tag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705Day in the Life of an IdiotJournal of Lyda Morehouselydamorehouse2022-08-15T00:17:16Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:618633Convergence (Day 3 & 4)2022-08-15T00:17:16Z2022-08-15T00:17:16Zpublic4 My first panel yesterday was at 3:30 pm. So, I spent much of the morning doing the usual Saturday morning things, and left for the light rail at around 2 pm. By chance, there happened to be a Street Art Festival happening on Nicollet Mall. I snapped a few shots of some of the cool art.<br /><br /><img src="https://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/file/280760.jpg" alt="Art on the sidewalk of downtown Minneapolis. A woman and a wave, unfinished." width="400" height="300" /><br />Image: Art on the sidewalk of downtown Minneapolis. A woman and a wave, unfinished.<br /><br /><img src="https://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/file/280964.jpg" alt="A spray paint street art booth in downtown Minneapolis. A Black girl, surrounded by vibrant colors, staring out at us intently." width="400" height="300" /><br />Image: A spray paint street art booth in downtown Minneapolis. A Black girl, surrounded by vibrant colors, staring out at us intently.<br /><br /><img src="https://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/file/281135.jpg" alt="Food booths set up under a skyway." width="400" height="300" /><br />Image: Food booths set up under a skyway.<br /><br />Technically, I was meant to have two panels Saturday, but I bailed on my 7 pm panel in favor of my Star Trek RPG. The panel I did attend was "What Cyberpunk got Right," which was amazing. Rob Callahan who was the moderator did an amazing job, partly by acting as an emcee who walked around on the floor of the room and passed around the microphone so that people in the audience could be heard. <br /><br />I'm trying to remember what we talked about, though. I feel like, in this case, even though the topic was broad, the genre is not, so it was much easier to focus on comparing the fiction of the past (in a way, though many of us confessed to still writing it,) to the now. We talked about what makes a consciousness, how laws might define that, if machines have rights (like copyright of the art and stories they produce,) and kind of on and on in a lovely meandering way. It very much felt like a conversation with a room full of smart and interesting people? It helped that there were no That Guys in attendance, I think.<br /><br />Today I had my last panel "Culture and Diversity in Anime," which I moderated. I thought about doing a Rob, but the room wasn't very crowded and so I ended up staying up with the panelists. However, since the other panelists were all BIPOC, I happily did my job as a moderator and asked questions and then stepped back to let them do their thing. It was one of my better panels, honestly.<br /><br />So, that's a wrap, folks. See you next year.<br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=618633" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:618317Convergence (Day 2)2022-08-13T15:16:52Z2022-08-14T00:01:16Zpublic11Yesterday started with a conundrum. <br /><br />On Thursday, I just drove directly to the con and parked in the hotel lot. It was super convenient, etc., but I never even looked at the prices. I sort of foolishly assumed that the rates would be reasonable. As I was leaving after two hours? TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS (for my international friends, that's about 31 Canadian dollars, 21 English pounds, or 24.50 Euros). INSANE. So, I woke up yesterday very determined not to bankrupt the family parking in the hotel ever again. It was raining very hard when I woke up, and so the thought of public transportation daunted me a bit. It looked like I'd be able to get a ride in with <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://naomikritzer.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://naomikritzer.dreamwidth.org/'><b>naomikritzer</b></a></span> , but then Mason reminded me that I'd promised him a ride to pick up some stuff at his work, so the timing didn't work out. I ended up taking the light rail in much later (my first panel was at 12:30 pm,) and that was FINE. It's a long walk down Nicollet Mall, since the light rail drops off almost at the butt end opposite part of that area of downtown, but there were buses I could have hopped on? So, it turned out okay.<br /><br />I tell myself I probably needed the exercise. <br /><br />My first panel was <em>"What If...?" </em>a fan panel about the Marvel animated series of the same name. There was nothing overtly wrong with that panel, but, as I was telling another friend of mine afterwards, something about it felt very 1996. There were five panelists, two of which were women and one woman of color. The dude bros at the far end of the table were all comic book fans and had a very insular vibe? Like, I don't think they were INTENTIONALLY ignoring the female (and queer) end of the table, but they kind of liked the sound of their own voices a lot? (I mean, that can definitely be me in some situations, so no shade, necessarily.) BUT, at one point, I just grabbed my mic and started asking my fellow lady-appearing panelist questions. And, I am also a long-time comic book fan, but I think there is value from hearing from people who are only MCU fans. A lot of value. I say that because there was a bit of an unspoken "Comic book fans are the One True Marvel Fan" vibe, as well, which no one ever said, but was heavy in the air, you know?<br /><br />Anyway, I feel like I had to fight a bit to be heard on that panel and since the pandemic started the amount of spoons I have to make that happen is pretty low.<br /><br />The "Faith in SF&F" panel was... well, I was talking to Naomi afterwards and I don't think she saw it as quite the disaster I felt it was. There were, in my opinion, a couple of things working against it from the start: 1) the topic is almost too broad, and 2) it was happening at CONvergence where the line between "are we talking about speculative FICTION, specifically, or are we talking about the entirety of SF/F fandom?" is very nebulous. The moderator did their very best, but religion is also a hot button topic and so, at one point, That Guy in the audience asked whether or not all of Judaism is negated by the fact that there is no archeological evidence for Exodus. If I had been the moderator, I would have said, "Either reframe this question to include spec fic, or shut the f*ck up? This is never the venue to call into question anyone's religious beliefs." BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. So, we had to have a whole ten minutes of one of the panelist making all sorts of counter arguments which were 100% unnecessary, because religions are based on faith? So who the hell cares if there is archeological evidence for any of it?? (Says the former Unitarian, now Witch, who has had to sit through these arguments, particularly among pagans who really, really want the Stone Age goddess worship to be a singular, unbroken line between then and now, rather than sh*t a bunch of weirdos thought up during the Victorian Age. For myself? If the shoe fits, who cares who made it or when!")