How Doctor Who Changed My Life

It's not what you think.

Yes, I am a Doctor Who fan. Have been ever since I can remember. But it wasn't until the new series premiered that I really started going back and finding those episodes I've never seen. I also started finding Doctor Who podcasts, and the first one I subscribed to was the DWO WhoCast. Back then, it was done by Seb and Paul, and then it was Trevor and Tony, and then it was Trevor and Marty. This is where the life-changing part begins.

Several months ago, (I'm not certain about the exact amount of time), this bloke Marty remarked on the WhoCast that he was on Twitter under the name of BoxRoom if anyone wanted to watch him freak out before a WhoCast. Well, I liked Marty on the WhoCast, but I wasn't about to get involved with Twitter. That was just silly.

Famous last words.

During one boring day at work, I got curious about this Twitter thingie and decided to give it a try. Marty was my first Twitter friend. (Thanks, Marty, for not thinking I was a psycho!) After a little time had passed, he recommended I check out Lost Bearings and the Bearcast. And so I did. And loved them. And wanted more. So Marty recommended the Box Room podcast, and I became acquainted with Jen. This, of course, led me to Lee and The Skoot and Neil and Laura and Jenny and Adam and the other Adam and Mark and Ross and James and...whew! Let's just say my Twitter community has grown.

After having feedback featured on the Box Room, I started sending in feedback with my husband Dave. It was then suggested by both Marty and Jen that perhaps we should do our own podcast. (Probably because they were sick of those ridiculously long MP3 feedbacks.) I hemmed and hawed about it, made the suggestion to Dave, and we put it on the back burner a while as something to ponder.

Yet again the suggestion was made to start our own podcast. And I ran with it. Found a good deal on a great microphone, started thinking about format and subjects, and voila! Dave and I are now the co-hosts of The InsideOutcast (http://insideoutcast.mevio.com, or available on iTunes). The Box Room podcast also has an online forum at http://theboxroom.dailyforum.net, where we have met even more new friends and have our own discussion thread.

It is difficult to explain how this has been a life-changing experience; suffice it to say, the friends I have made on Twitter have kept me sane in the darkest of work hours, have encouraged me in creative endeavors, and have generally just made me laugh each and every day. Maybe these sound like small things, but they have considerably altered my reality. There are few people locally who think the same way that I do, who like the same kind of things that I like; to find that outlet in the UK (and in other parts of the world) has been a boon to my continuing well-being. I know that Dave feels the same way, now that I have lured him into the world of the Box Room and Twitter. (He can comment on that himself; he finally started his own blog. Not that he's let me read it - he thinks it's bollocks, but I know it can't be.)

So this is how Doctor Who changed my life...the love of the show led me to the WhoCast, which in turn led me to Twitter, which then led me to Marty and all of my wonderful friends all over the world. It wouldn't have been possible without an offhand comment Marty made one fateful day.

Thanks, Doctor Who, the WhoCast, and Marty. I'm fairly certain you'll never truly understand the magnitude of what you've all done for me. You're aces in my book!

Check out FICTS by Neil Gardner and Robert Rankin. http://hokusbloke.wordpress.com

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