In addition to the ad for ICAF, the Stumptown program had
ads for other conventions that I had not been aware of. They were not comic
book specific, but they fit into the "broader world of geekery", as
described by Benjamin Woo, of Simon Fraser University, in his lecture as winner
of the John Lent Award, "How to Think About Comics as Social
Objects".
It was pretty interesting. His study centered around a
large Canadian city that he would not name (but I was totally picturing
Toronto), and via comic book shops and conventions and events, he was tracking
the social relationships that were created in this world. (And "broader
world of geekery" is in my notes, so that was his term, not mine, but it resonated with me. I don't think
either of us are using it in a negative sense.)
There were a couple of things that were interesting about
this. First of all, just the path of building relationships, and
interconnectedness, but also I found it interesting that many of these people
had dormant periods, and when they would talk about their trajectory of getting
involved, they would use the passive voice, like it was something that happened
to them, not something they did.
Probably the thing that got me thinking the most, though,
was something that came up in a question, when one of the listeners got hung up
on how that was not his experience, he could not find people to share it with
in person, and all of his comic-related interaction was happening on the
internet.
Woo made the reasonable point that this sort of research
does deal in generalities, and will not cover every single case. I was thinking
mean thoughts about how the guy was putting way too much of himself into the
question (which he did more than once), and what was he talking about anyway
because he was sitting there with people, in person! (Realistically, they were
probably people he had met there.)
Anyway, it occurred to me that I don't really interact
with anyone about comic books, and I wouldn't even have thought about that too
much, except that I kept having these conversations about comic books there,
and it was so nice!
I wasn't expecting that. I thought I would learn
interesting things, and get a few signatures, but also, I occasionally talked
to people. They were very nice, but beyond that there was this thing going on
where one of us would start to say something, and I would see their face light
up, or feel myself light up, because we knew what was coming before it was said,
and we were on the same page. That felt so good. That happened with a Belgian
graduate student and with someone from marketing at Dark Horse, and there were
other conversations with others where maybe there wasn't the same level of synchronicity,
but they were still so interesting.
That was great. It did sort of reveal a lack in my current
life, but at the same time I was there listening to someone who studied the
phenomenon, and wrote a paper on it. I don't necessarily have time to add a new
social area to my life, but okay, there is the internet, there are conventions
and comic books shops, and there are people out there who are interested in the
same things, and are like-minded. It's worth remembering.
So, does this mean that whole social anxiety/insecurity
thing cleared up? Yeah, right. No, there were really great conversations, and
then periods of concern that I was being annoying, and then sitting alone
nervously tapping my feet waiting for things to start, because once I am
listening and taking notes, I have something to do and I am fine, but waiting
alone is hard. My regular hangups are all still there, but in this venue there were
moments where they were transcended, and it was delightful.
So, back to those other conventions. On the way home
Saturday, there were a bunch of cosplayers on the train, and I realized it had
to have been one of those. In fact, it was WonderCon.
It was a group of six teenagers, and the costumes seemed
to be focused more on gaming. There was one boy and five girls, so for a boy
gamer those are great odds. And no, they didn't really seem to be about that,
but where the gaming world today can be so plagued by antisocial misogyny, this
seemed encouraging for the future. More to the point, my strong thought
watching them was let your kids be geeky. Be glad if they are.
The costumes were great, and so you know they have been
sewing, woodworking, painting, and there are so many worse things they could be
doing. There is this accomplishment, but there is innocence to it too, despite
the weapons and fake blood. They were excited about their giant scythe, and the
things they had seen and done, and it is so important to have things that are
exciting, in adolescence and adulthood.
I am a fan of passion. Being passionate about things makes
life and people more interesting.
There is a lot of passion in the broader world of
geekery.
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