<br /><br />ANYWAY, you can see how that nonsense derailed us. <br /><br />It wasn't our only moment off the rails, though? One of our panelists really, really wanted to talk about the Satanic Panic. This came up in our email chain pre-convention, and I might have tried a bit harder, if I were the moderator, to figure out exactly what they wanted to discuss--if only because its connection to SF/F is kind of tenuous? I mean, there was a whole lot of freaking out about D&D, which I remember having lived through this period in American history, but role-playing games are starting to stretch what I would consider speculative FICTION. I mean, yes, they are part of nerd culture and are a kind of private, living fiction, but are they stories in the traditional sense and, even then, what point do you want to make about the Satanic Panic and its effect on D&D or other spec fic related issues? Like, are there any novels that actually deal with this? Maybe that terrible movie with Tom Hanks, <em>Mazes and Monsters</em>, from 1982, which I feel like I saw a novelization of in my school library (and maybe even read), but otherwise I can't think of any bit of fiction that was either directly affected by this (banned or what have you) unless what the person on the end wanted to talk about was horror movies? Again, movies aren't technically FICTION in the strictest sense? So, I dunno. I might have been more specific as a moderator and said, "Okay, but what specifically do you want to say about how the Satanic Panic relates to spec fic?" and try to draw that person out a bit more. Like, they barely got a chance to talk at all? I would have tried to coax more out of them, in general. <br /><br />But, if you ignore those two wildly divergent tangents, the panel was OK? I'm not convinced that there was more substance than flailing about, but some panels are like that. <br /><br />I hung out with Naomi and a couple of other friends in between my two panels in the Con Suite (and then later outside on the Nicollet greenway, which was LOVELY,) and one of the things that kept coming up whenever I complained about how a panel went and how everything kind of felt a bit like the entire con was reverting to some less enlightened age is that apparently CONvergence is having a bit of a personnel shake-up? I don't know very many details about this, except that there was apparently some kind of great exodus of volunteers this summer due to some cult of personality types deciding to retire/quit/what have you. And we speculated that some of the things that used to be done by careful assigning of panelists, etc., might just have become, "Whelp, whatever!" in a mad rush. So, maybe that's part of why the whole thing feels like an earlier version of itself? I don't know about that, but it's interesting to consider.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I got my final ChiCon panel assignments and, as my UK friends might say, I am well chuffed. I will post about them after I finish all this CONvergence write-up stuff. <br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=618317" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:618049CONvergence (Day 1)2022-08-12T00:08:39Z2022-08-12T00:08:39Zpublic3 I probably won't be able to keep up a full con report, but I thought I'd try. <br /><br />Despite my better judgment, I'm doing <a href="https://www.convergence-con.org/">CONvergence</a> in-person this weekend. I will say that registration was pretty slick. As you approached the registration area, someone directed you to the first table, where you showed your ID and proof of vaccine card. If you passed that first hurdle, they gave you a validation card (kind of like when you go and vote), which you then hand off to the people pulling badges. It was slow, but I made it through the line in less than a half hour. (I have seen lines for registration at CONvergence that were kind of insane, like wrapping around the whole hotel floor and then doubling back on itself.) <br /><br />The moderator of panel was willing to remind people in the audience that masks were NOT optional, too, which was nice. There was a brief discussion before the panel started where it was asked if the panelists were willing to remove their masks. I'm never willing, so everyone on the panel followed my lead. <br /><br />The panel I was on today was called "Never Meet Your Gods." The description was: What happens when regular people interact with mythic figures, such as Lucifer or Odin? Participants: Aimee Kuzenski (mod), Larry Swain, and Lyda Morehouse.<br /><br />I have to admit that I have been fighting a headache all day. (This was the second one in a row for me and since I normally don't get headaches at ALL, I took a COVID test this afternoon just to be sure - it was negative.) So, I did not go into this panel at my very best. Plus, I don't entirely feel like myself with long hair, so I was definitely fighting more awkwardness than I normally have sitting on a panel. <br /><br />That being said, I think it went pretty well. I was surprised how many people came to the panel, given how barebones the description was. Aimee did a pretty good job moderating, though at one point I joked that some of her questions felt a bit like a pop quiz that I was not entirely ready for. Name your favorite human/god interaction! What are the best/worst depictions of gods!? My answers all started with, "Uhhhhh...." Like I said, I was just not batting a 100. I did NOT ace the pop quiz. <br /><br />I was also easily dragged off topic because one of my fellow panelists, Larry Swain, is a Biblical scholar and that's my catnip. So, at least one point we went down a Biblical rabbit hole all the way to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Magus">Simon Magus</a>.... apparently Larry is going to be on a panel about weird Biblical stories and I might have to see if I can make that (okay, looking for it on the schedule, it looks like it's on Sunday. I may be able to stay because I think I have an early morning anime panel that day.)<br /><br />Anyway, I do think that because I was easily distracted and not terribly on the ball, it was not a top ten performance? Was it a good and lively discussion? YES. Was it write-home-about amazing? Probably not. <br /><br />After the panel I hung out with some old friends for a few minutes--Bill and Melissa and <a href="https://www.leahcutter.com/">Leah Cutter.