Okay, maybe I do have one essay in me today. Janis filled out a meme from syxer7's blog and added some commentary about fandom. Here's what I wrote back:

Just read your blog for today Janis, and I'm kinda in the same boat with regards to the removal from fandom, with one notable recent exception. (Smallville)

I started my fandom streak with TOS and most of my others (just a handful) all came out of the book realm rather than TVland. Even my TOS fandom really began with reading novels rather than actually watching the shows. Let's see, I think it was - TOS, DS9, Dragonlance, Pern, and then X-files. The mid 1990's and X-files was the beginning of the end for me as far as "fandom" went. It was like a splurge from late junior high on until about 1995 or so and then *poof*. After that I just didn't care anymore except to see the show occasionally. For example - as much as I liked Xena, I never got into the fandom! Buffy the Vampire Slayer *almost* did it to me after I introduced myself to it in the third (and probably best) season. But then it switched networks and I was outta luck. (Unable to wacth it.) So I ducked the bullet on that one.

Part of it may have to do with that pattern you talked about - three years into something without a fixed endpoint suits start screwing with it and ruin it. I think that's why I'm enjoying Smallville with a sense of *fandom* creeping back in:

Although there's some lee-way for creativity, they do have to stick to the idea that young Clark Kent will eventually find out where he came from, grow up to be Superman, work in Metropolis for the Daily Planet, pine after Lois lane, wear a disguise and that Lex Luthor will become his arch enemy. They can play around with how he grows up to that point and how each new ability presents itself (i.e. he's not flying yet) but in the end, they have to stick to the canon of what's already established as Superman. And Superman is the endpoint of Smallville.

I like a handful of other shows, but there's just no sense of fandom or any other involvement other than being entertained for a half hour or hour. And there's no sense of .... loyalty(?) to them anymore either. I got tired of one show several months back (Angel) and quit TIVOing it. I haven't even been *curious* about it. I'm about to dump ER, and I'm not bothered about it. I'm just picking up something new to TIVO and enjoying it until the fun is gone. (Right now it's John Doe. Fun, still a bit wobbly with the stories - and downright painful when they do computer stuff - but Doe himself is just SO *precious*.)

But with Smallville I find myself wandering to fan sites and reading spoilers and considering picking up a spin-off novel or buying a poster. I haven't done this kind of thing in *years*!

So here's my fandom history as best as I can recall it, from oldest to newest:

When: What years were you active in it?
How: How did you find it?
Who: Who was your primary/favorite character?
What: What media did you consume/produce?
History: What kind of fandom was it for you? Anything special about it?

Speed Racer
When: Oh gods, I can't remember. I was little.
How: Television series
Who: Speed Racer, of course
What: Just wouldn't miss it. Have a T-shirt.
History: Probably my first fandom. I refuse to admit that Mighty Mouse might have preceded it just slightly.

Mighty Isis
When: 1975
How: Television series
Who: Andrea Thomas
What: Coloring books and puzzles. :-)
History: If I could have I would have gotten an ISIS costume...

Battlestar Galactica
When: 1978 to 1996
How: Television series
Who: Captain Apollo
What: music cd
History: I used to pretend to be part of the crew. Hey, I was 10 years old.

TOS
When: 1986 to 1996
How: Books first, then television seriesin reruns
Who: Kirk, sometimes Spock
What: Books, magazine clippings, toys, t-shirts, buttons, patches, scale models, attended conventions, downloaded uuencoded binaries, collected knickknacks and other merchandise. Official fan club, USENET and BBS participation. The works.
History: Major, MAJOR fandom! I consider this to be the start of what we typically consider fandom for me. It also led me to be a part of the SFLAaEBS and get involved online in Internet discussion groups. It's long since petered out though.

Culture Club
When: 1984 - 1991
How: Music and MTV
Who: Boy George, Jon Moss
What: Music, books, magazine clippings stickers, buttons etc. mostly.
History: Major fangirldom, but I didn't really acquire much outward signs of it.

Knight Rider
When: 1987 - 1991
How: TV show in reruns
Who: Kitt!
What: nothing really, but I lusted after that car.... I did have a few posters of lamborghinis and otehr cool cars for a while
History: Eh, nothing to tell.

Forever Knight
When: 1990 - 1991
How: Saw a few episodes late night
Who: Nick Knight
What: Mostly just tried not to miss the show
History: Minor, minor fandom.

Robotech
When: Um, late 80's early 90's?
How: Television series
Who: Lancer/Yellow Dancer
What: Artbooks, fan club, videos
History:

Pern
When: 1990-1996
How: Books
Who: Menolly/Robinton
What: Artbooks, newsgroup, MUSHing
History: Made a few online friends that I later interacted with in my career as a webmaster.

