Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 37
March 11, 2014
The Biggest Anticipation of... not a lot
You'd think we were having another baby the way Shawn has been scurrying around the house getting ready for the delivery of the washing machine. First, we intentionally delayed delivery so that the weather could be warmer. Shawn was very worried about (and, I think actually quite reasonably,) the condition of our icy stairs and our almost impassable boulevard sidewalk. So, during these last few warming days, I've been out digging and chipping like a champion. I got the sidewalk clear after several days of this.
Shawn, meanwhile, had measured doors, removed railings, taken off storm doors, cleaned pathways, and... like I said, at this point you'd think we were preparing for something much more exciting than a washing machine.
I spent the day waiting on delivery.
And...
They were in and out in about twenty minutes, if that.
The new one is installed and the old one has been hauled off to the great recycling heap in the Sky. And... I sat here watching them just go zip, zah, and done!
Of course, who knows what it would have been like if Shawn HADN'T gone to all that trouble. It does all seem somewhat anticlimactic, however. I mean, it's not like I HOPED that one of the delivery guys would trip over the all the toy mice that cats seemed determined to lay in their path (which I did go through and systematically pick up once the delivery guys said they were on their way,) but you know, a little cursing about the stairs might have been nice. Instead, I get, "Thank you, ma'am, that was our easiest delivery all day."
Well, sir, you can thank Shawn and her hyper-concern.
Poor Shawn though, speaking of her. I got a call just as I was headed to pick up Mason at school. Shawn was running out to what the Minnesota Historical Society folks all call "1500" (pronounced Fifteen Hundred) to deal with a water leak. 1500 is part of the address of the off-site storage building that the Minnesota Historical Society uses to house their overflow collection which includes both objects and PAPER... well, there was a different kind of over flow today. And paper and water? = Not Good. For that matter, super-old fragile stuff + water = also Not Good.
Of course, today is also the day that Ramsey Library called with an emergency "can you sub TONIGHT OMG???" request. I told them I'd try to get a hold of Shawn and could MAYBE promise to be there by 5:30 pm, but luckily, they were able to find someone else on super-short notice. I feel badly, because I could use the hours, but I'm just as relieved, since Shawn called back and said, "Yeah, no... we just found ANOTHER leak." When she hung up she muttered something about "midnight."
So... I guess we're saving dinner for her.
At least she's not on her own. Some of her colleagues are out there helping, of course.
I feel kind of guilty because maybe I sent all this anticipation for some BIG THING her way? Ah well, Mason and I have big plans to eat the corned beef I made (what? It's on sale for some reason!) in the crockpot while indulgently watching Anime at the table. We'd even stopped at Kowalski's for fresh sweet corn and potatoes.
Heh, nice night for us, at least.
(Meanwhile, all around us Rome burns.)
Shawn, meanwhile, had measured doors, removed railings, taken off storm doors, cleaned pathways, and... like I said, at this point you'd think we were preparing for something much more exciting than a washing machine.
I spent the day waiting on delivery.
And...
They were in and out in about twenty minutes, if that.
The new one is installed and the old one has been hauled off to the great recycling heap in the Sky. And... I sat here watching them just go zip, zah, and done!
Of course, who knows what it would have been like if Shawn HADN'T gone to all that trouble. It does all seem somewhat anticlimactic, however. I mean, it's not like I HOPED that one of the delivery guys would trip over the all the toy mice that cats seemed determined to lay in their path (which I did go through and systematically pick up once the delivery guys said they were on their way,) but you know, a little cursing about the stairs might have been nice. Instead, I get, "Thank you, ma'am, that was our easiest delivery all day."
Well, sir, you can thank Shawn and her hyper-concern.
Poor Shawn though, speaking of her. I got a call just as I was headed to pick up Mason at school. Shawn was running out to what the Minnesota Historical Society folks all call "1500" (pronounced Fifteen Hundred) to deal with a water leak. 1500 is part of the address of the off-site storage building that the Minnesota Historical Society uses to house their overflow collection which includes both objects and PAPER... well, there was a different kind of over flow today. And paper and water? = Not Good. For that matter, super-old fragile stuff + water = also Not Good.
Of course, today is also the day that Ramsey Library called with an emergency "can you sub TONIGHT OMG???" request. I told them I'd try to get a hold of Shawn and could MAYBE promise to be there by 5:30 pm, but luckily, they were able to find someone else on super-short notice. I feel badly, because I could use the hours, but I'm just as relieved, since Shawn called back and said, "Yeah, no... we just found ANOTHER leak." When she hung up she muttered something about "midnight."
So... I guess we're saving dinner for her.
At least she's not on her own. Some of her colleagues are out there helping, of course.
I feel kind of guilty because maybe I sent all this anticipation for some BIG THING her way? Ah well, Mason and I have big plans to eat the corned beef I made (what? It's on sale for some reason!) in the crockpot while indulgently watching Anime at the table. We'd even stopped at Kowalski's for fresh sweet corn and potatoes.
Heh, nice night for us, at least.
(Meanwhile, all around us Rome burns.)
March 10, 2014
Final MarsCON Thoughts
My Sunday was good, though I got really exhausted by the end of it. Only later did I realize that my problem was that I was over-caffeinated and under-fed. I’d been trying to go on the cheap, as one does on the last day of the con, and, every time I went to get food, I’d managed to arrive at the con suite only in time to find the one lone carrot and the last scrapings of dip.
So, I was kind of… zombie-like when I finally got home at 5:00 pm. It was only after dinner perked me up that I realized, “Oh, d’uh. Food. That would have helped.”
A rookie mistake from a long-time con goer like me—for shame!
I had two panels on Sunday, “Timing and Pacing” (which could have been boring, but was actually, thanks to the amazing chemistry between the panelists, my best panel all con), and “Dull, Realistic Characters” (which, unfortunately, lived up to its name.)
The concept behind “Dull, Realistic Characters” could have been an interesting one. The idea proposed boiled down to: in reality, in a crisis, the best people to have on your team are the cool-headed, pragmatic ones. How do you write someone like that in a way that they don’t come off as dull and uninteresting?
You write them well, is the answer, of course.
I’d wanted to be on the panel to argue the premise. That those characters are dull. Or that you can’t show reality in a riveting way, ala, say, a movie like “Apollo 13,” which while it may have had some inaccuracies, basically portrayed real people in a real crisis acting calmly—and yet was an utterly heart-pounding and mesmerizing film.
We ended up instead, rather boringly, meandering around the subject.
Which is a shame, because there’s something kind of intriguing about this that we never got to—like, why is it that some people can write about what they had for breakfast and you think, “Wow, what a fascinating insight into their lives!” and other people do the same thing, only in a different way, somehow, and you think, “OH FOR GOD SAKE GET OFF MY FEED, YOU DULLARD!” and start hunting around for the “hide” button.
