10% of Your LJ Experience

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the_royal_anna !! I hope you have an absolutely fabulous day, from top to bottom, and get spoiled to pieces in your own imaginary bed and breakfast. *HUGS*

And 'limited edition' Crunch bars with Peanut Butter? God, so good.

So I was thinking. Shush. And it created this post. On it's own! I had nothing to do with it! And so the first half is me musing, and I politely put it behind cut tags cause I've already taken up tons of flists today. And the second half is just convos/meetings/discussions at work today and some people like 'em and some don't. I, however, am recording them for my own posterity. That's POSTERITY, not posterior, KOVSKY. *grumbles*


Anyway, fitofpique was spinning me up to new heights of excitement with all of her squeeing with joy about Lost airing tomorrow.



And it's gotten me thinking about the relationship between fandom and my own appreciation of shows. First of all, I realized I've watched, sometimes in a half-guilty way, a lot more cheesy shows than I ever remembered. I have a real weakness.

A lot of people are like, what can replace Jossverse. And my simple answer to that is - probably nothing. I can't imagine anything working for me as well on multiple levels.

Having said that, I watched most of Buffy and Angel in what I would think of as relative fandom isolation. I watched the first two years of Buffy with friends, before I moved to KC. And then there were people ABOUT until I moved out, but not people that actively watched with me. Some years there were other people at work who watched and we discussed it casually, the next day, but nothing fannish, more the "did you catch last night's episode". Stumbling into fandom in towards the end of BtVS 7/AtS 4 was a revelation. But Jossverse for me exists very much in isolation in some respects. Fandom has made my experience much richer, but the source itself I love with or without the additions. Reviews, screencaps, icons, fic, discussions - I love them, I am grateful for them, and I treasure them and the friendships they've lead to on LJ. But even if I had nothing but the DVDs, I would be able to watch them without outside interaction and appreciate them completely.

But other than Jossverse, the relationship between me and other viewers is much more important to the show. In a purely real life version - I used to watch Friends - I stared watching with my roommies in college, and kept it up as I moved and switched roommates. But when I finally bought my house and started living alone, I stopped, completely. Didn't finish watching the season I was on, and didn't watch a single episode of the last season of the show. And I hadn't even realized I wasn't that interested in or was bored by the show. But all my enthusiasm was apparently for the interaction between me and my roommates, the bit of production about it, the discussions, the activity. I don't know at what point that actually happened, but by the end, the interactive experience was the real benefit, the only thing that actually was important to me.

And now I'm looking at other shows and - Lost is coming up, and I was tentatively enthusiastic when I first heard about it. Plane crash/stranded on a desert island - that's something that I've always liked in fiction, man versus elements, working together... Then I found out that there was a supernatural element added to the show and I was VERY pleased at the notion, because really, add in the unknown and it makes me happy and it's the one sure thing that will at least get me to watch the pilot - fantasy or science fiction.

So I was looking forward to it, but in a mild way, originally. But talking about it in my (and other people's) LJs has actually raised those slight feelings up to a feverpitch of excitement - I'm really looking forward to the show now. To the point that it'd have to be extraordinarily bad for me not to enjoy it in some ways. Which, I've seen enough of the pilot to think that it won't...but I don't think I would have had nearly this strong of a reaction on my own. Fandom, in general, has made me look at shows in a different way. Paying attention to who is writing for a show, that's a big one. Looking at actual names beyond the "from the creators of" which is usually referring to producers and has no bearing on the excellence of a show, as a thousand failed and boring sitcoms can attest.

But also, it goes beyond that, beyond appreciation of what I'm going to be seeing on screen. Reading the interpretations of other fans, seeing their perspectives on characters that I might not immediately get. Even, in the case of guilty-pleasure TV, enjoying the mutual and enthusiastic mocking. Watching Summerland over the past few months was primarily entertaining because of the "OMG, this is so bad, why can't I stop watching" communications I had with annakovsky and bear. Me enthusiastically giving them my interpretation of the show until they were looking for the interactions. That communication with them is what really brought me back to the show, because the show itself was fairly cheesy and lame and had only glimpses of relationships that made me twitch with joy.

And then there's Smallville, which I only started getting into at all because of the influence of fans, fanfic, fandom, squeeing...you name it. Dedicated efforts by Vi to make me feel it. And then I duplicated her efforts and seduced Arrie into it. So excellent, the way it cycles like that. But that's a show where it's fandom first, in so many ways. Without a very strong fandom culture out there, I wouldn't have given it a second chance. And lets face it, the subtext in that show is obvious to just about ANYBODY. But it's the enthusiasm for that subtext, and the people who write texts that bring it out, that play out the myth in other ways, that's what really gets me going. And people that are willing to listen to me rant and fume when things don't make sense, because your indulgence support just warms the cockles of my heart. Even when you laugh at me and shake your head and say "You are so cute when you're all filled with indignation!" Yes, I'm looking at you, Vi.

The OC - I wouldn't have even heard of it, much less watched, without fandom influence. And even while I never actively looked at it from a fannish perspective, there was a huge influence. Even when I end up mentally rooting for Luke/Ryan in a sea of Seth/Ryan shippers. Hee. But seriously, it was the enthusiasm of my flist that got me into that, even without a high amount of people on my list who do anything with it in fic, or reviews or anything other than just - affection.

