NerdLush writing experiment

25 Apr

Due to a double post day on Wednesday, there’s nothing ready to run today. I know… bad form. I could let it go and just skip the day, but I would prefer to run something. Personally, I’m working on my next piece looking at the psychology of characters, but it won’t be ready for a bit. And there’s a guest piece in the works on my recent panel at WonderCon (along with video of the panel), but again… not ready to run today. Here is a link to The Mary Sue review of the panel, in case you haven’t seen it. I’m kind of excited to be mentioned in The Mary Sue.

*Kermit flail*

Anyways… I think there is also a post about a sweet little kickstarter that may be running soon, but we’re waiting on the info about the project from the creators. Possibly some other guest posts, too. Along with the usual- Smallville recaps, Arrow write-ups, and other semi-regular posts around here. But today… I’ve got nothing.

So I am challenging myself. I am going to go freshen my coffee and then give myself half an hour to write something. That’s it. It could be mindless drivel… It could be gold. I don’t know (I haven’t written it yet!)

The Experiment begins NOW.

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I’ve been thinking about friends and the “nerd” community a lot lately. I have this friend that exists because I do- long story, that’s the short version- whose name is Tucker. I can’t remember the last time I saw him, but it’s the kind of friendship that we’ll end up being old sitting on a porch somewhere talking about that time we played Robotech (instead of cops & robbers). Recently he sent me an email and I mentioned this on Facebook because it amused me that I haven’t talked to him in forever and had randomly gotten an email. My friends responded with comments referencing Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Tucker and Dale versus Evil (which is one of my favorite films of the last few years, by the way). My friends just get me.

But it’s more than that… Last year, Lee wrote an amazing post about community and how genre, social networking, etc had created such a vast and powerful and supportive community. It was quite a beautiful post- still makes me teary eyed. Because it’s true. I mentioned briefly during my WonderCon panel that the majority of my friends are with me because of the community created by shows like Buffy. There are some that came into my life because of that or Supernatural or bands that I was introduced to because of their loose connections to these things… And then there are those that came into my life because of the other experiences that flowed from the initial community from Buffy. Confused? Let me try to explain…

Dee2 and I with Tony Head back in the day…

When Buffy was airing was really when the internet etc was becoming such a daily part of our lives. Suddenly there were places for fans to gather and talk and celebrate their fandom. Through these sites I chatted with fans, but mostly I learned about other events- conventions (hadn’t been to one since I was a kid at this point!), shows that cast members were doing, etc. And I didn’t live too far from LA so obviously there would be a way to get down and check out some of this stuff. Which led to meeting some of those other fans. And going to gigs to see one band but leaving a fan of another. Stuff like that. Incidentally, that other band I became a fan of had a chat room on their site. And several of us would go there together when the show was on and watch it together. This strengthened and built new friendships. Then there were the adventures to conventions (where you learned if you could really stand someone by whether or not you could share a hotel room). And so on and so on. To be honest, the core group from this time period is still my core group of friends. Dee2 and I met in that chat room… been inseparable since.

My community and friendships grew. People brought in their other friends, who happened to like some of the same stuff, and new friendships were built. I went away to school and created bonds with other twisted individuals- those who loved the psychology that I did, but also geeked out about superheroes etc. And the great big world got both smaller and larger at the same time.

a semi meta shot the explains how making a film works… sort of.

In recent years- before and after NerdLush was born- the social networking revolution has brought new connections and friendships. Opportunities to cover and review events in LA for Action Flick Chick’s site led to adventures with Tara and Yuri. Strange conversations with Kirsten Vangsness in parking lots after shows led to being able to help her fund a project. Accepting that my love of psychology and geeky topics can allow me to meet people and connect to others who love them both as well… and even participate in an awesome panel! And strange acquaintances with actors and their “handlers” has led to adventures all over the US- which for some strange reason has led to friendships with comic artists. Not entirely sure how that happened, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

So you see… this “community” that we share… it’s important. It brings a lot of value to some lives, validation to others, but mostly a sense of connection that may have been lacking before. Though I know now that many of my friends back when I was a kid are geeks and love the same stuff that I do… back then, I had no idea. Thank goodness for having now what we did not have then.

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There…. the buzzer went off as I was starting that last paragraph, so I gave myself a minute over to finish the thought. I’m going to reread this and make sure it isn’t in Swahili or something, add a pic or two, and maybe a link, and then post. Love to hear what you think of this… experiment.