ArtisticallyChill

• Playing 21 in front my parents’ garage.
• Going for a drive in the Camaro.
• Softball.
• Sitting next you, both of us trying to play our clarinets at our family X-mas concert.
• Staying up late on the holidays.
• Talking about computer problems, always asking, “Did you check the BIOS?”
• Just talking, joking around, and laughing out loud.
• Listening to you play the organ and the piano.
• Seeing you carry yourself tall when it seems like you’ve got the weight of the whole world on your shoulders.

Missing you bro!

~ Jeff

I looking into doing some online journalism for a website and got in touch with the editor last week. He asked me to write a brief essay on what the term ‘Minority Nerd’ meant to me. So here’s what I wrote:

Hello. My name is Jeff Castaneda, and I’m a Minority Nerd. Though I prefer to be called a Majority Geek (just Geek for short), because people I encounter often get confused when make this distinction. The biggest confusion is thinking that Nerd and Geek are 100% the same thing.

For those reading that aren’t quite sure what the exact difference is, a Nerd is someone with a very high intellectual grasp in a particular field of science and does not mind showing you how they are a master at it. For example, a mathematician by the name of Grisha Perelman solved the Poincaré conjecture, a famous problem regarding the nature of space. A true landmark in mathematics, but to me, I could care less that rabbits are spheres.

A Geek is someone with a high intellectual and sometimes controversial grasp of pop culture. Some could say that Geeks are a bit obsessive. From comics, TV, movies, to videogames, even books, a Geek has a very high opinion on certain topics and will often go at war with each other, spewing facts from the fiction they praise to prove they are in the right. For example, Can a lightsaber cut through adamantium? Please take moment to discuss this with others if you wish.

A Minority Nerd is a person who doesn’t have high intellectual grasp in a particular field of science but always interested about such topics and will do their best to understand these things so long as their head does not explode. I often find myself watching or reading about theoretical physics, I am awestruck about theories and postulates but could care less about the math and formulas behind it.
A Minority Nerd will often remember such trivial data or fact just out of pure interest but will unlikely mention it in conversation. This usually goes hand in hand with the interest in science. I won’t mention my fascination with static warp bubbles to my family let alone a complete stranger. My family would say, “Oh that’s nice.” Whereas a stranger might look at me funny than decided to spray my face with pepper spray and call the cops.

A Minority Nerd is often found to be adept at handling technology rather well. Any problem with a computer I can usually figure out. I am a hobbyist as well, having built several computers for my family. But with that kind of aptitude comes some responsibility. My family has labeled me their Tech Support when it comes to all things technology based. From programming VCRs to helping my mom download attachments from her emails, I find myself getting phone calls and emails from family mostly when there’s something wrong with their PC or other gadget. And when over the phone support is not working, I’ll usually find myself making house calls. It’s not too much of burden, especially when I can score a free meal out of it.

As a Minority Nerd, I scour the Internets for information I find interesting to me and that would interest others nerds. I then would share my find with others in any form of social networking. This could be an IM, a tweet, a shared note in Google Reader, or if I really want to voice my opinion on the topic, a blog post.

However, as a Minority Nerd, I am not entirely living on the Internets or, as they say, on the grid. I read books that interest me and range from a variety of subjects, in both fiction and non-fiction. But these books still reflect that I am a Minority Nerd. Currently I’m reading UP TILL NOW, William Shatner’s autobiography. And if you thought Shatner was a deep man of wisdom as the Priceline Negotiator, you’re just scratching the surface and need to read this book! Reading and collecting comics have been a passion of mine since high school. I have grown from loyal reader as a teen to picky reader as an adult. It’s hard enough to keep track of what little continuity comics have but when there’s a drastic change, or the story is just plain awful, it’s just a waste of money. Spiderman: Brand New Day? PASS. Secret Invasion? Don’t think so. FINAL CRISIS, Batman R.I.P., Green Lantern? Sure, why not. Visiting my local comic book store is probably my favorite thing to do during the week since it only comes on New Comics Day, which is usually Wednesday. Many a great debates have been had by me, the store owner and other patrons. Which if were recorded and put on YouTube would be tagged with ‘NERDS’. TV and movies also help me escape the grid and reality. Almost 90% of what I watch on TV is either on the Discovery Channel, Bravo, A&E, Science Channel etc. Like comics, I am very picky with what movies I watch. I usually don’t give into any hype. I didn’t see Cloverfield. And when I borrowed the DVD from my brother, I just didn’t seem into the whole concept and the Blair Witch style of cinematography. My brother said if I went to one website and read the content, I’d maybe understand the movie a bit more. If I’m going to watch a movie then have to visit a website to get closure, then it’s not worth my time and money to see the movie in the first place.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to grow up with D&D but I was fortunate to grow up with videogames. Since the Atari 2600, I have been an avid gamer and over the years my tastes in games have changed. I no longer wanted to be the first kid on the block with the newest games. I look at things like story, depth of character, depth of gameplay and replayability. Too me, videogames aren’t just about cutting edge graphics anymore. I look at all these qualities and ask myself, “Is this game worth my time and money?” Take WOW for example. It has a deep lore behind it and the gameplay is very deep in terms of your character’s progression. But I feel I shouldn’t have to pay to play. Just buying the game should be enough. When I look at the monthly costs versus how much time I can allocate to the game, it just doesn’t benefit me at all. I don’t hate MMOs at all, and actually play GUILD WARS instead. It has just the same amount of depth as WOW, just done differently, and it’s free to play online. And when I do play, I will usually spend 2-3 hours researching quests, finding out which skills I should acquire and even hitting the forums to read up on any changes made during an update. Then I log in 4-5 hours of MMO good times, playing with others.

Being a Minority Nerd isn’t something I’m ashamed of. It is something that I wouldn’t change for the simple fact that any other iteration of myself is not truly a reflection of who I really am. I’m not a full blown Nerd and I am thankful for my parents not guiding me down that route in my childhood development. Do I ever wish I was that kind of Nerd? Working in a lab, or at desk surrounded by PHDs, and textbooks, making close to six figures or more? When I look at my desk, overflowing with action figures, comics and videogames, I think not. I love being that Geek with a dash of Nerd.

I tried my very best to keep it readable and not sound like I was going off on a tangent. I hope you enjoyed it, and at the same time, got to know me a little bit more.

~ LoneWolf