Ryan A. Hörst
Male. Born in the June of ‘81. You see a cane in the picture above because I use it periodically due to a knee injury I received on a field training exercise in March of ‘07. I like all things outdoors – hiking, rock climbing, camping, hunting, etc… I haven’t tried any of those since my knee injury, but I’m sure it won’t deter me too much. I also like guns. All kinds of guns. Big fan. Huge fan, actually. I also like bullwhips, tomahawks, and long knives and own several of each (a few that were more expensive than some of my guns).
I’m a bit of a nerd (that’s a lie, I’m a huge nerd), so I summarily like the sci-fi and fantasy genres. I’ve loved Star Wars since I was old enough to know what an Ewok was, and that’s just been my “gateway drug”, so to speak, to the other great sci-fi flicks such as Stargate, Firefly/Serenity, some of the Star Trek shows, Aliens, Battlestar Galactica, etc… For fantasy I have The Princess Bride (though my true love is Princess Aurora [a.k.a Sleeping Beauty]. Don’t laugh… she’s hot), Lord of the Rings, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc… Somewhere in between is my comic book nerdom. My all-time favorite super hero is Batman, and I love the two movies that have completely reinvented Batman as a film hero (you know… since those other four don’t really count).
I’m also very big into roleplaying games (more nerdom here), specifically those put out by Wizards of the Coast: Star Wars Saga Edition, Dungeons & Dragons, d20 Modern. They’re just fun. It’s like… “let’s pretend”, with rules, and for adults (it’s how I justify it… shut up). It’s very hard to find a good group to game with, though. Trust me on this one, you can’t just game with any group of people. Now, before I give off the wrong impression, I want to waylay what a lot of you think is roleplaying. I’m not running out into traffic with the old Nintendo blaster trying to shoot the “robot invaders” that have taken the form of a semi-truck, nor am I terrorizing squirrels in the city park with my wooden sword because they might be were-squirrels (though I’ve got a few theories about squirrels if anyone’s willing to listen). All my buddies and I do is sit around a table rolling some dice and drinking soda and eating cheetos (my personal favorite). We are not “LARPers” (which stands for Live Action RolePlayers). Those punks are freaky… and should have their lunch money stolen for giving gamers a bad name.
A word about my banner. Some pop-culturally astute readers might recognize the resemblance between my banner and the “House, MD” tv show logo (thanks to my awesome buddy Trey for making it!). And you would be very astute, indeed. Up until about the Fall of ‘07, I had never seen an episode of House, but I kept having friends and family (my mother swears this) tell me that we are VERY alike – quick-witted, brutally honest (to the point of being mean), doesn’t care about hurting people’s feelings, stand-offish, sarcastic, right 98% of the time, that sort of thing. When I got the cane for my knee injury, it was inevitable that a lot of people started calling me “House”. So, I started watching it, and lo and behold I noticed the similarities myself… and it was a little scary. Kind of cool, but still a little scary. However, pretty much if you like the character of Dr. House, you’ll like me.
So there you have it. A little bit more into my life. Welcome to my little corner of the internet. Just don’t try to get too close and things won’t get any uglier.
Nerd is an understatement
<3
I think you need to look up the difference between “nerd” and “geek”, because you are most definitely the latter. And yes, there is a difference. There’s like a Grand Canyon between them. I, however, am a nerd.
Charlene, Charlene, I think I might take offense at that.
From dictionary.com:
Nerd – Noun, Slang; an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit
Geek – Noun, Slang; a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual
I do not consider myself dislikable in the least.
I most definitely was not referring to THOSE definitions. I was thinking the more urban definitions.
Denotation for “nerd” from urbandictionary.com:
“A person who gains pleasure from amassing large quantities of knowledge about subjects often too detailed or complicated for most other people to be bothered with.
Non-nerds are often scared of nerds, due to their detailed knowledge, and therefore seemingly high levels of intelligence – and subsequently denegrate them as much as possible as often as possible.
Nerds exist covertly within the fabric of society, often choosing to ‘nerd it up’ in private or in the company of fellow nerds. It is for this reason they are feared the most – unlike geeks, who are easily identified, nerds can only be found out when casual conversation reaches a subject that they like nerding.
Geek: “I am a nerd”
Nerd: “Let’s bash this nerd”
…
Nerd: “That’ll teach you to go playing with my tesla coil”"
“Geek” from the same source:
“It doesn’t seem to refer to ‘computer programmers’ as much as it once did when computers weren’t so damn cool handy. Geeks are pretty much people who have a real understanding for a certain topic eg Films, music, cars. It’s usualy that they are totaly obsessed about the topic, or it’s just something they think alot on.”
A list about geeks I find humorous:
“10 Signs that you’re a geek!
1. You have a “My other car is a Millenium Falcon” bumper sticker on your car.
2. You think your retainer resembles a Klingon Warship.
3. You can can tell what speed a computer is connecting just by the sound the modem makes.
4. You think your computer speaks to you in English.
5. You can write papers in Binary.
6. You use a VoiceModem headset when making calls.
7. Your idea of a house party is snacking on Rice Krispy Treats and watching Tron.
8. You’ve seen The Guyver.
9. You have the TIE Fighter ion cannon as your ringtone.
10. You call your bedroom the Fortress of Solitude.”