Recently a very artistically gifted friend of mine posted a comic of all his friends. Everyone was dressed up like their favorite cartoon character or drawn in the style of their favorite cartoons as a child. I was very flattered that he chose me as one of the people to draw in his comic. It really cheered me up when I was having a bad day and I got all excited over it that I wanted to show everyone. I was a little shy about showing people because I had to explain to everyone why I was dressed up like Rogue from the X-Men.

I am a nerd, and I'm a little embarrassed about it. Not a lot of people really get into the things I like and sometimes I get made fun of because of it. So I have remained mostly silent about my nerdy roots and interests and opted to become what I call a "closet nerd". I never talked about anything nerdy, tried to refrain from wearing my Star Wars shirts from school, and basically just tried to fit in. I have kept up this little facade until about a year or two ago, when I realized there were actually other people who shared my interests. It was really liberating to actually have other people who were like me! However, I still didn't go public with my love for all that is nerdy, until now.

Why is that? Why now and not a long time ago? Well, while I was showing the comic around to people someone told me "Oh Elise, it's okay. No one really cares about that stuff anyway. We'll still love you no matter what you are." Which meant a lot to me. It made me start to think about how I hid this side of myself away for so long and how much I hated it. What does it matter what people think about me? As long as I'm happy with myself, then does it really matter what other people think?

So what if I have the Zombie Survival Guide memorized and watch every zombie movie I get the chance to see? What does it matter that I am basically a walking encyclopedia of everything that is X-Men? Who really cares that I dig Star Wars (the original three, not the newer three) and kinda like Star Trek (it's my boyfriend's fault, never liked it before him). To be honest I love video games, especially the ones you play online with other people. I also really dig my Batman necklace and all my DC and Marvel themed T-Shirts (Marvel and DC are comic book brands for those of you who didn't know). I'm happy with myself and that's all that matters!

So hello world, I am a nerd!