(no subject)
Aug. 23rd, 2017 06:53 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elainegreyI enjoyed our eclipse trip, sandwiched between visits with my mother and her sister here at home. But, instead of a sensible narrative, i give you (with appreciation to George Carlin) brain droppings.
My email box is full of intense messages between white Quakers and one black Quaker. I've tried to pull the entire discussion into a filtered folder, and right now there are 57 messages from the last week. I feel the only way to do justice is to sit and really read, and that's overwhelming, and this is a little microcosm of the larger world and and and and.
My dad was in Florida with his mother last week, and my aunt flew up here to be with my mother who was too sick to travel. Mom had my sister's family and myself over Saturday night for gumbo. (Dad's prolific okra for the win; Christine didn't have the spoons to deal with my family.) A strange and wonderful thing happened in that my mom asked all of us how we were doing and what was going on with us. How incredibly pleasant! I must discuss this with Dad, in part because i don't know how much this novelty was due to his absence. It could also be due to my mom having had hours and hours to talk to her sister. But also, Mom was sitting down with us before dinner! Also a strange new and pleasant experience. I thing that might be because my sister and i said we'd arrive between 5:30 and 6, and we both arrived at 6. This could be a tool my sister and i use in the future to help my mom not be bustling up to the meal.
Or it was a miraculous alignment not to be repeated in my lifetime. I dunno.
My mom looks so old. I need to see what at what age her mother died: 74. Hmm. Ah, and Mom is 74.
Ah.
My mom's sister is just a year younger than Mom, but looked years younger at lunch yesterday.
(When i use "mom" as a generic noun, "my mom" i should not capitalize it, but as a form of my name for her, "Mom", i should, right?)
--== ∞ ==--
The eclipse trip included some very intentional routing to avoid traffic and other intense human context. Probably the most awkwardly crowded human and vehicular press of the whole trip was at the Flat Rock Wood Room restaurant. The place was packed and making reservations simply provided for a table, not a parking place. We were in plenty of time, though, and had our spot on the patio where Carrie was welcome along with our party of four.
The intentional routing was to take US 64 west, through many little NC towns. I think i only saw two confederate flags flying in front of homes. There is the vacuum that interstates caused: I-40 arcs northward to hit the mill cities of the triad (Greensboro, Winston Salem, High Point) and all the traffic ends up there, along with the gas stations and fast food places. 64 gets a little traffic from Raleigh to Asheboro, where the state zoo is located, but east of that is even deeper in rural NC.
I enjoy such "blue highway" drives, and i think Carrie did too, standing with her back feet on the back wall of the truck cab, front feet of the console between us, nose working the air brought in by the air conditioner, and alert for hours. Christine, though, experiences anxiety (carrying with her awareness of her "deviant lifestyle") and depression (the lack of human culture beyond church after church). Christine was much happier with interstate driving. I think Christine passes, and i expect we get read as sisters or friends, not as a couple. Her heaviness makes me think of the heavy concern people of color must feel driving through similar areas. JD Lanham gives a good accounting of those experiences.
Gotta go to work: the most adorable photos of the trip were of Carrie. Everyone gushed about her. In the hotel someone exclaimed about how happy she seemed. On the trail, she received constant attention for packing in her own water bottle and treats.
We had a cloudy eclipse, but it still brought with it the experience of darkness, like just at the end of twilight when all color drains from your vision. And the horizon with clouds of pink and gold, a 360° dawn, compressed into moments when light returns.
I'd spent much of Saturday, unpacking boxes from California, looking for where i stashed my camera filters. I failed at that (but unpacked some useful things). I wouldn't have been able to use the filters as it was, and the clouds compensated for my lack of filter.
Lanham, J. D. The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature. Milkweed Editions, 2016.
My email box is full of intense messages between white Quakers and one black Quaker. I've tried to pull the entire discussion into a filtered folder, and right now there are 57 messages from the last week. I feel the only way to do justice is to sit and really read, and that's overwhelming, and this is a little microcosm of the larger world and and and and.