Because it’s true. I was once in a writers’ group with Terry Garey who wrote this whole scene about canning tomatoes. It should have been dull, dull, DULL, but it wasn’t. It was amazing. I don’t know if it was because I learned some esoteric bit of canning lore from it, or if there was a pivotal character moment that was subtly woven into the narrative, or if was just a kind of ‘cult of personality’ that can happen when someone just has a really good writing voice.
On the other side, I’ve read fight scenes where people are spewing buckets of blood and I think… f*ck, when is this OVER? Because it was just THAT dull.
To me, that’s a more interesting question. How does that work? What are the mechanics of voice? Does adding arcane knowledge (expertise about a certain subject) make dull stuff interesting, too? What are the other ways you can make narrative sparkle?
That could have been a panel worth being on. Alas, that was not the panel I was on.
Ah well. Speaking of questions unanswered, sometimes panelists click and sometimes they don’t. This was one of those where I felt like any energy I injected into the conversation got sucked into the great void. It happens sometimes. It happens sometimes with really fascinating panelists.
But otherwise, I had a great time catching up with
jiawen
,
haddayr
, and
naomikritzer
.
Oh, the only other thing I wanted to note… when Mason and I came into MarsCON on Saturday, I looked around the little lounge area by the door for one of our tribe (which is to say the nerdest looking person) to ask for directions to registration. I go up this older gentleman in a top hat and I say, “Excuse me, but do you know where registration is?” Some other guy behind us answers me, and off we go. It was only later, when I was leaving the dealers room and I heard someone yell out, “Last call for autographs from Dr. Demento,” and I turned, curious to see what Dr. Demento looked like, did I realize… yep, I’d asked Dr. Demento for directions to registration.
You gotta love cons.
Oh, and here's a picture goinked from Baron Dave Romm's Facebook page (photo credit to him!) of me on the "Getting into the Mind of a Fanatic" panel on Saturday:
Could be subtitled: "Author at Work." (I look very engaged, don't I?) My folks know... I get kind of a buzz from "smart talk" which is why I enjoy cons and panels so much.
Oh, the only other fun take away from MarsCON was a line from one of the Guest of Honor this year, Esther Friesner, on a panel about fostering imagination, in which she said, "I have a special relationship with 'What If?'" which struck me as both insightful and kind of funny--because, of course, my mind started writing the slash with "What If?"
Because I'm a dork.
Oh, and speaking of that, I spread word of the cult of "Moon-Moon" all weekend, as well as tried to convince everyone I met that they really needed to watch "Free!" aka the gay swimming anime.
Oops, one last thing! My fellow Wyrdsmith, Adam Stemple, is interviewed on our blog today. Go check it out! http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/03/q-adam-stemple.html
So, I was kind of… zombie-like when I finally got home at 5:00 pm. It was only after dinner perked me up that I realized, “Oh, d’uh. Food. That would have helped.”
A rookie mistake from a long-time con goer like me—for shame!
I had two panels on Sunday, “Timing and Pacing” (which could have been boring, but was actually, thanks to the amazing chemistry between the panelists, my best panel all con), and “Dull, Realistic Characters” (which, unfortunately, lived up to its name.)
The concept behind “Dull, Realistic Characters” could have been an interesting one. The idea proposed boiled down to: in reality, in a crisis, the best people to have on your team are the cool-headed, pragmatic ones. How do you write someone like that in a way that they don’t come off as dull and uninteresting?
You write them well, is the answer, of course.
I’d wanted to be on the panel to argue the premise. That those characters are dull. Or that you can’t show reality in a riveting way, ala, say, a movie like “Apollo 13,” which while it may have had some inaccuracies, basically portrayed real people in a real crisis acting calmly—and yet was an utterly heart-pounding and mesmerizing film.
We ended up instead, rather boringly, meandering around the subject.
Which is a shame, because there’s something kind of intriguing about this that we never got to—like, why is it that some people can write about what they had for breakfast and you think, “Wow, what a fascinating insight into their lives!” and other people do the same thing, only in a different way, somehow, and you think, “OH FOR GOD SAKE GET OFF MY FEED, YOU DULLARD!” and start hunting around for the “hide” button.
Because it’s true. I was once in a writers’ group with Terry Garey who wrote this whole scene about canning tomatoes. It should have been dull, dull, DULL, but it wasn’t. It was amazing. I don’t know if it was because I learned some esoteric bit of canning lore from it, or if there was a pivotal character moment that was subtly woven into the narrative, or if was just a kind of ‘cult of personality’ that can happen when someone just has a really good writing voice.
On the other side, I’ve read fight scenes where people are spewing buckets of blood and I think… f*ck, when is this OVER? Because it was just THAT dull.
To me, that’s a more interesting question. How does that work? What are the mechanics of voice? Does adding arcane knowledge (expertise about a certain subject) make dull stuff interesting, too? What are the other ways you can make narrative sparkle?
That could have been a panel worth being on. Alas, that was not the panel I was on.
Ah well. Speaking of questions unanswered, sometimes panelists click and sometimes they don’t. This was one of those where I felt like any energy I injected into the conversation got sucked into the great void. It happens sometimes. It happens sometimes with really fascinating panelists.
But otherwise, I had a great time catching up with
jiawen
,
haddayr
, and
naomikritzer
.Oh, the only other thing I wanted to note… when Mason and I came into MarsCON on Saturday, I looked around the little lounge area by the door for one of our tribe (which is to say the nerdest looking person) to ask for directions to registration. I go up this older gentleman in a top hat and I say, “Excuse me, but do you know where registration is?” Some other guy behind us answers me, and off we go. It was only later, when I was leaving the dealers room and I heard someone yell out, “Last call for autographs from Dr. Demento,” and I turned, curious to see what Dr. Demento looked like, did I realize… yep, I’d asked Dr. Demento for directions to registration.
You gotta love cons.
Oh, and here's a picture goinked from Baron Dave Romm's Facebook page (photo credit to him!) of me on the "Getting into the Mind of a Fanatic" panel on Saturday:
Could be subtitled: "Author at Work." (I look very engaged, don't I?) My folks know... I get kind of a buzz from "smart talk" which is why I enjoy cons and panels so much.
Oh, the only other fun take away from MarsCON was a line from one of the Guest of Honor this year, Esther Friesner, on a panel about fostering imagination, in which she said, "I have a special relationship with 'What If?'" which struck me as both insightful and kind of funny--because, of course, my mind started writing the slash with "What If?"
Because I'm a dork.
Oh, and speaking of that, I spread word of the cult of "Moon-Moon" all weekend, as well as tried to convince everyone I met that they really needed to watch "Free!" aka the gay swimming anime.
