Being a nerd isn't what it used to be. Though many movies and TV shows will still show the nerd getting stuffed into lockers and shunned by the cool kids. The real situation these days, however, is that the nerds are the cool kids. Mainstream movies are filled with comic book, high fantasy, and supernatural dark creature themes. So much so, in fact, each midnight release is like a small comic con with fans coming dressed up in their favorite characters gear. Even the people not brave enough to don a cowl, will complement and take pictures with other fans who went the extra mile. So in light of our current ME shirt, I've decided to showcase 10 of my favorite things that make me so happy to be a nerd in 2019.

 Magic the Gathering:

 Whether you are a card game nut or just love putting together a difficult and complex strategy Magic has so much to offer. One of the biggest card games in the world Magic found me back when I was about 9 years old and my brother brought home some decks and booster packs to open from his new job and offered to teach me how to play. Ever since it has been one of my favorites of the board/card game genre. 

Not only has Magic jump-started many simpler spin-off card games like Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh (The format of those games obviously not the theme.) But each card is also illustrated with fantastic fantasy art from artists all over the world. Magic even enjoyed a couple sets of completely joke cards, one of my favorites being a small ice skating mouse drinking hot coacoa called "The Infernal Spawn of Evil". 

And of course there's Friday Night Magic, a cheap to enter tournament held at almost any comic book/card/nerd shop you can find. And I've yet to find one that doesn't have a regular flow of customer coming in just for that. It's always fun to sit down and get to know other people and the strategies they can put together with the small fairly random deck you get to make (and keep) to try and rise to the top and win more free cards. 

MCU: 

As I mentioned above nerd movies are the blockbusters these days and none more so than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only do you get the action heroes of old (Captain America joke for ya), but you get amazing futuristic sci-fi elements and straight up fantasy. Where else can you enjoy watching a cocky billionaire in a homemade robot suit get a moon thrown at him by a giant purple alien wearing a magic glove?! 

If all that wasn't enough it all fits together in a series spanning over 20 movies now that somehow seem to make sense. Marvel has become such a big and widely known name that even though Captain Marvel just came out this March, Avengers Endgame will come out just about a month later and probably break all those records again. (150 points to your Hogwarts house if you can predict how they fix everything in the comments!).

Stranger Things: 

Netflix, as far as recent shows, hasn't been doing too shabby. But my favorite Netflix show, or movie for that matter, has to be Stranger things! If any show tells you that nerds are the top today it's this one. Every season starts off with a classic game of D&D between friends then quickly submerges you into finger biting supernatural suspense.

Bringing back the old thriller/horror movie style like Poltergeist, put together with an extremely talented cast of actors and amazing effects has you binge-watching the entire season as soon as humanly possible while simultaneously dreading how long that means you'll have to wait for another season! speaking of which, only around 3 months left! 

The Dragon Prince: 

Ok so Stranger things is amazing but even any show comes close to dethroning it as Netflix best series in my book it is Dragon Prince. It follows a teenage boy, voiced by the same voice actor who voiced SOKKA, trying to find his place alongside his younger half brother as they travel the kingdom trying to make sure all the races don't start trying to kill each other. It's kind of a terrible synopsis but WATCH IT!

Also, did I mention this whos is brought to you by the same people who made Avatar: The Last Airbender, A.K.A The people who brought you Sokka the FIRST time! 

Pro Gaming: 

Remember when you were a kid and you found a really really fun video game that you didn't want to stop playing to go to school or to the bathroom, or to... Eat. Well now you can do that and get PAID FOR IT. Though I don't recommend forgoing meals or probably school, in todays world all those poeple that told you video games are just a waste of time, they'll rot your brain. Well go pro in your favorite game and chances are you can be pretty well off. 

My personal favorite game right now, Rocket League, has several tournaments a year with the most recent of which with a prize pool of $1,000,000.00. I'd love to 'waste my time' on those winnings. 

Comicon: 

These things get bigger and spread farther every year. This year my local Comicon here in Phoenix, known as Phoenix Fan Fusion, will have guests such as, Jeff Goldblum, our beloved chaos theory scientist and grandmaster, as well as one of our favorite hobbits Elijah wood, Matthew Lewis (NEVILLE FREAKIN LONGBOTTOM) and Chris Sarandon (A.K.A Prince Humperdinck from the princess bride). 

Comicon is one of my favorite places to visit every year (hopefully twice this year since the first one I went to obviously couldn't be missed because Tom Hiddleston). There are so many interesting things to see and people to meet. I often don't have much extra money when I visit over the actual ticket price but I love to go and walk around to see all the artwork and amazing cosplayers that come each year. And of course to get a picture of R2D2.

Dungeons & Dragons: 

Possibly the nerdiest thing on this list D&D has been around for years and though it is still not a part of every household like monopoly, it seems like more and more people I meet, at a nerd convention or not, plays the game. Not to mention there are so many extra tools these days to organize, find, and even run meetups that it's so much easier to find a group today that the real problem is just finding the best one (that's right, you get to pick!). And hey with so many extra people in the arena now you can even go the extra mile and make your own tabletop RPG like me and my friends did (It's based on DBZ and it's legit).

Harry Potter:

Harry Potter may well be one of the very things that drove all us nerds out of hiding. With a fantastic fantasy story about a society people with magic ability who are pretty keen on staying in hiding. With all the books, movies, spin-off books, and now spin-off movies Harry Potter is a widely recognized and cherished name. So much so that nowadays you can basically walk up to a complete stranger and ask them what house they are from and what form their Patronus takes and they won't think you're a complete loon.

Star Wars:

Yup, it's back, and man did it come back hard! Although Solo and Episode VIII weren't some of my favorites, Episode VII and Rogue One really brought back the nostalgia and feel of Star Wars that I missed so much from the originals. If it weren't for Avengers Endgame coming out next month I would probably know just how many days were left until I put my Jedi robe back on and tote my lightsaber off to the theater for my private party showing with the Brinkerhoff movie box subscription. 

Brandon Sanderson:

I almost just said Mistborn here, but Brandon Sanderson has built such a big fantasy universe that just listing one of his book series isn't enough. If you are into fantasy reading you seriously need to take a look at Brandon Sanderson's books. Every book I've read of his are amazing and constantly make me crave more and he's written A LOT. My two personal favorite series' are Mistborn and The Stormlight Archives. 

Sanderson's books put together so well, with detailed characters you actually care about, seriously engaging plot and unique ways to use and implement magic every book is similar but completely unique and the same time. And one thing I LOVE about his books is that they are all within the same universe that Sanderson calls the Cosmere. I'm hoping someday that means these books may come to some sort of culmination 

Sci-Fi:

Science fiction used to be either a joke or one of the nerdiest interests you can have. But today even Star Trek became mainstream for a time, I still like the new movies with Chris Pine and am a little sad to see them come to an end. We even get the hardcore science nerd movies like Interstellar which I geeked out to the whole way through explaining to my wife every theory the movie was trying to portray as it came across the screen probably driving her nuts. 

Then, of course, there are the Enders Game and Enders Shadow series of books, up to 20 books in total, and the spin-off prequel Trilogies, The First and Second Formic wars. 

No matter your nerdy pleasure there's just so much out there to be a part of today that sometimes it's just hard to find enough time for all the things you love.