My dad was in Florida with his mother last week, and my aunt flew up here to be with my mother who was too sick to travel. Mom had my sister's family and myself over Saturday night for gumbo. (Dad's prolific okra for the win; Christine didn't have the spoons to deal with my family.) A strange and wonderful thing happened in that my mom asked all of us how we were doing and what was going on with us. How incredibly pleasant! I must discuss this with Dad, in part because i don't know how much this novelty was due to his absence. It could also be due to my mom having had hours and hours to talk to her sister. But also, Mom was sitting down with us before dinner! Also a strange new and pleasant experience. I thing that might be because my sister and i said we'd arrive between 5:30 and 6, and we both arrived at 6. This could be a tool my sister and i use in the future to help my mom not be bustling up to the meal.
Or it was a miraculous alignment not to be repeated in my lifetime. I dunno.
My mom looks so old. I need to see what at what age her mother died: 74. Hmm. Ah, and Mom is 74.
Ah.
My mom's sister is just a year younger than Mom, but looked years younger at lunch yesterday.
(When i use "mom" as a generic noun, "my mom" i should not capitalize it, but as a form of my name for her, "Mom", i should, right?)
--== ∞ ==--
The eclipse trip included some very intentional routing to avoid traffic and other intense human context. Probably the most awkwardly crowded human and vehicular press of the whole trip was at the Flat Rock Wood Room restaurant. The place was packed and making reservations simply provided for a table, not a parking place. We were in plenty of time, though, and had our spot on the patio where Carrie was welcome along with our party of four.
The intentional routing was to take US 64 west, through many little NC towns. I think i only saw two confederate flags flying in front of homes. There is the vacuum that interstates caused: I-40 arcs northward to hit the mill cities of the triad (Greensboro, Winston Salem, High Point) and all the traffic ends up there, along with the gas stations and fast food places. 64 gets a little traffic from Raleigh to Asheboro, where the state zoo is located, but east of that is even deeper in rural NC.
I enjoy such "blue highway" drives, and i think Carrie did too, standing with her back feet on the back wall of the truck cab, front feet of the console between us, nose working the air brought in by the air conditioner, and alert for hours. Christine, though, experiences anxiety (carrying with her awareness of her "deviant lifestyle") and depression (the lack of human culture beyond church after church). Christine was much happier with interstate driving. I think Christine passes, and i expect we get read as sisters or friends, not as a couple. Her heaviness makes me think of the heavy concern people of color must feel driving through similar areas. JD Lanham gives a good accounting of those experiences.
Gotta go to work: the most adorable photos of the trip were of Carrie. Everyone gushed about her. In the hotel someone exclaimed about how happy she seemed. On the trail, she received constant attention for packing in her own water bottle and treats.
We had a cloudy eclipse, but it still brought with it the experience of darkness, like just at the end of twilight when all color drains from your vision. And the horizon with clouds of pink and gold, a 360° dawn, compressed into moments when light returns.
I'd spent much of Saturday, unpacking boxes from California, looking for where i stashed my camera filters. I failed at that (but unpacked some useful things). I wouldn't have been able to use the filters as it was, and the clouds compensated for my lack of filter.
Lanham, J. D. The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature. Milkweed Editions, 2016.
I hATe danse
Aug. 22nd, 2017 12:30 pmtheharlotoffereldeni was literally not expecting a buzz lightyear cameo in fallout 4 who wrote this game
(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2017 12:29 pmtheharlotofferelden I literally just got an email from hot topic saying Halloween is here it's officIAL
Linkspam: fannish/geeky/SFF, misc.
Aug. 22nd, 2017 12:31 pmumadoshiFannish/Geeky Things/SFF
"Tatiana Maslany Says Goodbye to 'Orphan Black'". [series finale spoilers]
Sarah Rees Brennan wrote "Our Winged Brains: The Appeal of Winged Creatures in Genre Fiction" for Tor.com.
![[twitter.com profile]](http://twitter.com/favicon.ico)
seananmcguire wrote a fantastic Twitter thread about the awesomeness of In Other Lands.
"'Atomic Blonde' Doesn’t Pretend Women Fight Like Men, And The Result Is Awesome".
Viarecessional, a Tumblr post about Atomic Blonde...which is really hard to describe without spoilers. It has to do with a plot point that many people have warned others about in advance of their seeing the film (a warning for which a lot of people have been grateful, whether or not it dissuaded them from seeing the film themselves), and offers a take on why the "this horrible thing happens [so the movie failed us/is bad/perpetuates the same bad things that always happen]!" warning is misleading and the event is in fact genre appropriate.
