A few things I've been meaning to blog about.

[brak666]

Thing the first

So. Labor Day weekend just passed. I sort of consider that to be my anniversary in fandom. In late 1996/early 1997 I started getting involved in online fandom. I'd been to a few creation cons before but was never really a part of the community. But when I started college I joined a few mailing lists. They were gen lists for shows like Profiler and The Pretender. I was pretty active in them, but there wasn't much talk of fanfic (some shipping in the Profiler list, but not much fanfic). I knew fanfic existed and read a lot of X-Files gen and het. Then a friend from college sent me a link to a Star Trek Voyager slash archive. Well, needless to say I was fascinated. I went looking for more. I found the KS Nicholas fanfic site on a Yahoo! search and found slash for a number of other shows I was into. Even from the KS Nicholas site (which if you've never heard of it was pretty much just a giant links page categorized by slash and gen and organized by fandom), I could see that this thing called "The Sentinel" was a pretty big deal. But I'd seen ads for the show and didn't think much of it, and I really didn't want to get involved in another mailing list, so I left those links alone. But then we got an influx of people on the Profiler list, and these people wrote fanfic. One of them wrote a Profiler/Sentinel crossover (gen) and it was interesting, and gave a pretty good overview of The Sentinel. So I figured, "I can read the fic without watching the show". Well, that didn't last long. At some point while I was reading through the Sentinel archives it dawned on me that all of these different people who were writing these stories were actually talking to each other somewhere. I was determined to find out where. Well, I found SENAD, joined and started posting. Shortly thereafter I wrote my first Sentinel fanfic which was fairly well received, and I've been in fandom ever since. How does this fit into Labor Day weekend, you ask? Well, The summer of 1997 was The Bash at the Loft a sentinel slash con. I had no money and a crappy car, but I was determined to go. I still don't know how I got my parents to give me the money and agree to let me to drive to Maryland with someone I met on the internet, but I did. It was the most wonderful experience of my life. It was like coming home. At last, I had found my people. I shared a hotel room with six other people (all female), among them, sorka42 who remains one of my dearest friends to this day. So many other people I met for the first time, like slashmommy, tayawulf, and I'm pretty sure lanning was there. Oh yeah, and that person I met on the internet who gave me a ride: naominovik. So yeah. This Labor Day was my 10th anniversary in fandom. It's been a wonderful ride and I wouldn't change one second of it.

Thing the second

The other day at work I was in the dining room at breakfast time. We play music during meal times and I usually only half listen. Well, I was half-listening that day and something made me stop because I couldn't quite believe what I was half-hearing. So I stopped what I was doing and walked closer to the speakers and sure enough, my worst fears were realized. I was in fact hearing an orchestral rendition of 'Penny Lane'. Turns out it was from a whole cd or orchestral tributes to The Beatles. I stole borrowed the cd because, really it has to be heard to be believed. I've not yet worked up the courage to listen to the orchestral version of 'Hey Jude'.

So I've been tagged for the seven quirks meme by both gblvr and natlyn

Thing the third

List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself:

1. Whenever there's an article of clothing to be put on that has a left and a right, I always put the left one on first. If there's something like a shoe or a glove that has a specific left and right and I pick up the right one first by accident, I'll put it down and pick up the left. I also do this with my contact lenses.

2. I hate the book Lord of the Rings. I find it wordy, pretentious, boring, and full of unnecessary action. I did enjoy the movies, though if pressed I will admit that Randall's assessment of them in Clerks 2 is pretty dead on. But I would also point out to Randall that they took out more of the boring stuff than they left in.

3. I was traumatized as a child by 'Return to Oz'. No not, because it sucked. It was the disembodied heads that still talked. To this day, talking disembodied heads in movies still freak me the fuck out.

4. I really want to get a tattoo but don't because my mother would disapprove.

5. I'm still trying to get over high school

6. I'm afraid of clowns

7. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I would make myself useful in a post-apocalyptic world. Though I imagine I'm being rather presumptuous to assume that I'd survive said apocalypse in the first place.

Thing the fourth

I've decided to attempt to re-read the Dragonriders of Pern series in publication order. I read them pretty much randomly the first time around. I'm currently on Dragonsinger. I find myself wanting to have deep intellectual discussions about gender and sexuality on Pern. Also, I need to work out some sort of explanation for myself that will account for the discontinuity of the behavior of clutching Fire Lizards from Dragonquest, Dragonsong, and Dragonsdawn.

ETA:

Did you ever notice that even when you buy V-8 in the plastic bottle, it still tastes vaguely metallic? Or is that just me?

Comments

[badwolf735.livejournal.com]

I too was freaked out by Return to Oz and Princess Mombi's many heads. I was also scared of the Wheelers too.

[brak666.livejournal.com]

I thought the wheelers were cool. The pumpkin-headed guy freaked me out a little too, but not as much as the heads.

[badwolf735.livejournal.com]

I was a little obsessed with the movie when I was a kid, to the point where not only was I collecting books, stickers etc, but I also made up my own games and puzzles all to do with the movie. Oddly, I have never owned it on VHS or DVD...

