Boskone
For the third year in a row, we managed to make Boskone gavel-to-gavel. It's nice working for a company with fairly generous PTO. I also managed to get over the cold I had the week before the con just in time for the trip up.
Boskone offered another excellent schedule of literary and science programs. I attended panels on "Building a Vivid World", "The Art of Handwaving Science", "Fun with (or Fear of) Genetics?", and "Tasers and Heat Rays and Rail Guns, Oh My!". The first two I picked in hopes of kicking my brain back into gear on fiction writing. I ended up walking out of the former about 20 minutes in as it just wasn't doing anything for me. The latter was much more interesting and actually did give me ideas for handwaving one of the stories. The second two panels I picked because they featured Joan Slonczewski and Jordin Kare, respectively. (And
the_sheryl also wanted to go to the genetics panel, since that's her field. Both of those were fun.
I was on two filk program items, a panel on The Art of Songwriting withcatalana and happyfunpaul, and again with them plus orawnzva for Song Sequiter. I managed to finish a new song just before the con, so I didn't feel too lame moderating a panel on songwriting. The panel went well, and it looked like we actually had some aspiring/novice songwriters in the audience. Song Sequiter of course is always interesting. I batted 2nd, between Ben and Paul (with Erica batting cleanup). And just like at Concertino two years ago when I was following hsifyppah, I got pulled down some interesting roads. I started out following Ben's "The Priestess of Chocolate" with musicmutt's "Chocolate Is A Vegatable". Next, I answered a Final Fantasy song with "Ancient Song", which I haven't sung in a while and was almost surprised I remembered the tune for. Finally, I followed Ben's "Why I Want to Go" by swiping his "Khazad-Dum" parody of my own "Builder's Song".
Got to hang out a bit with Esther Friesner at the Fangtasia party. Always a fun time. Later got my copies of Sphinx's Princess and Threads and Flames autographed.
Not too many parties on the schedule board, but we did make a circuit of Saturday night's offerings. At the Texas in 2013 Worldcon Bid party, one of the hosts asked me what my two favorite memories of the '97 LoneStarCon were. That was an easy reply: playing the Fannish Individual in "The Pirates of Fenzance" and meetingmysticfig and kaath9 for the first time. (And my classic rock listening has never been the same *wry grin*.)
catalana gave a nice concert Saturday night. I was going to try and keep a body count (or at least a suffering count), but I think she blew up a planet or a city or something like that on the 2nd or 3rd song so I quickly lost track (*grin*). Then on Sunday, Midnight Belles negothick and teenybuffalo delivered a fine set including the always crowd-pleasing "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" and a nice recitation/duet of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells."
Followed through on my promise to get back to Amrhein's so I could fully savor a meal there without the fever, chills, and upset stomach I was battling last year due to some bad delivery Chinese food. I ordered pumpkin-stuffed ravioli and chicken medallions, served in a cream sauce. OM NOM NOM.
In other news, I noticed about mid-morning today that the bruise/strain/muscle pull at the base of my thumb that I inflicted on myself either just before or on the way home from Boskone (I think the latter) and aggravated during Saturday night's 3LF gig, causing me to revert to beginner-level strum patterns for last night's practice, had healed/worked itself out and my hand was no longer sore. Yay.
Boskone offered another excellent schedule of literary and science programs. I attended panels on "Building a Vivid World", "The Art of Handwaving Science", "Fun with (or Fear of) Genetics?", and "Tasers and Heat Rays and Rail Guns, Oh My!". The first two I picked in hopes of kicking my brain back into gear on fiction writing. I ended up walking out of the former about 20 minutes in as it just wasn't doing anything for me. The latter was much more interesting and actually did give me ideas for handwaving one of the stories. The second two panels I picked because they featured Joan Slonczewski and Jordin Kare, respectively. (And
the_sheryl also wanted to go to the genetics panel, since that's her field. Both of those were fun.I was on two filk program items, a panel on The Art of Songwriting with
catalana and happyfunpaul, and again with them plus orawnzva for Song Sequiter. I managed to finish a new song just before the con, so I didn't feel too lame moderating a panel on songwriting. The panel went well, and it looked like we actually had some aspiring/novice songwriters in the audience. Song Sequiter of course is always interesting. I batted 2nd, between Ben and Paul (with Erica batting cleanup). And just like at Concertino two years ago when I was following hsifyppah, I got pulled down some interesting roads. I started out following Ben's "The Priestess of Chocolate" with musicmutt's "Chocolate Is A Vegatable". Next, I answered a Final Fantasy song with "Ancient Song", which I haven't sung in a while and was almost surprised I remembered the tune for. Finally, I followed Ben's "Why I Want to Go" by swiping his "Khazad-Dum" parody of my own "Builder's Song".Got to hang out a bit with Esther Friesner at the Fangtasia party. Always a fun time. Later got my copies of Sphinx's Princess and Threads and Flames autographed.
Not too many parties on the schedule board, but we did make a circuit of Saturday night's offerings. At the Texas in 2013 Worldcon Bid party, one of the hosts asked me what my two favorite memories of the '97 LoneStarCon were. That was an easy reply: playing the Fannish Individual in "The Pirates of Fenzance" and meeting
mysticfig and kaath9 for the first time. (And my classic rock listening has never been the same *wry grin*.)catalana gave a nice concert Saturday night. I was going to try and keep a body count (or at least a suffering count), but I think she blew up a planet or a city or something like that on the 2nd or 3rd song so I quickly lost track (*grin*). Then on Sunday, Midnight Belles negothick and teenybuffalo delivered a fine set including the always crowd-pleasing "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" and a nice recitation/duet of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells."Followed through on my promise to get back to Amrhein's so I could fully savor a meal there without the fever, chills, and upset stomach I was battling last year due to some bad delivery Chinese food. I ordered pumpkin-stuffed ravioli and chicken medallions, served in a cream sauce. OM NOM NOM.
In other news, I noticed about mid-morning today that the bruise/strain/muscle pull at the base of my thumb that I inflicted on myself either just before or on the way home from Boskone (I think the latter) and aggravated during Saturday night's 3LF gig, causing me to revert to beginner-level strum patterns for last night's practice, had healed/worked itself out and my hand was no longer sore. Yay.