<br /></a><br />Tomorrow's panels are:<ul><li>12:30 pm <strong>"What If"</strong> Inspired by the Marvel Comics series, What If? is an animated anthology series on Disney+. Narrated by The Watcher, the series explores alternate timelines in the multiverse showing options if major moments from the MCU films occurred differently. Participants: Robert Becka, Tim Lieder, Mark Lundberg (mod), Charlene Holm, Lyda Morehouse</li><li>3:30 pm "<strong>Faith & Religion in Speculative Fiction" </strong>What does it take to make faith and religion "work" in speculative fiction? Are those factors the same as those required for faith in real life? How has reading or writing about religion influenced your own beliefs and practices? Participants: Tim Lieder, phillip andrew bennett low (mod), Hertzey Hertz, Naomi Kritzer, Lyda Morehouse</li></ul><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=618049" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:582115Virtual Cons, Speculation2021-07-15T13:51:10Z2021-07-15T13:55:06Zpublic8I am not planning on attending CONvergence this year. There are several factors that went into my decision. I am ready to do a lot of socialization, finally, but.... not with three thousand people, indoors. But, on top of that August is generally going to be a crazy month for me because we will be sending Mason off to Connecticut for school (<a href="https://www.wesleyan.edu/">Wesleyan University</a>, for those who are interested.) <br /><br />When they made their decision to go in-person, I was asked if I wanted badges for me and Mason and I told them just what I told you. Next year, I'll be up for it, but this year I am taking a pass for reasons of COVID + College. <br /><br />Somehow the message didn't quite get through? Possibly because, long ago, I also filled out volunteer form? I did so, however, when there was still talk of possibly hybrid, we don't know. <br /><br /> A couple days ago my panel assignments arrived.<br /><br />They both looked great? I would happily done both of them (and more) in any other year. And, I re-read the descriptions a bunch of times but there were notes like "panelists should arrive in the room x minutes beforehand," and I started to worry that this was not a virtual room they were talking about, but a physical, in-person one. The biggest clue was that there was no link to a Zoom or any other technical info for an online recording/live-stream.<br /><br />I hated doing it, because I don't want to get on someone's off list. but I had to say, "If this is in-person, which it seems to be, I am not attending this year. Please take me off?" <br /><br />I feel especially bad about this because, independently, I happened to be part of an earlier email chain of a half dozen people who, when asked if they'd be willing to be a warm body to help save a panel that a friend of mine wanted to turn viable, EVERY single ONE of them also said that they wouldn't be attending in-person this year. Given that experience, I'm also wondering if I killed two panels? I'm a little worried that they might be having a talent problem--I would find it difficult to believe that CONvergence, of all local cons, couldn't find enough volunteers to sit on panels, but maybe? Especially since they're limiting attendance?<br /><br />I will say that I was surprised that they didn't do a better job with their online con. Last year, I took part in at least two panels at Virtual CONvergence. One was a live-stream and the other was a recorded reading (which they scheduled opposite one another? They had a full weekend schedule to fill and my fans had literally a single choice, either listen to my reading OR watch me talk, live. I mean, I don't have a lot of fans? But that one person had a tough choice! Which, I mean, I was finally on two panels at once, which is kind of a dream of every author...) But, anyway, that part seemed to be exactly like most on-line cons I'd been to that year, but I found their chat/hangout space to be much harder to navigate. For reasons known only to the con com, CONvergence didn't use one of the pandemic-standard chat platforms, like Discord or Slack. Instead, they had their own web site that you had to remember to go to? I think I went to it once. It's weird when smaller, less structured/organized/well funded cons did a better job with their pandemic cons... and so I very much understand the desire to be back in the venue that they shine in? <br /><br />But this also makes me fairly certain that there will not be a hybrid option for CONvergence, which make me sad. I am fond of virtual cons? <br /><br />Am I the only who is going to miss them??<br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=582115" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:478398What the...? Where Did this Month Go...?2018-07-12T17:51:53Z2018-07-12T17:58:26Zpublic0 Well, CONvergence has been over for almost a week now and I never managed to write-up my con report. All I can say to that, is that this week STARTED with me showing up to my library gig at New Brighton at quarter to five on Monday only to hear them announce that the library would be closing in fifteen minutes.... <br /><br />Luckily, it wasn't that I had completely missed my shift, BUT that I'd showed up a day early.<br /><br />OMG.<br /><br />I had somehow mentally shifted my entire week in my head, because then I also had a panic about a talk I'd agreed to give at the University of Minnesota, which I suddenly worried conflicted (it didn't. That was last night, Wednesday.) The only good thing that came out of that is that one of my colleagues at work might have me come to her library science class at St. Kate's and have me talk about manga/anime for libraries, which would be neat.<br /><br />Last night, I was a guest at "From Rocket Ships to Gender Politics." There were only about 11 students, so that was a pretty perfect size, and they had all just finished reading Neal Stephenson's SNOW CRASH, which was a nice segue into my version of cyberpunk. I only feel a little badly because I am a very bombastic personality (Scorpio with a Leo Rising, heavy on the Leo Rising!) and I pretty much dominated the classroom discussion for 2 and a half hours. I gave away various copies of books that I had lying around, which was great. I'm almost nearly entirely out of RESURRECTION CODE hardcopies.<br /><br />But, that was a good time. I had initially expected to only have to carry 45 minutes or so of the class, but we were having too much fun and I ended up staying longer and longer. :-) In fact, I ended up staying all the way through and even listened to the class discussion of SNOW CRASH, which was interesting, since I haven't tried to re-read that book since it came out.<br /><br />Okay, so, backtracking to CONvergence....