On nights I couldn’t sleep. I’d knock on my sister’s wall and if I got the signal, I’d drag a pillow and blanket to her room. Then we’d set up for the nightly M*A*S*H marathon that ran from 11-2am.
Full Story »Goodbye to the Mother of Dragonriders: Anne McCaffrey
If I could have run away to Pern, I totally would have. Because there, dragons existed. There, dreams came true. There, people lived and fought and died for all of those terribly brave and heroic things I always thought I wanted to live and fight and die for. And it was Anne McCaffrey that made all of those things come true on the page.
Full Story »Jetpacking for Love
To go from a computer the size of a room to one that fits in the palm of my hand, well, wow. So kudos to those nerds for getting us that far, but I’m frustrated that they haven’t gotten to speeding cars, or the like, on the road or in the air that zings me faster than, ok, a speeding bullet.
Full Story »Set Your Phasers
Alien movies typically reflect our societal, economic and political climate. So does the timing of the invasion also influence what we get? If we are in a recession, do aliens come and steal what is left of our jobs?
Full Story »Spaceballs 2: The Search for a New Car
The last weekend of July I vended Maker Faire Detroit. It was rad, met cool people, saw neat stuff, ate amazing food. The only down side was the 19 hour drive to and fro. Michigan is far ya’ll.
Full Story »I Procreated So Someone Would Watch Star Wars With Me
My husband was a lost cause. I knew it going in despite trying desperately to change him. I knew my energy was better spent on other causes, like coloring and playing Legos.
Full Story »Team Unicorn: Because Geek/Gamer Girls Exist and They are Brilliant!
The petty, jealous, tween girl deep inside of me wants to hate the girls of Team Unicorn. They are pushing past the geek girl stereotypes (they’ve actually been accused of being TOO SEXY) and creating media projects that I want to have created. But they look like they are having so much fun doing it all, and when they talk about their interests, I can relate to them. These are my peeps – albeit the tall, gorgeous, famous ones who don’t actually know that I exist. Still….think if I invited them to my slumber party they’d come?
Full Story »Celebrate Your Dorkdom… And Captain Tightpants’ Birthday
You know, sometimes, a girl just needs to eat cake (actually, most of the time). Geek girls had a damn good reason this weekend.
Full Story »You Still Can’t Take the Sky from Me
Do Browncoats Have Hope? While some shows fade into obscurity when canceled prematurely, there is at least one show that simply will not die. Fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly – Browncoats, we call ourselves – refuse to give up on our beloved Serenity and her crew of shiny misfits. With such dogged determination, could there be a possibility of fans launching a return flight?
Full Story »Six of the Weirdest Sex Symbols in Movie History
It’s no secret that geeks have their fetishes. How many guys do you know that would give their comic book, video game and DVD collections combined to have one magical evening with Sailor moon, 2D and all? But us girls aren’t immune to the call of unconventional objects of affection. Not only do girls have their share of out there crushes, we get even weirder with it than our cartoon lusting male counterparts. And no I’m not talking about Spock, even your mom wanted to do Spock … sorry for that image.
Full Story »The Anti-Social Network
On Monday, February 7, 2011, I deactivated my Facebook account. The act made both scared and liberated to do so. It’s not that I’m anti-technology. Something unconsciously triggers in me, a need to connect to something real, and a screen isn’t it.
Full Story »The Fan Whisperer – Conclusion
I’m tired of playing nice and trying to explain myself to anyone. And I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way; I don’t think I’m the only fan fiction writer who is weary of trying to defend how we spend our free, waking hours.
Full Story »The Fan Whisperer – Part 4
According to Wikipedia, 80% of fan fiction is written by women. I’m not sure where they get their research, because I’ve been in fandom a while and have met no dudes who write fan fiction and only one dude who reads it, so I think the number should be right around 99% written by women, and 100% for women. While I don’t think it’s a feminist issue (and I certainly don’t want to discuss it as one), Camille Bacon-Smith in her ethnographic study of fandom called “Enterprising Women” described something she called the female eye.
Full Story »The Fan Whisperer – Part 3
Eventually I realized that I needed to stop being coy. I needed to come straight out and ask the question, much like my Mom would, but without any kind of judgment or request for justification, especially in light of the whole “no money being made” aspect. I wanted to know because I wanted to understand; I like having answers that I can use to distract even my most vocal detractors.
Full Story »The Fan Whisperer – Part 2
Becoming a Fan Fiction Writer: Dealing in Emo
by Sylvia Bond
There are fans who don’t write. No really, there are. Some fans make vids, some do art, some run communities, some create and maintain archives. Some only lurk, but all have their valid place in fandom. However, since I’m a writer, my focus is on writing, and so I wanted to know how fans took the next step and went from being a fan to writing in fandom.
Full Story »Superheroes in Our Midst
I can’t deny being torn about this movement. I must admit to drawing my personal geek-line way before costumes generally. I respect people who cosplay and admire the work that often goes into it but it crosses into a world that’s a little too far for me. This of course is beyond that. The people involved in RLSH are taking their inspiration from the heroes I love, not just to emulate them at conventions or fan events but in real life as well. To try to apply some of their mankind helping virtues to the world we live in. I’m honestly not sure if this is inspiring or scary.
Full Story »The Fan Whisperer – Part 1
I write fan fiction, which are stories about characters and situations created by someone else. I’ve been writing it since 1993, and enjoy it completely, even though I’ve never made any money doing it. For me, it is more than a hobby, it is a way of life. But when I try to explain that I spend the majority of my free time writing stories that are not only based on TV characters that a handful of people will ever read, but also that I will never get paid for, and that I can never publicly acknowledge having produced? People get a little worked up as if it was somehow their purview to determine how I should spend my free time. As if they in turn would allow themselves to be similarly counseled. And that pisses me off.
Full Story »