"Doorways to Fantasy: Rovina Cai Illustrates Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children". [Tor.com]
"You're screwing this up: An open letter to Hollywood from your mortal enemy (the female comic fan)".
"N. K. Jemisin’s New Contemporary Fantasy Trilogy Will “Mess with the Lovecraft Legacy”". [Tor.com]
"Library of America Recognizes Ursula K. Le Guin (and Science Fiction)". [Book Riot]
"Robin McKinley: A Pioneer in YA Fiction". [Book Riot]
Miscellaneous
"The masseuse who pulled my arm out". [BBC] "Life with a disability can sometimes give rise to unspoken questions and sensitivities, but amid the awkwardness there can be humour. The following is an edited version of a sketch by Angela Clarke who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, delivered for the BBC at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival."
"Confessions of a Costume Curator: As a fashion historian, my job is to learn from other people’s clothes—a task that is challenging, messy, and often spooky".
I think I may've linked this before--it's from last year--but I came across it again and still really like it: "24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear".
"Swan, Late: The unexpected joys of adult beginner ballet". [Note: the writer frequently uses the term "oriental dance" when talking about bellydance; I'm not sure if that's a standard term in those circles? It pings me uncomfortably, so I figured I'd note it.]
"‘Kids are gross’: on feminists and agency". "What I’ve come to suspect is that many feminists’ failure to recognise the autonomy of children is, at least in part, symptomatic of the way children have for many feminists become symbols of oppression. But when we are unable to separate the systematic discrimination that makes mothering a ridiculously difficult and often oppressive role from the fact that children are sentient, autonomous human beings who deserve dignity and respect, we are in danger of allowing glaring hypocrisies to creep into the way we construct and use feminist principles and ideas."
"INFOGRAPHIC: A world of languages - and how many speak them".
"N.K. Jemisin’s #AntiFascistSFF and Gail Simone’s #ComicsHateNazis Are the Inspiration You Need on This Monstrous Day". [The Mary Sue] (From earlier this month.)
"Eisner Nominee Renae De Liz Shares Short Guide for Artists on How to De-Objectify Female Characters". [2016]
"A Sweet Valley High Movie is Coming (from the Writer of Legally Blonde!)" [Book Riot]
"How to Keep a Roomba Vacuum Cleaner From Collecting Data About Your Home".
"A New Canon: In Pop Music, Women Belong At The Center Of The Story" and "The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women". [NPR] (Tori's Little Earthquakes is #27.)
"Tatiana Maslany Says Goodbye to 'Orphan Black'". [series finale spoilers]
Sarah Rees Brennan wrote "Our Winged Brains: The Appeal of Winged Creatures in Genre Fiction" for Tor.com.
"'Atomic Blonde' Doesn’t Pretend Women Fight Like Men, And The Result Is Awesome".
Via
recessional, a Tumblr post about Atomic Blonde...which is really hard to describe without spoilers. It has to do with a plot point that many people have warned others about in advance of their seeing the film (a warning for which a lot of people have been grateful, whether or not it dissuaded them from seeing the film themselves), and offers a take on why the "this horrible thing happens [so the movie failed us/is bad/perpetuates the same bad things that always happen]!" warning is misleading and the event is in fact genre appropriate."Doorways to Fantasy: Rovina Cai Illustrates Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children". [Tor.com]
"You're screwing this up: An open letter to Hollywood from your mortal enemy (the female comic fan)".
"N. K. Jemisin’s New Contemporary Fantasy Trilogy Will “Mess with the Lovecraft Legacy”". [Tor.com]
"Library of America Recognizes Ursula K. Le Guin (and Science Fiction)". [Book Riot]
"Robin McKinley: A Pioneer in YA Fiction". [Book Riot]
Miscellaneous
"The masseuse who pulled my arm out". [BBC] "Life with a disability can sometimes give rise to unspoken questions and sensitivities, but amid the awkwardness there can be humour. The following is an edited version of a sketch by Angela Clarke who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, delivered for the BBC at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival."
"Confessions of a Costume Curator: As a fashion historian, my job is to learn from other people’s clothes—a task that is challenging, messy, and often spooky".
I think I may've linked this before--it's from last year--but I came across it again and still really like it: "24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear".