Oops, one last thing! My fellow Wyrdsmith, Adam Stemple, is interviewed on our blog today. Go check it out! http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/03/q-adam-stemple.html
March 9, 2014
Late Breaking News...
Little Red Reviewer gave my short story "God Box," which appears in KING DAVID AND THE SPIDERS OF MARS, a really awesome review. The full review is here: http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/king-david-and-the-spiders-from-mars/ but the take away? The very best compliment anyone has ever given me about my writing, "Shit just got real."
To which I say? Shit just got awesome .
The reviewer also said that it felt like the main character had walked out of a novel or a space opera series and showed us a slice of her life. That's high praise, indeed. Especially since for me, as a reader, that's the feeling I like to get when I'm reading a short story, too.
So yay!
In other news, I forgot to mention in my previous con report--I'll have more tomorrow, but I'm exhausted and still processing--that one of the cutest moments of the con came after the Anime party, when Mason and I went looking for food in the con suite and we ended sitting next to two women who were probably twice Mason's age (which is to say about 20.) They had been at the Anime party and had announced that they were going to be hosting a panel at Detour called, "Name that Anime Tune." So, Mason sang them a good portion of the Toriko opening them (in Japanese, mind), they countered with my least favorite Bleach opener, then the three of us sang the second Bleach opener... all this goofy singing would be cool enough, but then the three of them sang the Free! ending them COMPLETE WITH DANCE MOVES.
It was pretty darling.
Mason has found his people.
To which I say? Shit just got awesome .
The reviewer also said that it felt like the main character had walked out of a novel or a space opera series and showed us a slice of her life. That's high praise, indeed. Especially since for me, as a reader, that's the feeling I like to get when I'm reading a short story, too.
So yay!
In other news, I forgot to mention in my previous con report--I'll have more tomorrow, but I'm exhausted and still processing--that one of the cutest moments of the con came after the Anime party, when Mason and I went looking for food in the con suite and we ended sitting next to two women who were probably twice Mason's age (which is to say about 20.) They had been at the Anime party and had announced that they were going to be hosting a panel at Detour called, "Name that Anime Tune." So, Mason sang them a good portion of the Toriko opening them (in Japanese, mind), they countered with my least favorite Bleach opener, then the three of us sang the second Bleach opener... all this goofy singing would be cool enough, but then the three of them sang the Free! ending them COMPLETE WITH DANCE MOVES.
It was pretty darling.
Mason has found his people.
MarsCON Report - Saturday
Saturday morning Mason has swimming lessons, so, rather than negotiate the back and forth, he came with me to MarsCON. I stopped by registration for my badge and bought Mason a day pass.
This was Mason's first ever con. I thought for sure he'd hook up with his friend Molly and that'd be the last I'd see of him, but he ended up sitting in the back of the panel room, which was Kruschenko's, so there were comfy chairs in a kind of antechamber. So Mason didn't even have to listen to us drone on about "Getting into the Mind of a Fanatic." Actually, the panel was pretty good, though there were a lot of panelists and we veered into the NAZI analogy, despite
naomikritzer
's valiant attempts to keep everyone on track.
The rest of the con was me showing Mason what a con is like. Mason, being Mason, adored the demonstrations. We watched a Korean sword martial art and we learned the difference between a Korean sword and a Japanese katana. But, Mason and I were pretty excited to talk to the Sa Ba Nim of that dojon because, apparently, you get to learn sword at any belt. We tried to win a sword, but, alas, we didn't get the prize. I did, however, get to cut paper with a bokken. That rocked.
Mason and I tried to go into the game room, but the rules of said game room kind of baffle me. Like, it's not clear how one starts a game. I presume that one can just sit at a table and open a game and people will join you, but every time we went in there were no open tables. It was also unclear how one jumps in to a pre-running game, or even if one can.
So, we took some jelly beans and left.
Mason really loved the prop room, and if the picture ever makes its way through the aether fem my ridiculously un-smart phone I'll be posting a shot I took of Mason standing next to a very, very realistic looking Dalek. Mason also really loved all of Umbridge's proclamations/rules from Harry Potter... and all of the Harry Potter props, actually.
Then when we came out of there the SCA people were doing a demo of their battles and Mason tried to watch that, but the SCA people were very... postalizing and kept wanting to TELL us things about their organization, armor, etc. Mason just wanted to see the bashing of heads.
After that we just kind of killed time waiting for the Anime room party to start. When it did, they'd started watching Wolf Children, which I adored. Mason and I sat on the floor and ate girl scout cookies and commented along with everyone else. This might be the moment that Mason realized that the world is filled with nerdy otaku JUST LIKE HIMSELF, because he was beaming through the film, his ears all perked up, like he finally felt, as the heroine of Wolf Children says, "like he found his pack."
Oh, and my furry friends? YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS. It will make you cry. It made Mason and I cry, but damn it, I think it would be even more powerful for anyone in the furry fandom. The basic message is not only 'you need to accept who you are," but also, "let your children be what they are." And, bam! Right in the FEELS, if you know what I mean.
Also, I have to confess that they had an Anime quiz and Mason and I got THE ONE BLEACH QUESTION...
...WRONG.
Mason says he knew the answer but didn't want to speak up. Meanwhile, I wrote down the year that the Bleach Anime came out wrong. I remembered it had a "4" in it, but didn't realize it was 2004 (I might have put down 1994).
THEY HAD ONE BLEACH QUESTION AND I BLEW IT.
I may have to leave the fandom in shame....
So, today I'm off to go back to the con by myself. I think I'm going to miss having Mason there. He's a good companion for these things. He and I have already agreed that he'll come along for at least one day for the rest of these.... and I couldn't be more proud. Leap, my little wolf child! Leap!
This was Mason's first ever con. I thought for sure he'd hook up with his friend Molly and that'd be the last I'd see of him, but he ended up sitting in the back of the panel room, which was Kruschenko's, so there were comfy chairs in a kind of antechamber. So Mason didn't even have to listen to us drone on about "Getting into the Mind of a Fanatic." Actually, the panel was pretty good, though there were a lot of panelists and we veered into the NAZI analogy, despite
naomikritzer
's valiant attempts to keep everyone on track.The rest of the con was me showing Mason what a con is like. Mason, being Mason, adored the demonstrations. We watched a Korean sword martial art and we learned the difference between a Korean sword and a Japanese katana. But, Mason and I were pretty excited to talk to the Sa Ba Nim of that dojon because, apparently, you get to learn sword at any belt. We tried to win a sword, but, alas, we didn't get the prize. I did, however, get to cut paper with a bokken. That rocked.
Mason and I tried to go into the game room, but the rules of said game room kind of baffle me. Like, it's not clear how one starts a game. I presume that one can just sit at a table and open a game and people will join you, but every time we went in there were no open tables. It was also unclear how one jumps in to a pre-running game, or even if one can.
