An Epistle to the Nerds of the World

Well, after a weekend of playing land-battle games with family, I have come to an almost shocking conclusion. The nerds and geeks I grew up with and sincerely cherish with all of my heart are ignored and under-appreciated by the geeks and nerds of tomorrow. Be mindful, young nerds. Your very existence is made possible by your nerd-predessors. You stand on their very shoulders. You would not be able to wear your Anakin Skywalker t-shirts were it not for those who treasured their Luke Skywalker t-shirts of 20 years ago. Those of you who thrill to Gandalf the Grey on the extended DVDs can only do so because some geeks before you read and re-read The Hobbit even before it was a radio-drama or an animated cartoon. And where would you young nerds be without the invaluable resources of Star Trek fan pages complete with blue-prints and custom-built models of even the most obsucre Romulan shuttle craft. Countless nerds before you have blazed that path so you might benefit.

So young nerds and fellow geeks; your future is bright and your paths are golden. Memorize plenty of dialogue from Napoleon Dynamite and Homestar Runner. Play your WarCraft in your parents basement while eating your Cheetos. Cherish or criticize the Star Wars prequels as you choose. Only take a moment to remember those who lived for marathon showings of Star Trek:TNG; those who could sing every song from Monty Python's Holy Grail, or those who can quote every "Take off, you hoser!" from Strange Brew. Yes, your future is bright. So as you travel along the pathway of geekdom, reading your Harry Potter and listening to mp3's of Ralph Wiggam quotes, be sure to thank those who listened to Dr. Demento on the radio and played D&D while drinking all that Dr. Pepper. You would have likely ended up as some Goth dude if not for those early nerd pioneers.