In high school I considered myself an intellectual and British history nerd which I was, but it’s quite clear from my yearbooks that most people considered me a Lord of the Rings nerd (hi @lvvcsf !) which I also was. I can still write in Elvish and I’ve read the LOTR at least two dozen times and seen the movies and TV shows.
I still do a lot of nerd typical things, read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, play board games, do the NYT crossword puzzle every day, but I’m also a painter (watercolors and Chinese ink painting), a native plant enthusiast, and a lover of foreign languages and cultures.
And while I can’t really call myself a math nerd, I had enough interest and capability to nurture one. (But he morphed into a computer nerd and got less interested in number theory and all the cool stuff we used to do together.)
One of our favorite family lines was when my 6th gradeish son who wore glasses found out he needed braces and remarked “glasses and braces, I really am a nerd.” FWIW - he’s now a contact wearing, straight teeth, friendly and outgoing professional, who’s still slightly a nerd, especially about sports statistics.
I’m a research/read reviews before buying or booking nerd. My kids make fun of my favorite lines “Consumer Reports says…” or “I read on TripAdvisor…”
In middle school and high school I was a math nerd…. math team was my “team sport”. Went to a college with lots of people like me. But I like all subjects and ended up adding at technical communications concentration to my engineering degree.
It’s a subject I could go on about for hours but the short answer is some of the best performing and well-respected knives (in the knife nerd community) for relatively reasonable prices (e.g. under $350) are Takamura, Yoshikane, Shiro Kamo, and Myojin from the Japanese side. From the Western side in a similar price range I like Bjorn Birgersson and Frederick Spare (both Swedes).
There’s something in the water over there because there’s a ton of Swedes killing it with affordable (relative to Western makers generally, not in an absolute sense) great kitchen knives.
Besides Bjorn Birgersson and Frederick Spare there’s AG Klint, Patrik Carlvik (Smedja Aspen knives), and Jonas Johnsson (Isasmedjan knives) and probably others I’m not familiar with.
My personal pick of the litter for someone wanting their first nice handmade knife from a Swede would be Birgersson. Super nice guy (they all are) and fantastic high performance knives.
I was definitely the math and science NERD is high school. I received awards being the best STEM student in my junior and senior years. I was also one of the most un-coordinated klutzes there was and that added to my reputation. There were “rumors” that I couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Not true of course as I did an experiment to prove them wrong.
I think I might love you or want to be you some day. I used to think that Katharine Hepburn’s job in Desk Set was a dream job. Frankly, I still do, except that I definitely think that computers have swept away much of the superficial researcher’s job market. But looking up and learning about various random things? Wonderful. And when I was in grad school for a different humanities field, I realized I was heading in the wrong professional direction when I kept browsing the children’s lit section in the stacks and reading more books from the kids/young adult section of the public library than in my graduate field.
I would say I’m a generalist nerd, but I don’t fully geek out on any particular thing. Back when I was a freshman in high school we could select the topic for our debate class final. I chose colleges. Some things don’t change much . I am a big fan of Jane Austen and the fan fiction her work has inspired. I’ve also dipped my toes into other fan fic (The Magnificent 7 might have been some of the first I got into reading). I’m one of those who tends to do a fair bit of research for products I’m going to buy, and I’ve also done some research into knives and photography and other things, but I always seem to be more interested in learning about it than actually using it.
I don’t really track that category of knives, which I’d characterize as inexpensive soft German steel. Typified by Wusthof, Henckles, Global, Cutco, etc. - stainless CrMoV (chromium, molybdenum, vanadium) steel in the 52 - 58 HRC range, with a fairly thick grind, with or without a bolster, intended for the average user.
That class of knives with that type of steel are designed for general-purpose kitchen use for typical users. The soft steel and thick blade will bend rather than chip, so they’re safer for tough tasks like cutting though semi-frozen foods, chicken joints, etc. However since the steel is soft it doesn’t hold an edge very long, so these knives, combined with the thick blade, quickly become not-great to use for common cutting tasks like cutting vegetables.
Using a honing rod can help, which is why you see chefs with these types of knives frequently honing them. They’d likely benefit from frequent sharpening as well, but that has the drawback of moving the edge higher into the thicker part of the blade, further reducing cutting performance.
Anyway, in summary a good knife for people who just want a no-fuss knife to suit their current kitchen usage. But not a great choice for someone interested in really high-performance knives which make cutting significantly easier but which in turn require more care. Your beater Ford SUV vs expensive Porsche sports car type of dichotomy.
Haha!
I used to think that Katharine Hepburn’s job in 
. I am a big fan of Jane Austen and the fan fiction her work has inspired. I’ve also dipped my toes into other fan fic (The Magnificent 7 might have been some of the first I got into reading). I’m one of those who tends to do a fair bit of research for products I’m going to buy, and I’ve also done some research into knives and photography and other things, but I always seem to be more interested in learning about it than actually using it.