Discovering Buffy
First-person Accounts of How Buffy Followers Came to Watch the Show
Note to scholars: anyone wishing to use the responses gathered here (after the airing of the final episode in the US in May and June of 2003) in order to investigate BtVS fandom has the permission of the editors of Slayage to do so. Please be sure to credit Slayage as your source (the URL should be cited as http://www.slayage.tv/discoveringbuffy/discoveringbuffy.htm).
| 1 |
Sigh...I had ignored Buffy for the first four seasons, thinking that a show based on "that stupid movie" couldn't be worth watching. Luckily, I hang out with a group of TV fiends who were hooked on the show; these same guys were the ones who had a few years earlier convinced me that I would like a quirky SF show called Babylon 5. So I bought the video of the pilot and first episode-hey, this is a cool show!- and started watching with season 5. I quickly obtained the first 4 seasons and my wife and I settled into an intensive 2-per-night crash course in Buffy, followed by the first season of Angel. Hooked like a fish. As a frustrating side-note, the summer before I became a Buffy fan, I went to the Chicago comic-con where Joss Whedon was a guest. One of the previously mentioned friends writes for a local (St. Louis) paper, and had managed to arrange a short interview with Joss. Now by this time I was fairly certain that I would end up watching the show, and had bought a pirate tape of the unaired pilot at the con. My friend asked me if I would take pics for the paper of Joss during the interview and I said sure. Now imagine the scenario: there I am, taking pictures of Whedon, being close enough to shake his hand, and not realizing that just a short time later I'd come to think of him as a twisted genius! Grrr, argh, indeed! Bryan Reeves |
| 2 |
I work for a FOX affiliate in Knoxville, TN. As for Buffy? I boycotted the show. Initially, at least. I refused to watch the first two seasons because I was one of the few people in the known universe that enjoyed the movie (and, more specifically, the physical presence of Kristy Swanson) and I just couldn't understand why Swanson wasn't picked to portray her television counterpart. It wasn't like she was doing anything. I never wanted to see it, and I wouldn't have, had I not been paid to. In early 1999, I got a job as a Master Control Operator for a WB affiliate in northern Arizona. Basically, my job was to run all the programming and keep the station on air. It wasn't long before I found myself manning the helm on a Tuesday night at 8pm. The episode was "The Wish." I fell completely in love. I became an instant Buffyite. Thanks to my job, I was able to catch up on what I had been blacklisting for two years. From season four on, I never missed an episode. I guess in retrospect, I should have been paying that WB station for the experience. - Larry Palais |
| 3 |
The movie, , was a disappointment for me; hence, I never looked at its namesake on television until last April when I saw and and was taken with Alyson Hannigan's acting talents. My interest in what she was doing at the time took me to BtVS, and I was amazed that such a entertaining and thought provoking series was available on television. Currently, I spend an embarrassing amount of time with Buffy books, internet sites, DVDs, and the reruns on FX and the new episodes, until today, on UPN. For what it's worth I'm 56, a Columbia College graduate, and have advanced degrees in philosophy and finance; and for my thought and money BtVS is the best television I've encountered in 48 years of watching. Yours truly, John Shumate |
| 4 |
My name is Brandy Ryan, and I am a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, in Toronto (Ontario), Canada. My first Buffy experience was at the hands of my best friend when I was in the last year of my undergraduate degree. He'd been raving about Buffy for weeks; I had been mocking him as long. My initial reaction to the show was not the name (as many site), nor the idea of fantasy/supernatural content; I really disliked Sarah Michelle Gellar. Over reading week of 2001, my best friend convinced me to come over and watch four episodes that he considered some of the best Buffy had produced. If I didn't enjoy them, he promised never to mention Buffy again. That day, I watched "Hush," "Fool for Love" and "Darla," and "I Will Remember You." I was immediately hooked by the amazing narrative continuity (the Buffy/Angel cross-overs), the talent of actors who can carry thirty minutes without dialogue, and the show's ability to combine humour with horror and emotional angst (not to mention the dialogue, which I immediately picked up on and still use to this day). I still didn't really enjoy SMG as Buffy, and mockingly predicted the death of Buffy. Her death made me believe in the power of the show: even though I didn't much like the character, I was in tears when she actually died. Since then, I've written two papers (not yet published) on Buffy, created a Buffy course, joined the Buffyology board, hosted two 12 hour Buffy days, been interviewed by CBC radio for a piece they did on Buffy, and read/bought everything I can get my hands on in terms of critical analysis. This show really changed my life; I've become critically and emotionally invested in a way that I hadn't thought possible. Among other things, Buffy as a character offers a realistic representation of a woman's struggle to mediate feminism and fallibility. Brandy Ryan |
| 5 |
I am a Senior Lecturer in Education working within the Research Centre for Able Pupils at Oxford Brookes University. I also teach undergraduate courses in media studies. I have a research interest in able girls' identification in and with popular culture. This interest was initially inspired by Buffy and the ways in which able young women engaged with and talked about the show. I was working with a group of able girls in a state comprehensive secondary school when I first happened to see an episode one evening, in that post-work-pre-dinner-tired state. This was near the middle of the second season - What's My Line I - during its 6.45 Thursday broadcast on the UK's BBC2. It caught and held my attention from the opening credits - indeed it was these that intrigued me enough not to channel-hop. The next day I mentioned it to one of the students, a very bright 14 year old. She practically yelped with pleasure, quickly filled me in on the season I had missed, and insisted I borrowed tapes to catch up. I spent most of the weekend doing so. Thereafter, as far as she and her peers were concerned I was an initiate, and they were keen to discuss their love of the show and its relationship to their lives. A few weeks after, I was speaking with an artist friend who had just completed an installation about personal monsters, and I mentioned my 'discovery'. Her eyes lit up. 'Great!' she said, 'someone I can talk about Buffy with who doesn't think I'm mad.' I include the latter part because at the Blood Text and Fears conference, there was some interesting dinner conversation about how delegates first 'came out' [this was the term employed] about their interest to their friends, as well a how they first 'discovered' the show. Michele Paule |
| 6 |