Even beyond that - I like Babylon 5. I enjoy it a tremendous amount. But it had a slow start, and it was the encouragement of people on my flist to keep with it that made me continue past the first DVD. And I think, ultimately, that it's their continued enthusiasm that is fueling mine, the fact that ten years after it's ended, they still love the show enough to discuss it in detail. And when I write my own reviews/recaps/reports/impressions of an episode - it's the fact that I am communicating it out to somebody else that helps me care more. I'm not feeling like I'm watching it in isolation, even if I am the only one sitting in my living room that evening.




And this turned into a kind of love letter to fandom. I had specific points I wanted to make, about the different kinds of interaction I've had with shows and other viewers in the past and I made some of them but others have slipped my mind because instead I've just been overcome with more excitement and happiness.

Because I love people and I love communication and I love the interaction that these shows bring. And I love the fandom that exists on so many levels and I just wanted to thank all of you, those that are here now and have been there in the past and anybody who'll be there in the future. And I really, really hope that Lost lives up to what I want it to be, and that there continues to be shows that do but really, I know that you guys will live up to it. Because you're there if the shows are good or bad or indifferent and that excitement, your enthusiasm, that makes my own appreciation a thousand times richer.

And I kinda like you for that.

But on the other hand, I want to know - shows you've gotten into ONLY because of fandom influence? Would you stick with them if your fannish support went away? Shows you tried to get into because of fandom and failed? Shows that you did NOT want to get into but couldn't help yourself?




Hee! A typical day at work...

Walking back towards my office, I pass the production hallway, where apparently they're filming commercials today. As evidenced by my overhearing... "Ok guys, I'm going to start rolling...for, um, a really long time."

And then we had our departmental meeting. The first part was actually all rehash of the same annoucements we had last week. Well, except for the error report Quality Assurance gives each dept weekly. "We only had one error this week. But they didn't say who made it. So we're gonna say it was Andy." Aww, poor Andy! And Andy? "Hey! Wait...No, that's fair."

But the best part is...our dreaded new office space was discussed. We're definitely moving into the building across the street. And we're not getting our own proofer, which is already inciting rebellion. Because, damn it, we NEED our own proofer! Full time! And running dockets through rain and snow and dead of...day...welll, it's not going to fly. So far our VP says she's rooting for installing those bank chutes to send the dockets. Except we'd be scared of what Print would send back. Those troublemakers. Then Coworker C said 'trained monkey'. And Coworker S "Hey, and we're already getting one of those from RevP!" That being the sister company merging back into us. Aww, love and bonding. Oh, and intern was batted about. Not literally, the notion of getting one with docket-running among his or her duties. We seriously need intern - and actually they are hiring one for some other things, soooo...

But the space is going to be crowded, so crowded. Our department is the only creative department moving over, the rest are mostly technical and numbers people. So we're totally taking over on the whole 'decoration' scheme. And VP claims that if we pitch it well enough, we'll be allowed to have a hand in the decoration. Coworker C wants to build a fort on top of his desk, and then just crawl up there to eat his lunch. Other suggestions are an igloo made out of styrofoam for Coworker N, who is perpetually cold. And swmboss wants us to get hulahoops, string them from the ceiling and then use mosquito netting to make individualized tents over each desk or set of desks. Also reduces computer glare!

And as current VP said - talk to soon-to-be-senior VP and if you have a Plan he will probably approve it. On the list of things that Might Actually Get Approved is drawing a mural on one of the walls and spending a day painting it. I'd like that. I suggested an aquarium, where Bruce Lee can exist in memoriam. *wipes away a tear*. Cross your fingers for the mural!

Also, they are building us desks. As evidenced by an argument that swmboss and VP had about if swmboss KNEW that desks were being built. She insists not, and VP insists:

VP: Remember, H saw them and told you about it?
swmboss: no she didn't
VP: Yes, she did. In the senior management meeting?
swmboss: Oh, right, like I was paying attention in that
Coworker C: Were you smoking crack that day?
swmboss: that day?

You have to love an office where cracksmoking jokes are a running gag, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and I fit right in. Also, we have established that swmboss 2.0 is NOT allowed to build any of the desks. Because apparently he decided to paint (or varnish) his last desk. And it never dried. Ever. As in, Senior VP gave him a piece of paper last week, swmboss 2.0 put it in on his desk and it's...currently STUCK TO HIS DESK. He originally did the painting/varnishing thing OVER SIX MONTHS AGO. And swmboss 2.0 needs to retype it. *facepalm* And then swmboss was like "And you're not bringing sand into this office, I don't know why you ever thought that was a good idea". Which made those of us who didn't work here yet when swmboss 2.0 was originally members of the department go hey, wait, back up, we need to know...

And swmboss 2.0 explained that when it didn't dry he...brought sand in. To put on the sticky spots. And Coworker B asked "why didnt' you just get a piece of plexiglass?" swmboss 2.0 "Because that would have been the easy way!". *facepalms again* And he is telling us that he has sand everywhere now - in his keyboard and in his phone - that he can't put people on hold anymore because there's sand in the phone and it gets stuck and...

Hee. Working with swmboss 2.0 is going to be *cough* entertaining. In a very scary way.