How to be a nerd

I've heard that the best way to learn is to make a series of connections in your brain, which would - somewhat ironically - create a spiderweb of sorts in your skull.  The more you learn, the more latent pathways can be subconsciously awakened, allowing you to jump from one topic to something seemingly completely unrelated.

Clearly this does not have to relate to merely science, but as science is my quasi-expertise, for me it often does.  For example, when I am frustrated, I commonly say/type "ARGH!"  However, after a course in which we were 'forced' to memorize all of the amino acids and their structures, "ARGH!" soon took on a whole new life as the frustration peptide:

This peptide is cool for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the resemblance of part of the side chain of arginine (highlighted in red) to the flux capacitor of "Back to the Future" fame:

(borrowed from instructables.com)

These webs of connections create endless possibilities for inside jokes, nerded up pop culture references, and snarky apparel as can be seen by the sheer number of sites marketing t-shirts referring to LeBron James leaving the Cavs, for example.  Hey, I've got a number of ideas for such shirts myself.

Regardless of what you're into, the truth of being a nerd is just to be into it.  Be unabashed and outspoken and enthusiastic.  So what if people think you're crazy because of how excited you get every time you discuss your college D & D campaigns?  Let your freak flag fly and your mind wander through the paths you've slowly been building all your life.