So, we took some jelly beans and left.
Mason really loved the prop room, and if the picture ever makes its way through the aether fem my ridiculously un-smart phone I'll be posting a shot I took of Mason standing next to a very, very realistic looking Dalek. Mason also really loved all of Umbridge's proclamations/rules from Harry Potter... and all of the Harry Potter props, actually.
Then when we came out of there the SCA people were doing a demo of their battles and Mason tried to watch that, but the SCA people were very... postalizing and kept wanting to TELL us things about their organization, armor, etc. Mason just wanted to see the bashing of heads.
After that we just kind of killed time waiting for the Anime room party to start. When it did, they'd started watching Wolf Children, which I adored. Mason and I sat on the floor and ate girl scout cookies and commented along with everyone else. This might be the moment that Mason realized that the world is filled with nerdy otaku JUST LIKE HIMSELF, because he was beaming through the film, his ears all perked up, like he finally felt, as the heroine of Wolf Children says, "like he found his pack."
Oh, and my furry friends? YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS. It will make you cry. It made Mason and I cry, but damn it, I think it would be even more powerful for anyone in the furry fandom. The basic message is not only 'you need to accept who you are," but also, "let your children be what they are." And, bam! Right in the FEELS, if you know what I mean.
Also, I have to confess that they had an Anime quiz and Mason and I got THE ONE BLEACH QUESTION...
...WRONG.
Mason says he knew the answer but didn't want to speak up. Meanwhile, I wrote down the year that the Bleach Anime came out wrong. I remembered it had a "4" in it, but didn't realize it was 2004 (I might have put down 1994).
THEY HAD ONE BLEACH QUESTION AND I BLEW IT.
I may have to leave the fandom in shame....
So, today I'm off to go back to the con by myself. I think I'm going to miss having Mason there. He's a good companion for these things. He and I have already agreed that he'll come along for at least one day for the rest of these.... and I couldn't be more proud. Leap, my little wolf child! Leap!
March 6, 2014
LEGO chicken
Because everyone needs a regal-looking LEGO (space?) chicken or two:
I was inspired to build this fine-looking bird after looking through LEGO PLAY BOOK: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life's "barnyard animals" section. The book was a gift to us from Kelly McCullough of Wyrdsmiths, who has also, in the past, donated some of his LEGOs to Mason's gigantic collection. So, thanks, Kelly! This chicken is for you.
I was inspired to build this fine-looking bird after looking through LEGO PLAY BOOK: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life's "barnyard animals" section. The book was a gift to us from Kelly McCullough of Wyrdsmiths, who has also, in the past, donated some of his LEGOs to Mason's gigantic collection. So, thanks, Kelly! This chicken is for you.
Last Night, at the Library
Now that I'm no longer in training, my hours at the library have been drastically cut. I'm working probably a totally of four times this entire month (though I was told by my colleagues at Roseville that that's actually pretty good when you're first starting out). At any rate, I was at Maplewood last night. I happened to decide to shelve things in the teen area, mostly for selfish reasons, mostly being that I wanted to see what kind of manga Maplewood had.
I'd finished shelving the manga and was starting on the YA novels when I overheard these two teen boys talking. "Oh, you really need to follow him." I glanced over my shoulder to see them admiring a Tumblr blogger who apparently does a lot of Power Ranger cosplay.
Suddenly, it hit me. Tumblr is full of teenagers.
I guess I knew that, but listening to this desperately nerdy kid talk to his friend… uh, I dunno. It made me feel old.
Speaking of feeling old, Mason came home the other day to grumpily inform us that there was a school-wide (Science side) assembly put on by Radio Disney featuring a presentation on….
…corn.
Yep. He said he missed library in order to watch a woman dressed at Maizey discuss corn. Here, in case you're curious is, Maizey's Facbook Page: https://www.facebook.com/maizey.mn
From there, I lifted this shot, because, really, you have to see Maizey to believe her:
Doesn't she just kind of give you nightmares? I think possibly more disturbing are the temporary tattoos and stickers of her that I keep finding around the house, because in those pictures the person under the costume is clearly WEARING HIGH HEELS.
Because, you know… corn is… fancy? Well heeled? Deeply creepy? I'm really not sure.
When Mason came home and said he learned about "corn" I had a flashback to when he was in first grade and had been moved, for the first time, into an advanced reading group. He was reading a packet about "jeans" but I misheard "genes" and though, "Oh, cool, the science magnet is living up to their name, getting him going on all the cool genetic stuff right away!" But, then he had to shake his head and say, "No, Ima, not 'genes' 'jeans,' as in denim."
I was like, "Oh."
And Shawn heard that they'd had a Radio Disney assembly about 'porn.' We were shouting, "NO! CORN!"
Although… the high heels.
*shivers*
Okay, let's talk about one more thing so we can all banish that horrible thought from our minds…. hmmm, let's see. Susan, the loach, is still alive. I'm going to call the tank reconditioning a success. Now I just have to find time to get some more tap water conditioner (I ran out after the last tank water change) and we're good. I think maybe weekend after this one (since this weekend is MarsCON), I'll get her a companion of some sort.
Also, today I get to make another trip to the laundromat. Whee! Although I'm secretly looking forward to losing a few quarters to the pinball machine.
I'd finished shelving the manga and was starting on the YA novels when I overheard these two teen boys talking. "Oh, you really need to follow him." I glanced over my shoulder to see them admiring a Tumblr blogger who apparently does a lot of Power Ranger cosplay.
Suddenly, it hit me. Tumblr is full of teenagers.
I guess I knew that, but listening to this desperately nerdy kid talk to his friend… uh, I dunno. It made me feel old.
Speaking of feeling old, Mason came home the other day to grumpily inform us that there was a school-wide (Science side) assembly put on by Radio Disney featuring a presentation on….
…corn.
Yep. He said he missed library in order to watch a woman dressed at Maizey discuss corn. Here, in case you're curious is, Maizey's Facbook Page: https://www.facebook.com/maizey.mn
From there, I lifted this shot, because, really, you have to see Maizey to believe her:
Doesn't she just kind of give you nightmares? I think possibly more disturbing are the temporary tattoos and stickers of her that I keep finding around the house, because in those pictures the person under the costume is clearly WEARING HIGH HEELS.
Because, you know… corn is… fancy? Well heeled? Deeply creepy? I'm really not sure.
When Mason came home and said he learned about "corn" I had a flashback to when he was in first grade and had been moved, for the first time, into an advanced reading group. He was reading a packet about "jeans" but I misheard "genes" and though, "Oh, cool, the science magnet is living up to their name, getting him going on all the cool genetic stuff right away!" But, then he had to shake his head and say, "No, Ima, not 'genes' 'jeans,' as in denim."
I was like, "Oh."
