Geek.Kon exceeded all expectations. We had an amazing time in Madison. This was our first time in the campus/downtown area, and it really lived up to the reputation. This was one of the coolest campus towns that Lynne and I have ever visited with its beautiful buildings, lakes, shops, and restaurants. We immediately fell in love with the State Street area.
The con itself was fine. It took place in the UWM Humanities’ building. The building is terrible marriage of urban brutalism and bomb shelter. It must be the most depressing place in the world to take a class. There were quite a few people at the convention. My unadvertised Doctor Who panel had at least 45 people there. It was fun. I love doing this panel. People are just so damn enthusiastic about the new series. They really can’t get enough, and it creates such a positive vibe.
We had a great lunch on Saturday with Amanda, a friend from Odd Con, at a Nepalese restaurant. We then went to panel with game designer/writer Monte Cook. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the creation of D&D 3rd Edition.
Lynne had a very successful coffee with a well-known, fantastic author. This person is ver cool and some very positive stuff came out of the meeting for Lynne and the library. Hopefully, I will be able to talk about more of this soon.
That evening we had dinner with the amazing author Sarah Monette (http://www.sarahmonette.com/) and her cool husband Allen. We ate at very good Afghani restaurant. Lynne and Sarah got along extremely well as they talked shop and baseball, and the news was great for the NIU library. The next day, Sarah Monette officially donated her archives to NIU, joining Jack McDevitt and E.E. Knight. This is a huge deal as Sarah is one the best fantasy authors out there. She has won a Gaylactic Spectrum Award and has been nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at the last two Hugo Awards. I’ve read her first two novels, and I can’t recommend her enough.
Lynne’s library panel went well, and we had a great time at all of the SF lit panels. We also found some time to have a delicious breakfast at a European style cafe and to shop at an excellent feminist bookstore called A Room of One’s Own (http://www.roomofonesown.com/). While we were there we bought Caitlin a “Girls Rock” t-shirt and an “I’m a Mini Feminist” button.
The trip was capped off with dodging a pot rally and a trip to Sarah and Allen’s house to pick up the first part of her archives. We couldn’t have asked for a more successful trip.
We can’t wait until we’re back in Madison for Odd Con.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Caitlin and the Cubs
Well, the Cubs didn’t come back. The things that I harp on all of the time bit them in the butt again. Jim Hendry has an amazing love for power hitters with no plate patience and average defensive skills. The Cubs of the last few years have been killed by bad OBP and unproductive outs. The bad defense has also put a lot of strain on the pitchers.
The real shame is that this is not a young team that can look to get better next year. Our farm system has almost no impact prospects. The new ownership will have no choice but to throw around more money at free agents if they want to make a run next year. Let’s just hope that this time some of the new guys will be able to get on base.
Caitlin is fine. She had a good weekend with Grandma. There was a small vomiting scare, but it turned out that she wasn’t sick. This will be the last week with her loaner Dynavox. Hopefully it won’t take to long to get her permanent device.
Tomorrow is picture day. Everybody keep your fingers crossed that her photos this year are as good as last year’s.
The real shame is that this is not a young team that can look to get better next year. Our farm system has almost no impact prospects. The new ownership will have no choice but to throw around more money at free agents if they want to make a run next year. Let’s just hope that this time some of the new guys will be able to get on base.
Caitlin is fine. She had a good weekend with Grandma. There was a small vomiting scare, but it turned out that she wasn’t sick. This will be the last week with her loaner Dynavox. Hopefully it won’t take to long to get her permanent device.
Tomorrow is picture day. Everybody keep your fingers crossed that her photos this year are as good as last year’s.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Sleepy Caitlin
I am sitting here watching Scooby Doo with my daughter. It is one of the Scooby Doo Movies with the Harlem Globetrotters. She loves Scooby Doo as much as I did at her age. In retrospect, though, it really isn’t very good. Thank goodness for Wi-Fi and iPods.
Otherwise, Caitlin is fine. She’s a bit sleepy today, so I will be spending much of my day trying to keep her awake. When I’m not poking her I will be doing laundry and cleaning before our trip to Madison. My mom will be here watching Caitlin while we’re gone. It's very sweet of her to help us with Caitlin. Hopefully everything will be fine. It’s not that I don’t trust my mom with Cait; it’s just that I don’t want to be away for a medical emergency.
Just finished reading: Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse
Currently reading: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik and a Mad Norwegian Press manuscript
Otherwise, Caitlin is fine. She’s a bit sleepy today, so I will be spending much of my day trying to keep her awake. When I’m not poking her I will be doing laundry and cleaning before our trip to Madison. My mom will be here watching Caitlin while we’re gone. It's very sweet of her to help us with Caitlin. Hopefully everything will be fine. It’s not that I don’t trust my mom with Cait; it’s just that I don’t want to be away for a medical emergency.
Just finished reading: Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse
Currently reading: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik and a Mad Norwegian Press manuscript
Now It Is Time to Panic
Arghhh!! Stupid, stupid hope!
The Cubs are choking. Lucy has pulled the football away from me once again, and I am staring at the sky with a bruised butt.
I expected to lose game one. Webb is arguably the best pitcher in the NL. But how could we not beat Doug Frickin’ Davis ?!? What happened to Ted Lilly? Now we have to win the next three. It could happen, but I’m not holding my breath.
The worst part about this is that the Cubs are an old team. This was their best shot, and they are blowing it. Oh well, maybe the new ownership will sign Hunter, A-Rod, and trade for Santana. A boy can dream...
The Cubs are choking. Lucy has pulled the football away from me once again, and I am staring at the sky with a bruised butt.
I expected to lose game one. Webb is arguably the best pitcher in the NL. But how could we not beat Doug Frickin’ Davis ?!? What happened to Ted Lilly? Now we have to win the next three. It could happen, but I’m not holding my breath.
The worst part about this is that the Cubs are an old team. This was their best shot, and they are blowing it. Oh well, maybe the new ownership will sign Hunter, A-Rod, and trade for Santana. A boy can dream...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Cubs
As many of you know, I am a big baseball fan. It is one of my few “normal” hobbies. I love baseball. I love watching it on TV, listening to it on the radio, reading about it, and debating it. Lynne and I have built vacations around visiting ballparks. I am also a stat-head. I love reading the numbers, and I enjoy learning about new statistical modeling (Yes, I managed to even geek up my love of sports).
I am a Cubs’ fan. My family are Cubs’ fans. It is in my blood. The Cubs have taught me my perverse loyalty to lost causes. The collapse of the 1984 Cubs in the NLCS haunts me to this day.
My team is back in the playoffs. We came close to a pennant in 2003, and it’s taken the Cubs this long to get back. I am full of unreasonable amounts of hope. The National League is bad this year. We are facing the Diamondbacks in the Division Series. Other than Webb, their team is awful. If you dig into the stats like run differential, they are one of the luckiest teams in recent memory. My Cubs have been playing great baseball after a terrible first couple of months. We are the most balanced team in the NL playoffs. I am starting to believe that this is the first Cubs team that will go to the World Series since 1945. Of course, the AL winner will then kill us.
Here is an article from my favorite stat-head website, Baseball Prospectus. They are very positive about the Cubs in the Division Series.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6781
Game 1 is tomorrow at 9 PM. You can probably guess what I’ll be doing.
I am a Cubs’ fan. My family are Cubs’ fans. It is in my blood. The Cubs have taught me my perverse loyalty to lost causes. The collapse of the 1984 Cubs in the NLCS haunts me to this day.
My team is back in the playoffs. We came close to a pennant in 2003, and it’s taken the Cubs this long to get back. I am full of unreasonable amounts of hope. The National League is bad this year. We are facing the Diamondbacks in the Division Series. Other than Webb, their team is awful. If you dig into the stats like run differential, they are one of the luckiest teams in recent memory. My Cubs have been playing great baseball after a terrible first couple of months. We are the most balanced team in the NL playoffs. I am starting to believe that this is the first Cubs team that will go to the World Series since 1945. Of course, the AL winner will then kill us.
Here is an article from my favorite stat-head website, Baseball Prospectus. They are very positive about the Cubs in the Division Series.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6781
Game 1 is tomorrow at 9 PM. You can probably guess what I’ll be doing.
Seizure Day
It was a seizure morning. Caitlin is now upstairs sleeping off her Diastat after a 14-minute spasm. At least her schedule was light today.
Not much else going on this week. I am polishing up some Aicardi business and some stuff with Caitlin’s school. I’ll go into detail as soon as things are settled.
The writing continues. I am still working on the novel in the early morning. My short story rewrites in the late morning have been taking longer than I wanted. There is some massive work needed on the two stories. On the plus side, I think that I solved some problems in both. I just need a boost of time and energy.
We are getting ready for Geek.Kon this weekend. It looks like I am doing a Doctor Who panel, and Lynne is doing her usual library panel. Lynne is also doing some cool work stuff, so hopefully that will go well.
The Cubs start the playoffs on Wednesday. I am not pleased with the 9 PM start times. I guess that the Cubs will just have to blow out the Diamondbacks in the early innings. I like this match-up for the Cubs. This is a light-hitting Diamondbacks team with only one special starting pitcher. I believe that we can win this series.
Not much else going on this week. I am polishing up some Aicardi business and some stuff with Caitlin’s school. I’ll go into detail as soon as things are settled.
The writing continues. I am still working on the novel in the early morning. My short story rewrites in the late morning have been taking longer than I wanted. There is some massive work needed on the two stories. On the plus side, I think that I solved some problems in both. I just need a boost of time and energy.
We are getting ready for Geek.Kon this weekend. It looks like I am doing a Doctor Who panel, and Lynne is doing her usual library panel. Lynne is also doing some cool work stuff, so hopefully that will go well.
The Cubs start the playoffs on Wednesday. I am not pleased with the 9 PM start times. I guess that the Cubs will just have to blow out the Diamondbacks in the early innings. I like this match-up for the Cubs. This is a light-hitting Diamondbacks team with only one special starting pitcher. I believe that we can win this series.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
