Progress Report 05938

• A variety of news outlets covered celebrations of Star Wars Day on May 4. Among them was ESPN, which posted examples of jock and nerd crossovers and a write-up of Star Wars nights at ballparks featuring some athletes who believe in The Force.


• Another fannish event in May was Comic Book Day and some fans used the occasion for an impromptu wedding at their comic book store. "They said as soon as they met, they found out about each other's geeky interests. 'Pretty much I was like look, I'm a big dork, I like Harry Potter, I like Lord of the Rings, I like all of this stuff and he was like, ‘I like that' and gave me the thumbs up,' [bride Donnita Johnson] said. The wedding was complete with a Princess Leia bridesmaid, a Spiderman best man and Batman and Wonder Woman wedding rings. The pair dressed up in Batman and Wonder Woman attire for the ceremony. They said life is about having fun and expressing who you are and the things you love."


• Certainly one aspect of fandom is its enduring nature, as reflected in the story of 104-year-old Spurs fan Theresa Sanchez who, after 40 years, finally attended a game in person. Also heartwarming was the story of the father and son Captain American fans who ended up attending the premiere of The Avengers. "Captain Kevin Camarata wanted to return from Afghanistan in time for his son's birthday. He missed it by a few days, but made it up to him by sticking to the original plan: dressing as the Avengers character his son holds most dear." When their reunion video went viral, Disney offered an invitation to them to walk the red carpet.


• Blogger Noah Brand discusses drawerfic, writing "I find incredibly esoteric and specialized porn to be one of the most life-affirming things in the world...every time I learn a new word like 'boytaur' or 'OT3' or 'docking' or 'unbirth'...all these things bring me a genuine and unironic joy." Such writing and self-expression is something that can never be co-opted or commercialized: "Every one of those weird kinks is a shout of human individuality in a world that wants to reduce us down to buying patterns and demographic trends. 'I am alive!' they cry. 'I am not an emerging new style, I am not a market segment, I am not co-optable.'" Brand argues that people who have access to current technologies are more fortunate than any other generation in history because they have the tools to make themselves understood. "We use those tools to keep Community on the air, and we also use them to create animated GIFs of Jessica Rabbit with a huge dick. If either of those things strikes you as a strange use of time and technology, that’s okay: it’s not for you. And that’s the point."

One of several billion work projects down: I have written & turned in the proposal for the final Walker Papers book. Working on the synopsis gave me some heart palpitations as I considered who I was going to have to kill. #gulp

Now to pare down the very long list of things to do and choose one that seems Most Important Now, to accomplish over the next 3 days.

(x-posted from the essential kit)

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/05232012/lessons-typewriter