And Shawn heard that they'd had a Radio Disney assembly about 'porn.' We were shouting, "NO! CORN!"
Although… the high heels.
*shivers*
Okay, let's talk about one more thing so we can all banish that horrible thought from our minds…. hmmm, let's see. Susan, the loach, is still alive. I'm going to call the tank reconditioning a success. Now I just have to find time to get some more tap water conditioner (I ran out after the last tank water change) and we're good. I think maybe weekend after this one (since this weekend is MarsCON), I'll get her a companion of some sort.
Also, today I get to make another trip to the laundromat. Whee! Although I'm secretly looking forward to losing a few quarters to the pinball machine.
March 5, 2014
Fan Day
Bleach 571 came out today, I know you're all as excited as I am…. and since I know you don't want to be spoiled, I'll be sure to put my comments about it under the cut.
Despite the morons who seem to need to complain about everything, not EVERY character in Bleach is getting bankai. What Yachiru revealed is very clearly her SHIKAI. I can understand the confusion to some extent, though, because "Three Step Demon Sword" is really pretty badass and is reminiscent of Komamura's bankai (and Renji's new one) in that it has a projected extended reach.
There were a couple of things about this fight that I found very cool. As I predicted a Kenpachi (or someone who thought like Zaraki, in particular) needed to fight Sternritter V (Vector) because part of defeating this guy is not caring whether or not you "forgot" you were fighting, and to be just always fighting, and/or going with gut instinct. Yachiru very clearly has Zaraki's mindset-- especially with her "Spidey Sense" that seems to involve "something cold, something warm, and something HAPPY," because we know how happy fighting makes Zaraki. Plus, I think that her "copy cat" zanpakutō may kind of imply that she's been secretly copying Ken-chan every time she watches him fight. I kind of pity this "V" dude for thinking maybe he could pick on a little girl and a healer.
empty_mirrors
and I were speculating this morning that these creatures who are her students/kids might very well a projection of "imaginary friends." Both of us could all too easily imagine how tiny little Yachiru might need a helping hand while out in the wilds of Zaraki before meeting up with Ken-chan. We also have known for some time that Yachiru has a lot of kidō power, so these creatures could very well be kidō/magical projections. (On a side note, I kind of adore how there's a fluffy one who is probably utterly terrifying. That's so Yachiru. To the core.)
Here they are:
Someone on the #Bleach on Tumblr noted that the Hollow-looking one was very reminiscent of the kidō(?) projection that Ken-chan sometimes gets when he's going into God-mode during a fight. Also, some fans seem to be freaking out… did she call a Hollow? WTF? No, my friends, I think it's time for us all to accept that shinigami and Hollows are two sides of the same coin. How can you look at Hihiou Zabimaru and not see a Hollow's mask in the bony-snake face?
Sure, we can call that thing that shoots out its mouth "Baboon Bone Canon" but let's be real, it's a Cero. Let's all remember back to Ichigo's fight with Byakuya and Byakuya's very nonchalant acceptance of Ichigo's hollow form. He was very *shrug* 'Very well, you may have your do-over and forget we ever saw that.' My feeling is that what surprised Byakuya was the MASK, which is clearly meant to be a Hollow thing, not the idea that someone might have Hollow-like powers.
But regardless, I think this chapter was fairly awesome. Even a lot of the haters had to say they enjoyed it. Folks have been ragging on Bleach for being dumb lately, and I can see their point to some extent. I think, for a while there, Kubo-sensei had lost his joy de vivre, or playfulness, and
empty_mirrors
and I both noticed the rather amusing "bunny ear" bankai look from a distance with Rukia's big reveal last chapter, and it seems like he's getting some of that back now. Letting little Yachiru strut her stuff is pretty awesome too. It'd be really, REALLY nice if next chapter continued the smack down rather than pulled a reversal. I think, in fact, we may be looking at the next Kenpachi, so it'd be awesome for her to have an "easy" win.
But I'm not holding my breath.
If for no other reason that the final curtain and the arrival of THE HERO is still some time away yet. The shinigami can't pull this out on their own, otherwise what's Ichigo for?
In other news, my Solstice present from Shawn finally arrived. Here's me in it:
So what am I wearing? That's a Scouting Legion hoodie from Shingeki no Kyojin aka "Attack on Titan." These are the characters who go out beyond the walled city and fight the "baddies" (jury is out, given how sympathetic many of the shifters seem to be.) If you're not reading this manga or watching this anime already, I'm not sure I can entirely recommend it to you because… at first I was fairly traumatized by the action (though Tumblr fandom had warned me)… it's… uh, there are… well, let's just say the Titans eat people, like graphically.
However, it is the hot new thing all kids are into. And they're into it for a good reason. The story is strong and the characters are deeply compelling. I find it interesting because it's not like the usual shougen manga because the hero fights with a team and teamwork is critical to winning battles. Also, war sucks in a really UN-glorified way. People die. People whose names you've learned, whose stories you know, who you've come to love and sympathize with, die. And they don't just die HEROICALLY. Sometimes, like in real war, their deaths are stupid and meaningless and awful. In fact, one of my favorite characters, Jean is motivated to join the Scouting Legion because his friend (lover?) dies in a back alley and… they're honestly not sure it's him, he's been so disfigured. No one saw him die. And Jean becomes determined to go out in blaze of glory, because f*ck that. I also love Jean because he's a coward and admits he's scared out of his mind every time they go into battle. There's also a couple of shifter characters who bend my mind they're so awesome.
Also, if you're generally interested in non-binary gender representations in media, it's happening in SnK. Here's a Tumblr post about this character. http://teacupsandcyanide.tumblr.com/post/60922728975/on-misgendering-hanji-zoe
In Real Life™ news, I got put on another panel at MarCON this weekend. So, now in addition to the other Sunday (3pm?) panel, I'm also doing: Timing and Pacing, 11:00 a.m. Sunday, Krushenko's
See you there?
Despite the morons who seem to need to complain about everything, not EVERY character in Bleach is getting bankai. What Yachiru revealed is very clearly her SHIKAI. I can understand the confusion to some extent, though, because "Three Step Demon Sword" is really pretty badass and is reminiscent of Komamura's bankai (and Renji's new one) in that it has a projected extended reach.
