I find myself ill-equipped to support a teenager going through their cool-tough-popular-rebellious phase, because I was never any of those things. My narrow, gaunt face did not allow me to be cool. My skeletal frame and inability to develop any muscle mass prevented me from being tough. Professing a love of reggae and hip hop …
In life, it seems, I am forever destined to take up the role of defender of geeks. Geek advocate general. Always at the ready to stand up for the nerdy ones in their hour of need. Aways on hand to fight their corner. If anyone’s going to be set upon for no reason whatsoever by …
I suppose I was a rather serious teenager thirty years ago. But then why not? That was the era of the Bosnian War, Rwandan Genocide and the end of Apartheid in South Africa. While my peers were enjoying a party life, I was found publishing a homemade magazine devoted to human rights and development. No …
Be patient. Don’t despair. This is the advice I would give my younger self, and those still struggling with that dark despondency today. I empathise with young people who feel hopeless, overcome with gloom as they await their turn in life: for things to turn around. It’s hard when you’re stuck in the middle of …
Does a nerd see themself as a nerd? I certainly didn’t. I was into my thirties before I embraced this identity. Mine was a complex identity, anyway. Stereotypically, nerds are brainy, bright and intellectual, whereas I was none of those things. As a kid at school put it when another called me a square: “No, …
I will always stand with and up for those who are mocked and derided by society. However shy and timid people may think I am, this is the natural reflex of one likewise ridiculed by others. In that instant, I don’t feel cowed to speak my mind, coming to another’s defence. It has always been …
It’s true that I was a nerd then, and I am a nerd now. The only difference is that I used to flee what I was, but now I embrace it. Indeed, I reconciled myself to what I am long ago.
It is always painful to recall that I was rejected because I was a loser. For some years, I put it down to prejudice, but now I know it was simply because I was the archetypal geek, forever derided.
I used to be extremely timid in company. These days I find myself accidentally challenging people when they start making sweeping generalisations and outlandish claims. I don’t mean to be contrary. But really, someone needs to be the dissenting voice, offering an alternative perspective. Even if everyone thinks that the dissenting one is an idiot as …
Dearly beloved, When I was first getting into graphics, I yearned for a Mac (but could not afford one). That was way back when they were beige: not cool, but highly functional. However, when they started that whole PC vs. Mac (Geek vs. Mr Cool) campaign, that really killed it for me. I can see …