"Swan, Late: The unexpected joys of adult beginner ballet". [Note: the writer frequently uses the term "oriental dance" when talking about bellydance; I'm not sure if that's a standard term in those circles? It pings me uncomfortably, so I figured I'd note it.]
"‘Kids are gross’: on feminists and agency". "What I’ve come to suspect is that many feminists’ failure to recognise the autonomy of children is, at least in part, symptomatic of the way children have for many feminists become symbols of oppression. But when we are unable to separate the systematic discrimination that makes mothering a ridiculously difficult and often oppressive role from the fact that children are sentient, autonomous human beings who deserve dignity and respect, we are in danger of allowing glaring hypocrisies to creep into the way we construct and use feminist principles and ideas."
"INFOGRAPHIC: A world of languages - and how many speak them".
"N.K. Jemisin’s #AntiFascistSFF and Gail Simone’s #ComicsHateNazis Are the Inspiration You Need on This Monstrous Day". [The Mary Sue] (From earlier this month.)
"Eisner Nominee Renae De Liz Shares Short Guide for Artists on How to De-Objectify Female Characters". [2016]
"A Sweet Valley High Movie is Coming (from the Writer of Legally Blonde!)" [Book Riot]
"How to Keep a Roomba Vacuum Cleaner From Collecting Data About Your Home".
"A New Canon: In Pop Music, Women Belong At The Center Of The Story" and "The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women". [NPR] (Tori's Little Earthquakes is #27.)
So davidgillon warned me about an AGAHF spoiler, and I MISSED IT ENTIRELY o_o
Aug. 22nd, 2017 01:05 amumadoshiWhen I posted about A Girl and Her Fed last week, I mentioned that davidgillon had warned me that the very beginning of Act 2 of the comic had a major spoiler for the as-yet-unwritten/unpublished Rachel Peng novels.
I did indeed press on, bracing myself for a spoiler. (And now I'm completely up to date on the comic; yesterday was the first new installment I read as a Caught-Up Reader. I think the only material I have left to read now is the handful of mixed comics/prose shorts on Spangler's store site, and I've made it as far as buying them all.) And many things happened, because there'd been a five-year timeskip since the first act of the comic, and I thought, "Okay, I don't know which of these things is the spoilerdavidgillon mentioned, but many things happen very early in Act 2 that leave things in a very different place than they are as of the published Rachel books, so presumably it was one of those..."
Except then I read all the way back through the posts at![[tumblr.com profile]](http://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
agirlandherfed, and due to a couple of Asks there, the nature of the early-Act 2 spoiler was spelled out.
It was an offhand reference--a panel's worth of mention, at most--and so far the comic hasn't mentioned it again, and I completely failed to process it for what it was. But now, belatedly, I know.
And my heart broke a little.
davidgillon had warned me that the very beginning of Act 2 of the comic had a major spoiler for the as-yet-unwritten/unpublished Rachel Peng novels.I did indeed press on, bracing myself for a spoiler. (And now I'm completely up to date on the comic; yesterday was the first new installment I read as a Caught-Up Reader. I think the only material I have left to read now is the handful of mixed comics/prose shorts on Spangler's store site, and I've made it as far as buying them all.) And many things happened, because there'd been a five-year timeskip since the first act of the comic, and I thought, "Okay, I don't know which of these things is the spoiler
davidgillon mentioned, but many things happen very early in Act 2 that leave things in a very different place than they are as of the published Rachel books, so presumably it was one of those..."Except then I read all the way back through the posts at
It was an offhand reference--a panel's worth of mention, at most--and so far the comic hasn't mentioned it again, and I completely failed to process it for what it was. But now, belatedly, I know.
And my heart broke a little.
Femslash Exchange
Aug. 21st, 2017 06:05 pmcypherHi there! this is the ![[community profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
femslashex letter for ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](http://archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
laylah. Thanks for taking a look!
( general preferences )
( fandom specifics )
femslashex letter for ( general preferences )
( fandom specifics )
Eclipse!
Aug. 21st, 2017 04:53 pmowlmooseIt was only around 75% totality in my area, but still pretty cool. I'm very glad the sky wasn't obscured by fog, which was sounding entirely possible yesterday morning.
Probably I should have gotten my act together to find a place to see the totality. Maybe in 2024, where the totality is further away but closer to people I might reasonably be able to visit.
