So, are you Chloe or Ari?

I am still learning non-internet fannish terminology. This weekend I heard "smof" used for the first time out loud; that means "secret master of fandom", and is one of those rare words that started out as an ironic word for people in the know about one famous person or another. (I think, in fact, it was used just like BNF is today, and "ironic" is the nice way the person explaining its history chose to use.)

But now, smof just means anybody who is deep in the details of a convention, especially somebody on a committee or head of a department. It's totally lost its emotional connotation and is now merely descriptive. It's also (apparently this is recent) become a verb: I ran into Jenny, but she was smoffing with a bunch of volunteers, so I didn't bother her.

If it didn't sound so silly in acronym, and if it didn't already have a firmly established meaning, I would love for more internet people to become Secret Masters of Fandom. I like the "yeah, and?" ness of it.

I still haven't found out what slan means, but that's basically because I don't care enough to look it up.

Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Wonderfalls fandom (through the Buffistas) is the only fandom I've been involved in. Buffy was the first show I've been obsessed with since ST:TOS (in syndication) when I was in grade school. I was into shows like Twin Peaks, X-Files, etc, but nothing like obsessive fandom.

I still haven't found out what slan means, but that's basically because I don't care enough to look it up.

Secret Lover Among Nincompoops?

Slan comes from the A.E. Van Vogt book of the same name. Slans were supposed to be the next level of human evolution, and in the '40s and '50s, "Fans are slans" was a common saying in fandom. The idea was particularly promoted by a fan named Claude Degler, known for traveling around the country from the home of one fan to another. Degler claimed that fans were a new type of human, and he said fans could join together into a Cosmic Consciousness. One fan sent Degler postcards from all over the country that all said, "I have a cosmic mind. Now what do I do?"

Degler claimed that fans were a new type of human, and he said fans could join together into a Cosmic Consciousness.

OK, lets.

Anyone who wants to be part of the Cosmic Consciousness, meet me at my place.

I'm already there, dude.

I'm in the cat.

Duuuuuuude!

sort of like you guys, please don't hurt me, for although there is fear, I do not despise, nor is this said with any derision

Just for that, I shall smite you with the mighty powers of my BNFosity...except no. I wasn't really ever a BNF. I think that I achieved a certain amount of notoriety within the Bronze community but that was a fairly small pond and not representative of the BtVS fandom. And also, I could point to a dozen Brozers off the top of my head that had a higher profile. It wasn't ever as if anyone outside of the small pond knew who I was.

So, while I do sometimes get a few twinges of jealousy when a BNF drops a funny story about their evening with someone, like, say, Tim Minear

I find this statement really odd. I guess because I don't consider Buffistas a "fandom" nor do I think Tim's generosity towards Nilly had anything to do with fandom. Nilly is a cool, interesting and very sweet person. Every member of this community wanted to hang out with her.

I wasn't really ever a BNF.

Have you done a Vanity Google lately?

Also, Kristen Minear is a fabulous google, and google asks me, "Do you mean, Kristen Miller?