First entry postscript

Pertinent to my inaugural post:
I find a lot of fan opinion seems to be shallow and off-putting to me (might be good TV to others) precisely because a person can be TOO MUCH of a fan. In defining this I'm kind of trying to walk that line between the so-called American definition of the japanese word 'otaku' and the actual Japanese definition of the word. In the USA the term has an much friendlier connotation-- an actual fan or follower, typically of some form of Japanese pop culture; anime, kaiju, video games, etc. In Japan it specifically means 'maniac' with the idea that the person in question has 'no life'. The American definition CAN encompass no-lifers but it isn't specific without additional information.

I think too much internet opinion reads like the fans have no life.

I'm going to pontificate on a lot of fanboy shit and I must take it somewhat seriously if I'm going to write about it... but I don't take any of it THAT seriously. Really. If some dark day came and one or more of my hobbies just got sliced out of existence... bummer. But people should have families, friends, lovers, pets, whatever. There is no gosh-damn video game, book, or DVD that will love your ass back.

So really that's what this blog is about. Nerd shit from the perspective of someone who finds it important, but also has a life.

I know a lot of people out there DO have a life. So act like you do. A little distance and common sense perspective would be really welcome. I'll probably spend as much time addressing attitudes and controversies as I will actually posting my own opinions.

So it begins.

First post.
Probably oughtta be some kind of mission statement.

I'm a somewhat older American male with two kids. Throughout my life I've garnered a lot of interests and dabbled in quite a few more. Probably more interests have stuck with me and become serious, if that word can actually be used for fanboy passions, then the average person.

Being a fanboy, of course I am a regular internet cruiser keeping up on these things, looking at flamewars, weighing arguments. And y'know what? There is a real dearth of grounded level-headed opinion.

Part of that comes from passion. Mostly it's passionate (read irrational if you must) people that are motivated enough to write or post in the first place. There is the syndrome of internet facelessness allowing extreme reaction. And perhaps many people who once were fanboys are no longer... they've grown (or married) out of it. Maybe backburnered their geekery enough to not be plugged into 'tah interweb' on the topics.

I have not seen fit to mature enough to shed these childish pastimes. But I'm old enough and have seen enough to offer something more than 'this sucks' or 'this rulez'. I have passion enough for these things to want to talk about them and even invite discussion... so I'm starting a blog (yay!). Comments can even be 'this sucks' or 'this rulez' (or 'you suck')... I just want a space to stretch out in narcissism and blow off some geek-steam.

Take it or leave it. It's a free internet.