<br /><br />My CONvergence was fairly good. It ended on a down note for me, but that was kind of me just feeling like a fraud/loser who hasn't published anything since 2013 (which is accurate, but mostly I don't feel the loser/fraud part so keenly.) I think having two panels in a row about literary awards is what caused that, alas. <br /><br />One of the first things that happened when I got to con on Thursday was that I ran into my old editor (now writing colleague) Laura Anne Gilman. Laura Anne and I ended up hanging out together, getting coffee, and generally having a great time chatting about state parks and road trips and things like that. I mean, I never know how she feels about me, but, this many years later, I have nothing but fond memories. I ended up following her to her panel on "How to Say 'No' to Your Editor." I probably embarrassed her by publicly commenting that I thought that her editorial letter, while LONG, actually made my novel better. Which is all true, and it's not like sucking up to her NOW would help my career any.<br /><br />From there I had a panel, which I moderated, on DEATH NOTE a manga which has spawned a zillion adaptations, including an American remake for Netflix. I thought that panel went very well. I think it helps that I reread the entire manga a few days earlier, so all the character interactions were fresh in my mind.<br /><br />I did a lot of bumming around at con this year because I was semi-chaperoning three teenagers: Mason, his girlfriend, and their mutual guy friend. So, I took them all out to dinner and whatnot and ended up watching part of the "Infinity War" panel with them. But, while waiting for my teens to get their acts together, I ran into <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://opalsong.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://opalsong.dreamwidth.org/'><b>opalsong</b></a></span> and talked fandoms and the various things she's been podcasting. I made Thursday an early night, though. I think we were all home by 8pm-9pm. <br /><br />Friday I had a 9:30 am panel. I saw Eleanor having breakfast in the hotel restaurant and so I crashed her table for a few minutes (and an extra cup of coffee) before my panel. <a href="http://annelyle.com">Anne Lyle</a> was there so we ended up talking about the World Cup and some of the other differences between American and U.K. life.<br /><br />My panel, another one that I moderated, seemed to also go pretty well. This one was about Timothy Dalton as Bond and I think we ended up with a fairly lively discussion, despite the early hour.<br /><br />At some point later, I ended up at "Judging a Book By its Cover." CONvergence always has this track of panels that are really more like entertainment, Villification Tennis, Power-point Karaoke, the Poetry Slam, etc. This one is one that Mason and I have seen before and it is almost always quite hilarious, even if the 'panelists' flail, because the covers they find for it are always worth the price of admission. But, the performers were all amazing, so it was very entertaining.<br /><br />I spent a LONG time sitting on the floor near the costuming atrium near the pool/cabana area chatting with Ty Blauersouth about... kind of everything, which was lovely. <br /><br />Then, I was one of the judges for the Poetry Slam, which went very well. It was enough fun that I think I'm going to try to catch it next year, even if I'm not a participant.<br /><br />The final panel of Friday for me was another one I moderated which was the Chuck Tingle fan panel. I'm not sure how well that one went, but the audience seemed to enjoy it as one of them gave me a "good job" ribbon afterwards (which is only ironic since I really felt like I'd flailed around a lot.) But, I mean, the subject matter alone is fairly entertaining, so there is that.<br /><br />Saturday was my off day, but I did get to have lunch with <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://naomikritzer.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://naomikritzer.dreamwidth.org/'><b>naomikritzer</b></a></span> and <a href="https://missshannan.com">Ms. Shannon Paul</a>, which prompted me to hit the comedy show to watch Ms. Shannon perform, which was, by far, the highlight of my day.<br /><br />I ended up skipping con entirely on Sunday because I was WORN OUT.<br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=478398" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:478197My CONvergence Schedule2018-07-04T22:45:42Z2018-07-04T22:46:21Zpublic1<span style="font-size: medium;">Thursday, July 5</span><br /> <br />3:30pm<br /><strong>Death Note Fan Panel </strong><br />Are you a fan of Death Note? With the release of the American Netflix version released last year, let's talk about what we loved and didn't care for in Death Note manga, anime, & movies. Panelists: Lyda Morehouse (mod), Kristopher Pflipsen, Susie Kline, Jei Herald-Zamora<br /><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Friday, July 6</span><br /> <br />9:30am<br /><strong>In Defense of: Timothy Dalton as James Bond</strong><br />Was Timothy Dalton all that bad? Come and argue with us. It will be fun. Panelists: John White, Ty Blauersouth, Lyda Morehouse (mod), Nathan Anderson, Jeremy Stomberg<br /><br />7:00pm<br /><strong>CONvergence Poetry Slam</strong><br />Nerds have words, and we want to hear them! Show up, sign up, and if the lottery gods are kind you (yes, you) may be drawn to read two three-minute poems to an audience of drunken strangers, and watch your heart and soul assigned numeric value. Panelists: Allison Broeren, phillip low, Dan Marlow, Cole Sarar, Bryan Worra, Lyda Morehouse, Ben San Del, Pat Harrigan, Sam Cook<br /><br />10:00pm<br /><strong>Pounded in the Butt by the Chuck Tingle Fan Panel </strong><br />Talking about Chuck Tingle and his work. Panelists: Kristina Winn, Rory Ni Coileain, Lyda Morehouse (mod), Jonathan Palmer, Sharon Stiteler<br /> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Saturday, July 7</span><br /> <br />12:30pm<br /><strong>Literary Awards </strong><br />Does getting a literary award help your career? What's the impact, both positive and negative, of being recognized for your work with a big, heavy, piece of metal or glass? Panelists: Amal El-Mohtar, Lyda Morehouse, Naomi Kritzer (mod), Eleanor Arnason<br /><br />5:00pm<br /><strong>Understanding the Hugo Awards</strong><br />There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Hugo Awards for the last few years. What’s it all about? Panelists: Lyda Morehouse, Scott Lynch (mod)<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=478197" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:476712Thinking Ahead2018-06-08T23:43:19Z2018-06-08T23:43:46Zpublic1 CONvergence sent out their programing schedule. I'm on six panels this year, which is more than I was expecting since they're having so MANY returning guests of honor for their twentieth anniversary. I moderate half of those.<br /><br />In (current) order: The DEATH NOTE Fan Panel (mod), In Defense of Timothy Dalton as Bond (mod), CONvergence Poetry Slam (as a judge), Pounded in the Butt by Chuck Tingle Fan Panel (mod), Literary Awards, and, finally, Understanding the Hugo Awards.