I have watched "Buffy" since its debut in March 1997. I have an M.A. in the Linguistics of the English Language from UCLA. (If you're keeping track, I'm a middle class, married, white, Jewish woman who was born in 1945.) I am a children's book consultant who specializes in books for adolescents. I think that's why I turned in that first night; I knew the kids I was discussing books with would be watching. But the intelligent and witty writing, creative and inventive use of language, the character development and the characters' relationships kept me watching. With Season 6 I started consciously noting the wealth of classical references of every kind, from mythology (the Slayer being one version of the Phoenix myth), to opera (Dawn's math teacher, Mr. Lohengrin, in the first episode of Season 7; the various female robots--including the Buffybot--echoing "Tales of Hoffman"), to Jungian theory (Buffy and Spike, as noted in a "slayage" article, demonstrating the Shadow), and, of course, all the literary references and resonances. A friend told me about slayage, I read "Fighting the Forces," became part of a "Buffy" and "Angel" online group founded primarily by members of a children's literary listserv (librarians, university professors, teachers, booksellers, publishers and others interested in issues surrounding children's books), and never looked back. Janet Zarem |
| 7 |
I am a veterinary anaesthetist, climber and novelist, generally, these days in reverse order (that is, writing comes first). I don't watch television, have no kids nor any contact to any and have no interest whatsoever in teen culture. I stayed with my brother and his wife - the family's Buffy fan - for Christmas of 2001. he got her a DVD of the first season of Buffy for Christmas. I was scathing, Don't tell me we're watching *this*? It's nonsense. Didn't your mother tell you that you'll go blind if you watch junk like this?' etc. etc. It was Christmas. I loathe Christmas and, much as I love my brother, I wasn't in the best frame of mind. I was also the guest and duly ignored. After lunch we sat down to watch episode one, season one. I had never seen the movie, I had barely heard of Buffy, I asked endless very irritating questions. 'Why is she doing that? Which one is Buffy? Why is she so wet when she's supposed to be a superhero?' Sometime around ep 3, I stopped asking. Sometime around midnight, I said, 'But it's not even tomorrow yet, we could catch at least ep 6 before we go to bedŠ' Two weeks later, kid brother called me, Season four was on the TV (I don't watch TV, remember?). 'You'd better start watching, your greatest dream has come true, Willow's a dyke.' I still don't watch TV, but I do have the videos of seasons 1 - 5. Rather gave up on season 6 but 7 sounds betterŠ Manda Scott MA CertVA BVMS MRCVS Newmarket Suffolk |
| 8 |
I am a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Parkside. Among other things I teach popular culture/gender studies/ethnic studies. Had my daughter lived, she would have been 10 this year, and I am drawn to the things that her friends and agemates would be. So, I have watched Buffy on and off for quite a while, responding to the concerns of fellow parents when I can that this program gives young women permission to voice. I am teaching an on-line course at the university even as I write, entitled, "Buffy the Slayer: Deconstructing Girl Culture." The students are enthused (and amazed) that something they really like, is also worth college credit. I teach mythic structure, narrative structure, and many ways to bring Buffy in touch with these, and the students in touch with their own voices. I am deeply aware of my responsibility to pass permission to voice, on to the next generation of young women. I am also deeply concerned about some of the deep-structural messages that are nevertheless extractable within the series. Buffy Lives. And so does my daughter, Autumn Grace. Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes |
| 9 |
"My teenaged sisters roped me in, near the end of Season One. I am a 34 year old copywriter and Marketing Communications Manager for a national manufacturer of networking cabling hardware, and my two sisters, who were both in high school at the time, were fanatic Buffy watchers, almost from the start. I have to admit that I mocked them at first. I hadn't seen the movie, but a show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Ha. Really. But eventually, they convinced me to give it a try. I think my first episode was "The Puppet Show", in May of 1997. I was immediately captivated by the show's clever wit and unexpected charm. I caught up on the beginning via that summer's reruns, and have been a fanatic and Buffy-evangelist ever since. I read the high-brow Buffy books and discussions and participate occasionally in Television Without Pity's fantastic Buffy posting board. In fact, "BtVS" and its spinoff "Angel" are the only two shows I set my VCR for, every week. And despite occasional bitterness toward Joss and Mutant Enemy for various choices, they've never really let me down, in the end. Darcy Pratt |
| 10 |
I'm a fourteen year-old eighth-grader at a small Catholic school in northwest Ohio. Throughout my study halls in January of 2002, two of my close friends would chat about a show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", which I dismissed as having no moral fiber and blatantly ignored until a month later, when an online acquaintance of mine began to quote the now-famous musical episode from "Buffy"'s sixth season- "Once More, With Feeling". Warily following my friend's strong advice, I downloaded a few MP3s from OMWF, and was fairly interested. So I downloaded the episode itself, and ever since, I've been hooked. Over the course of summer 2002, I downloaded dozens of episodes from Kazaa, read episode reviews on tons of websites, and increased my "Buffy" knowledge to a point where it surpassed that of any of my friends who'd acknowledged the show before me. I now own seasons one and three on DVD, have fifteen of my favorite episodes stored on my computer, and can quote vengeance demons and vampires and slayers without even blinking. --Laura E. Reineke |
| 11 |
It's a family affair, really. My name is Rebecca Rice and I'm a stay-at-home mom for two beautiful (but very demanding) little boys. I was 23 and just out of college when two of my crazy friends, Penny Horwitz and Joel Ruggaber, convinced me that I should try watching one of their favorite shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was skeptical, because I was not a fan of the movie and the title was just dubious. But they explained that one of the main characters, a girl named Willow, had a lot of things in common with me. They pointed out that she was good in school and had very few friends, but most importantly, she was head-over-heals in love with her best friend, who was too clueless to notice her, and she was too timid to say anything. That got me, and I tried an episode, the very first ep of season two, which begins with a very cute Willow-and-Xander scene in which they almost kiss-- but don't. My mom humored me in watching that first episode, and we were both hooked almost instantly. Somewhere in there we adopted a cat who came with the name Angel, which we kept in part to honor the character of that name. My husband became a fan very quickly when we first met, and when our first son was born, we named him Xander. I'm still hoping we may have a girl, so we can call her Willow. I know it's the right time for Buffy to end, but I will still miss the guaranteed hour of good writing every week, which I have come to depend on. If only they hadn't cancelled Firefly. Sigh. At least there's still Angel. And Joss is such a wonderful writer and storyteller, I can't wait to see what he'll do next. Rebecca Rice |
| 12 |
y name is Jenny Stewart and I teach media and film studies students to A Level students in leicester in the uk. i was teaching the horror genre and was looking for a text that subverted the rules of the genre. i was aware of buffy, yet had never really commited myself to watching an episode. i knew many of my students were fans and thus borrowed season 1 on dvd in jan 2003 planning to watch just one episode. so there i sat one saturday nite, thought 'hmmm, not bad, just one more'. this continued all weekened until i had viewed every episode in season 1. i have since bought every season on DVD and have become somewhat of an obsessive in a very short space of time. why i had i never discovered this powerful, witty, 'genre busting', realistic show that does not insult by intelligence before? buffy maybe no more, but will stay with me forever.ive laughed, cried and literally been to hell and back. Jenny Stewart |
