There are many, many different nerdy kinds of hobbies out there to enjoy. One of the oldest, however, is stamp collecting. Beginning in the mid 1800's shortly after stamps themselves first appeared in england, collectors have been nerding it up ever since in their quest to acquire as many cool looking stamps as possible.
Now, stamp collecting just got a whole lot nerdier while at the same time getting a whole lot cooler.
Pictured above are a new line of stamps set to debut in England this summer. The new line of stamps features a cast of mythological creatures including (from top left) a unicorn, a dragon, a giant, a pixie riding a snail, a mermaid and a fairy queen in a chariot. Adding to the stamps already high level of coolness is the fact that the images themselves were drawn by the incredibly fantasy artist Dave McKean who has worked on such projects as the Harry Potter films and (my personal favorite) the film Mirror Mask in which he worked with Neil Gaiman.
The stamps will be available for purchase on June 16th and I'm sure even us poor souls here in the US will be able to find a way to get them. Thank god for the internet.
It's probably just the old D&D player in me, but I would absolutely love a full sheet set of just the Dragon stamp. I wouldn't keep them forever as a collector or anything, but I would totally love to send out to all my friends on special event cards like christmas cards or wedding invitations. How rad would that be?
(Via GeekDad)
Wrong! Not nerdier, geekier... because it's geek-tastic, not nerd-tastic. Nerd and Geek are not the same.
ReplyDeleteThat's a subjective view. I've always seen them as very similar. There are small differences, to be sure. But a lot from the realm of nerd overlaps with the realm of geek.
ReplyDeleteI think this an important topic that should be addressed. True, some things do overlap, but most the conversations nerds have don't involve Watchmen, Star Trek or D&D. Nerds, like myself tend to learn towards tech and gadgets.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think it depends on your own definition of what you are. By what you said, you're a nerd because nerds are into computers. Which means that you believe comic fans are geeks.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Dictionary.com disagrees with you. I did a search of both words, and this is what it gave me:
NERD: an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit
GEEK: a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
By these definitions, comic fans are nerds. They are single-mindedly obsessed with the nonsocial hobby of reading comics. You, on the other hand, are a tech lover. You are a computer enthusiast, also known by many people by the term "computer geek".
Again, by these definitions, my headline for this article is correct. Stamp collecting is a nonsocial hobby and the people who do it can get obsessed into it, thus making them nerds.
Personally, I'm of the belief that these words really are interchangable and people's demands to define themselves as only one or the other are personal attempts by individuals to identify themselves and their perceived place in society. I think this is nonsense. I like comics and movies and stuff like that, but I also like technology and computers and gadgets. So which am I? A nerd or a geek? Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? I am both a nerd and a geek, therefore I should be able to use whichever word I wish when describing myself and my activities. I also know I am not the only person like me. I would argue most comic book fans and movie fans are also technology and computer fans too.
I really see this whole thing as an attempt by one large group of people with shared interests to fragment themselves into smaller, more easily identifiable groups. I understand that need, but neither the terms geek or nerd lend themselves to such detailed definitions. They are general terms to describe large groups of sub-set interests. Geek can describe hackers, IT guys, programmers, audiophiles or videophiles who always want the best tech for their home theaters, you name it. Nerd describes comic fans, anime fans, people who only read books, sci-fi fans, Trekkies, Star Wars fans, I could go on and on and on.
If you want to specifically define yourself, that's fine. But you're going to have to use more specific wording. Geek and nerd are general terms that describe pretty much everyone with vaguely (for lack of a better word) geeky interests.