<br /><br />Of those, I think the one that I'll have to do the most prep for is actually my very first panel, the DEATH NOTE one. I've seen the anime, of course, but I have not caught up on the live-action Netflix original miniseries. There's also a bunch of spin-off DEATH NOTE related stuff that I've heard about and I'll have to at least track down a list of what all those are. <br /><br />I should probably re-watch Timothy Dalton's Bond, too.<br /><br />In other news, I feel kind of poorly as they say in the UK and other places English is spoken. I woke up with a very runny nose which I normally attribute to allergies. On a normal allergy day, however, I can take an antihistamine and things clear up in an hour or two. Today, the post-nasal drip has been continuous. I'm hoping that with a liberal application of honeyed tea, more drugs, and an early bed time, I will feel better tomorrow.<br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=476712" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:437258CONvergence.. Day... Three?2017-07-08T15:38:44Z2017-07-08T15:38:44Zpublic0 I'm at the Caribou/Einstein's Bagel across from the con hotel; Mason is at home, still asleep. My extroverted introvert announced last night that he has had a tremendous time, but he is officially DONE with people. I understand completely. I may be an extroverted extrovert, but that doesn't mean that a five day con doesn't wear on me. <br /><br />Yesterday was an especially busy day. I had only two panels, but they were spread out over a whole day. My first one was at 2 pm and my final one started at 8:30 pm. Plus, I wanted to be sure to catch Lois McMaster Bujold's signing because I had a faraway friend who wanted an autograph, and that was at 12:30 pm. Naomi had invited me to meet her and a friend at Caribou at 11 am, too, and while the kids and I managed to get to con by 11... we did not find parking until almost ten minutes later and I showed up at the Caribou around 11:30. I sent the kids off to DQ for lunch and ran off hoping hadn't blown my chance to hang out. <br /><br />Luckily, I didn't miss Naomi. Even luckier, <a href="https://www.tylertork.com">Tyler Tork</a>, his wife (whose name currently escapes me), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Thao_Worra">Bryan Thao Worra </a>were there. I have always liked Bryan, ever since some Minicon somewhere lost to the annals of time where he was the only person at a Krueshenko's party who could tell me what had happened to Captain America after Cap had been shot (I'd been catching up with Marvel comics at this point and I was a little desperate for news.) Plus, I've been following his travels via Facebook and, in the way of social media when it works as it should, that has bred a certain sense of connection and familiarity in my heart (even if Bryan doesn't necessarily feel the same way, you know?) <br /><br />So we had a lovely chat about all sorts of things because everyone there was super-interesting. I could have had my own little con right there, all day, but Naomi being GoH and Bryan, being Bryan (and a former guest of honor, like myself,) had places to go. I wandered over to the signing, disappointed that there were no books by Lois to be had in the dealer's room. For whatever reason, there is only one bookseller in the dealer's room, and they're a publisher, so they are only selling their own authors... which I don't think includes any of the GoHs? I might be wrong about that. However, the con has dealt with this by having a certain number of author books for sale at the merchandise window, which normally mostly sells con tee-shirts. I was able to pick up something for my friend there and get it signed. <br /><br />I wandered around for a while and, by chance, ran into the entire Slash panel (my 8:30 pm panel) in the cosplay poolside atrium. We were chatting and squeeing about Yuri on Ice and other current fandoms that are seeing a lot of slash action and we ended up talking a bit about Free! and I awkwardly recommended my Bleach/Free! x-over <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/1074017">TO THE WOMAN WHO PODFICC'D IT</a> (Opalsong) who, even more AWKWARDLY, I HAD <strong>ALREADY MET, </strong> in person, a couple of years ago. <br /><br />At that point, I decided I may have "won" CONvergence for being the most braindead person, ever. <br /><br />My first panel was "Take a Pew, Pew, Pew" about religion in science fiction, which I think went well, though... in the way of CONvergence panels, it wasn't necessarily very in-depth. The cool part of that panel was that we had a woman on it who is a Church of England vicar. She has written an FAQ about what vicars do, to which I teased, "since most Americans only know about vicars from the BBC" and then my friend/fellow panelist Bill cut in to add, "And yet somehow she left out all the bits where she solves crimes once a week!" But, so you see, that was the tone. It was funny and clever, but not terribly deep. I still had fun and learned some, so that was worth it. <br /><br />I had wanted to hit Naomi's reading after that, but the kids were hungry so we went over to Friday's. By the time we got back, I was able to see "Refugee Life Hacks" which was amazing and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saymoukda_Vongsay">Saymoukda Vongsay </a>is my new girl-crush. She is brilliant and funny and bad ass, and I am now a devoted fangirl. I may actually have to attend poetry readings and theatre in my future just to catch more of her work.<br /><br />The kids and I met up to watch "Judging a Book by its Cover" which is one of those annual "comedy/improv" panels that CONvergence does. The idea is that a team of panelists is shown a real-life book without its cover and they have to not only guess the title, but make up the story of the plot, as though they're experts on the book. It's one of those that's intentionally over the top. Even if you've read the actual book, you're supposed to come up with all the silly. It was very silly. I enjoyed it a lot. Plus, I found out that the vicar's husband is none-other-than <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cornell">Paul Cornell</a>, who came over to introduce himself and tell me he enjoyed the panel, etc. That was kind of cool, because Paul has long been one of the "cool kids" of CONvergence.<br /><br />My slash panel went much as it always does. As I was telling a friend, the point of it is to be a sort of "a state of the union" of slash--and overview of what's new and what's trending, and while I participate in the slash fandom regularly, I'm not an expert on All of The Things. So I had a great time because I love everyone on the panel, but I'm not a MAJOR contributor to the discussion. I talked enough not to feel excluded, but I'm pretty sure Bess and Jo could run that panel on their own. If you're curious what we recommended this year, Jo helpfully put together a great list: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EvaiDBDu6KFfQGH76lgbG9QvMFXQsJe-ZarsD7e7SvM/edit">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EvaiDBDu6KFfQGH76lgbG9QvMFXQsJe-ZarsD7e7SvM/edit<br /></a><br />Okay, I have to run off and collect my badge from the car, because of course I left it on the seat... and then I'm off to my 11 am panel today "Women of a Certain Age" with Lois McMaster Bujold.