Spamming you

[resonant]

I seem to have run out of things to read.

Hm. I could spend less time on the internet and more time doing something productive ...

Or I could demand that y'all entertain me.

So: Ask me a question, and I'll answer it. Or tell me something -- answer a question I haven't asked.

Comments

[norah.livejournal.com]

Tell me something about the confluence between parenting and fandom and the rest of life for you particularly?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, what an interesting question!

Just a bunch of stuff, off the top of my head:

- Having a child has actually made other things more important to me -- not fandom, per se, but writing and relationships. Because when all my experience of childhood came from being a child, it seemed like something that went on forever, but once I had a child, it became really obvious to me that the time the kidlet spends with us is going to be very brief. (She'll be eighteen in only eleven years!)

Before I had her, the "empty nest" thing sounded trivial, and so did the effects of teenage angst/hostility on parents. Now I can really see that it's going to be necessary to actually have a life, separate from her, in order not to demand that she be the provider of all my meaning.

- On the less positive side, solid blocks of time without interruption? More precious than gold.

- Pregnancy, followed by having to be responsible for the bodily needs of a creature who couldn't speak, combined to make me more aware than before of how very much our bodies affect our minds, our moods, our emotions -- and this has changed how I interact with other people. Now, I doubt I would have been getting involved in much fannish controversy even without all that, since I'm deeply conflict-averse, but now if someone says something that hurts and infuriates me, I tend to think: "Hm. Her blood sugar might be low. Or mine might."

- I'm more aware than ever of how poisonous are most of the stories that the culture hands us. (Bratz dolls, anyone?) Not that I really think slash is a useful alternative for my seven-year-old, but when I look at her, I see a real urgency in our taking ownership of the stories.

[norah.livejournal.com]

Thank you for such thoughtful and interesting responses - some I had never considered!

[kezzamorphosis.livejournal.com]

I like that! This coming from another slash-writin' mom... :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Oh, and, hey, how about you? How would you answer the same question?

[norah.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, I'm such a n00b at this, you know? The Squid turns seven months on Monday. Um, I'm thinking having this time blocked out for something/one so important makes me work harder to make the other moments of my life count. I'm more interested in being creative and interactive and less interested in the quantity of passive consumption I was doing - I want to write, and not just rec, though that's unfortunate since I'm much better at the latter and it's easier to do in short periods of time.

I'm also having to work at getting more RL friends who live near me - while appreciating the flexibility of my online friends (we can talk during naptimes!)

Um, nothing profound yet, I think.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

What an adorable icon!