Terminalcoffee discussion

It's nostalgia.

I think why I find Twilight so teeth grating it's back to that teen-melodrama and angst. Why do I want to relive that? Ug. I remember the squees of NKOTB obsessive fans and that makes me want to cringe. Oh I do like to listen to them but not drool/foam at the mouth gushing when they walk by (or in this case the movie is on).

I suppose it's the crazy SQUEE obsession invading a territory long thought unreachable. I mean you have your dark Anne Rice vampires (Masquerade I believe??) walking about New Orleans every year. And now these SQUEE fans (not all are squeeing fans mind) who just...ug :P

I probably was "old" even as a teen. I don't get obsessions but I am a fan of multiple things. And sometimes as a joke I'll squee over things to laugh at myself :P

Btw - I DO have ST ringtones on my phone. And BSG. Cause the chimes are fun.

I do understand, your point, there are people, I am one, who prefer to control ourselves, I have never let myself go with uncontroled abandon about such things. It is quite entertaining to watch the frenzy of a crowd. People are people

Michelle wrote: "I do understand, your point, there are people, I am one, who prefer to control ourselves, I have never let myself go with uncontroled abandon about such things. It is quite entertaining to watch th..."

I am one who prefers to control oneself also, but don't you ever wonder what joy there might be if you would totally immerse yourself?

There is great fun to be had by throwing caution to the wind and refusing to give a damn about what others think.

Like the Beatles fans?

Heather wrote: "There is great fun to be had by throwing caution to the wind and refusing to give a damn about what others think."

That is an extremely hard concept for me, and only has been accomplished with large quantities of alcohol.

Jim wrote: "Heather wrote: "There is great fun to be had by throwing caution to the wind and refusing to give a damn about what others think."

That is an extremely hard concept for me, and only has been accom..."


:) It used to be for me as well Larry, but then I realised that I would never ever be able to please everyone, and even if I could, I would be miserable, so I just gave up. It was liberating, and even better, I'm happy. You might as well be who you are, everyone else is taken...

Okay, Heather. I'll tell Jim. :)

For a few years in my 20's I lived with/hung around a bunch of guys who lived for playing D&D/Shadowrun role playing games on the weekends. It was a serious thing, all the planning, staying up late both Fri & Sat in the game, working on the characters all the rest of the time. I played with them some, and I really enjoyed it from the POV of a writer & actress, but I could never understand their obsession with it. They weren't quite the guys who dressed up for ComiCons & the like, but almost.

And I guess I never understood anyone becoming so obsessed with something that was fantasy. Is it because people have serious lack in their own lives? Do they simply wish that the world was different, more magical? Is it bordering on a mental illness or projective displacement?

I have always been fascinated with magic, the occult, fantasy, dark matters, you name it, but I've never felt compelled enough to make my entire life surround it. Maybe my dogged pursuit of knowledge - researching things of a spiritual nature, ancient religions, origins of fairy tales, quantum physics and fractals, psychology, sociology, different cultures & their myths - combined with my love of reading and discovering new stories, could be considered in the same vein. But I really try my best to keep a level head about what is real and what is simply a story/game/band/movie/etc.

So, does this make me the abnormal one because I wasn't ever the screaming teenager panting & swooning over Robert Smith of the Cure (even though I loved listening to his music)? Is this another difference in those that are more naturally followers than leaders? I'm really curious about this.

Okay, I do confess that I adore Hellboy. I think I might partially swoon if ever meeting him. ;)

Like The Beatles Non-fans, you mean!:)

Sherri's post is interesting. I want to think about it a little more before I respond, but I will say this...within alternative subcultures the same structures, in my experience, emerge as in the larger culture. For example, there are people in the punk subculture who will pick on others for not being "punk enough" and pretty much imitate the mainstream cultural people they to whom they say they are an alternative. I don't know that it has to do with "followers" or "leaders" but I can say, personally, that I was never one of the cool kids in the alternative culture scene back in Chicago, and in some ways I liked that. I was always confused by the astounding cruelty some Smiths fans could, for example, visit on people and then sing along with:

It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be
Gentle and kind

I'm not saying everyone had to be perfect, but the hypocrisy was palpable.

So I don't think you're abnormal, Sherri. At least not for failing to scream at Robert Smith:)

I have nothing against D and D people. Or people obsessed with fantasy football. Or people into collecting snowglobes. As long as you're not bonkers. And even then, probably.

Thanks for passing along Heather's information Larry, now if you could let Heather know........... ;-).

I think that at times there can be a fine line between being passionate about something and being obsessed with something. A line gets crossed somewhere, and there a plenty that cross back over the line and a few who don't/can't.

In response to cosmic sher's post...

No, I don't think that not participating in obsessive mania makes you abnormal. But I don't think that those who do participate in obsessive mania makes them abnormal either. Everyone has some sort of passion, tick, whatever that is going to be judged as weird or obsessive by others, so it has always been my philosophy to not throw stones.

One person's obsessive mania = another person just breathing in life.

Exactly Larry. Thanks, I wish I could say things so simply... :)

Most wait the entire year solely to display costumes they've worked hard on at these conventions. I recall an authentic (k. nearly that. it was SOO lifelike) Chocobo. For those who do not play Final Fantasy take a look here: http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/...
Or other costumes: http://animedog.org/Otakon2k2/72702-O...


Halloween comes once a year and we don't laugh seeing the extraordinare costumes. In fact, we give prizes. So why is it so bad for others to dress up at a con? It's fun. Entertaining. For a weekend, you can "act" out the role, then return to your every day life. It's ADULT LET'S PRETEND game. *giggles*

Now the otaku, excessive obsessive mania types who 27-4 breathe their fandom and do not give themselves a life outside that fandom...I'd worry. Those who know the ins and outs of their fandom but break away to do other things...they're cool and fun to chit-chat with.

Sparkly vampire chasers? I don't think they're abnormal. I simply do not want to be around that sandbox when recess begins.

*falls over in a fit of giggles*

Sherri, thanks for the post! That covers my thoughts on Edward (having not read the books but get the gist) entirely!

I've read the books, and that just about sums it up. In print, I can suspend my reality, but in life, I would be getting a restraining order.

Restraining orders don't work worth a hoot.

This is true, I know from experience sadly. But you have to have them.

You-Tube has a spoof of Buffy and Edward, it was slightly amusing, Chelsea will have to school me in bringing it to this thread... again.
She's gonna be irritated with me for not remembering what to do.