| 13 |
I am a Washington, D.C. litigation attorney. My girlfriend introduced me to Buffy. She started watching Buffy during Season One and used to casually mention how good it was. I had seen the previews for the episodes on the WB but I had never watched it. I had seen the original movie and was far from impressed. Well, one night as my girlfriend and I were watching tv we came across a tv preview for a buffy episode that was airing in 5 minutes. She forced me to watch. The episode was Reptile Boy. I watched and found it interesting. It wasn't until I had watched every episode up to Surprise when I realized I was addicted. I was a Highlander addict at the time and BTVS proved to be a far more compelling substitute. I've been an addict ever since. Kayin Saunders |
| 14 |
I'm a freelance writer in the Twin Cities, MN area, writing both for consumer publications and corporate ventures. I was vaguely aware of Buffy from press surrounding both the movie and the TV series, although I'd seen neither. In the fall of 2002, my husband and I were letting are kids ogle video games at an Electronics Boutique when we spotted a secondhand copy of Season One on DVD and bought it on a whim, having just finished watching The Sopranos on DVD. I expected a kitschy, silly form of entertainment, "junk food TV" of "X-Files for Dummies"--but I found it to be much more in-depth than that, even while providing lots of giggles. We've watched all that's available on DVD and the occasional episode in syndication, though I hesitate to get too far ahead. Season 4 comes out in June... Amy Rea |
| 15 |
I am a professor of English at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, where I , specialize in the teaching of writing. Although I had seen the movie (which I found mildly entertaining), I wasn't drawn to watch the series BtVS until a colleague of mine at Bridgewater State College began regaling me (during the third season) with infomation about the series, while we were traveling together on college business. At about the same time, a professor of English at Utica College in upstate New York told me that she and her two late-teens daughters were devoted to the series and made a point of watching it together. Both women spoke enthusiastically about BtVS's vision of powerful women (Buffy and Willow) and their capacity to form strong bonds with others in a just cause. So I began to watch the series, at first sporadically, then with increased devotion. I caught up in the plot with the help of the women who had alerted me to the show, and i followed it faithfully up ro the end. Given that I was led to the series by two empowered women, I am not surprised that the final episode involved the empowerment of all potential Slayers. It was an uplifting end to a great series. --Anne E. Doyle |
| 16 |
I am a teacher in London Ontario Canada. Although originally qualified for High School English, I am currently teaching a grade 5/6 class in a Catholic school. I'm one of the original Buffyphiles, having been an avid viewer from the original showing of Welcome to the Hellmouth in February of 1997. back then I was English major with an affinity for pop culture and and a love of the camp/cult and fantasy genres. I confess to having somewhat enjoyed (or at least found amusing--Paul Rubens was a hoot) the original movie, and was intrigued by the prospect of the concept of a television show, and eagerly tuned into the first episode. From there I was hooked. The concept, the use of language and, over the years, the committment to a complex, evolving mythology all lured me in and held me hostage on Buffy nights. Throughout the rest of my university career and beyond I've taken flack for my love of this "silly little show", but I proudly defend it to all those poor souls who don't know how to separate (or at times combine) the ridiculous and the sublime. Kimberly Rastin |
| 17 |
My name is Paul Syson, I live in England where I am studying for a B.A. Honours Degree in English, minoring in Sociology. I am currently writing my thesis on Buffy, and it's relevance to today's society, and our cultural need for heroes. I arrived at the programme by accident; in the UK the programme had been shoved from pillar to post by sloppy schedulers. The first episode I saw was 'I Robot, You Jane'. As I was around 15 years old at the time, the show spoke to me on many levels. I identified aspects of myself within in each of the characters, especially Willow. Eventually the show found a solid fan base, and I caught up on what I missed. By bizarre coincidence, I discovered the very first episode premiered in the US on March 10th, my birthday! So perhaps the chosen one chose me, at least that what I like to believe! Paul Syson |
| 18 |
My name is Helena Stecker. I am a rehabilitation social worker at a hospital in Toronto, Canada. I came late to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (mid-Season 5), because I wrongly assumed that a show with such a kooky title would be somewhat akin in content to "Xena the Warrior Princess" or "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", with little to offer the intelligent viewer. That changed when I began my Master's degree internship in the palliative care unit of a geriatric facility in Toronto. My supervisor would often talk about Buffy, and how the slayer would deal with the politics of the hospital. I especially remember her response to the episode "The Body" and how impressed she was with the skillful handling of the range of emotional responses to Joyce Summers' death. Since my supervisor was one of the most intelligent and insightful people I had known, and had years of experience working with dying patients and their families, I decided to give Buffy a try. I was immediately struck by the level of sophistication in plot development, the razor-sharp writing, and the acting talents of the cast (especially the ability to portray great emotional depth). I am currently in the process of catching up on previous episodes and am amazed at how the narrative thread is continued throughout the series. I have been drawn into this show like no other and look forward to continuing critical dissemination of this body of work, especially now that the oeuvre is complete. Helena Stecker |
| 19 |
I'm an editor for engineering journals, and I have a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Vanderbilt University (1985). I saw the original movie of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I enjoyed it because I didn't expect anything from it but a fun B-movie. When I heard that a tv show was being made on the premise, I was right there from the beginning. I loved it, from the opening credits on, but at first I didn't expect it to turn out to be something so much better than the movie. It was during Buffy's "I'm sixteen, and I don't want to die" scene in Prophecy Girl - SMG's straight-to-the-heart acting, the perfection of the writing - that I realized that this wasn't just an enjoyable way to spend an hour a week; this MEANT something. More than just a good story, it was real, in a Joseph-Campbell-mythological sense. After that, I never missed an episode. Elizabeth Stewart |
| 20 |
