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Archive for the ‘Journal’ Category

In which I wax nostalgic after reading John Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation

27 Dec

I don’t remember exactly when it was I fell in love with science fiction. Maybe it was the Commander Toad series that I vaguely remember reading when I was a little tyke. Maybe it was Bruce Coville – the first sci-fi author I remember loving (My Teacher Is An Alien and Alien Adventures are both series that still speak powerfully to me). At some point I saw Star Wars, and then Star Wars novels, and then Timothy Zahn. I’m not 100% certain, but I’m pretty sure Zahn was the first author I regularly sought out in the Adult Fiction section of the library. I read his Conquerors’ Saga a half-dozen times before high school, and to this day it’s one of my favorite series (and I keep hoping HBO or AMC will decide to make a TV adaption of it). It’s scientific without being HARD SCIENCE-FICTION, it’s fun without being silly, there’s political drama that doesn’t talk down to the reader, the heroes are awesome without being flawless – it’s what made me fall in love with sci-fi.

Fuzzy Nation made me feel very much the same way the Conquerors’ Saga does.

Of course, if you made me choose one or the other, Conquerors’ will always win. The newcomer doesn’t take down the childhood hero; that would just be wrong. But in a world where you can have both, you should read both.

 
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Posted in Journal, Readers' Advisory

 

Nobody ever

20 Nov

Nobody ever beat me up for being straight.

Nobody ever said that my marriage would be an assault on family values.

Nobody ever judged me for not wearing makeup or having unshaved legs.

Nobody ever questioned my patriotism because of my religion.

Nobody ever said I shouldn’t be allowed to vote or go to a good school because my skin was the wrong color.

Nobody ever said I had a moral and religious duty to get married, quit my job, make babies, and stay at home – that my wanting to have a job and children both was immoral.

Nobody ever tried to burn my holy book because of what they believed about it.

Nobody ever called me a cunt or a bitch or threatened to rape me because I expressed my opinion on the Internet.

Nobody ever said it would be un-American to let me build a community center.

Nobody ever pressured me to wear high heels (or any other sort of uncomfortable shoe).

Nobody ever told me that God hated me because of who I was attracted to.

 

 

Nobody ever fact-checks conservative spokespeople who claim to be persecuted by society.

But maybe they should.

 
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Posted in Journal

 

Frustration

17 Jun

If your first (and only) argument is that my opinions make you sad, why would that change my mind?

 
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Wheee

27 May

So I’ve been moving today, and spent the night playing D&D. So nothing much to say tonight.

I realized a few days ago that I do this thing where I will have a thought, rehearse in my head how I’ll say it, and then say “Oh!” like I just realized something.

So there’s that.

 
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Anime Central

26 May

First: the roadkill count. I drove from Indianapolis to Chicago and back, and apparently the animals love playing on I-65 this time of year. I saw 9.5 deer, 1 opossum, 1 hawk, and 1 little black bird that I get to paint under my own cockpit.

Anime Central is the first anime con I’ve been to. It was fun, but I don’t think I’ll be going to another unless I’m with friends. I’m not the sort of person who just starts talking to strangers out of the blue – too much social anxiety for that. I could tell that while I was enjoying everything, it’d be better sharing it with friends.

I’m still wondering where the back half of that deer was.

While I was at there, I think I discovered the unwritten rules of anime cons. The rules nobody talks about, but somehow everyone knows to follow.

  1. Never get out of anyone else’s way. Remember, you’re not disrupting the flow of traffic – traffic is disrupting the flow of you.
  2. Always take cosplay photos in locations where other people will see. Look for high-traffic areas, such as narrow sidewalks, aisles of the convention center, or choke points such as intersections or hallways where furniture restricts traffic passerby. This will force other people to stop and see how awesome you are.
  3. If you’re attending a panel, don’t wait for the panelists to ask for audience participation. Waving your hand like a first-grader and sighing loudly when you’re not called on will let others know how much smarter you are than the presenters.
  4. If you’re cosplaying and attending the con alone, find a place with a lot of people walking past and pose until someone takes your picture. Try to look especially angst-ridden for this. If you’re not sure how to do that, imagine you’re holding in a massive poop.
  5. If you’re walking with friends, line up side-by-side (the more people across, the better) and move slowly. If one of you stops to look at something, the rest should stay in the aisle to make it easier to merge back into traffic.
  6. Above all, remember: the con is a chance for as many people as possible to be shown how awesome you are. Whether they know it or not, attendees came to see you and to boost your ego.
 
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Posted in Journal

 
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