Who is the Nerd in a Blue Hoodie?
My name is Stephen and I am from New Orleans, LA. I grew up with three brothers and we were always getting into all sorts of nerdy fights (who would win in a fight between Professor Xavier and Magneto, who’s stronger: Spider-Man or Thor, and so on). Back in those early days, we’d spend hours playing with Lego characters to reenact those battles and many more. I loved video games, reading books, playing Magic the Gathering (MTG), and watching great fantasy movies (i.e. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc).
In grammar school, I started to meet other nerdy friends. We’d play MTG together or dig into Lord of the Rings books to try to figure out how elvish worked, etc. Video games and nerdy things were how I connected with people and how I started to grow creatively.
For all of my nerdy pursuits, one thing that was consistent for me was my desire to create. I loved building new decks from the random MTG cards I had obtained (oftentimes a single interesting mechanic or card would be enough to inspire a whole deck). I would play games like Oblivion or Skyrim for hours and hours on multiple playthroughs because I would keep coming up with new character ideas and concepts. Before selecting my first Dungeons & Dragons character, I invented a character for each class and imagined how I might play through that character’s level progression before ultimately deciding on one that fit our group and adventure. For me, “Nerd in a Blue Hoodie” is first and foremost a place to share these ideas and see what comes of it.
The iconic (some would say “over-used”) Blue Hoodie came into its own during high school and college. It became my go-to jacket for most of the year as New Orleans never gets that cold. Unassuming and comfy, I always felt good in my blue hoodie and I wore it to many events throughout the years.
College brought me to Alabama and the University thereof. I studied Electrical Engineering and Physics and continue to study nerdy things for fun! In these years I also got to meet some of my nerdy heroes like LittleKuriboh (Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series) and Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd from Power Rangers).
(Also, how cool of a name is Axelrod?)
In college I also met the love of my life, Elizabeth. She’s not a nerd, but I still love her. She’s also smarter than me (Master’s > Bachelor’s).
After college I moved to Texas and joined my first full Dungeons & Dragons campaign (I had started a game back in college, but we didn’t make it past the first session… poor Rofl Mafao is still in a prison somewhere…). During that campaign I rediscovered my love for creating and imagining RPG characters in a fantasy setting. I had mentally invented half a dozen characters and backstories before I even realized it! I started to think about what it would be like to create and share those ideas with a larger audience, but didn’t pursue anything at the time.
My next (and current) adventure brought me to Philadelphia, PA! Here I finally started my first Dungeons & Dragons campaign and got to breathe life into some of the characters I had been imagining this whole time. But even that wasn’t enough and I wanted to create more and share more and learn more, so I started Nerd in a Blue Hoodie: a place to be nerdy and have fun sharing it!
Now, the blue hoodie lives on through this blog. I do still have the ol’ jacket, but it doesn’t get a lot of use these days. I also replaced it with a newer version, so I am still often seen with a blue hoodie on… so I guess the blue hoodie lives on through that too… anywho…
My name is Stephen, I am the Nerd in a Blue Hoodie and I hope you have fun reading my content! It will be here for you whenever you need it 🙂
What is “Nerd in a Blue Hoodie” about?
“Nerd in a Blue Hoodie” came about because of a desire within myself to discuss nerdy topics, create characters, and share and learn about what people love.
This blog is a safe space to be nerdy and to share it! Disagreements are welcome here, but please do not attack the person or ideas they have!
Sample:
1) Person-A says, “I believe that *this* is true.”
2) Person-B says, “That’s stupid, *this* is stupid and anyone who believes *this* is stupid.” Person B is promptly kicked off of this site and their IP address is shared with the dark web 😊.
3) Person-C says “While I can see why *this* may be true, I personally believe *that* because of *reasons*”. Person-C is commended for their feedback and bards forever sing the tale of Person-A and Person-C and their amity. People are welcome to agree with Person-A or Person-C to their hearts’ content, publicly or privately 👍.
Shout-outs
Our logo was designed by Lily Fitzgibbons, check out more of her work at the link below!
