The Northern Nerd

There are always things we wish we could tell our friends, but maybe the right opportunity hasn’t presented itself. Maybe there were too many people around or the thought comes a little too late. Whatever the case may be, there’s always going to be words of encouragement that we wish we could breathe life into amongst our friends. Over the years, I’ve had some friends come in and out of my life and ones that have stuck around. Regardless of how long I’ve known you for, there

There appears to be a common misconception when it comes to small town life. Many people see getting out of their small town as a means of “making it.” There are many cases in which this is true. Home life in small towns isn’t always easy. Many parents aren’t around that much due to work or because they like to have too much fun down at the local bar. Maybe people leave and never come back because they felt isolated. Small town life can be hard for someone that is young and s

I’m tired of the narrative that is fed to me by society. “You’re not a man until you have sex,” is what is often said, and if I don’t talk about “hitting that” then they’ll call me gay. For one not to take a woman home with them after a night out with friends is commonly deemed “a failed evening.” There’s no conquest, no early morning shuffle to leave before she wakes up, no awkward exchange of “I’ll text you later,” and then you never hear from them again. It’s a societal no

Don't get me wrong, work life can be great. I have met some of my closest friends through work, but there are also those people that you dread working with. These people aren't necessarily terrible employees, but there's just something about them that's, well, "different." The Newbie Who Is Clueless. It seems like you are always training someone in. They have no idea what is going on half the time even after you have explained things to them countless times. If you didn't hav

Society tells you a lot of things. It tells you what clothes to wear, what movies to watch, what shoes you should be wearing, what music you should be listening to, what is beautiful, what is ugly, etc. I could go on and on about what society is constantly trying to tell us. It changes from year to year. One thing might be practiced or perceived a certain way one day and the next; the previous thing is totally obsolete. In a world that’s constantly changing, I want you to kno

The peroxide that soaked into my wounds wasn’t the only thing that made me cry when I was growing up. I cried when shampoo got into my eyes. I cried at the dinner table when it was meatloaf night again. (Sorry, Mom.) I cried at the grocery store when my parents caught me trying to sneak a Snickers bar onto the checkout counter. I cried when I wasn’t invited to birthday parties. And then—I stopped crying. Crying was something that I simply lost the ability to do. Crying was if