http://www.idkfa.com/v3 idkfa: syndicated http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4948&msg_id=4949 I happened across this via another Trekkie and I enjoyed it quite a bit, however much my experience diverges. I was the kid walking around with my hands folded behind my back in fourth grade because that's how Spock walked. Had I known Klingon, I would perhaps have expressed my anger as such. Star Trek was just one of many forms of media I consumed and loved. And hiding that fact wasn't an option. Nor was the choice on whether to revisit it as an adult. I couldn't not. kaiden@idkfa.com (kaiden) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:01:41 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4948&msg_id=4949 http://www.idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4948&msg_id=4948 Here's a great article on The Awl (which all of you probably don't read but you should because it is an awesome mix of gossip, intellectualism, and humor) about Star Trek TNG. It is basically my relationship with ST:TNG including reading Imzadi as an impressionable hormonal preteen (I was 12 or 13). http://www.theawl.com/2013/02/you-me-and-star-trek-the-next-generation Only substitute "math team" for newspaper and academic decathlon and the girl I bonded over Start Trek with went to the same church as me and we never mentioned our fandom at our respective (different) schools. And now I'll just quote the article: When you love a show as a young person, it can manifest in all manner of ways. Some start swearing in Klingon, some read fanfic erotica. Some buy the technical manual and figure out how to craft a make-shift phasor. Some just learn codes of behavior, adopt understandings of tolerance and commitment and duty. Most, once grown, do not outwardly manifest the signs of their childhood devotion. Yet in certain situations, the evidence emerges, like so many bubbles striving for the surface. Today, you could name dozens of people, from all paths of life, with whom you've breathlessly, earnestly, gigglingly exchanged "Next Gen" stories. Because there's no such thing as a casual "Next Generation" fan: you either understand wholly or not at all. Upon encountering another, details begin to babble out—slowly at first, then a flood: COLM MEANEY! His WIFE KEIKO! Data acquires EMOTIONS! It's unclear whether these moments are meant as confession or catharsis, but the result remains the same. You are bonded to that person, and that person to you. How you dealt with your "Star Trek" consumption—how you hid it, or chose not to hide it—becomes as a crucial a personal narrative as the story of how you lost your virginity. lizinthelibrary@idkfa.com (lizinthelibrary) Indiscernible from Magic Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:20:04 -0900 http://idkfa.com/v3/v_thread.php?thread_id=4948&msg_id=4948