Class was cancelled yesterday on account of the prof getting the flu. Unfortunately she didn't bother to email anyone that, so I ended up making the long drive anyway. Not that that's really any hardship (I kinda enjoy just riding and listening to my music), but my time could've been better spent doing something other than driving down, turning around, and coming back home.
About four years ago I got involved with a fandom website devoted to a show about a young girl fighting the forces of evil on a fledgling network. I'd gone looking for episode reviews and had stumbled across this interesting place. At the time, the website was small, hosted on one of the free webspace providers that were so prevelant back then, and there were only a few of us that held discussion on the show. We'd deconstruct what happened on the show, make guesses about what would happen, and gab about the way our lives were working out. We became friends.
The woman who ran the site had some personal problems, and it shut down for several months, and I kinda drifted away from the community even though I still watched the show. With a new season I was interesting in discussion, so I went looking for the website and found that it had been upgraded. A new website; a new forum; lots of new faces along with old friends. A few old friends had disappeared into the ether, but that was to be expected in a net community, I suppose. I was welcomed back without question, and it was mostly fun again.
The problem that we found, though, was that the new community was no longer private. New people were coming in everyday, and they were no longer quite of the quality that I'd grown accustomed to. The newer posters were younger, and they didn't seem to have any desire to discuss the episodes beyond talking about how hot the actors and actresses were. A part of the forum was sectioned off for those of us who'd visited the site from the beginning, but it wasn't the same. Mostly we used that section to bitch about the people on the other boards.
And then this season, which looks to be its last, I felt something I hadn't yet felt: I was burnt out. I no longer had a strong desire to discuss the new episodes (or even the old ones). I can't say if it was because of the lack of quality discussion, or lack of quality from the show, or even if it was something that was just bound to happen. But I stopped frequenting the board as much; and when I'd go there I wasn't participating as much in discussion. Mostly I'd quip, or I'd snipe, or I'd post about something other than the latest episode, because I didn't really have anything to say about it. Whatever enjoyment I'd derived from that place was gone, for whatever reason.
Not long ago there was a server crash and the site was down for a while. I and another one of the old time posters were worried, as we hadn't heard any word. Apparently we were the only ones. My absences on the board must've been noticed. Or perhaps I was never quite as important to the board as I thought I'd been. I wasn't told anything. Granted, there was a lot that needed doing, but I can't say that not recieving word didn't hurt just a little.
And so it's now a part of my life that's in the past. The friends I had are not really friends any longer. A bit like breaking up, if you will.
Many changes in the past year. And all have left me feeling somewhat empty inside.
About four years ago I got involved with a fandom website devoted to a show about a young girl fighting the forces of evil on a fledgling network. I'd gone looking for episode reviews and had stumbled across this interesting place. At the time, the website was small, hosted on one of the free webspace providers that were so prevelant back then, and there were only a few of us that held discussion on the show. We'd deconstruct what happened on the show, make guesses about what would happen, and gab about the way our lives were working out. We became friends.
The woman who ran the site had some personal problems, and it shut down for several months, and I kinda drifted away from the community even though I still watched the show. With a new season I was interesting in discussion, so I went looking for the website and found that it had been upgraded. A new website; a new forum; lots of new faces along with old friends. A few old friends had disappeared into the ether, but that was to be expected in a net community, I suppose. I was welcomed back without question, and it was mostly fun again.
The problem that we found, though, was that the new community was no longer private. New people were coming in everyday, and they were no longer quite of the quality that I'd grown accustomed to. The newer posters were younger, and they didn't seem to have any desire to discuss the episodes beyond talking about how hot the actors and actresses were. A part of the forum was sectioned off for those of us who'd visited the site from the beginning, but it wasn't the same. Mostly we used that section to bitch about the people on the other boards.
And then this season, which looks to be its last, I felt something I hadn't yet felt: I was burnt out. I no longer had a strong desire to discuss the new episodes (or even the old ones). I can't say if it was because of the lack of quality discussion, or lack of quality from the show, or even if it was something that was just bound to happen. But I stopped frequenting the board as much; and when I'd go there I wasn't participating as much in discussion. Mostly I'd quip, or I'd snipe, or I'd post about something other than the latest episode, because I didn't really have anything to say about it. Whatever enjoyment I'd derived from that place was gone, for whatever reason.
Not long ago there was a server crash and the site was down for a while. I and another one of the old time posters were worried, as we hadn't heard any word. Apparently we were the only ones. My absences on the board must've been noticed. Or perhaps I was never quite as important to the board as I thought I'd been. I wasn't told anything. Granted, there was a lot that needed doing, but I can't say that not recieving word didn't hurt just a little.
And so it's now a part of my life that's in the past. The friends I had are not really friends any longer. A bit like breaking up, if you will.
Many changes in the past year. And all have left me feeling somewhat empty inside.
Sorry, not in 20 degree weather!
Sorry about the "breakup".
I'm trying to think of something clever and uplifting to say but it all sounds like crap to me.