I am a 28 year old journalist and film studies graduate living in London, UK. I have always had a soft spot for lowest-common -denominator American TV, (Sunset Beach, Dawsons Creek) where everyone is attractive and has nice, shiny hair. I can trace this predilection all the way back to my obsession as an eleven year old with the Sweet Valley High books. I ended up studying for a year at the University of California, Santa Barbara thanks to that. The third series of Buffy was being aired on BBC2 over here, some really good reviews started to filter through, I remember thinking, 'this sounds exactly like the kind of rubbish I would like," I remember, alone in my apartment, watching The Wish and I really loved it, I was scared. Easily scared. But I wasn’t emotionally and dangerously hooked until episode The I in Team, series 4, when Adam kills Maggie. I was so shocked, instantly a connection was made. Dreamt Buffy that night. Then caught up on all the episodes I had never seen. My boyfriend despairs of me. I wrote an abstract on fragmented identities and the search for the self for the Buffy conference last year at my old alma mater the University of East Anglia, but I didn't get picked, I’d like to think it was because I am not an academic by profession. Academic writing should not be the preserve of acadenics, Its a strange constructed, constricted language. I don't know what I'm going to do when Buffy finishes in a matter of weeks...ah yes, upgrade to DVD and start all over... Fay Schopen |
| 21 |
My name is Justin M. Patrie and I am a Master's International Relations student from Edmonton, Canada, studying in London, England. I am a notorious channel surfer so occasionally I would catch 5-10 minute snippets of 'Buffy' in-between my preferred shows or during commercial breaks. I always thought of it as just another teen-angst drama filled with bad-writing and unrealistic situations. Two on-air events changed my mind though. On one occasion I happened to catch a bit of an episode where Buffy actually drank alcohol. The other was when she had sex with Angel. Other teen shows approached the acts of teen drinking and teen sex but always in a formulaic manner that resulted in a sappy moral story about why both were incontrovertibly bad. In Buffy though, no such thing happened. Buffy didn't wake up with a bad hangover and a "I'll never drink again message" and she did end up actually having sex with Angel, as opposed to choosing to wait. After catching those two bits of shows, I figured that Buffy was indeed unique and did not follow the standard rules associated with teen-dramas; it made its own rules and redefined the genre. Since then, I have watched Buffy almost religiously and consistently impressed with the quality of writing, cinematography, storylines, acting and originality. Justin Patrie |
| 22 |
I am a research student at Brunel University, currently writing a thesis on split characters in contemporary psychological horror-based texts, including Btvs. I first discovered Btvs when I was an undergraduate student and Season two was being shown on television. I came home quite late one evening and caught an episode by chance, and it happened to be ‘Becoming’ Part 1 (Season two). Being the end of the season, and never having seen Buffy before, I didn’t have a clue what was going on, but I knew I had never seen anything quite like it. I was instantly interested as my work at the time was on vampires in film, and I decided to watch more to see if I could include Buffy in my current work, well that was my excuse anyway. I practically ran to HMV the next day to buy Season one on video, and I have never looked back, always finding more and more in the show to interest me academically. Incidently, ‘Becoming’ parts 1 and 2 are still my favourite episodes. Caroline Ruddell |
| 23 |
I am a 26-year-old female. I work full-time as an office manager for a small, family owned company and part-time at a retail store. As for discovering Buffy, it goes like this: I had seen the movie and disliked it except for the line (and I paraphrase) "...marry Christian Slater and die." Huge Christian Slater fan here. I didn’t become aware of the television show until seeing the news about the big two-day event (which ended up being Surprise/Innocence) and everyone clamoring for their free WB posters. I still didn't watch. However, while I paint, I always have the television on for noise. One day, the channel was on Buffy. Next thing I know, I have stopped painting and was totally caught up in the show. At first I was confused because I thought Buffy and Angel were together. Why were they fighting? Why wasn’t Angel allowed to see Buffy? What was happening? I was hooked. It was the episode “Killed by Death”. After that, I watched every Tuesday episode and played catch up during the summer when re-runs were shown on Monday and Tuesday. Life, ever since, has revolved around Tuesday nights. No phone calls, no visitors, and no working. Michele Scheleko |
| 24 |
My name is Paul Shapiro and I am currently an assistant professor of sociology at James Madison University. Paris. June. 1999. After returning to our cozy hotel on the not so swanky side of town, my girlfriend and I casually lounged on the plush oversized leather sofa in the lobby sharing a late night cocktail. The television was on, and we watched. The show was Buffy The Vampire Slayer dubbed into French. Neither of us speak French. But that presented little challenge as we drunkenly made up the dialogue as characters we didn't know, fought bizarre looking demons, for reasons we could not comprehend. A few days after I returned to the States I was flipping through channels and I came across the start of an English speaking Buffy episode. More out of curiosity (to see how accurate we were in our "translations") I watched. While we had been dreadfully confused and mistaken about the characters, relationships, plots, and the overall purpose of the show, I was now quite taken with the wit, depth, and development of a program I had never "really" seen before. As chance would further have it, shortly thereafter, the WB network started replaying the original episodes starting from season one. I watched. I was hooked. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. Paul Shapiro |
| 25 |
I am a twenty-two year old male college student, aspiring writer and aspiring rock star. Perhaps this is not what one would call the ideal demographic for BtVS, but I am, as no other words could say, a Buffyaholic. It was late that I discovered Buffy, fall of 2001. On FX they show the Buffy reruns and my innate fascination with vampires led me to view the show for the first time. The episode was, interestingly enough, “Prophecy Girl,” the final episode of the premiere season. With that one episode, my heart and mind were captured. I began to tape every episode they showed in syndication on FX and slowly over the course of six months built up the complete library. From that point I watched every single episode over and over, all the while keeping up with the sixth season of Buffy, which was airing at the time. Since then, I have immersed myself in books, periodicals and the internet, just waiting for some sort of intellectual discussion revolving around Buffy. Despite what my friends, family, and so much of the naďve TV viewing population say, this show is nothing short of brilliant. Joss has created an amazing world that we all can be a part of. Alec Payleitner Chicago, IL |
| 26 |
My name is Aaron Schlagel, currently, I'm an internet/small business application developer and network administrator, back when I first was introduced to Buffy, I was a college student, going for law enforcment and one of my roomates watched it. This was back in season 2, i believe, I didn't start watching it until probably season 5, when I accidently came across it on TV, and fell completely in love with how oddly well it seemed to relate to life, the plots, humor and it was just a really fun show. Since then, I've rewatched every episode ever made, including the rather unknown/not shown pilot. All in all, I'm going to miss that show. Aaron Schlagel |
| 27 |