Meanwhile, have some tree shadows from the courtyard in front of my office.
Probably I should have gotten my act together to find a place to see the totality. Maybe in 2024, where the totality is further away but closer to people I might reasonably be able to visit.
Meanwhile, have some tree shadows from the courtyard in front of my office.
Reaction Shot: Princess Principal episode 7
Aug. 21st, 2017 10:59 pmspindizzyMAN, YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE? WOMEN SUPPORTING OTHER WOMEN. You know what episode seven of Princess Principal gave me? Fucking teenage girl spies supporting other women and helping their lives become better. YES. MORE OF THIS.
( Princess Principal Episode Seven )
( Princess Principal Episode Seven )
Eclipse photos!
Aug. 21st, 2017 04:26 pmnanslice
What an amazing experience. I don't really even know how to explain what it felt like, how everything was so familiar and yet still so alien. Just. Awesome.
Little Alchemy is a little bit of a problem
Aug. 21st, 2017 07:00 pmlea_hazelIt feels odd to get started on a game, at least two years after it was first published. Still, it’s not as though Little Alchemy is ancient enough to feel outdated or irrelevant, and I can gladly report that it’s every bit as enjoyable and engaging in 2017 as it probably was when it was first released. The only downside is knowing that it’s unlikely to receive any more updates. Once you’ve exhausted the 500+ existing alchemical elements and their combinations, that’s it. And given the habitual nature of the game, you might find yourself marathon playing it for hours at a time, and end up running out of game within a day or two.
Little Alchemy is a lightweight and fun alchemy simulator. Beginning with the four classical elements, it allows you to combine two elements to create a third, sometimes with additional byproducts. Simple as that. To my great delight, it can be played out of any browser through either the official site or indie game outfit itch.io, and also has a mobile version. After messing around with the browser game for entirely too long, I downloaded the Android app and lost several hours of potential sleep to it.
( Read more... )
Crossposted to hazelgold.net.
Little Alchemy is a lightweight and fun alchemy simulator. Beginning with the four classical elements, it allows you to combine two elements to create a third, sometimes with additional byproducts. Simple as that. To my great delight, it can be played out of any browser through either the official site or indie game outfit itch.io, and also has a mobile version. After messing around with the browser game for entirely too long, I downloaded the Android app and lost several hours of potential sleep to it.
( Read more... )
Crossposted to hazelgold.net.
Mishmash post: signal boost, niche (?!) product search, and a garden update
Aug. 21st, 2017 12:56 amumadoshi--The Sparkler Monthly Year 5 Kickstarter has only 48 hours left to go, and still needs about $5000. They've made a lot of progress over the weekend, and last year was a nail-biter too (and they made it), but ugh, this is stressful. Here's a post at Panel Patter outlining the awesomeness of the company and magazine, if you're on the fence or haven't taken a look but might be interested!
--I didn't make further Defenders progress over the weekend, so I'm still only three episodes in. But I did get StarCraft Remastered up and running!
--The one thing I miss about having a CRT monitor (yes, I hear myself) is my old document holder, which can't be readily used on a flatscreen. I've been poking around online this weekend (Amazon, Staples, Newegg), and there are so few options for holders that actually attach to the monitor and hold the document you're typing at eye level.scruloose looked at the first couple of possibilities I found, and one looks like it needs more of a frame around the actual screen than my desktop monitor has, and the other sticks with something he thinks isn't likely to hold well on this monitor. I have great confidence that he can rig something up and make it work, once we go over the possibilities I've found so far, but I'm baffled by how few options there seem to be. (But maybe my dislike of having the document holder down on the desk--too low, and eating up a footprint of space on the desk surface--isn't widely shared.)
(The above means I fell into the rabbit hole of desk organizers etc. on Amazon. O_O I seem to have escaped alive.)
--AFAIK Nova Scotia won't see much sign of the eclipse tomorrow. I hope all of you who're able to see it, and who're excited about it, get a good look!
scruloose and I are new enough at the whole gardening thing that it didn't occur to either of us to check on the plants after the weather yesterday. Although I suppose a lot of the reason for that is that the weather didn't seem that bad? It was windy and quite rainy, but it didn't seem that windy, and the rain seemed like it'd be good for them. *sighs* But no, a couple of the tomato plants, including the towering Sungold, toppled over. In the Sungold's case, the Smartpot stayed put but the halo and rootball tipped out. o_o
I didn't get a look at it then;scruloose went out without me at first when I was still hoping it'd be a case of tipping the plants back upright. I'd just been in the shower, and it was dark, and I knew the mosquitoes--which, as we've established, find me tastier--were out. But scruloose didn't come right back in, so I put on a thick hoodie, hood and all, and zipped it up so only my hands and face and the tops of my feet were bare.