<br /><br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=437258" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:437056CONvergence, Day One....2017-07-06T13:50:57Z2017-07-06T14:02:40Zpublic1We won't be heading out to CONvergence until about 11 am today. <br /><br />Nothing much, in terms of programming, happens until 12:30pm today, anyway, but I think Mason and his friends want to make a full day of it. I was able to pick up my badge and his last night after the secret pro/con com volunteers GoH meet-and-greet, but we'll have to stand around to pick up the other two's and at least Ms. R---- will have have "the Talk" about weapons, I think. Mason might only need to have his "bone saw" peace bonded, and I don't know exactly what weaponry Mr. D---- is carrying, but planning on some standing around in lines is probably wise. <br /><br />I will get a better picture (we took this late last night with the iPad because Mason wanted to show off his progress to his friends), but, yes, Mason's cosplay finally came all together and thanks to Shawn's sewing skills it looks really tremendous. This picture does not do it justice, but it's what I have at the moment. (I will get better ones today). What you can not quite see is that Shawn was able to quick tailor the lab coat so that it has tails and make it into a fair approximation of single-breasted. He's got a tiny little blood-stained dove on his shoulder.<br /><br /><img src="https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19732219_10155439493132866_6307507941545042223_n.jpg?oh=a60e726e726e65c46dc5d210b23cbfd8&oe=59CD3526" alt="Mason as Medic from TF2" width="350" height="467" /><br /><br />So Mason is set and looks really GOOD this year. Everyone will easily recognize who he is (so long as they know TF2, of course.)<br /><br />I did my first skim through the program booklet last night after I brought it home. Besides panels, I have a number of things I need to remember to do this year, so I took some notes on the pocket program booklet in the hopes that I will ACTUALLY remember to do them.<br /><br />Today, the only thing on the agenda is getting all my young charges their badges, etc., and my 3:30 panel on artificial intelligences (which, knowing that Naomi is on it, I feel confident that it will be thoughtful and intelligent, even if a lot of *my* panel prep involved Wikipedia and Google.) <br /><br />Mason has a number of to-do things checked off, including a LAN of Overwatch (one of the multi-player games he loves.) So I have no idea how late I'm going to end up staying at con tonight or how things are going to work with getting the various younguns back to their respective homes. Today, I am thinking of as "getting oriented and figuring out logistics" day, because the current plan is that the Terrific Trio want to attend tomorrow (Fri.) together, as well. Thing is, I can absolutely play con chaperone all night, if the kids want, and so long as their parental units are down with them being out late. CONvergence comes but once a year.<br /><br />I need to tell one story about last night's meet-and-greet. It's going to sound a bit like bragging, but <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://offcntr.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://offcntr.dreamwidth.org/'><b>offcntr</b></a></span> will appreciate it. <br /><br />In fact, Frank is in town. Yesterday, the four of us (Frank, his wife Denise, Mason, and I) went out to lunch at Zen Box, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in town. (I should note, I would not necessarily have suggested it, had I known Frank was going to generously offer to pick up the tab. It's on the pricey side, being in downtown and all.) At any rate, we had a lovely time catching up and, as a long time SF/F fan, Frank lamented the fact that CONvergece doesn't offer day passes, because he totally would have gone because, OMG, OMG, <a href="http://www.seananmcguire.com">Seanan McGuire</a> is one of the guest of honor!! (A paraphrase, but the squee was evident.) I offered to get a book signed, because, while there are not a huge number of perks associated with being a pro writer, getting to hang out with other cool writers is DEFINITELY one of them.<br /><br />So, there I am at the secret pro/con com volunteer meet-and-greet chatting with folks I know there, and all of a sudden I get the proverbial tug on my sleeve from someone who introduces themselves as Seanan McGuire's guest liaison. They say, "Seanan McGuire would really like to meet you, may I introduce you?" And, I have to admit to being taken aback because, WHAT, WHO, ME? And also, HOW CHARMINGLY FORMAL! So, of course, I jump up and say, yes, and introductions happen and Seanan says, "I just wanted you to know I'm a big fan of your work." And, I said, "Really??!!" because who knew, and also, wow! But I had to laugh a little and tell her, "How funny, because I am literally tasked this weekend with fangirl-ing you by proxy for my friend Frank."<br /><br />We then spent the next half hour or so talking about cool bugs, frogs, endangered newts, and her Maine Coons.<br /><br />A great start to con, if you ask me.<br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=437056" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:436342Cosplay Panic!2017-07-03T19:19:23Z2017-07-03T19:19:23Zpublic4 Actually, I think we have things under control, but in a fashion that is very typical of my family, today, only about four days before CONvergence starts, Mason says, "Oh, yeah, there's some cosplay stuff I should probably get together." Only the stuff?<br /><br />Is all of it.<br /><br />However, this year he's decided on someone fairly do-able, IMHO. This year, Mason wants to go as the medic from TF2 (Team Fortress 2) a video game:<br /><br /><img src="https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19756360_10155430371647866_394772676827543991_n.jpg?oh=0744295a9517644b1ec3e344763616ce&oe=59CF4F85" alt="medic's outfit from TF2" width="600" height="261" /><br /><br />The biggest hold up is, of course, the coat. I have suspenders, we found a wide, black belt. The gloves can be faked with dish washing gloves painted the appropriate color. He's got any number of pants and we can find not-perfect/but close-enough boots. We drove all over creation today attempting to find a trench coat we could modify. No luck! However, I had the brilliant flash that we could find a double breasted (or possibly even single-breasted) coat like this at a chef's uniform store (I saw a lab coat on their web site that was very close for $30) at somewhere like Midway Uniform which is literally right up the street (next to Ax-Man). <br /><br />Guess what?