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Changing Tack, Slightly...
Oct. 12th, 2008 12:30 pmI've been a grumpy fan, of late and a thousand pardons for that. My so-called real life is being a bit bothersome at the moment.
So, to (partially) counteract the crankiness, allow me to share:
Fans Who Give Fandom A Good Name.
(or why I haven't thrown my hands in the air and taken up macrame, instead)
- Cheerfulness. Granted, when you get a group of fans all together at some fannish event, being of good cheer isn't too terribly difficult but, damn, the SF/F crowd can take it to some significant levels. Grumpy fans really have to work at being grumpy when at a con, methinks.
- Generosity. The fannish crowd seems to delight in going above and beyond when it comes to good causes and helping folks out. Whoever thought of setting up a blood drive at San Diego Comic Con was a genius - sweetening the pot with donor-only goodies probably didn't hurt but, still... I saw hundreds of folks on the sign-up sheet at the blood-bank table. If only a third of them came through, it still would have been a significant turnout.
- Optimism. Related to, but not the same as being cheerful. I ascribe this to the genre, really - find me a fan who doesn't believe, just a bit, that we're eventually going to get past our collective Terrible Twos and get off this rock.
- Open-mindedness. My rant about smug pagans/atheists/etc, aside, I've found that you rarely see conservative and SF fan in the same sentence - well, not since the Golden Age days... ;)
- Welcoming. Just try to stop a fan from introducing you to their fandom, should you voice the slightest interest. No, really.
- A willingness to embrace the absurd. Because, c'mon, if we're going to dig stories about time travellers, space-ships, sentient machines, giant space-traversing flowers and whatnot, you've got to be willing to be a little silly, occasionally.
So, to (partially) counteract the crankiness, allow me to share:
Fans Who Give Fandom A Good Name.
(or why I haven't thrown my hands in the air and taken up macrame, instead)
- Cheerfulness. Granted, when you get a group of fans all together at some fannish event, being of good cheer isn't too terribly difficult but, damn, the SF/F crowd can take it to some significant levels. Grumpy fans really have to work at being grumpy when at a con, methinks.
- Generosity. The fannish crowd seems to delight in going above and beyond when it comes to good causes and helping folks out. Whoever thought of setting up a blood drive at San Diego Comic Con was a genius - sweetening the pot with donor-only goodies probably didn't hurt but, still... I saw hundreds of folks on the sign-up sheet at the blood-bank table. If only a third of them came through, it still would have been a significant turnout.
- Optimism. Related to, but not the same as being cheerful. I ascribe this to the genre, really - find me a fan who doesn't believe, just a bit, that we're eventually going to get past our collective Terrible Twos and get off this rock.
- Open-mindedness. My rant about smug pagans/atheists/etc, aside, I've found that you rarely see conservative and SF fan in the same sentence - well, not since the Golden Age days... ;)
- Welcoming. Just try to stop a fan from introducing you to their fandom, should you voice the slightest interest. No, really.
- A willingness to embrace the absurd. Because, c'mon, if we're going to dig stories about time travellers, space-ships, sentient machines, giant space-traversing flowers and whatnot, you've got to be willing to be a little silly, occasionally.