There were a couple of things about this fight that I found very cool. As I predicted a Kenpachi (or someone who thought like Zaraki, in particular) needed to fight Sternritter V (Vector) because part of defeating this guy is not caring whether or not you "forgot" you were fighting, and to be just always fighting, and/or going with gut instinct. Yachiru very clearly has Zaraki's mindset-- especially with her "Spidey Sense" that seems to involve "something cold, something warm, and something HAPPY," because we know how happy fighting makes Zaraki. Plus, I think that her "copy cat" zanpakutō may kind of imply that she's been secretly copying Ken-chan every time she watches him fight. I kind of pity this "V" dude for thinking maybe he could pick on a little girl and a healer.
empty_mirrors
and I were speculating this morning that these creatures who are her students/kids might very well a projection of "imaginary friends." Both of us could all too easily imagine how tiny little Yachiru might need a helping hand while out in the wilds of Zaraki before meeting up with Ken-chan. We also have known for some time that Yachiru has a lot of kidō power, so these creatures could very well be kidō/magical projections. (On a side note, I kind of adore how there's a fluffy one who is probably utterly terrifying. That's so Yachiru. To the core.)Here they are:
Someone on the #Bleach on Tumblr noted that the Hollow-looking one was very reminiscent of the kidō(?) projection that Ken-chan sometimes gets when he's going into God-mode during a fight. Also, some fans seem to be freaking out… did she call a Hollow? WTF? No, my friends, I think it's time for us all to accept that shinigami and Hollows are two sides of the same coin. How can you look at Hihiou Zabimaru and not see a Hollow's mask in the bony-snake face?
Sure, we can call that thing that shoots out its mouth "Baboon Bone Canon" but let's be real, it's a Cero. Let's all remember back to Ichigo's fight with Byakuya and Byakuya's very nonchalant acceptance of Ichigo's hollow form. He was very *shrug* 'Very well, you may have your do-over and forget we ever saw that.' My feeling is that what surprised Byakuya was the MASK, which is clearly meant to be a Hollow thing, not the idea that someone might have Hollow-like powers.
But regardless, I think this chapter was fairly awesome. Even a lot of the haters had to say they enjoyed it. Folks have been ragging on Bleach for being dumb lately, and I can see their point to some extent. I think, for a while there, Kubo-sensei had lost his joy de vivre, or playfulness, and
empty_mirrors
and I both noticed the rather amusing "bunny ear" bankai look from a distance with Rukia's big reveal last chapter, and it seems like he's getting some of that back now. Letting little Yachiru strut her stuff is pretty awesome too. It'd be really, REALLY nice if next chapter continued the smack down rather than pulled a reversal. I think, in fact, we may be looking at the next Kenpachi, so it'd be awesome for her to have an "easy" win.But I'm not holding my breath.
If for no other reason that the final curtain and the arrival of THE HERO is still some time away yet. The shinigami can't pull this out on their own, otherwise what's Ichigo for?
In other news, my Solstice present from Shawn finally arrived. Here's me in it:
So what am I wearing? That's a Scouting Legion hoodie from Shingeki no Kyojin aka "Attack on Titan." These are the characters who go out beyond the walled city and fight the "baddies" (jury is out, given how sympathetic many of the shifters seem to be.) If you're not reading this manga or watching this anime already, I'm not sure I can entirely recommend it to you because… at first I was fairly traumatized by the action (though Tumblr fandom had warned me)… it's… uh, there are… well, let's just say the Titans eat people, like graphically.
However, it is the hot new thing all kids are into. And they're into it for a good reason. The story is strong and the characters are deeply compelling. I find it interesting because it's not like the usual shougen manga because the hero fights with a team and teamwork is critical to winning battles. Also, war sucks in a really UN-glorified way. People die. People whose names you've learned, whose stories you know, who you've come to love and sympathize with, die. And they don't just die HEROICALLY. Sometimes, like in real war, their deaths are stupid and meaningless and awful. In fact, one of my favorite characters, Jean is motivated to join the Scouting Legion because his friend (lover?) dies in a back alley and… they're honestly not sure it's him, he's been so disfigured. No one saw him die. And Jean becomes determined to go out in blaze of glory, because f*ck that. I also love Jean because he's a coward and admits he's scared out of his mind every time they go into battle. There's also a couple of shifter characters who bend my mind they're so awesome.
Also, if you're generally interested in non-binary gender representations in media, it's happening in SnK. Here's a Tumblr post about this character. http://teacupsandcyanide.tumblr.com/post/60922728975/on-misgendering-hanji-zoe
In Real Life™ news, I got put on another panel at MarCON this weekend. So, now in addition to the other Sunday (3pm?) panel, I'm also doing: Timing and Pacing, 11:00 a.m. Sunday, Krushenko's
See you there?
March 4, 2014
Might Have Missed the Mark
On an impulse, I decided to dye my hair yesterday. My normal hair color is probably best described as "mousey" or "dishwater brown." It's a very non-descript color AT BEST. Up until some time in high school, I actually had fairly blondish hair. It was definitely in the color scheme of blond. But, lately, my hair is just sort of "meh" on its own.
Plus, Anime Detour is coming up and, should it happen that I can go, I've discovered the joys of cosplaying. My hair is currently cut very boyish so, I thought, "Heh, I can finally join the legions of Ichigo Kurosaki cosplayers (I'll probably the ONLY cross player!)"
So, I got the brightest orange dye kit that was still considered "natural" (because work has one of those "natural color" stipulations in its dress code for hair), hoping to come out looking passably like this:
Instead, I turned out looking more like this:
Agreed?
Yeah, I thought so. *sighs* I may have missed the mark a bit. Also, my hair? Not terribly orange. Luckily, for Detour, I have a can of orange hairspray, so I can make it more obvious who I'm trying to be.... Though, you know, I'll pass for Ichigo just about as well as I passed as Renji....
Though the tats were a blast:
Shawn is soooooooo lucky that I'm allergic to metal and piss-ass poor, our I would so have the back and arm tattoos RIGHT NOW. :-)
So, yeah, my next job? Building Zangetsu!
Plus, Anime Detour is coming up and, should it happen that I can go, I've discovered the joys of cosplaying. My hair is currently cut very boyish so, I thought, "Heh, I can finally join the legions of Ichigo Kurosaki cosplayers (I'll probably the ONLY cross player!)"
So, I got the brightest orange dye kit that was still considered "natural" (because work has one of those "natural color" stipulations in its dress code for hair), hoping to come out looking passably like this:
Instead, I turned out looking more like this:
Agreed?
Yeah, I thought so. *sighs* I may have missed the mark a bit. Also, my hair? Not terribly orange. Luckily, for Detour, I have a can of orange hairspray, so I can make it more obvious who I'm trying to be.... Though, you know, I'll pass for Ichigo just about as well as I passed as Renji....
Though the tats were a blast:
Shawn is soooooooo lucky that I'm allergic to metal and piss-ass poor, our I would so have the back and arm tattoos RIGHT NOW. :-)
So, yeah, my next job? Building Zangetsu!
March 3, 2014
A Hard Monday
Uffdah, as they say around here. Mason is back at school after three weeks hiatus, and every SINGLE Crossroads parent seemed to have forgotten how to use the parking lot. I'm lucky I'm not still there (or responsible for some car/child accident!)
