Being a nerd in Denver was a little more fun last weekend.
Walking through the packed convention center of the annual Comic Con, seeing people dressed as their favorite characters, eagerly searching through boxes of comic books and pouring over collectors' editions reminded me how freeing it is to wear one's nerdiness in the open.
Comic Con, held June 17-19, also reminded me how similar dedication to a scene or art form can be.
Much like those at Comic Con, I've got drawers full of T-shirts of my favorite bands from Colorado concert stops and treat them like rare memorabilia that needs protection.
I, too, have dug through crates for rare and hard-to-find additions to my music library.
Like some of the people I spoke to at Comic Con, I can be a completist. If I find a band that I really love, I have a tendency to want to get their full discography, just like comic fans collecting their favorite characters or series.
And I become wildly excited (even though I know it's a cash grab) by collectors' editions of my favorite albums.
The debates I overheard about what makes a particular writer's or artist's run with a character better than others reminds me of debates about which of The Yardbirds' lineups was best or when Van Halen made its best music. There were conversations about the incredibly long run and different eras of Stan Lee (who finally appeared this year) that could've easily been about the many faces and phases of Bob Dylan.
The longer I spent at the con, the more I realized it was the feeling of unity --; of everyone speaking the same language --; that is most alike in comic and music nerdom.
I recently spoke to Ross Moreno, a Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design student and video game designer, about why he loves comic cons and their culture.
"I'm always excited about Comic Con because it's the meeting place of my people," he told me. "They're the patrons of imagination."
I know exactly what he meant --; I get the same feeling of camaraderie inspecting shelves side by side with other fans at record stores, or looking at the people around me at concerts.
These are my people, and just like comic cons, music welcomes everyone: There are no prerequisites, no standards for ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
If the music moves a person, stimulates his imagination or makes her feel something, then we belong.
Both music and comic culture are about taking the artist's emotions, dreams and ideas and giving them a form that can be shared and appreciated by anyone. Most people crave that feeling of belonging, of being understood. If they find it in either one of these cultures, they are in good company.
Patrons of the imagination, indeed.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Enjoying-the-camaraderie-of-nerds,220520?branding=15
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