And It Begins…

Welcome to Call Yourself A Nerd.

I’m Ricky, and I guess I’ll take the time to introduce the new site and myself. In doing so, I have to let you all know up front: I call myself a nerd. I have been since I was a wee lad. I was introduced to my gateway drug – comic books – when my uncle gave a box full of comics to my brother, Danny, and me. These comics ranged from Thor to Batman to Spawn. I was hooked immediately. My family would sell at local flea markets on the weekend, and sure enough, my brother and I were scavenging the various lots in search of comic books. We tracked down our local comic shops. We were hooked.

The pair of us also spent a large amount of time in front of the television. At first, it was primarily cartoons. We were children in the tail-end of the 80s, and the after-school and Saturday morning cartoons were at their peak. We watched Transformers, GI Joe, Centurions, TMNT, and Ren and Stimpy. We especially loved the Simpsons. As the 90s came along, we continued plopping down in front of the boob tube watching everything Nickelodeon and MTV had to offer. TGIF was going strong on ABC and shows like Family Matters and Boy Meets World were weekly staples. As time went on, there wouldn’t be a time when there wasn’t a set list of shows we had to watch.

Movies were a huge part of our childhood as well. We’d watch our favorite classics like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robocop, Batman and Star Wars. Spending time with some of our older siblings, we were introduced to other things we’d never thought to enjoy like The Last Dragon, Over the Top, and Howard the Duck. Double features at the mall and nights at the drive-in were some of my personal favorite family excursions.

And with trips to drive-ins and flea markets, there also came arcades and video games. Games like Altered Beast, Raiden, and Donkey Kong ate up our allowances. Back home, we would play Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on the NES. We would later get other gaming consoles like the Sega Genesis, N64, Playstation (One and 2), and Xbox. We battled in Mortal Kombat. We raced through loops in Sonic the Hedgehog. We got killed by Cuccos in Legend of Zelda. If there has been one thing that has gobbled up more of our time, it would be video games.

This is just a taste of the things my brother and I love and nerd out about. We’ll talk about all of these topics – both nostalgic and up-to-date – and more. We also have my brother’s girlfriend, Natalia, writing about her interests including books and music. Before I say farewell, I want to let you know that we look forward to hearing your responses so don’t forget to leave comments below. Check back soon for more from us, and remember: “Call yourself a nerd.“