< On the Embaddening of Geek Culture
I know how you feel, and we are of the same generation. I was also deemed a nerd when younger, but that was mainly because I studied a lot, liked math, read lots of books and was mostly quiet. Now it seems to me that nerd is just a person who fails to take a shower.
Still, there are two points I'd like to make. First, I'm very distant of the current geek/nerd culture of nowadays. Second, I believe that everyone experiences some kind of longing for the times of yore, how things "used to be", more often than not this is an illusion, things are just different, and our past might not be exactly better. Anyway, we might be getting old indeed, heck I feel much more alive and comfortable interacting on gemini than with any nerd.
Finally, I'm also glad that I can still enjoy many of the past activities that I loved so, like playing table-top RPGs, and I know that out there there are many people like me, our group simply changed, the meanings of words drift with time.