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm really hoping I don't regret this Beatles thing....

[brak666.livejournal.com]

Oh, you'll definitely regret it. But why should I have to suffer alone?

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

Bitch. :-p

[brak666.livejournal.com]

I couldn't actually be sure I wasn't hallucinating until I had other people listen to it.

[nolee.livejournal.com]

Those heads were really creepy in Return To Oz. heeheehee, I think I may have to watch it tonight.

[brak666.livejournal.com]

That's the second comment I got about that. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

4. I really want to get a tattoo but don't because my mother would disapprove.

Get it some place your mother will never see (again).

6. I'm afraid of clowns

Oh you are one of those mythological persons I've always heard about. I admit I kinda thought that was not-so-true that a certain percentage of people are afraid of clowns. Were you able to watch It?

7. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I would make myself useful in a post-apocalyptic world. Though I imagine I'm being rather presumptuous to assume that I'd survive said apocalypse in the first place.

I used to think about this. I even borrowed a friend's SAS Survival Handbook. Then I realized if I happened to survive the apocalypse, I would be useless. So I decided there could be no apocalypse. ::nods head firmly::

As far as V-8 in a plastic bottle, I've never had V-8 so, er, can't answer.

Oh yeah. I think I've heard orchestral versions of all The Beatles songs. You live long enough and it just happens. Wait until you hear the orchestral version of "Sexy Back".

[brak666.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough I didn't have much problem with It. I think it's because the clown was meant to be an object of fear. It's only in situations where the clown is a benign and/or amusing presence that I find them frightening. It's like I can't help but think they're up to something.

[minotaurs.livejournal.com]

You have medical training... you'll be currency in the post-apocolyptic world.

[jgesteve.livejournal.com]

It's been a while, but what's different between the habits of the clutching fire lizards between Dragonquest, Dragonsdawn, and Dragonsong (though I will note, that if you're talking about Menolly's first encounter with the fire lizards you could make a claim for extenuating circumstances what with the tide coming in, etc.)

[brak666.livejournal.com]

I actually think I have it mostly worked out. First I'll tell you what was problematic for me and then I'll come up with the explanation that allows me to continue reading. In Dragonquest F'nor finds the Fire Lizard eggs hatching on the beach. There are no other Fire Lizards in attendance. The Fire Lizards are born hungry, but even though they hatch right next to the sea which is their main source of food, they seem to have no instinct to guide them and eventually turn on each other. Also they are succeptable to nearby predators. The dragonriders go hunting for more eggs and find other nests in the same situation, completely unguarded. From this reading one assumes Fire Lizards are akin to sea turtles, burying their eggs in the warm sand to incubate, but not actually doing any parenting. Cut to Dragonsong. The clutch Menolly finds is zealously guarded by its mother and several bronzes. When the eggs finally hatch a large group of Fire Lizards is in attendance. These hatchlings are apparently smarter than the ones F'nor and the other dragonriders found because they recognize the sea as a source of food and make for it the moment their wings are dry enough for them to fly. The problem of course, is that they hatch while thread is falling. If not for Menolly they probably all would've died. But then you have Dragonsdawn which is really what creates the problem for me. The clutch that Sorka and Sean find is also guarded by its mother. Also when the time comes to hatch many Fire Lizards of all colors are in attendance. The problem here is that these Fire Lizards not only provide food for the hatchlings, they set up a rather intricate pathway to guide them to it, and they protect them from predators. At least until they have their first meal and start flying. This really doesn't seem like a disadvantageous behavior that would've been bred out in the 2,000 or so years between Dragonsdawn and Dragonsong.

Now here's where I try to work it out. In Dragonsdawn Sean and Sorka mention that greens lack a strong maternal instinct and frequently abandon their eggs before they hatch. So one could presume that the eggs F'nor and the other dragonriders found at Southern were from greens. Also the second clutch Menolly finds in Dragonsong. This does however require that one let go of the notion that greens can't lay gold eggs. That's the easy part though. It's harder to ignore the behavior differences. It's also established in Dragonsdawn that Fire Lizards are attracted to births. So surely some should've been in attendance at the beaches in Southern. But I suppose if I have to, I can assume that there simply weren't any around at the time. I know Dragonsdawn was written after the other two, but that's not really an excuse. Why introduce a discontinuity? And there's still the food issue. In Dragonsong the Fire Lizards in the cave provide nothing but verbal encouragement to the hatchlings. Now I suppose you could say they were unable to because of thread falling, but we also know that Fire Lizards can chew firestone and fight thread. Again, a discontinuity that I can't really explain is raised in Dragonsdawn. The Fire Lizards are quite willing to protect their human friends during fall, not only that, they attempt to protect the livestock from thread as well. So why wouldn't they protect their own young? Or at least provide cover for others to go fishing to take food back to the cave?

So I'm willing to except that the clutches found in Dragonquest were abandoned by greens. The rest is a bit difficult to reconcile.

[mofic.livejournal.com]

I think it's quite sensible and not at all presumptuous to plan for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. After all, even though you won't need the plans if you don't survive the apocalypse, if you do you're well ahead of the rest of us.