This weekend, Mason spent part of his time at KidCON, which is
naomikritzer
's gaming gathering of friends. Mason came back really wanting to play Munchkin with us. We have a basic set, and I've now been tasked to pick up a booster packs, if they have them, at MarsCON. It was, admittedly, a lot of fun and totally got me jonesing for my RPGing days. And Mason is the kind of person--not unlike myself--who actually ENJOYS hearing the tales of campaigns past, so I got to tell him about Fred Fumble, the Moon-Moon of the elf world, who routinely stumbled into his campaign mates and did THEM damage during a fight. Fred's other name could have been Friendly Fire Fred.
It makes me wonder.... am I still one phone call away from a game? If I asked around, could I find a D&D/RPG going down RIGHT NOW to hook up with???
I used to joke that RPGs were my drug of choice, because if you go down the "Are you an Alcoholic/Drug Addict?" AA/NA pamphlet check list, "Do you have a hidden stash?" etc., my answers were often YES, if bent to include words like "of dice" or similar. Do you think about gaming when you're not gaming? OMG YES. Do you schedule your life/change plans with others so you can game? OMG YES. Have you ever skipped work to game? OMG YES. The big one was always, "Could you get your drug of choice with one phone call/within the hour?"
Could I? I used to be able to. I had at least two friends on speed dial that were GMs who I probably could have talked into gathering something RIGHT NOW. Actually, I bet I could... I still know gamers and their husbands/partners.
The other thing we did over the weekend was finally watch "The Wolverine." True confession time: I can't remember every single detail of the Japan Saga. I'm not even sure I ever read the Claremont & Miller original 4(?) issue miniseries in 1982 or if I caught up with Logan and Yukio later when Buscema penciled. I have only the vaguest memories of those issues, and they kind of go like this: Yukio = kick ass; Makoto Mariko = tragic love interest (wife?); Silver Samurai = cool and adamantium. The rest is lost to the annals of time or have been replaced by Bleach trivia.
Even with so little, I still feel like the movie betrayed my SACRED MEMORIES.
I will say, the filming on location, that was beautiful. I wanted to live in all the houses they were in, particularly Mariko's bolthole in Nagasaki. I also wanted her to feed me the nabemono she cooked Wolverine when they were there.
But the rest? How did they make a cool arc so uncool?
I mean, Japan is just cool. I don't know how you mess up Japan. They even go to a love hotel and it's not nearly as funny and awkward and 'WTF, Japan?' as it should be. There is talk of honor, but, I think, ultimately, it's hollow....particularly for the one person it should never be: Wolverine.
Shawn, half way through the film, turned to me and said, "They're making Wolverine nothing more than a brutish thug." Casual fans of Wolverine might say, "And?" Isn't that his character? No, it's really not, nor has it ever been. Shawn is a much, MUCH bigger Wolverine fan than I am, but I can tell you the simple Marvel formula that sums up what Wolverine is about: Wolverine is a beast struggling to be a man.
Wolverine stories, when they're at their best, tap this core issue. I feel like (and I may be misremembering since I, frankly, remember almost nothing,) Claremont's Japan Saga and subsequent Japan arcs deal with this in a unique way--the idea of Wolverine as a ronin, as a masterless samurai. They said those words in "The Wolverine" but they never meant them. The writers of "The Wolverine" seemed to think this meant ronin = wild, lawless thug. When, in fact, ronin should equal a lost soul that desperately craves honor and a code to live by. This is a good analogy for Wolverine's constant struggle to tame his inner demon. Claremont knew that (I think.) Or, if he didn't, subsequent writers who took on the Japan Wolverine really hammered that into my subconscious.
"The Wolverine" screwed this up a number of ways. They did that thing modern superhero movies often get wrong, they focus on the super and not the HERO. At one point Wolverine comes across one of the baddies and LITERALLY thows him over a hotel balcony. We see that he's survived the fall by landing in a pool, but Yukio says, "How did you know that pool was there." Wolverine says, in full-on badass mode, "I didn't."
But, see, right attitude, WRONG MOVE. Of all the Marvel heroes, Wolverine is most-likely-to-thoughtlessly-slaughter, but a good writer makes him suffer those moments because Logan/Wolverine doesn't WANT be only a beast. Similarly, there's a moment when Wolverine sticks his chopsticks upright in the rice bowl and Mariko explains the chopstick taboo to him (which has to do with funerals and being considered bad luck/bad taste), but then he does it again.
I mean, okay, Wolverine is a brute. This is one of the reasons I never entirely cottoned to him as character in the comic books. However, I always felt that Mariko/Japan was one of the things that civilized him in a very sympathetic way. I mean, it's classic, right? The love of a woman tames the wild man. I'm pretty sure that started with Enkidu and is a total trope, but it's a good one... and it works with Wolverine, IMHO, because sometimes the love is slightly more platonic, like his relationship with Kitty Pryde. And with Mariko/Japan there was (at least in my head) this lovely combination of love and HONOR.
The movie didn't seem to even try to go there, which is weird, because it was kind of slow in places. If they were going to skip the character stuff, just SKIP IT, and go right into the ninja pile up, you know?
Ah, well, opportunities lost. Once again, Hollywood neglected to call me. I'm not sure what they're thinking when they don't tap me, honestly.
In other news, if you're curious about the other members of my writers' group, Wyrdsmiths, today on our blog Kelly McCullough is the featured interviewee. Check it out: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/03/kelly-mccullough-writes-fantasy-science.html
This weekend, Mason spent part of his time at KidCON, which is
naomikritzer
's gaming gathering of friends. Mason came back really wanting to play Munchkin with us. We have a basic set, and I've now been tasked to pick up a booster packs, if they have them, at MarsCON. It was, admittedly, a lot of fun and totally got me jonesing for my RPGing days. And Mason is the kind of person--not unlike myself--who actually ENJOYS hearing the tales of campaigns past, so I got to tell him about Fred Fumble, the Moon-Moon of the elf world, who routinely stumbled into his campaign mates and did THEM damage during a fight. Fred's other name could have been Friendly Fire Fred.It makes me wonder.... am I still one phone call away from a game? If I asked around, could I find a D&D/RPG going down RIGHT NOW to hook up with???
I used to joke that RPGs were my drug of choice, because if you go down the "Are you an Alcoholic/Drug Addict?" AA/NA pamphlet check list, "Do you have a hidden stash?" etc., my answers were often YES, if bent to include words like "of dice" or similar. Do you think about gaming when you're not gaming? OMG YES. Do you schedule your life/change plans with others so you can game? OMG YES. Have you ever skipped work to game? OMG YES. The big one was always, "Could you get your drug of choice with one phone call/within the hour?"
Could I? I used to be able to. I had at least two friends on speed dial that were GMs who I probably could have talked into gathering something RIGHT NOW. Actually, I bet I could... I still know gamers and their husbands/partners.
