Sandra Tayler's Blog, page 149

Finding Joy on Mother's Day

There has to be a formula for the perfect gift. In this formula the level of delight would be equal to the level of expectations in the recipient, added to extent of advance planning, divided by whether the recipient had any clue that something was being planned. Or something like that. Unfortunately I'm not enough of a math geek to come up with a workable formula. I'll bet the XKCD guy could though.

The point I'm getting at here is that Howard totally managed it this year. I was all set ...

Small declaration of independence

The moment passed by so quickly that I almost did not recognize it for what it was, but my almost-teenage son declared independence today. I was nagging Link about the story he needs to write for school. I called him to the kitchen, prepared to sit down and write as he told the story. Link was feeling grumpy about it, because he wanted to play video games instead. I began to explain my plan, but Link scowled at me and announced.

"Mom, I'm not a baby."

Still focused on getting the work...

Stuff to do in the month of May

Today I will see Iron Man 2. It will be full of shiny explosions and not much to think about. This is good because my brain is ready for something not particularly thinky.

Balticon booth preparation: I need to ship merchandise to Balticon so that Howard has things to sell. At the end of the month I'll have to help Howard pack so that he can go.

Balticon Art Show preparation: They've given Howard eight panels in the art show. This was at first a dismayingly large number. We could...

The odds and ends of Penguicon thoughts

A last few thoughts which sprang from my experiences at Penguicon.

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It was fascinating to me how many of my conversations at Penguicon turned to parenting. At first I was a little concerned. Parenting is huge in my life and a topic about which I feel truly competent to speak at length. I worried that I was somehow unconsciously shifting all conversations in that direction. But then I realized that parenting is huge in many lives. This was confirmed by David Kletcha, who kindly...

Culture Comparisons

A couple of people we met during the course of Penguicon had also visited Salt Lake City. They talked about the "weird vibe" they felt there. Howard laughingly compared it to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and both times the person laughed and said "That's it exactly."

Since those conversations I've been pondering how I feel about being a participant in a culture which feels like Invasion of the Body Snatchers to those outside it. There is a significant homogeneity to LDS/Mormon culture....

My Conversational Habits

In the comments to Howard's recent post about Penguicon, I am called "charmingly quiet." This description amuses me. I don't think of myself as a particularly quiet person. I certainly do not feel shy. Inside my head I am actively participating in the conversation, it is just that most of my thoughts don't get spoken aloud. I tend not to speak up unless I feel like my thoughts are unique or a viewpoint which is otherwise unrepresented. The larger the group, the less likely this is to...

Regulation of Input and Retaining Reserves

Each evening as I returned to my room after a day of conventioning, I looked at my laptop and dreaded opening it. This is unusual. The internet is usually my friend. I like my regular blogs and email. But my brain was so full of new things, that the last thing I wanted to do was add more new things. My caution was wise because I ended the convention over loaded.

I've been back for three days now and I am still carefully regulating my input. I'm back to answering email and blog comments. ...

Anxiety Under Stress

The first day of Penguicon was fantastic. I spent the entire day having fascinating conversations with amazing people. Then I climbed into bed and my brain kept running for an hour, trying to sort everything. Just as I drifted off to sleep I snapped awake with an overload of mommy guilt. It only lasted for a few minutes, but during those minutes I was shaky and almost in tears. It was focused on being away from the kids, but it was really the result of too much input and not enough down ...

Finance for Freelancers

While at Penguicon I moderated a panel called "Finance for Freelancers" with co-panelists Tobias Buckell and Catherine Shaffer. I wasn't intending to moderate, but I was foolish enough to be the first one to ask who would be the moderator. Having everyone introduce themselves and tell why they became freelancers gave me just enough time to scribble a few notes so I could direct the discussion.

I feel like the whole thing went very well, due in large part to the wealth of experience that...

Post-Con Crash Day

Prior to Penguicon I wrote tasks on my to do list for today. This was foolish. Apparently pushing myself to the point of shaky fatigue at the con, followed by hours of plane travel, followed by a short night's sleep, followed by six hours of driving split into two pieces, followed by a poor night's sleep, all of it turns today into a crash day instead of a productive one. I know I'm in a crash day when I'm walking up the stairs and part of my brain tells me that we should just lay down on ...