Conventional Wisdom

I did not post on Monday because I was in Massachusetts, at Readercon, which was just splendid.  What is a Readercon, some might ask?  It's an annual convention of readers and writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy; unlike many such, Readercon doesn't contain programming about anything but books, which makes it a very fun place for the reader.  Generally, an SF/F convention is not just a collection of loony people in Spock ears (despite local media's occasional "Oh, Look, the Crazy People...