March of '99 was when the RFC ball started rolling out of control. It was also when I debuted the brand-new Ryan Fan Club logo. Everyone else had a logo, so why not me? It showed up on the top of Newsletter #5, and stuck around for nearly two years after that.In March I also announced the nominees for the very first ever RFC Awards in Newsletter #6, and started hinting about a movie I would be making. The usual craziness and randomness continued in the newsletter, all while I learned a valuable lesson: if you and a bunch of friends are going to be stuck on the highway in the middle of winter, in a broken down car, you should have a bag full of porno magazines with you to keep warm.
It was at this time that some of the Fan Club members starting becoming "Ryned".
This was an interesting process, to say the least. Basically, a few months after you became an RFC member you would become "Ryned". It was like being knighted... but way sexier. Think about it; what would you rather tell a chick on the first date? "I'm a knight of the round table" or "I'm Ryned baby!". The honor was getting to put my name in front of yours. I'll use Jon Browne as an example, because he always seemed to be most excited about it (and I think he was the only fan I ever actually bothered to get all the way up to the third level).
So his name became Ryan Jon Browne. Easy enough, right? Oh, the fans would get a sticker for their card too.
After that, a few months later he could become "Lord Ryan Jon Browne"...and another sticker. And then finally, "Jesus Lord Ryan Jon Browne". It was a mouthful for sure, and it made a lot of unnecessary paperwork for the fans, so I dropped it like a bad habit. Still, when I bump into Jon Browne these days he still brings up his Jesus Lord Ryanship. That guy is awesome.
And this was really just a taste of what the first six months of the Ryan Fan Club were like.
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