Summer & Fandom

A fairly active and social weekend for a change, instead of the usual stay at home watching movies and playing video games kind (even though I did manage to squeeze a couple of movies in as well). A summer picnic of the Finnish science fiction fandom scene on Saturday, which sort of spilled over into Sunday as well with unfinished Finnish Tolkien Society business to sort out. (Although the business part was quite brief in comparison to the museum visit and cafe chat session.) All in all a pretty enjoyable weekend. And the weather was just right as well, for the most part.

I've been an active member of the Finnish Tolkien Society since roughly the turn of the millennium. It's been a lot of fun and I've made lots of friends there. It's funny though that, while all the fantasy and SF organisations in such a small country are pretty familiar with each other, I don't really know that many people in Finnish fandom, outside the immediate circle of the Tolkien Society. Partly I guess it's cause I can be kind of shy and quiet when I'm in strange company. But mostly I guess it's cause I'm just too lazy to go to a lot of social gatherings.

I wouldn't quite call myself a recluse, but there's a bit of that in me. Many of my interests just aren't very social. I love nothing better than to just curl up on my sofa watching a good movie or playing a good video game. Of course I love seeing friends, but I just don't seem to have the energy to do that every weekend. Hell, I'm lucky to do it once a month even. And meeting strangers in strange circumstances... There was a time in my late teens, even early 20s, when that newly discovered 'scene' held a kind of wonder. But I've lost that fire at some point over the years since. And I'm not quite sure how to feel about that. Perhaps I'm just growing old.