Midweek Sprawl
May. 2nd, 2007 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsallovernowOur household is still hot water free. (Amazingly enough, this is not our fault. I know, I know, crazy!!) Our hot water heater is apparently going, and the landlord came and pressed a button and the water got lukewarm and then didn't and so now he's back. (Our landlord is utterly incompetent, so I have little hope for a solution that isn't a new water heater.) That being said, I'd really like to wash my hair in the near future because I can deal with the cold water for body cleanliness, but I've got too much hair for that adventure (and the shower I had on Saturday, when we discovered this little adventure was enough cold water, plus shampoo, plus inevitability of cold water plus warm head to last me a lifetime).
In fannish matters, can someone explain to me why there are marines running around the SGC? Or are they not really marines, and those are just in Atlantis? Who'd follow "guests" around and make sure they didn't get into trouble?
Also, both![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hossgal and synecdochic have some interesting fannish meta and reflection (and possibly not in the way you think) going on. And for me, what I've learned from fandom is that fans are no crazier than the rest of the population, their focus is just narrower (because we can only interact based on that focus, that's what we've got to measure and judge on).
Things I've Learned from Fandom
* I've learned the depths of generosity and gratitude that people are capable of, and also the vast amount of batshit crazy that exists among anything that people love passionately.
*I've learned that there is no entitlement in fandom (which is always a healthy lesson to learn).
* No one is ever going to do exactly what I want, say exactly what I want, and that often, I'm going to have to make my own fun. (Fandom is like sex in that way, a fact that I find particularly ironic these days:)
* Like any relationship, fandom has dry spells. Interests shift, motivations vary, and sometimes you're on the outside when you were on the in, and all that really means is that for me, fandom is tied more into the specific media than the fannish experience, and that's a good lesson. That lesson is also completely untrue when it comes to the individuals I know through this collective experience.
* I've learned my own limitations, my own laziness, and when I'm likely to follow through or not. It's made me re-learn to not overcommit, and that I'll still be vaguely jealous of others who have more time and follow through for playing in the sandbox.
* I've learned that everyone has fannish shame. Everyone (or nearly everyone) has some fannish quirk in their closet that they want to keep locked up there. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think, much like in real life, it varies in degrees and I'm always fascinated by what it is.
* I've learned that who I am as a fan is not different than who I am as a person. I'm still obsessive, resistant to change, slightly out of step, not as hip as I want to be, not as focused as I want to be, and still, often, able to laugh at myself in the midst of it.
* I've learned that leather pants can cure a variety of ailments, and that with the right words, a threesome makes perfect sense, and never ever think to oneself "I'll never read XYZ, because eventually, the right person will come along and write it in a way that makes perfect sense and you'll have to eat those words."
* I've learned to never, ever go to message boards. Because for me, pretending that my version of crazy and obsessive is superior to someone else's is working for me. I don't want to be embarrassed for or by other fans, and that's perhaps not particularly tolerant or all embracing, but I'm pretty sure no one said that fandom was fair, or that it was a democracy.
* But I've also learned that fandom governs it's own, for better or worse, and god, as an anthropologist, that is just fucking fascinating. It's like Lord of the Flies slashed with the Roundheads in digital.
To conclude, despite the fact that I've got a floundering NIP, a 40 page half finished crossover, and my cracked out Sweet Charity fic in progress, I'll happily do the following meme if anyone wants to play:
Name three fics you think I will never, ever, ever write. In return, I will attempt to write a snippet of one of them.
In fannish matters, can someone explain to me why there are marines running around the SGC? Or are they not really marines, and those are just in Atlantis? Who'd follow "guests" around and make sure they didn't get into trouble?
Also, both
hossgal and synecdochic have some interesting fannish meta and reflection (and possibly not in the way you think) going on. And for me, what I've learned from fandom is that fans are no crazier than the rest of the population, their focus is just narrower (because we can only interact based on that focus, that's what we've got to measure and judge on).Things I've Learned from Fandom
* I've learned the depths of generosity and gratitude that people are capable of, and also the vast amount of batshit crazy that exists among anything that people love passionately.
*I've learned that there is no entitlement in fandom (which is always a healthy lesson to learn).
* No one is ever going to do exactly what I want, say exactly what I want, and that often, I'm going to have to make my own fun. (Fandom is like sex in that way, a fact that I find particularly ironic these days:)
* Like any relationship, fandom has dry spells. Interests shift, motivations vary, and sometimes you're on the outside when you were on the in, and all that really means is that for me, fandom is tied more into the specific media than the fannish experience, and that's a good lesson. That lesson is also completely untrue when it comes to the individuals I know through this collective experience.
* I've learned my own limitations, my own laziness, and when I'm likely to follow through or not. It's made me re-learn to not overcommit, and that I'll still be vaguely jealous of others who have more time and follow through for playing in the sandbox.
* I've learned that everyone has fannish shame. Everyone (or nearly everyone) has some fannish quirk in their closet that they want to keep locked up there. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think, much like in real life, it varies in degrees and I'm always fascinated by what it is.
* I've learned that who I am as a fan is not different than who I am as a person. I'm still obsessive, resistant to change, slightly out of step, not as hip as I want to be, not as focused as I want to be, and still, often, able to laugh at myself in the midst of it.
* I've learned that leather pants can cure a variety of ailments, and that with the right words, a threesome makes perfect sense, and never ever think to oneself "I'll never read XYZ, because eventually, the right person will come along and write it in a way that makes perfect sense and you'll have to eat those words."
* I've learned to never, ever go to message boards. Because for me, pretending that my version of crazy and obsessive is superior to someone else's is working for me. I don't want to be embarrassed for or by other fans, and that's perhaps not particularly tolerant or all embracing, but I'm pretty sure no one said that fandom was fair, or that it was a democracy.
* But I've also learned that fandom governs it's own, for better or worse, and god, as an anthropologist, that is just fucking fascinating. It's like Lord of the Flies slashed with the Roundheads in digital.
To conclude, despite the fact that I've got a floundering NIP, a 40 page half finished crossover, and my cracked out Sweet Charity fic in progress, I'll happily do the following meme if anyone wants to play:
Name three fics you think I will never, ever, ever write. In return, I will attempt to write a snippet of one of them.
