The Tees Have It: Wearable Statements of Sci-Fi Fandom

Good Monday Morning, all!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday, even if you OD'd a bit on turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. Hey, 'tis the season! We had our dinner at a local restaurant this year, which is great for not having to clean up but not-so-great for being deprived of a plethora of yummy leftovers. So I'm cooking a turkey breast today just so we aren't cheated out of those lingering goodies. Plus, there's nothing like the aroma of a turkey cooking to fill the house...Mmmmm.

As a SF/R fan -- not to mention author -- anything Sci-Fi usually catches my interest. I thought it might be fun to show off part of my Sci-Fi t-shirt collection. Since it includes dozens of tees, I'll start with just a few of the generic ones today and save the "t-shirts on a theme" for future posts.

I enlisted my Stormtrooper buddy to help me model them, but discovered his head was too big for him to properly display the shirts (without horribly stretching the necks...nooo, my precious!), so I had to improvise. Fortunately, his ample shoulder made a nice place to hang the hangers. :)

This first one is one of my favorites and it seems to compliment my SFR series theme of Escape to the Stars, to boot.

"I'm Running Away to See the Universe" set in a block of starry, starry sky. It's a simple design that doesn't use color, just white on black (I think it was also available in blue, etc. but black is usually my go-to color, as you'll see), but it certainly works for me to convey the message.

As a reader, it also speaks volumes. SF/R has always been my brand of escapism, so what better way to announce it to the world galaxy!

As a writer, it also reflects where I spend a good chunk of my mental time...off among those distant stars.

I love this second t-shirt for its spirit. I think many of my fellow SFR authors, writers and readers will might agree with the sentiments.

I never dreamed of being a princess when I was young--in my head I always dreamed of hyperjumping off to distant worlds and engaging in galactic adventures I read about in books from the Science Fiction Book Club.

After all, who wants to be a pampered princess when you can command a swashbuckling starship!

To my way of thinking, "Starship Captain" was always much more glamorous and exciting than being something as mundane as a princess.

One of the things I especially like about this design is the use of the pink and the script font to "pop" the "Princess?" with the decidedly Trek-esque block lettering for "I'd rather be a Starship Captain!"

Nicely done!

T-shirt number three is probably one of the most loved phrases I've ever swiped from a popular sci-fi series. It is, of course, a phrase from the famous theme song of the icon of television sci-fi, Firefly.

In case you're not an afficianado of the short-lived but much loved series, here's a link to the 53-second YouTube video of the main theme. (And why yes, that's a starship spooking wild horses, which so encapsulates the space western feel of this fabulous show.) Firefly Main Theme

As an author, no matter how hard the going gets, and how difficult the industry becomes, for me, this phrase portrays a core truth: No matter what happens, no one can take away my imagination.

As a reader, it makes a statement about what sort of books and media really interests me.

But as a person in general, it takes on a deeper meaning. For most of my life (yes, right up to the present), other people have asked me why I'm interested in sci-fi and space exploration and astronomy, rather than the things that society says most females should find important--like the latest fashions or makeup or designer purses (*yawn*). Why am I so different? Well, I've always embraced my "differentness" even long before the "This Is Me" movement came along and instilled itself as a part of our pop culture. This is Me isn't just about having an appearance that's unusual, it's also about having a mindset that's not the norm for my particular peg hole. You Can't Take the Sky from Me, indeed.

And finally, I wanted to show off Donna's excellent creation--a t-shirt for her Interstellar Rescue series. I think she did a phenomenal job with the design, which looks every bit as professional as the "store bought" tees, which is why I love to include it as part of my collection. I love how Donna framed the theme of her series in a subtle but very effective way.

This design is also responsible for Sharon and I meeting Donna at the 2009 RWA Nationals in Washington, DC. We noticed this decidedly spacey design that Donna had imprinted on her tote bag and commented on it, discovering that she, too, wrote SFR.

Donna's Interstellar Rescue series tee is one of the few I have that carries the theme to the back of shirt, where her series log line is printed. (Donna also had a t-shirt done for the first novel in her series, Unchained Memory, with a similar design and the book's individual log line on the back.)

So there are a few of the more random examples in my collection. I'll be back with later blogs featuring my Star Trek and (more extensive) Star Wars tees.

Do you have any favorite science fiction themed t-shirts? Tell me about them in comments.

Have a great week.