you don’t have to be a nerd but....

YOu don't have to be a nerd to be into prog but it helps....

So …. What does it take to be into prog, what are the defining characteristics of the prog fan? To my mind...

be a boy: there are girls here I know, but by and large it’s a male-oriented genre due its pursuit of the arcane and plain weird.

Hey! I enjoy being different...as long as there are people who are different with me.

be a nerdy boy: prog seems to draw in those whose disposition leans towards obscurantism.

hmm..haw...I've always tried to shunt nerdiness and deny it...I just don't like the lifestyle of consequences of being a nerd.

be a nerdy boy with few friends: otherwise how would we all that time to listen endless amounts of side-long epics.

i've got time...time...I need money... I do have friends, 4 close friends, more at school; it's just that I have homework and by the time I finish it, "oh crap! it's 7 o clock! too late to do something with friends, too early for bed! I guess I'll go online and post worthless opinionated things on the forums!"

be a nerdy boy with few friends and a compulsive obsessive disorder: for the manic collection of the complete works of genesis/peter Gabriel/Steve Hackett/Tony Banks and even those hideous efforts by Rutherford and Collins just because of completism.

I'm no completionist, but I am somewhat OC. not so much now as I was when I was younger. 15-year-old slobbishness and carelessness counteracts obsessive compulsivity. Although I do switch my alarm clock button on and off, on and off, on and off, to make sure it works... but that's it really.

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder and a planet-sized ego: oh admit it, we all think we’re right all of the time and never read anybody else’s posts before adding our own impossibly opinionated blithering nonsense to the forum

Actually, I read everyone's posts before I post. This was a pain especially when I first posted on the Mariah thread...came in at 120 or something... (okay fine, I din't read all of that one.)

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder, a planet-sized ego and agoraphobia: which necessitates spending all one’s time see-sawing between turntable/cd player to listen to sidelong epics and computer to discuss merits of same.

Argophobia - adjective - fear of open places and social encounters. Nah, this is where I get off. I'm in Drama II class and am applying for jazz band. I even had to sing once for an audition...

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder, a planet-sized ego, agoraphobia and an intellectual superiority complex: so that when switching from turntable/cd player to computer to discuss sidelong epics, discussion of same revolves around other simply validating your opinion and confirming your intellectual superiority.

Yes, I do that. But I'm NOT stubborn. I refuse to believe I am stubborn.

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder, a planet-sized ego, agoraphobia, an intellectual superiority complex and an unhealthy devotion to other nerdy or odd things such as: anime, manga, star wars, lord of the rings, roleplaying games, computer games, the home towns  of all premiership soccer referees, your own toenails, the underwear of the woman across the road.

Anime: my friends watch it more than me. Manga: my best friend, a "popular" kid, has at least 10 sets of manga books...he listens to Rammstein. Star Wars: my cousin does that...I think it's okay, nothing "amazing"... Lord of the Rings: good books, but whoop-dee-doo, I mean, basing your life around 5 books? RPGs: nah, don't like em that much. Computer games: on this computer? ha! Soccer guys: What? Toenails: this is getting weird... Women's undies: ?????? (are you implying proggers are stalkers?)

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder, a planet-sized ego, agoraphobia, an intellectual superiority complex, an unhealthy devotion to other nerdy or odd things and a unique manner of cataloguing one’s vinyl/cds (mine is boring alphabetical by artists and then sub-divided by year of release).

Hate alphebetizing, but put CDs in groups by artist, though. But not in any particular order.

be a nerdy boy with few friends, a compulsive obsessive disorder, a planet-sized ego, agoraphobia, an intellectual superiority complex, an unhealthy devotion to other nerdy or odd things, a unique manner of cataloguing one’s vinyl/cds and finally an unhealthy attraction to posting rubbish on this forum (save me!!! Oh the humanity!!!)

yeah, this is rubbish. I need a girlfriend.