Hopefully the plants will be okay, now that they've had more supports added. We'll take another look tomorrow when there's light. But at the very least, I definitely have mosquito bites on the backs of both hands and the tops of both feet. Ugh. Sounds like we may have similar numbers of bites despitescruloose having been outside easily twice as long as I was.
--I didn't make further Defenders progress over the weekend, so I'm still only three episodes in. But I did get StarCraft Remastered up and running!
--The one thing I miss about having a CRT monitor (yes, I hear myself) is my old document holder, which can't be readily used on a flatscreen. I've been poking around online this weekend (Amazon, Staples, Newegg), and there are so few options for holders that actually attach to the monitor and hold the document you're typing at eye level.
scruloose looked at the first couple of possibilities I found, and one looks like it needs more of a frame around the actual screen than my desktop monitor has, and the other sticks with something he thinks isn't likely to hold well on this monitor. I have great confidence that he can rig something up and make it work, once we go over the possibilities I've found so far, but I'm baffled by how few options there seem to be. (But maybe my dislike of having the document holder down on the desk--too low, and eating up a footprint of space on the desk surface--isn't widely shared.)(The above means I fell into the rabbit hole of desk organizers etc. on Amazon. O_O I seem to have escaped alive.)
--AFAIK Nova Scotia won't see much sign of the eclipse tomorrow. I hope all of you who're able to see it, and who're excited about it, get a good look!
scruloose and I are new enough at the whole gardening thing that it didn't occur to either of us to check on the plants after the weather yesterday. Although I suppose a lot of the reason for that is that the weather didn't seem that bad? It was windy and quite rainy, but it didn't seem that windy, and the rain seemed like it'd be good for them. *sighs* But no, a couple of the tomato plants, including the towering Sungold, toppled over. In the Sungold's case, the Smartpot stayed put but the halo and rootball tipped out. o_oI didn't get a look at it then;
scruloose went out without me at first when I was still hoping it'd be a case of tipping the plants back upright. I'd just been in the shower, and it was dark, and I knew the mosquitoes--which, as we've established, find me tastier--were out. But scruloose didn't come right back in, so I put on a thick hoodie, hood and all, and zipped it up so only my hands and face and the tops of my feet were bare.Hopefully the plants will be okay, now that they've had more supports added. We'll take another look tomorrow when there's light. But at the very least, I definitely have mosquito bites on the backs of both hands and the tops of both feet. Ugh. Sounds like we may have similar numbers of bites despite
scruloose having been outside easily twice as long as I was.
I went to Worldcon! (Deadpool is my Fancy Party icon now)
Aug. 20th, 2017 12:11 amspindizzySomeone (I think faintdreams?) asked if I would be doing a comparison of Nine Worlds to Worldcon and... Honestly I don't think it would be fair of me to do that, because Nine Worlds was a really chilled, relaxing thing for me and at Worldcon I was a constant ball of anxiety. I am sorry to everyone who met at Worldcon for not being my best me! You were all absolutely lovely!
(... Yeah, I went with Jay and Lex and a) the accessibility of airports is their rant to have and not mine, but seriously if Jay wants me to swear vengeance and also write a thousand angry letters against our airline I will do that; and b) Lex realised very quickly that the convention was not his idea of fun, which he was fine with but it turned into an anxiety circuit for me, because my brain was doing the fun thing of internalising "Oh, wow, I am a terrible wife, Lex paid like £700 to be here and he's not enjoying it at all," and literally refused to take in the part where he said that it was worth it because he got to support me during the Hugos.
Like, that was Friday, and I did not take in the "Oh, Lex paid the £700 because he loves me and the Hugos are a big deal to me," until Monday.
I still feel a bit "Fuck me I am a terrible friend," but Jay is recovering and apparently had a good time despite everything, and Lex is glad to be back at work, so it all shook out!)