I am 48 years old, and live in Boston. I am married and have a daughter, age 8. I stumbled across Buffy about three years ago, (the exact scene was Buffy and Spike planning their wedding) and I was immediately hooked by the show’s incredible (and funny) writing. My daughter Molly “caught” me watching, and then we got my husband on board. It is the writing, but it’s also BtVS’s scope that takes my breath away. It is a modern and mythic, and I don’t mean to get too Joseph Campbelly but it is every bit as “linked to the human psyche” as the Odyssey, etc. (Well, maybe I do mean to.) The hardest part of life is living and I am beyond grateful that BtVS is in Molly’s life now and as she makes her own Odyssey. Jane Sullivan |
| 28 |
I'm a senior lecturer in education at London Metropolitan University - Chris Richards. I don't watch that much television but what I do watch I stay with. Most of the time it's a matter of finding one or two US imports - I'm writing this from Britain - and following them to the end. Sometimes they run for years - Hill Street Blues - but others fade away - Homicide - Life on the Streets. I have two daughters, now 16 and 20, and we used to watch My So-Called Life together - but it didn't last. Amidst the British and Australian soaps that occupy early evenings on British TV, I came across Buffy the Vampire Slayer, always slightly censored for transmission at 6.45pm. I was more interested in it than they were, at first. I got asked to contribute a chapter to a book proposed by the Child Psychotherapy Trust in London - a book on film, therapy and childhood. I said I'd write something on Buffy - and did. But the book never found a publisher. Watching and watching Buffy for what I wrote, I got more and more preoccupied with the serious things it had to say about being young and growing up. I bought each season on DVD and now it's what we talk about at home and I teach about it too in courses on Children and Television and Media Education. Chris Richards |
| 29 |
I am currently a student of Study of Religions in London and first came across BtVS while studying in Heidelberg, Germany. My flatmate was an avid fan of BtVS and owned the videos as well as some of the books. I started reading the books while I was lying ill in bed for some time, but soon got frustrated as I could not make sense of these books as they were set in 3rd or 4th season and I did not have all the background information to understand about vengeance demons, werewolves and the like. So I started watching the videos and have been a fan ever since. I then even did a presentation on "images of death in BtVS" with a friend of mine in a seminar at university. Elisabeth Schulte |
| 30 |
I am a doctoral student at Norwich School of Art and Design in Norwich, UK and teach Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia. I initially came to Buffy somewhat despondently, through my investigation into the current teenage witchcraft phenomenon in Britain. In trying to ascertain the connection between mainstream media texts and the construction of alternative teen girl culture there were so many references made by the teenagers I encountered who cited Buffy as an inspiration for becoming involved with witchcraft that I rushed out, got hold of the videos and entered the buffyverse. I was struck not only by the high production values of the text but the rich narrative structure, subtexts and display of gender politics. As such, I rapidly became an avid viewer and something of a fan myself. Due to the representation of magic, female power and witchcraft this text moves away from the historical and conventional portrayals of women/girls as magic users whilst using this specific theme to explore discourses of sexual politics, political awareness and female agency- potent stuff for the thoughtful teenage audience as my research is currently showing. I continue to engage with the text, both as researcher and fan despite the dark arena magic has moved into and the text continues to inform the development of dialogue within the teen witch community in Britain. Hannah Sanders |
| 31 |
'm a 27 year old single mother from rural Maine. I run a shipping & receiving warehouse by profession. As Willow aptly said I put the "grrr in girl" I first watched because I was repeatedly told how ridiculous it was. That Tuesday night it was Dopplegangland. From the slow lick up the side of Sandy's face I was hooked. I had found a show where girls weren't dichotomized as pretty or smart, caring or tough, scared or brave. On Buffy the characters are all those thing, usually in the same episode. More importantly, I found a show where the girls did the rescuing. I've tuned in every Tuesday to watch as my comrade-in-arms slays the week's beastie. Remembering, all the while, the situations in my owns life that mirrored this week's fight. The buffyverse reflected the reality of my life.... a petite, young women carrying the weight of the world. I may not be fight scaly demons, but I rail against a world to fulfill my own destiny as a powerful women. And I may not strategize to keep the Hellmouth from swallowing my California town, but I do struggle with raising a daughter in a male dominated world. I struggle to ensure that she is not engulfed by the limiting expectations of society. Melissa Schott |
| 32 |
I am a customer service representative at an insurance agency. I have always liked genre movies, series, and books. I had seen and enjoyed the movie for the spoof that it was meant to be.
I started watching Buffy in October of what must be 1997. I had missed the first season because at that time I wasn't watching the WB and I didn't know that there was a Buffy TV show. The first show that I watched was either "Reptile Boy" or "Halloween." I haven't missed an episode since and caught up on the first season during the reruns. I have since tried to spread the word of Buffy, but most of my family and friends can't get past the name. Kent Shambaugh |
| 33 |
My name is Liz Schultz, I'm a photo editor for the Middle East, Africa
and Europe at the Associated Press in London.
My first exposure to Buffy was through a high school friend that I never really liked. She was living with a girl who was far too cool to be her friend, but anyhow, they would watch Buffy every week. This was about 5 years ago, I guess, Oz was still in the picture. I remember thinking the show was much smarter than I expected it to be. I didnt become a real Bufficianado, though, until I moved to London 2 years ago. I didnt know anyone, so Buffy and the Scooby gang became my vicarious group of friends and a link back to the States, as well as something to look forward to aside from work and sleep. It is kind of bittersweet now that the series is over- its given me so much pleasure, but I have friends now and am settled in, so its like the Scoobs are releasing me into the wild. Liz Schultz |
| 34 |
The managing editor of a family of Internet news sites covering the
post-communist region, I never expected to be interested in any show with either "Buffy" or "vampire" in the title. Moreoever, I left the
United States in the summer of 2000 to live in the Czech Republic, so watching it wasn't really an option. But one night I caught "Living
Conditions" in German on my Czech cable system, and I found myself strangely unable to change the channel. After that, I heard that a local
English-language video store had the series on tape. Starting from "Welcome to the Hellmouth," my husband and I watched the five seasons
available and then forced the video store owner to buy the sixth. We're working on the forced-buy for the seventh as we speak and are
assiduously trying to avoid spoilers until then. It's supposed to be a long, hot summer in Prague, and I plan to keep my pregnant self inside
watching reruns on video for as much time as I can.
Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter |
| 35 |
I am a 28 year old graduate student between degree programs. Currently I
live in a small town in the Mississippi River Valley where I work at a variety of temporary jobs and as a substitute teacher. I am married, no
children, no pets. At the time Buffy started I had just finished my BA in creative writing and linguistics at Purdue University. I was still living
in my campus apartment, years yet from meeting my husband. It was spring break and I was packing up to go spend the week with my parents.
I had read about the new show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the issue of TV Guide that discussed upcoming shows. I had, and still have, a subscription
to the magazine just to get that issue earlier than the newsstands. It horrified me. I had seen the advertising for the movie, eagerly anticipated
the movie, and then been terribly disappointed. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to make a TV show based on such an awful film. But it was
science-fiction. I'm an avid supporter of SF on TV because then (especially) there wasn't enough of it. So I decided to tune in.
For me, 'tuning in' means video taping. I tape almost everything I watch. And I learned hard and early to tape any new show on the off chance that I
would like it, because it was a good bet that, if I liked it, the show would be canceled within weeks. So March 10, 1997 arrived and I reluctantly
set my machine to tape Buffy. I also had the TV on so I could watch it while I packed.
Packing kept me going in and out of the room, so I really wasn't paying attention to the first few minutes. But every time I went back into the room, I lingered just a little bit longer. And longer. By the second act break, I was standing in front of the TV with an armload of clothes--no packing getting done at all--and I remember staring at the screen in disbelief and saying, "This show is actually *good*." This practically guaranteed the show's demise. I admit it: I was embarrassed to like a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since my mother had seen the movie with me, I brought the tape home and made her sit through WttH/TH. She confirmed that I hadn't lost my mind and that the show really was worth watching. So I did. Every week, without fail I watched *and* taped each episode. Even through graduate school, working full-time+ and taking classes, I arranged my schedule to never miss a single episode. Okay, I could only tape "Enemies" on first airing because of a study group. But that's it. Since Buffy started, I have moved three times to three different states, gotten married, earned a Master's degree, and flirted with a variety of jobs. As I'm planning to move again this summer to yet another state, I'm sorry that Buffy will not be on to help me pack or to help me settle in when I get wherever it is I'm going. Wendy Perkins |
| 36 |
I am a thirty five year old lecturer in Arts Management and my partner is a 44 year Technical Manager of a theatre. We have been watching Buffy since it started. Having heard of the film but never having seen it I was intrigued by the premise and have been hooked since the first episode. It has proved a refreshing and witty take on myth and legend that really appeals in an entertaining way and we have been particularly impressed by the innovative plot and character developments over the years, it has never disappointed. Seasons 2 and 6 are my all time favourites. Favourite characters include Spike, Giles, Buffy, Faith, Jonathan and Andrew. I gave birth to my son last year and spent the Summer during my maternity leave re-watching old episodes - they are even better the second time around and watching them again helped me through some very long days, for which I will always be grateful!
Pam Pfrommer and Chris Dowker |
| 37 |
i'm a student of american literature and i desperately
need to finish my phd. on don delillo ... i've always loved anglo-american series, charlie's angels, twin
peaks, the prisoner, i swallow it all, i can't really remember how i started watching buffy, i guess i
switched channels , coz i'm sure none of my friends watched it at the time, something like four or five
years ago, so, no, it was not the first season, but i caught up and recorded every episode i could, in
french unfortunately ... now i'm slightly obsessed, but i was strong enough to avoid spoilers about the finale of finales, just saw the first two episodes of season seven last week, so btvs is still very much alive for me... Pascal Renaux |
| 38 |
I am a graduate student of English Literature at
Wright State University where I emphasize American Literature, Pop Culture and Creative Writing.
I was first introduced to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series early on during the third season by
a close friend. At first, I laughed and somewhat ridiculed the idea of Buffy being a television series.
I'd seen the movie and thought it had less than desireable traits that could be translated into a
decent weekly series. None-the-less, I took my friend's advice and watched a couple of taped episodes
that he happened to have. I've been hooked ever since.
After watching those episodes, I went back and caught up with the previous seasons and episodes. In recent times (the last year or so), I've also been writing essays about the series. I'm fascinated by the dynamics involved with the show as well as a lot of the layered metaphors and how the show has been able to so successfully blend so many different genres together. -Alec Ross, Graduate Student of English Literature, Wright State University |
| 39 |
I am 33 years old, a divorced mother of 3 daughters, I first discovered BtVS rather late in the show. It was around Janurary 2003, I had caught the odd episode before that, but it hadn't really lit my fire, but I took the time to watch "Tabula Rasa" it was showing on BBC (I am from England) then I was hooked, not so much for Buffy herself, it was the character Spike that interested me. He is such a complex character, his struggle for redemption and fighting the inner demon, his unstinting loyalty to Buffy. I used to pour scorn on what I didn't know, my neice has watched the show from day one, I always used to shake my head and wonder what she saw in such a show, now I am a loyal fan of one of the best TV shows ever aired. It has changed my whole life. Angela Smith |
| 40 |
I have to admit I'm a latecomer to Buffy fandom. I'd seen the film, and thought it was no more than cute. I couldn't believe the WB was serious when they were doing a series. I knew a couple of people who were huge fans (surprisingly, middle aged men!) Occasionally, I'd catch a glimpse of a Buffy or Angel episode, but was never hooked, until I watched the first episode of season six at my girlfriend's house. For the first time I truly had my interest piqued. A few weeks later, (still not completely absorbed) I came home, and caught just the last ten minutes of the musical episode. That was it! I was in anguish that I hadn't known this was about to happen, and had missed it. I started watching reruns on FX and soon had absorbed all the past stories, while becoming completely obsessed with seeing Buffy at every possible opportunity. Right up to the end, it was the one thing I absolutely had to see every week. That and Angel, of course. Dan Smith |
| 41 |
I am a twenty-nine-year-old practicing intellectual property attorney; however, I finished undergraduate studies with an English major and still nurse a dream to leave private practice and teach English. To this end, I still create new curricula in my head every fall. I watched Buffy from the very beginning, mainly because I was a pop culture addict and enjoyed the referential nature of the show as well as the new teen culture that was proliferating on the WB at that time. I watched Buffy religiously during the first two seasons and then lost interest during the Initiative period, only returning to the show as Spike's obsession with Buffy (the slayer) began to transform itself into affection for Buffy (the young woman). Upon returning to Buffy, I became a religious viewer again; however, this time my obsession with the show was inspired by the intelligence and thoughtfulness of its fan base. I read numerous essays deconstructing the characters, plotlines, symbolism and overall "meaning" of the show, and I wanted to be involved in that discourse. Because the purpose of this exercise is to establish an ethnographic study, I feel compelled to add that it was in the course of this intellectual discourse that I began to trade wits with the person who is now my fiancé. We met on a bulletin board dedicated to the character of Spike and his hero's journey, and we will be married in October. Accordingly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will not only hold places in my pop culture and intellectual histories, but it will also firmly hold a place in my personal history.
