I’ll be at SkeptiCal this weekend, a conference for science and skepticism. It takes place at the Berkeley Doubletree Hotel. Here’s the schedule. There’s talks about vaccination, global warming, homeopathy, and the neurobiology of religious experience. It sounds cool. I haven’t been to the conference before.
Anyone else going? Let me know!
We don’t get a lot of lightning storms in the Bay Area. Photographer Phil McGrew took this amazing picture from the window of his apartment. Eight bolts struck the Bay Bridge. Linked from here.
Just sold “Skin Deep” to Redstone SF. It’ll be great to be back there again.
Whew.
A report from my perspective is somewhat nonsensical to most con-goers, I think, but I can offer a few thoughts. FOGcon 2 was amazing. Most of the things that went sideways were almost invisible to congoers, which is exactly what you hope for as a con chair. (I assure you, things go sideways at every con that has ever happened. It’s part of the experience.) And overall, the hard work and effort the concom put into running the convention paid off. I’m enormously grateful to them. The concom team is the reason FOGcon works so well overall, from great programming to spiffy badges, and a _lot_ of time goes into making sure that congoers have a fabulous experience.
Highlights for me included delicious sushi with good friends, seeing so many people have a great time, wearing my Nebula gown again, and singing my heart out at karaoke. I got two massages (total of 60 minutes) to keep myself sane and healthy.
I spent yesterday doing laundry, eating chocolate coconut ice cream, and not doing much else. It was lovely. I’ve had full nights of sleep on Sunday and Monday night, and I still could barely drag myself out of bed this morning. It was all worth it.
Thanks to everyone who attended FOGcon and helped make it possible!
I can’t wait to see you guys! It will be wonderful.
Some of you may be wondering if I’ll have time to talk to you. (I’m the con chair.) The answer is–yes, if you’re patient!
The best way to explain it is this. I am busy, but the activity comes and goes and is unpredictable. I might well have an hour or two where I’m entirely free. But the thing is, I might be called away at any minute. Also, it’s hard for me to make commitments in advance, because I may have to do something for the con on short notice.
So catch me when you can, and please understand that we may have interruptions. Sometimes I have to end a conversation early. It’s not personal. 🙂
See you there!
This Japanese animation video is the weirdest thing I have seen on the internet in a long time. And that’s saying something, because I see a lot of things on the internet.
It’s a… racing game video. I guess. It is awesome and WEIRD.
NSFW. Don’t watch this at work! If you want to know what you’re getting into, there’s two drawings of in their underwear, but no actual sex.
Just signed a contract for “Lion Dance” to appear in Asimov’s. Woot!
Mur Lafferty interviews me at World Fantasy. The interview starts around minute 22.
This story made my day. Jessamyn Smith, an open-source programmer in Portland, was tired of seeing a particular joke on her IRC channel (the familiar “that’s what she said!” joke). She wrote a bot to follow up every “that’s what she said!” joke with an actual quote from a notable woman, just to get people thinking. The reaction from coworkers was surprisingly good. You can see more at: Fighting sexist jokes the geeky way.
March 30 – April 1, at the Walnut Creek Marriott. FOGcon is a literary convention modeled after WisCon and Readercon, but it’s developing its own identity as, well, awesome.
This year our theme is The Body, and we have honored guests Nalo Hopkinson and (from a distance) Shelley Jackson, with Honored Ghost Mary Shelley.
Last year, people told us we had the best programming they’d seen in a long time, and I think it’s true again this year! Personally, I am most excited about “Loving Something Problematic,” “Let’s Design Some Aliens,” “What Authors Can Learn From Indie Musicians” (a solo presentation from a successful indie musician, about self-promotion), and Nalo’s Honored Guest Presentation, in which she’s going to have us all play Red Rover and Octopus Is Hungry and so on. (Did anyone else play Octopus Is Hungry? Is that a Midwest thing?)
Pre-registration closes today, so get your membership if you haven’t yet. You can also join at the door. Please do come check us out–as a new con, we need all the support we can get. We’re _so_ close to a sustainable size and I really want to get there, so that FOGcon 3 will be possible. Bring a friend or coworker if you can! The programming is interesting both to avid sf/f readers and more casual fans.
And I’m thinking I’ll do some Christina Perri at karaoke this year. 🙂
Vylar Kaftan 