Knackered.

Reviews of Chicks Dig Time Lords are sounding the same note as the editors did at the Gally panel: that female Doctor Who fans are diverse, with a range of experiences and viewpoints, and that there's room for all of us. It's not mere hot air, either. Tara and Lynne could've omitted my contribution, or demanded major alterations to the contentious bits, but instead were entirely gracious. This contrasts sharply with online discourse, where opinions are something you wear like gang colours.

I think girls and women in Who fandom have hit a critical mass. Not many years ago, we existed in isolated pockets, each with its own set of assumptions. When those pockets met, too often instead of recognition and delight, there was a sizzle of indignation. Perhaps constantly asserting ourselves against the crush of male fans had become so ingrained we didn't know any other way to interact.

Or perhaps it was the curse-blessing of the Internet, connecting us, but in possibly the worst medium for talking that human beings have ever invented. Online text-based communication pushes us to quick, brief interchanges; little thought, little content, little care. (The advent of the blog has dented this only slightly, as scrolling down to the comments will reveal.) Contrast the thoughtful, careful essays of CDTL.

Would returning to the format of the paper fanzine benefit fandom - the Internet for up-to-the-minute news and media, the essay and the letcol for analysis of the show and of ourselves?

IDK. I'm a tired, tired old feminist fangirl, and a sick chick, and I can't really do this whole Intersplat thing any more. But it's OK for me to stick my oar out now: fandom is, very clearly, in safe hands. Jump in, ladies, have a ball.

ETA: Some more places to buy the book:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chicks-Dig-Time-Lords/Mad-Norwegian-Press/e/9781935234043

http://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781935234043

http://www.whona.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=W&Product_Code=CHKSDG&Category_Code=drwho

http://www.alienentertainmentstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=A&Product_Code=CHICKS&Category_Code=DWS

http://www.madnorwegian.com/product.php?item=chicks

http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781935234043-0


And in the UK:

http://www.galaxy4.co.uk/product.thtml?id=2480&vts=-GICAQ

I didn't even know sharks _had_ nostrils

We briefly visited LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I was aiming for the ubiquitous Ashurbanipal stuff, but it was in mothballs, so I went and gawped at some Asian art instead (of which more later). There were banners everywhere for an exhibition featuring the painting Watson and the Shark. It's a ripping picture - sailors trying to rescue the pretty cabin boy from a mighty brute of a fish - and the true story's really something: having his foot eaten didn't prevent Watson from eventually becoming Mayor of London. (Bizarrely, I think the image bears comparison with Draper's The Sea Maiden.)