now, technically speaking you are a nerdult once you hit the golden age of 21, but these articles will focus on dealing with your thirties and beyond. This first article will be an introduction of sorts.
I am 38 and my nerd roots run fairly deep. I was a heady young D&D player back in the day. I snuck into the movie theater at Lakeforest to watch Return of the Jedi three consecutive times. I had an Intellivision (remember those confounded controllers!). My grandfather taught me how to play Atari 2600 games. My first paying job was at a Comic Con (I was paid in comic books). I owned a Batman suit. I could go on, but you get the idea. I am still a nerd today and have decided after some not-so-gentle pushing (you know who you are) to write these articles in the hope that you, fair readers, will stay true to your nerd roots as the years inevitably march on.
As Ben Folds once sang, it sucks to grow old. You cannot stop the aging process; you can only hope to contain it. Your only defense against the process is to stay true to yourself. And that means once a nerd, always a nerd. I was foolish enough to deny my inner nerd from my mid-20s to my mid-30s. I lost a decade of the things that meant the most to me. Fortunately, I realized the folly of my ways (with the help of a very close friend), and I decided that it was neither wrong, nor psychotic, to reach out to nerd friends, get a nerd job, find a nerdette and raise my kids as nerdlings. Growing up is not the gradual erosion of that which you love. Growing up is the integration of your life with your commitments and obligations. So, how does one reconcile the joys of nerddom with the crushing responsibilities of the real world? I am sorry we are out of time. But, stay tuned for further installments of The Other Side of the Hill. Next up: The Nerd Employment Agency.
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So there you have it folks! Have a suggestion for how you retained your nerd identity while going through life? Discuss it in the forums!
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