Dragonlance
When: 1991-1994
How: Books
Who: Raistlin
What: Artbooks, some minor fanfic
History:

X-files
When: 1994-2001
How: Television series
Who: David Duchovny
What: Some baseball cards, a book, DDEB membership.
History: Somewhere right around 1996 all my fandom starting petering out, so I didn't much get into the Xena merchandise like I had for Star Trek. But I did join the DDEB listserv. My joy of watching it petered out for a while towards the last season until the stories started getting good again. Then of course they canceled it and had some LAME-ASS series finale.

Xena
When: 1995-1996
How: Television series
Who: Xena of course
What: poster, considered getting some earrings. Not much else.
History: This hit the tail end of my fandom and I didn't even join a listserv.

Myst/Riven/Exile
When: 1999-2001
How: Computer Game, Books
Who: Atrus
What: Books, listserv, attended Mysterium and got autographed Ultimate frisbee.
History: This was a brief foray back into fandom. I really enjoyed the books, and my sweetie had such a similar previous experience with the RivenLyst as I had with the SFLAaEBS. I wandered into this for a while. It'd been about 3 years since I'd done anything remotely fandom-like at that point.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When: 2000-2001
How: Television series
Who: No one in particular
What: Just the show - but I wouldn't miss it!
History: Yes, this was only one year. I hadn't watched any of this show until it's third season and was immediately HOOKED. Problem was, the WG then sold it to UPN and I couldn't get that network where I lived for a while. So my obsession with not missing it faded after a cold turkey withdrawal period. (I even read the next year's episode synopsis to get a fix. :-)

Angel
When: 2000-2002
How: Television series
Who: Angel
What: Just the show
History: At this point I just didn't get into anything other than the shows. Now web sites, no fanfic, no images, no nothing, 'cept the show. Got tired of it last Spring and quit TIVOing it.

Dark Angel
When: 2001-2002
How: Television series
Who: Was his name Joseph? Dogboy. :-)
What: Again, nothing peripheral at all, though I was certainly not missing the show.
History: I was sorely disappointed when it was abruptly canceled and by this time I feel pretty jaded about television series. Unlike books - which had a beginning, middle and end - SCI-FI TV series go on and on and on until either (a) they cancel it for no good reason while it's still good and you still want more story or (b) they suits come in a ruin it so that it sucks. Dark Angel they canceled abruptly.

Alton Brown: Good Eats
When: 2001-present
How: Food TV Network Television series
Who: Alton! And "W"
What: Autographed (twice!) cookbook. Got to see him at a bookstore signing. Woo! Joined a listserv. Have cooked stuff from the show. History: Still major fan. Hee. :-)

Smallville
When: 2001?-present (right from the pilot - haven't missed an episode yet)
How: Television series
Who: Clark, Lex and Cloe
What: Just the show for now, but for some reason it got me on a buying spree for things Wonder Woman. And I've gone to the fan web site and know some show-related fandom lingo again. Read spoilers. (Can't wait till they air episodes.)
History: This is the closest I've come to my old 1990-1995 era of fandom in a long time.

Coming soon: Kasporov and Deep Junior to Play Chess Match

Wired had an article about adaptive optics. This was what the optometrist was using when my mom went in for her eye exam last December.

This is scary: More Checks on U.S. Travelers

This is cool: Four winged dinosaurs discovered in China

This was just neat: All About Conjunto

And these were sad: Actress-Singer Nell Carter Dies at 54 and the woman who played the housekeeper on "Different Strokes" has died at the age of 94

This just pleased me to no end:

MICROSOFT LOSES SHOWDOWN IN HOUSTON
When Microsoft approached the City of Houston with an ultimatum - sign a new $12 million license agreement or face a potentially costly audit - the company encountered unexpected the results. Instead of complying, the city chose to invest in a relatively untested suite of office programs that so far has proven to be lighter, cheaper and more accessible. The SimDesk suite allows users to access and edit documents from anywhere using the Web, since the program is server- based rather than installed on individual PCs. Currently, the software is available to half of all city employees as well as in the public libraries, giving Houstonians access to the free software. Chicago is seeking grants to extend SimDesk to libraries and schools. Proposals for similar rollouts exist in Denver and New York. [SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Byron Acohido]

Printable version
<Prev | Next>

	November 2008October 2008August 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008November 2007October 2007September 2007August 2007July 2007June 2007May 2007April 2007March 2007January 2007December 2006November 2006October 2006September 2006August 2006June 2006April 2006March 2006February 2006January 2006December 2005November 2005October 2005September 2005August 2005July 2005June 2005May 2005April 2005March 2005February 2005January 2005December 2004November 2004October 2004September 2004August 2004July 2004June 2004May 2004April 2004March 2004February 2004January 2004December 2003November 2003October 2003September 2003August 2003July 2003June 2003May 2003April 2003March 2003February 2003January 2003December 2002November 2002October 2002September 2002August 2002July 2002
				1	2	3	4
	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	26	27	28	29	30	31