Geek.Kon

I just wanted to mention one more time that Lynne and I are in Madison at Geek.Kon (http://geekkon.net/) this weekend. If you happen to be there, I am on a Doctor Who panel at 3 PM on Saturday. Lynne is doing her usual SF in Special Collections panel at 2 PM on Sunday. This year I will have done Doctor Who panels at Odyssey Con, Convergence, Geek.Kon, and the upcoming Windy Con. I am sure that some people must be getting sick of me by now. Of course, this will be the millionth time that Lynne has done her library panel (Windy Con, Capricon, Odyssey Con, the Nebula Awards, Convergence, and many more to come).

It’s weird becoming “regular” panelists. I think that the oddest thing for me is that I had always thought people would fight for the honor of being a panelist. Now that I’m more on the inside, I’ve come to realize that programming organizers actually have a lot of trouble getting panel ideas and panelists.

The second oddest thing is people coming up to you at parties and acting like you’re somehow impressive because you know the name of the costume designer who came up with Tom Baker’s burgundy outfit. Who knew that my lameness was a marketable commodity?

It does make me feel better when I having those moments of “Does anybody really care about this stuff other than us?” while doing research for the big, unnamed, Mad Norwegian Press book that consumed my year. Meeting the other obsessives out there makes me feel a little less crazy.

Mostly, it’s fun for me to be up there spouting my crap and making lame jokes. It’s also a gas hearing other people’s opinions and excitement about the show I love. Hopefully it will keep me from becoming a cynical, grumpy old fan like so many before me. If Doctor Who ever becomes joyless, it will be time to get out.