"I was raised in a household of manual drivers, so I appreciate and admire that in a woman," said Vogel, a 29-year-old software engineer.

Vogel and Flaherty are scheduled to be hitched in April, and they owe it all to Nerds At Heart, an organization that holds singles bashes for brainy types. If you're looking for a Valentine's Day match with a smarty pants, hit Nerds At Heart's second annual Love Fest, Feb. 12, at Holiday Club, 4000 N. Sheridan Road, in Lake View.

"This is a singles Valentine's Day event where the emphasis is on cheesy good fun rather than bitterness," said Bathsheba Birman, the group's co-founder, along with River West resident Julia Borchert. "There is no age range and the crowd is usually pretty diverse. The biggest common denominator is that our attendees are smart and also sweet. The atmosphere is always inclusive, and most of all, fun."

The Nerds emphasis, Birman said, is "first and foremost" on dating, and hanging out with like-minded singles of all age groups. Events feature board and trivia games, with smartness coming first and "then everything else." Expect geeky prizes like librarian action figures and Princess Leia Pez dispensers, and giveaways of books and theater tickets. Watch nerdy movie clips from filmmaker Colin Souter, and laugh your heart out at actor and pastry chef Michael Bowen, in character as "Bertha Mason" offering tips on dating and baking along with a bake sale.

Doesn't matter if you're straight, GLBT, or a green geek, just come on down.

"We're not looking for the type of thing where everybody is checking out each other's labels," said Birman, who admits that although her taste "skews nerdy," she doesn't shop at her own events. "We're looking for something where people can be themselves."

Birman and Borchert - longtime friends and unmarried writers - started Nerds at Heart after watching their single friends in the "dating wilds," having trouble connecting with good matches. They envisioned a low-pressure environment where people could get to know each other through more than a 30-second once-over or a three-minute speed date.

So far, three engagements and one marriage have come out of Nerds at Heart events, Birman said. And to determine if you're a nerd or not is easy, if you think you're a nerd, then you probably are, she said.

"We actually do a 'Who's the biggest nerd?' quiz at our events with the types of things that might make you a nerd like, 'Can you program in more than four languages?' or 'Do you own and use a museum tote bag?'" Birman said. "There are no Mensa tests for IQ and, conversely, there are also no unspoken tests for hipness.

"We get some stereotypical 'Revenge of the Nerds' types and they are always welcome, but most of our attendees who personify a 'nerd at heart,' are regular-looking folks who just happen to have a passion for Scrabble or Ken Burns documentaries."

Vogel describes NAH events as "so much fun."

"It's a great chance for people to 'geek out' and be among their own kind," he said. "It might be true that nerds are becoming mainstream."