The other thing we did over the weekend was finally watch "The Wolverine." True confession time: I can't remember every single detail of the Japan Saga. I'm not even sure I ever read the Claremont & Miller original 4(?) issue miniseries in 1982 or if I caught up with Logan and Yukio later when Buscema penciled. I have only the vaguest memories of those issues, and they kind of go like this: Yukio = kick ass; Makoto Mariko = tragic love interest (wife?); Silver Samurai = cool and adamantium. The rest is lost to the annals of time or have been replaced by Bleach trivia.
Even with so little, I still feel like the movie betrayed my SACRED MEMORIES.
I will say, the filming on location, that was beautiful. I wanted to live in all the houses they were in, particularly Mariko's bolthole in Nagasaki. I also wanted her to feed me the nabemono she cooked Wolverine when they were there.
But the rest? How did they make a cool arc so uncool?
I mean, Japan is just cool. I don't know how you mess up Japan. They even go to a love hotel and it's not nearly as funny and awkward and 'WTF, Japan?' as it should be. There is talk of honor, but, I think, ultimately, it's hollow....particularly for the one person it should never be: Wolverine.
Shawn, half way through the film, turned to me and said, "They're making Wolverine nothing more than a brutish thug." Casual fans of Wolverine might say, "And?" Isn't that his character? No, it's really not, nor has it ever been. Shawn is a much, MUCH bigger Wolverine fan than I am, but I can tell you the simple Marvel formula that sums up what Wolverine is about: Wolverine is a beast struggling to be a man.
Wolverine stories, when they're at their best, tap this core issue. I feel like (and I may be misremembering since I, frankly, remember almost nothing,) Claremont's Japan Saga and subsequent Japan arcs deal with this in a unique way--the idea of Wolverine as a ronin, as a masterless samurai. They said those words in "The Wolverine" but they never meant them. The writers of "The Wolverine" seemed to think this meant ronin = wild, lawless thug. When, in fact, ronin should equal a lost soul that desperately craves honor and a code to live by. This is a good analogy for Wolverine's constant struggle to tame his inner demon. Claremont knew that (I think.) Or, if he didn't, subsequent writers who took on the Japan Wolverine really hammered that into my subconscious.
"The Wolverine" screwed this up a number of ways. They did that thing modern superhero movies often get wrong, they focus on the super and not the HERO. At one point Wolverine comes across one of the baddies and LITERALLY thows him over a hotel balcony. We see that he's survived the fall by landing in a pool, but Yukio says, "How did you know that pool was there." Wolverine says, in full-on badass mode, "I didn't."
But, see, right attitude, WRONG MOVE. Of all the Marvel heroes, Wolverine is most-likely-to-thoughtlessly-slaughter, but a good writer makes him suffer those moments because Logan/Wolverine doesn't WANT be only a beast. Similarly, there's a moment when Wolverine sticks his chopsticks upright in the rice bowl and Mariko explains the chopstick taboo to him (which has to do with funerals and being considered bad luck/bad taste), but then he does it again.
I mean, okay, Wolverine is a brute. This is one of the reasons I never entirely cottoned to him as character in the comic books. However, I always felt that Mariko/Japan was one of the things that civilized him in a very sympathetic way. I mean, it's classic, right? The love of a woman tames the wild man. I'm pretty sure that started with Enkidu and is a total trope, but it's a good one... and it works with Wolverine, IMHO, because sometimes the love is slightly more platonic, like his relationship with Kitty Pryde. And with Mariko/Japan there was (at least in my head) this lovely combination of love and HONOR.
The movie didn't seem to even try to go there, which is weird, because it was kind of slow in places. If they were going to skip the character stuff, just SKIP IT, and go right into the ninja pile up, you know?
Ah, well, opportunities lost. Once again, Hollywood neglected to call me. I'm not sure what they're thinking when they don't tap me, honestly.
In other news, if you're curious about the other members of my writers' group, Wyrdsmiths, today on our blog Kelly McCullough is the featured interviewee. Check it out: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/2014/03/kelly-mccullough-writes-fantasy-science.html
March 2, 2014
MarsCON Schedule
MarsCon 2014Time Is The Key
March 7-9, 2014
Exec Lounge (Krushenko’s)—Saturday, 11:00 am
Uber villain or bit player, what are they like? Are there any useful generalizations? Are they likely to be suicidal and does that depend on the religion or the person? ow can they make for interesting novels and stories without being stereotyped and one dimensional?
With: Naomi Kritzer, mod.; P M F Johnson, Lyda Morehouse , G. David Nordley, David E. Romm, Ozgur K. Sahin
Dull, Realistic Characters
Atrium 2 (Re(a)d Mars) — Sunday 03:00 pm
The people who really explore space and fight modern wars have a lot of self control. They don’t slam fists into spacecraft controls like Hulk Hogan. Do you have to forget about them in fiction, or can you make them interesting? And if your protagonist is like that do you just have to accept that critics will complain and press on in hopes of finding an audience that appreciates a little verisimilitude?
With: Bridget Landry, G. David Nordley, mod.; Patrick W. Marsh, Lyda Morehouse , Kathryn Sullivan
-----
So, that seems to be the extent of it: 2 panels. One on Saturday at 11 am and the other on Sunday at 3 pm.
March 7-9, 2014
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington-Minneapolis South
7800 Normandale Boulevard
Bloomington, MN 55439
Send questions about MarsCon to info14e@marscon.org, we’ll do our best to send answers!
There’s more about MarsCon on Facebook and Twitter.
-----
Exec Lounge (Krushenko’s)—Saturday, 11:00 am
Uber villain or bit player, what are they like? Are there any useful generalizations? Are they likely to be suicidal and does that depend on the religion or the person? ow can they make for interesting novels and stories without being stereotyped and one dimensional?
With: Naomi Kritzer, mod.; P M F Johnson, Lyda Morehouse , G. David Nordley, David E. Romm, Ozgur K. Sahin
Dull, Realistic Characters
Atrium 2 (Re(a)d Mars) — Sunday 03:00 pm
The people who really explore space and fight modern wars have a lot of self control. They don’t slam fists into spacecraft controls like Hulk Hogan. Do you have to forget about them in fiction, or can you make them interesting? And if your protagonist is like that do you just have to accept that critics will complain and press on in hopes of finding an audience that appreciates a little verisimilitude?
With: Bridget Landry, G. David Nordley, mod.; Patrick W. Marsh, Lyda Morehouse , Kathryn Sullivan
-----
So, that seems to be the extent of it: 2 panels. One on Saturday at 11 am and the other on Sunday at 3 pm.
Lyda Morehouse's Blog
- Lyda Morehouse's profile
- 60 followers
Lyda Morehouse isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