<br /><br />It's closed today for the holiday.<br /><br />Luckily, Mason and his friends probably won't go to CONvergence until Friday at the earliest, so I think we're going to be able to pull this one off. Mason has the round glasses already. He wears them every day. His blue hair isn't quite right, but it's a similar haircut and he thought he might as well go as the "blue team" version (probably with a white coat, but again, we're all about the "close enough" look). He and his friends have already made one of the props that this guy carries--a hacksaw gun. So, that will also be recognizable enough.<br /><br />Some day we will start this process earlier.<br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=436342" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:435997CONvergence Schedule2017-06-29T01:50:07Z2017-06-29T01:50:07Zpublic0I'm at CONvergence every single day a you can see below. I'm a little surprised at the number of panels I'm moderating (including one with Lois McMaster Bujold and... me?) This should be an interesting con, of course, made better by the fact that my friend Naomi will be one of the Guests of Honor.<br /><br /><br /><strong><br />Thursday, July 6</strong><br /> <br />3:30pm<br />DoubleTree Atrium 7<br /><em>AI in Science Fiction: From Evil Overlords to Companions </em><br />There is a diversity of AI in writing and film, from benevolent to malevolent. How does an AI become good or evil? Are they just programmed that way? Panelists: Naomi Kritzer, Jamie Riedesel (mod), Eric Zawadzki, Lyda Morehouse, Lathan Murrell<br /><br /> <br /><strong>Friday, July 7</strong><br /> <br />2:00pm<br />DoubleTree Edina<br /><em>Take a Pew, Pew, Pew! Organized Religion in SciFi/Fantasy</em><br />Beyond "The Force", how do creators deal with organized religion (and disbelief) in science fiction and fantasy? What do they get right, wrong, and what do they reveal in their thinking? Panelists: Caroline Symcox, Lyda Morehouse, Tim Wick, Bill Stiteler (mod)<br /><br /><br />8:30pm<br />DoubleTree Atrium 2<br /><em>Slash Panel </em><br />Buckle your seatbelts, it's time for the annual panel about same-sex shipping! From Yuri on Ice!!! to married space monks, let's talk State of the Slash Union 2017. (This is an 18+ panel; talkin' about the porn is definitely on the table.) Panelists: Bess Stuvenoxend, Skazka 9000, Jo Thrace, Lyda Morehouse (mod), Kes S<br /><br /> <br /><strong>Saturday, July 8</strong><br /> <br />11:00am<br />DoubleTree Atrium 7<br /><em>Of a Certain Age </em><br />What stories feature older characters as the hero? How do these stories hook readers? What can you learn from them when the storyteller does the job well? Panelists: Lois McMaster Bujold, Lyda Morehouse (mod)<br /><br />8:30pm<br />Sheraton Whalon<br /><em>Local Urban Fantasy </em><br />A panel of local authors of urban fantasy, stories set in or around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Panelists: David Lenander, Lyda Morehouse (mod)<br /><br /> <br /><strong>Sunday, July 9</strong><br /> <br />9:30am<br />DoubleTree Atrium 4<br /><em>Ms. Marvel Fan Panel </em><br />Marvel has four different heroes under this same overall title. They're all good, but which is your favorite? Panelists: Kathryn Sullivan, John Seavey, Tim Lieder, Lyda Morehouse (mod)<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=435997" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:424484I Literally Just Sat Down...2017-04-13T18:42:22Z2017-04-13T18:42:22Zpublic4Feels like that, anyway.<br /><br />As class ended last week, one of my students asked me if I "do" CONvergences and I was all flippant and said, "Of course, of course..." and might even have SOMEHOW managed to let slip that I'm a former GoH. He takes all this in stride and says, "Yeah, I'm hoping to actually be on programming for the first time this year," and starts making it sound like he's already getting his schedule. Suddenly, my heart is in my throat and I think, "!" and I think, "!!" and then, "!!!" and then: "OH GOD, DID I EVER EVEN ACTUALLY TELL THE GUEST LIASON THAT I WANTED TO COME THIS YEAR??<br /><br />CONvergence should not have been that far from my mind. My BFF Naomi is going to be one of the literary GoHs and I was asked to write her bio. Mason, my son, has only been having crafternoons with his cosplay buddies for the last several weeks, building their costumes for CON. So, it's not like I could possibly have forgotten that CONvergence was coming, but somehow I FORGOT THAT CONVERGENCE WAS COMING.<br /><br />In an utter panic on Tuesday night at like 10:30pm, I dug up the email asking if I was coming to con. (Thank you, Gmail, for never making me delete anything, ever!) There is was, FROM <strong><em>JANUARY</em></strong>, very politely asking if I could please let them know my attendance for 2017. I hit reply so hard and typed out a desperate, apologetic, OMG PLEASE STILL TAKE ME I AM SO ASHAMED I AM REPLYING 4 MONTHS LATER message. Thank goodness the CONvergence folks are flexible and professional and accommodating even to pathetically forgetful old ladies like me. So I will have a badge! *whew!*<br /><br />That settled, my next freak out was about paneling. The way my student was talking I was half-convinced final schedules were going out and that panels were all already filled. Plus, a couple of my twitter peeps were talking about the annual midnight slash panel in a way that ALSO made it sound like maybe it was already scheduled and my panic level kept rising. I was fairly convinced I had MISSED THE BOAT. COMPLETELY. So, I shot off an email to programming, who were very nice but a little confused at my panic and wrote (paraphrasing here), "Uh, we only just opened it? Here's a link: <a href="http://panels.convergence-con.org">http://panels.convergence-con.org</a>."<br /><br />Deep breath.<br /><br />I am happy to say that I've since filled out my programming form and should be set. I got the little acknowledgment email, so unless the universe conspires against me, I should be in the programming matrix somewhere. That is good enough for me. At least I didn't miss the deadline. I really was convinced I had.