-- Pamela Payne |
| 42 |
I am currently working on a M.Ed. Sec. from GMU. In the Fall of 2002, while
working on my 1st master's degree at St. John's College in Annapolis,
Maryland, a classmate mentioned the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer as one of his
favorite TV shows. I made fun of him to which he responded that if I had ever seen
the show, I would understand the intensity of his defense. Jokingly, I said
that I would head over to his house to watch that week's episode, a promise
that he held me too. I didn't get it that night. But I felt a strange pull the
next Tuesday and began watching Buffy in secret. I even found myself begging
for someone to tape the final evening, as I was unable to watch due to prior
commitments! For my graduation present, I bought myself the first 4 seasons of
Buffy on DVD as well as the 1st season of Angel. I find that I am completely
addicted to the show and love the fact that characters actually have memory,
thoughts, and face difficult decisions that are treated in a realistic manner.
Jen St.Martin |
| 43 |
I'm 36, currently completing a PhD in American Studies at the University of Nottingham, England on the art collector Peggy Guggenheim (so, nothing to do with TV, popular culture or Buffy). Since 1993 I have been teaching art history/contextual studies and variety of modules on media/film/museums in further and higher education.
It took me some time to work out that I had actually watched Buffy from the very start. In fact it was probably only a couple of years ago that I realised it due to my familiarity when watching the Sky One re-runs. Looking back I must have watched it right through seasons one and two on BBC2 back in 1997/8 (I have fond memories of a colleague I taught with regularly greeting me the mornings after Buffy aired with a cry of "Buffaay!"). I remembered that seasons two and three both got interruptions on BBC2 --- and most particularly that the end of season three vanished for an age. I caught some of season four ahead of myself on a friend's cable link and became way-confused by Spike working with the Scoobies. Most of Season Five bypassed me somwhat due to personal problems (and given the death of Joyce and the introduction of ultra-annoying Dawn I'm probably glad I did). But when I discovered that my TV cable deal suddenly included Sky One and that the new season (6) of Buffy would be available to me, I was hooked all over again. Thursday nights with Buffy and Angel: bliss. Sure, some of my friends mock my detailed awareness of plots, characters, and episodes, but I can wax lyrical about the moral centre that is offered by the Buffyverse and the parallel relationship it has to this world. I admire its intelligence, its wit and its willingness to engage in hard issues. It will be missed, but through Slayage and the amusement offered by reading the detailed recaps of TelevisionWithoutPity I know that its importance will not be diminished in my heart. Lisa Rull |
| 44 |
I am a graduate student of Comparative Literature at University College
London and just received my BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (English, Spanish and Humanities) from the University of Arizona in May 2002. I must
have been 11 or 12 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out on film and was desperate to see it as the idea sounded right up my alley. I enjoyed some
scenes in it, but wasn't overly enthused so didn't really notice that it had
become a television series until near the end of its second season. I suppose I was really lucky that the first episode of Buffy that I ever saw
was "Innocence". Witty lines, great acting, intense drama, cool fights, and
angst galore; it's an amazing episode. I was instantly addicted. I was glued to the rest of the season and over the summer managed to find reruns
of all the past episodes. This must have been in 1998 because I distinctly
remember, after having discovered my newfound addiction, having to go off to
university where I did not have a television. Essentially, I coerced my mother into taping every Buffy episode for the first 5 months of season
three and then had a Buffy spree over Winter Break. Since then I got a television, mainly just so I could watch Buffy, and have written three
papers on Buffy, usually about gender roles in contemporary society, mainly
for my own enjoyment and to work out my obsession. Buffy was an incredible
show and I am grateful to Joss Whedon for showing us that television can be
meaningful and brilliant.
Sincerely, |
| 45 |
I have taught English 40 years. I teach AP Senior English and Film in a
public high school of 1500 students (master's degree in counseling, however). I am active in Idaho Council of Teachers of English and my local
union.
I came slowly to Buffy. I saw the movie only recently - what a modest beginning. I had read about the series, but watch little TV, so saw no episode until season three. Then we changed from cable to dish and lost WB -- no more Buffy until UPN picked it up. Tuesday evenings are busy. I see Saturday reruns and have been buying the DVDs and viewing them sequentially. I managed to see some season seven episodes, so I'm seeing Buffy in three narrative time frames. The writing especially appeals to me: engaging, complex characters; intricate story lines with interweaving episode, season, and series arcs; witty dialog; clever plays on genre conventions; multiple layers of meaning; rich literary, cinematic, and mythic allusion (the writers seem enviably well-read); and more. It is emotionally compelling; some episodes have long after-burns. I have found only one other adult Buffy fan, but have students who write respectable fan fiction. Mike Steiner |
| 46 |
I am a Production Coordinator at a Lithographic Printing Company in Phoenix, Arizona. I went to college for design but went into printing & publishing instead because I'm a nuts and bolts kind of guy, I like to see how the ink interacts with the paper and I love to hold finished product in my hands.
My first encounter with the buffy TV series was watching the last 15 minutes of the 7th episode of season one entitled Angel. I was channel surfing and I saw this image of a female vampire with a gun in each hand shooting up a pool hall. I remember thinking it was a very Tarantinoesque visual and decided to check out the show the next time it was on.
This is the weird part, a few days later my ten year old niece called me and asked me if I'd heard about this show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I told her I was planning to catch it sometime and she asked me to come over and watch it with her. My niece didn't have a father figure around at that time and I'm just guessing but I think she was a little scared by the adult content of the show and didn't want to watch it alone. Watching Buffy every week became our bonding experience and we kept it up till around the middle of the third season. She became a surly teenager almost overnight and thought the show was now too silly for her to watch. I kept watching and will continue to watch anything Joss Whedon does in the future. V Pecoraro |
| 47 |
I'm a middle-aged middle-management retail executive. I was a fan of "The X-Files" and contributed extensively on a variety of on-line forums during its run. As that show wound down, a few other correspondents with whom I had created a private mailing list suggested watching "Buffy." I made a few attempts (this was season 4) but tuned out after a few minutes. (Incredibly, I bailed on "Hush" after the teaser.) As a fan of classic horror movies, I sat through "Buffy vs. Dracula" but was still not hooked. Fits and starts through early Season 5 until "I Was Made To Love You." Then "The Body" and I was hooked. In the seven weeks between that ep and "Forever," I begged and borrowed and bought and watched (sometimes 10-12 hours at a stretch) every then extant ep of "Buffy" and "Angel" save "Beer Bad." (Finally caught that one when FX started reruns.) The rest, as they say, is history. Nick Pedicin |
| 48 |
I have a BS in Business Administration and work in an HR department as a 401k analyst. I am also a 51 year-old mother of two teenagers. From 1997 to 2002, I worked full time and attended college classes in the evenings and could not watch much TV. One of the classes I took was a film history and appreciation class, which changed the way I viewed and understood films and gave me a greater appreciation for everything Joss.
I worked with a woman attorney that loved BtVS. She would chat about the episodes with a friend. I could not believe they would take the time to watch anything that had the name "Buffy " in its title. Occasionally, I would ask a question about the episode. She would cheerfully explain the sitch, with a ton of backstory and detail. I became curious and tuned in.
I believe I joined the party mid Season 5. It is hard to say exactly, because when I did start to watch, it was in massive, jumbled doses of daily FX reruns, late Saturday night Fox reruns and Tuesdays. Well, I would TRY to catch it on Tuesdays, but general programming difficulties along with my evening school schedule made it nearly next to impossible to consistently find or watch. Despite the obstacles, I immediately fell in love with the quick wit, pace, effects, choreography, the acting, editing, story lines, surprises and Spike (sigh). It took me quite while to recover after watching "Fool for Love". This was not normal TV. I began to obsessively tape, and re-watch, the shows during the middle of Season 6. The kids sometimes helped me out by starting the tape on the days I had classes. On the night of the musical, I speed home. Missed the first 10 minutes, but I sat there, spellbound and slack-jawed. This was so not regular TV. This was Broadway. This was brilliant and magical. The staging, score, acting, humor, dancing, story, editing, the curtain, credits and operatic Mutant Enemy made me laugh, cry, rant at commercials, watch in awe, and want more. I am an addict, and proud. My family and friends just shake their heads. …and I scoff at your 200 word limit Janis Shively |
| 49 |
At this very moment I am rewatching the very first Buffy I ever saw. Believe it or not I started watching the series with the episode "Superstar."
My very good friend at work Suzy Schultz spent a great deal of time talking about Buffy. She was hooked on the show and convinced me that it was worth my time. We would have coffee together on Wednesday mornings and she would recount what happened on last night's "Buffy." Kind of a personal "previously on buffy the vampire slayer..." I also saw the Entertainment Weekly magazine devoted to the show and that convinced me as well that I needed to watch. I think it's funny that I started watching the show with an episode where everything is topsy turvey. She assured me the next day that the next episode would be more like "Buffy" than "Superstar" was.
At the time I was running an internet website and when we set up our computers we decided to "name" each of them Buffy characters. I was "Angel." Our main computer was "Xander." And other workstations were "Buffy" and "Spike."
I don't know at what point I became as obsessed as Suzy but I think it was sometime around Season 5. Suzy started to lose interest in the show while my interest was peaking. I adored the story line of Glory where Suzy found fault with the new "sister" that was introduced.
Since then I've gone over the edge in terms of obsession. I've seen every episode multiple times. I've bought Buffy books and the studio that I work in has a 5'10" standup of Spike. (also an angel poster and calendar!) I read fanfic and am on multiple email lists including Jossverse and lists focusing on Spike.
My obsession has become fine-tuned and instead of all things Buffy.. I find myself more interested in the character of Spike. His story of redemption has really pulled me in and made me think about forgiveness in a whole new light.
Oh, so by the way, I feel the need to disclose that I am a 39 year old female. (A few months younger than James Marsters!) I've always felt that I was out of place in the Buffy universe, especially when they show "Hot Bod!" commercials during the UPN version of the series. On the lists I have discovered that not everyone watching is a 16 year old girl. That's made me feel much better! I'm not the weirdo looking in on a generation's show that is not mine.
I have found Buffy appeals to all ages and all kinds of people. Why am I still obsessed with a show that has now gone off the air? I'm not sure. I don't have the answer to that one. But it continues to make me happy and for that I'm thankful. Joss and company have created a universe where stories don't always have happy endings and evil men can turn into heroes. For some reason these stories give me comfort in a big bad world where good and evil are just as grey. I'm so glad I found Buffy and the characters continue to be a big part of my life. Dee Perkins |
| 50 |
I am a 47 year old wife, mother, and substitute teacher with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts & Sciences. I started watching Buffy because my daughter, who was 12 at the time had started watching because her friends were. Every Tuesday night, I would hear her whooping it up with gales of laughter from her room. During commercials she would run out to the living room to tell us what was happening. That was S-4. My husband and I started watching, then bought some of the 3-pack VHS series sets to catch up. After S-5, we went to Milwaukee to meet James Marsters (the first con I'd ever gone to in my life) and my devotion (already devoted by this time) just grew in leaps and bounds. We had the pleasure of meeting him and some of the other stars again this year at 2 other cons. Strangely enough, this series has changed my life. In a personal way, I reclaimed something of the old passion for life I used to feel in my 20's. Also, I started writing fanfic and now have written something like a quarter of a million words (really!) worth of stories I wished had been told. To quote the Dead, "What a long, strange trip it's been!" Serene Rosenthal |