YOU SEE WHY I CAN'T REALLY COMPARE MY NINE WORLDS EXPERIENCE TO THE WORLDCON ONE. I will say that Worldcon is a lot more... Crammed? Than Nine Worlds? Like, Nine Worlds leaves plenty of time between panels for people to, y'know, get to the next panel, have a drink, eat something... Whereas Worldcon is Hot Fuzz levels of "THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON!" There is always something happening, and if you want to get between panels in time to actually get let in, you have to leave your first panel fifteen minutes early or run the risk of not getting there before they start turning people away. (Unless of course, you're that douche who ignores the "No standing in the back due to fire safety rules" and lets yourself in anyway.) Also, the panels are maximum forty-five minutes long, maybe twenty-thirty if they want to take questions, which feels LUDICROUSLY short after Nine Worlds. I guess when there's like six thousand people, it makes sense to cram as much in as possible? But it was definitely a massive scale-up. (Plus, I really really miss the pronoun stickers Nine Worlds has. And the no-photography lanyards. And the markers for your badge of whether you want to talk to people. ... I think what I'm saying is that Worldcon has more stuff to do, but Nine Worlds has more set-it-and-forget-it accessibility, I guess?)
(If there were any panels you missed, a few of them are up on youtube!)
BUT WHINGING ABOUT MY MENTAL HEALTH ASIDE: HEY GUYS, I WENT TO WORLDCON, WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT ALL OF THE COOL PEOPLE I MET?
( Read more... )
It was a good trip, apart from the anxiety and airports being made of stress! I might try it again when it gets to Dublin (I can just GET THE FERRY, she says, more in hope than expectation) to see if it's any different? It was lovely to meet everyone, and finally put like... People to words? And just THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, you were great!
(... Yeah, I went with Jay and Lex and a) the accessibility of airports is their rant to have and not mine, but seriously if Jay wants me to swear vengeance and also write a thousand angry letters against our airline I will do that; and b) Lex realised very quickly that the convention was not his idea of fun, which he was fine with but it turned into an anxiety circuit for me, because my brain was doing the fun thing of internalising "Oh, wow, I am a terrible wife, Lex paid like £700 to be here and he's not enjoying it at all," and literally refused to take in the part where he said that it was worth it because he got to support me during the Hugos.
Like, that was Friday, and I did not take in the "Oh, Lex paid the £700 because he loves me and the Hugos are a big deal to me," until Monday.
I still feel a bit "Fuck me I am a terrible friend," but Jay is recovering and apparently had a good time despite everything, and Lex is glad to be back at work, so it all shook out!)
YOU SEE WHY I CAN'T REALLY COMPARE MY NINE WORLDS EXPERIENCE TO THE WORLDCON ONE. I will say that Worldcon is a lot more... Crammed? Than Nine Worlds? Like, Nine Worlds leaves plenty of time between panels for people to, y'know, get to the next panel, have a drink, eat something... Whereas Worldcon is Hot Fuzz levels of "THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON!" There is always something happening, and if you want to get between panels in time to actually get let in, you have to leave your first panel fifteen minutes early or run the risk of not getting there before they start turning people away. (Unless of course, you're that douche who ignores the "No standing in the back due to fire safety rules" and lets yourself in anyway.) Also, the panels are maximum forty-five minutes long, maybe twenty-thirty if they want to take questions, which feels LUDICROUSLY short after Nine Worlds. I guess when there's like six thousand people, it makes sense to cram as much in as possible? But it was definitely a massive scale-up. (Plus, I really really miss the pronoun stickers Nine Worlds has. And the no-photography lanyards. And the markers for your badge of whether you want to talk to people. ... I think what I'm saying is that Worldcon has more stuff to do, but Nine Worlds has more set-it-and-forget-it accessibility, I guess?)
(If there were any panels you missed, a few of them are up on youtube!)
BUT WHINGING ABOUT MY MENTAL HEALTH ASIDE: HEY GUYS, I WENT TO WORLDCON, WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT ALL OF THE COOL PEOPLE I MET?
( Read more... )
It was a good trip, apart from the anxiety and airports being made of stress! I might try it again when it gets to Dublin (I can just GET THE FERRY, she says, more in hope than expectation) to see if it's any different? It was lovely to meet everyone, and finally put like... People to words? And just THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, you were great!
On another note... [re: a "post your WsIP and free yourself of them! FLY FREE!!!" event/comm.]
Aug. 19th, 2017 01:43 pmumadoshiI meant to link this earlier, as the current event is only officially running for a few more days, but hey:
For ANY medium of fanwork (fic, art, vid, pod) & ANY fandom!
Interested? Check out our info and rules.
Our first round is 10 August - 24 August.
wip_amnesty is a new community that describes itself as "a place for you to leave the works you'll never finish". The user info (which has full details) also notes, "At the moment, we're running an event from 10 August to 24 August, but generally our comm is open indefinitely." [emphasis mine]
I should probably post at least one thing for this. I started out thinking about the Newsflesh psychic wolves AU, which I've been working on for a couple (a few) years now, off and on. I'd still really like to actually finish it, because there's a lot in there I like and think is worth writing, but OTOH if I cut it loose that's a lot of mental space that could potentially be regained. I don't know. :/
It was only within the last day or so that I thought about the X (TV anime)/Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle(/xxxHOLiC) fusion I've technically had on the go for, oh...thirteen years? Very off and on, as in with years passing between spurts of working on it?
IIRC the last time I really touched it was around when, and shortly after, I was working on the scripts for the shiny (oh, so shiny!) rerelease of X (no longer X/1999, thankfully) VIZ put out a couple of years ago. I think it's safe to say that story is never getting finished, and an event/comm. likewip_amnesty is probably the best reason I'm ever going to get to toss what does exist out there.
But with both of those WsIP, I feel more conflicted than I might if I wrote things straight through, start to finish--and there's a weird, uncomfortable dissonance between the fact that if I post never-to-be-finished WsIP in any form at all, it makes sense to think in terms of "well, someone might read them" and the fact that it seems ridiculous to think that anyone will.
If I wrote straight through, it'd be simpler. There'd be the first part of a story, however long it might be, and then it'd stop and that'd be it. But no, I write in chunks and fragments, with notes everywhere, and so anything I post that's incomplete is inherently full of holes and gaps, so at the very least, I'd want to add quick notes along the lines of "[{x} event/emotional progression happened here]".
(Absolutely any input/idle thoughts on this stuff welcome. I mean, thoughts/comments/etc. are always welcome on my posts, but...you know.)
For ANY medium of fanwork (fic, art, vid, pod) & ANY fandom!
Interested? Check out our info and rules.
Our first round is 10 August - 24 August.
wip_amnesty is a new community that describes itself as "a place for you to leave the works you'll never finish". The user info (which has full details) also notes, "At the moment, we're running an event from 10 August to 24 August, but generally our comm is open indefinitely." [emphasis mine]I should probably post at least one thing for this. I started out thinking about the Newsflesh psychic wolves AU, which I've been working on for a couple (a few) years now, off and on. I'd still really like to actually finish it, because there's a lot in there I like and think is worth writing, but OTOH if I cut it loose that's a lot of mental space that could potentially be regained. I don't know. :/
It was only within the last day or so that I thought about the X (TV anime)/Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle(/xxxHOLiC) fusion I've technically had on the go for, oh...thirteen years? Very off and on, as in with years passing between spurts of working on it?
IIRC the last time I really touched it was around when, and shortly after, I was working on the scripts for the shiny (oh, so shiny!) rerelease of X (no longer X/1999, thankfully) VIZ put out a couple of years ago. I think it's safe to say that story is never getting finished, and an event/comm. like
wip_amnesty is probably the best reason I'm ever going to get to toss what does exist out there.But with both of those WsIP, I feel more conflicted than I might if I wrote things straight through, start to finish--and there's a weird, uncomfortable dissonance between the fact that if I post never-to-be-finished WsIP in any form at all, it makes sense to think in terms of "well, someone might read them" and the fact that it seems ridiculous to think that anyone will.
If I wrote straight through, it'd be simpler. There'd be the first part of a story, however long it might be, and then it'd stop and that'd be it. But no, I write in chunks and fragments, with notes everywhere, and so anything I post that's incomplete is inherently full of holes and gaps, so at the very least, I'd want to add quick notes along the lines of "[{x} event/emotional progression happened here]".
(Absolutely any input/idle thoughts on this stuff welcome. I mean, thoughts/comments/etc. are always welcome on my posts, but...you know.)