<br /><br />So yeah, class. I have to say I have always been tremendously lucky when it comes to my Loft classes. I can really only think of one, very early group, that I would have categorized as 'meh.' That was the class that, when I asked them what their favorite science fiction or fantasy novel was, told me, almost to a person, that they didn't have time to read and/or "weren't big readers." After that group, I started making sure to have at least one part of my lecture series entitled, "So you want to write? THEN YOU'D BETTER F*CKING READ." <br /><br />I also started assigning readings after that class. With the Loft, I can't actually _assign_ anything. I put it on the syllabus and I *strongly* encourage people to read the stories if they have time, but the majority of my students work full-time (and have families, etc.) This year I have one student (besides myself) who is faithfully reading the stories. We're going through some of the Nebula nominees right now, so we've read, <a href="http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welcome-to-the-medical-clinic-at-the-interplanetary-relay-station/">‘‘Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station│Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0’’</a>, Caroline M. Yoachim (<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lightspeed</em> 3/16) and <a href="http://www.firesidefiction.com/issue29/chapter/this-is-not-a-wardrobe-door/">‘‘This Is Not a Wardrobe Door’’</a>, A. Merc Rustad (<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fireside Magazine</em> 1/16). I actually highly recommend LISTENING to the podcast of "Welcome..." It's a kind of a chose-your-own adventure and the narrator pauses in a way that, I think, makes it a little easier to parse? I'm not sure, but, the point is, I really enjoyed it as an audio story. The structure of it makes me think it'd be harder to read, I guess. (Though, admittedly, I did not try.)<br /><br />it's interesting that one of my students (one who had to dropout, actually,) was talking about how difficult it is to sell portal fantasy. I think that's still true for novels, perhaps, but there are two stories on the Nebula ballot that are portal fantasy related, Rustad's and Seanan McGuire's "Every Heart a Doorway" (novella). I see that I can listen to McGuire's... hmmm, I might have to consider that option. Naomi was telling me about the plot of that one and it sounds like... well, it sounds like parts were problematic, but that it's still a good read.<br /><br />At any rate, the point is my class is great. I love teaching the advance class though I have not quite hit my stride with lectures. Usually, by this point (this was the third class) I've had a talk where I thought, "yes, that was good information. I have given them INSTRUCTION!" That has not happened yet for this class. I think, in some ways, it's because they're all active writers and therefor, my peers. I feel less beholden to pass on INSTRUCTION! to my peers, you know? And I think that sense creeps in when I start to stand in front of them. Last time, in fact, I was supposed to talk about character building but instead ended up asking each of them about their process--where they started, what hit them first. I think this next time I'm just going to have to confess that this class has turned into a round-table. :-)<br /><br />If we weren't doing a lot of critique, I think my evaluations would suck this time around. But, luckily, the majority of class is critique and that's like high-intensity learning that covers All The Topics.<br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=424484" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:399863CONvergence Schedule2016-07-01T22:56:34Z2016-07-01T22:57:06Zpublic0I totally forgot to post this anywhere. But if you're at CONvergence this weekend, here's where you can find me:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">SATURDAY, JULY 2</span><br /><br /><strong>11 am</strong> - DoubleTree Atrium 2 - "<strong>Remembering the Phantom Tollbooth</strong>": Norton Juster's "The Phantom Tollbooth" is full of word play you may not have caught when you read it as a child. Let's discuss the book through an adult's eyes. Panelists: Lis Morton, David Schwartz, Joel Arnold, Paul Weimer, Lyda Morehouse (mod).<br /><br /><strong>2 pm </strong>- DoubleTree Atrium 2 -<strong> "Non-Network Original Content" </strong>: Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are all releasing original content, some of it taking us in interesting directions in sci-fi and fantasy. Will online original content soon make networks obsolete? Panelists: Alex Musial, Matt Gamble, Lyda Morehouse, Grace Ulak.<br /><br /><strong>8:30 pm</strong> - DoubleTree Bloomington - "<strong>Jessica Jones</strong>" : The Netflix original series presents arguably the most complex, nuanced Marvel character to date in the antihero Jessica Jones. Join us to discuss season 1 of Jessica Jones and what we expect and hope for from season 2. Panelists: Keane Amdahl (mod), David Schwartz, Olivia James, Grace Ulak, Lyda Morehouse.<br /><br /><br /><strong>11:30 pm</strong> - DoubleTree Atrium 6 - "<strong>Animation Blue</strong>" : The air might turn blue as you listen to these miscreants talk smut about some of our favorite animated characters. Panelists: Greg Weisman, Khary Payton, Christopher Jones, Lyda Morehouse, Jenna Powers.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">SUNDAY, JULY 3</span><br /><br /><strong>11 am </strong>- DoubleTree Atrium 2 - <strong>"Filled with Determination"</strong> : Want to squeal/sob about your favorite Undertale characters, plotlines, and secrets? Want to talk about how queerness and nonbinary gender is represented in the game? Have cool theories to share? Bring all your determination to this panel! Panelists: Allyson Cygan, Lyda Morehouse, Jason Thibeault (mod), Luxander Pond, Anna Besmann.<br /><br /><strong>2 pm</strong> - Crowne Plaza U - <strong>"Starblazers"</strong> : Space Battleship Yamato/Argo is one of the iconic vehicles of science fiction anime. We will be looking at the classic series, the dub, the movies, and the remakes. We might even have a singalong of the American theme song! <br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=399863" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2014-08-20:2305705:384567CONvergence is Nigh....2015-06-29T13:29:47Z2015-06-29T13:29:47Zpublic0<a href="http://schedule.convergence-con.org/">CONvergence</a> is this weekend. In fact, my con will probably start Wednesday night. I don't have a TON of panels this year, but enough to keep me coming back pretty much every day of this four day con:<br /><br />Thursday: <br /><br />5 PM - "Avengers: Age of Ultron"<br />7 PM - "Guardians of the Galaxy"<br /><br />Friday:<br /><br />8:30 PM - "Slash Panel"<br /><br />Sunday:<br /><br />11 AM - "The Best Recent YA Fantasy and Science Fiction Novels"<br /><br /><br />None of these are exactly meaty, but I get to talk TWO Marvel films, so I'm not complaining at all. I'm not quite sure why I got tapped to talk about YA novels. I've reviewed a few, but not that many. On the other hand, it's easy enough for me to make a list of this year's YA novels that are up for awards to bring to con.<br /><br />I bought Mason a membership this year, slightly ahead of time. I'm going to bring him with me on Thursday and we'll probably spend the day there exploring and whatnot. I purposely didn't schedule myself on Saturday, because it's the 4th of July, and Mason really loves going to see the fireworks. In the past, my CONvergence schedule has made it tough for us to go.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=lydamorehouse&ditemid=384567" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments