A Nerd of Many Colors

I suppose there comes a time in everybody's life when he or she thinks that his or her thoughts or interests are important enough for somebody else to want to read, and with every interest now having a community brought together by the interwebs, a lot of these people have been right in thinking this.  Maybe I'm overestimating myself here a little bit, but here I am, hoping to be counted among those the the collective internet consciousness deems worth reading.  I guess you can blame it on my frustration with the good old-fashioned physical world and the people I encounter in it.  Don't get me wrong I love all the people in my life very much, but I'm overflowing with the kinds of hobbies and interests that one amasses by spending his formative years as a reclusive introvert, and I find that trying to share these interests conversationally all too often results in glassy eyed disinterest.  Not that I can blame anybody for such a reaction, but it left me in need of an outlet for sharing my thoughts on the various nerd cultures that I dip my toes into, and to that end here we are in the Magpie Nest.


For anybody who doesn't know what a magpie is, it's this little black and white bird that's famous for picking up shiny and colorful objects from wherever it can find them and adding them to its nest.  In this way, I've grown up amassing interests and hobbies that seem shiny and colorful to me at the time and cultivating them.  Most of these interests and hobbies fall into categories that get lumped into the umbrella of the greater "nerd" culture, which in the new nerd dominated twentieth century can basically just means anything that you enjoy un-ironically.  This all leaves me with a fairly broad wheelhouse to work in, and I want it to be that way.  If I accomplish nothing more through this than finding a few more people to discuss these interests with, then mission accomplished.  To give any of you readers an idea of what we might be working with, here's a list of things that you might find me talking about and what they mean to me.  

Classical Music

What most of the world refers to as classical music, or western art music if we wish to discern it from music specifically from the classical period, is somewhat beyond being just an interest or hobby and is my chosen major (in the form of trombone performance) and thus, hopefully, my chosen profession.  It is also an art form that, probably always, but especially in the last hundred years or so has developed a reputation for being somewhat, well, up its own ass, to the point that it's primarily enjoyed by the musicians who make it and bored rich people who don't quite full grasp it.  And while that reputation is not entirely unearned, I hope to disavow the shit out of that notion.  After all, if a simple rural Nebraskan like myself can develop such a love for it, I there's more accessibility there than many people realize.  Most of the personal experience type blog stuff might fall here, as get out and play in various contexts with other musicians.

From a trombone recital I put on in April 2013.

Rock Music

I've read in ancient history books of a time where rock and roll music ruled the world, but by the time I was old enough to care, with the exception of post-grunge ear torture, rock music was mostly a niche market kept alive my nostalgia more than any new interest.  Now, of course, that's not strictly true and it's had its ups and downs, but for the most part, being a rock fan, at least in the way I was, was not normal or main stream for a person my age.  I couldn't help it though, I got my first guitar when I was 14 and never looked back.  While I don't play in a rock band anymore, I was in and out of quite a few for a while, and I still love to get out and play when I can.  Of course, "rock" is such a broad term, but I'll elaborate music more in future.

Me and my telecaster in 2011. Note the Who shirt.

Comic Books

I think I was five or six when I got shown this big box of old comics that had just been chilling in grandma's house for several years.  I think they had belonged to my uncle when he was growing up, and as I'm not sure what happened to them, I think he may have reclaimed them at some point, but I was hooked when I had them.  I remember that there was some real classics in there, like the classic The New Teen Titans books, some of the old JLA/JSA crossovers including the famous The Flash of Two Worlds, and the bronze age Green Lantern/Green Arrow books where they walk across America getting all political.  I remember this was just after the Superfriends re-runs started airing on Cartoon Network, and I thought these comics were just the coolest things I had ever seen, and would think so even more in the near future when my mind would be blown by Batman the Animated Series.  I've been a big DC comics fan ever since, in spite of all the dumb moves they've made lately, and of course my love is big enough for super hero comics everywhere.  

The cover of The Flash of Two Worlds

Films, Anime and Video Games

While I hardly qualify as knowing enough about these things to stand up next to the huge numbers of people who are already critiquing them, I will not hesitate to talk about them when I have something to say.  I've always loved these things, including and especially fantasy and science fiction offerings, and while I don't have all the time to devote to them, especially gaming, that I would like to have, they're still an active part of my life.

I know it's over two years old now, but I've never gotten over Skyrim.

Religion and Politics

For now I'll save any political stuff for the future, but really quickly on religion, while I was raised in a fairly religious environment, I have taken a wholly secular personal belief system and would likely identify as an atheist or agnostic depending on what day you ask me.  This all gets especially interesting, in that I still like church and hymns and tradition and prayer.  I've especially taken an interest in a prayer style in the manor of Taize, which has allowed my travel opportunities and built me a network of friends from all sorts of fascinating religious backgrounds.

 Me with one of many of my good friends and travel companions outside of Taize, France in 2011.

And I suppose that will do it.  The regularly scheduled sharing will likely commence tomorrow.  I look forward to it.  Thanks for reading everybody.  See you soon.