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deborahjross... was a very nice con, surprisingly small. Baycon, which took place in the same hotel, the Escher Marriott (where if you walk down the corridor, you're on another floor), was larger. The programming was creative, and I was actually able to attend panels I wasn't on. Fr'ex, listening to Tad Williams, Diana Paxson, Michael Swanwick and Teresa Edgerton hold forth on "The Economics of Magic," meaning the "rules and costs." Small means good, because I got a chance to visit with old friends and make some new ones. Shared my room with Elizabeth (Lace) Gilligan and had much fun catching up on gossip, sharing DAWthor stories and generally carrying on. Missed the Masquerade in favor of dinner at The Fish Market with friends Sheila Finch, Kevin Andrew Murphy, old Genie-ites Berry Kercheval and Karen (Branwen) Williams. We had fish mints for dessert, but did not sing the "Fish Heads" song. Did stay late on Monday, my last day, to Regency dance with John Hertz. I'm surprised and delighted to see how popular it is, especially with younger folk. Most of the time, I know what I'm doing and also the delicate art of guiding others in the right direction without being obvious. (Short of crying out, "The other way, Mr. Collins!")
As for my own panels, I found the conversations lively and intelligent. The one I moderated, "The Hero's Journey," included two panelists -- Diana Sherman and Valerie Frankel -- who have academic expertise in what I can only describe as the evolution of Western European fairy tales. That is, you can trace these stories back hundreds of years in a sort of family tree. Cinderella and King Lear have common roots. In addition, Valerie is working on a dissertation on "The Heroine's Journey" and had fascinating observations on how male and female heroes have been treated differently.
"Incarcerating the Sick" was enriched by Marianne Porter's public health/epidemiology expertise and although we did not delve into the ethical issues, as I had hoped, there was many interesting and learned observations about how societies have dealt with communicable diseases over the centuries. (And the recent case of the jet-setting attorney with drug-resistant TB.) Quarantine (the separation of those who might be ill but we don't know yet) and social isolation (the separation of those we know to be ill) are not the same thing.
I'd been particularly looking forward to my last panel, on communicating with alien species without translator/telepathy, with Sheila Finch (of the Xenolinguistics series) and Larry Niven. I wasn't disappointed. Larry pointed out that, given the vastness of space, either we will be much more evolved (than we are now) or those we make contact will be. He delighted us by describing all the ways a writer can cheat in describing the process of first contact. Sheila had many thoughtful observations from her own work. My own contributions came mostly from my experience in training dogs and learning to understand a language that is not verbal but body-language based. This panel had some of the best audience participation of the con. Too often, comments/questions from the audience are not that, but soap-box speeches or self-promotion. I'd gotten a little tired of that by this time, so to hear audience members who had interesting things to contribute and who clearly had been listening to the conversation was delightful. So there was quite a good dynamic flow between panel and audience and a great sense of excitement about the subject.
Drove home late Monday after dancing, fell into bed, spent Tuesday cleaning house and answering email, spent Wednesday hiding from festivities, now starting to emerge into normal routine and get back to writing. More on that later.
As for my own panels, I found the conversations lively and intelligent. The one I moderated, "The Hero's Journey," included two panelists -- Diana Sherman and Valerie Frankel -- who have academic expertise in what I can only describe as the evolution of Western European fairy tales. That is, you can trace these stories back hundreds of years in a sort of family tree. Cinderella and King Lear have common roots. In addition, Valerie is working on a dissertation on "The Heroine's Journey" and had fascinating observations on how male and female heroes have been treated differently.
"Incarcerating the Sick" was enriched by Marianne Porter's public health/epidemiology expertise and although we did not delve into the ethical issues, as I had hoped, there was many interesting and learned observations about how societies have dealt with communicable diseases over the centuries. (And the recent case of the jet-setting attorney with drug-resistant TB.) Quarantine (the separation of those who might be ill but we don't know yet) and social isolation (the separation of those we know to be ill) are not the same thing.
I'd been particularly looking forward to my last panel, on communicating with alien species without translator/telepathy, with Sheila Finch (of the Xenolinguistics series) and Larry Niven. I wasn't disappointed. Larry pointed out that, given the vastness of space, either we will be much more evolved (than we are now) or those we make contact will be. He delighted us by describing all the ways a writer can cheat in describing the process of first contact. Sheila had many thoughtful observations from her own work. My own contributions came mostly from my experience in training dogs and learning to understand a language that is not verbal but body-language based. This panel had some of the best audience participation of the con. Too often, comments/questions from the audience are not that, but soap-box speeches or self-promotion. I'd gotten a little tired of that by this time, so to hear audience members who had interesting things to contribute and who clearly had been listening to the conversation was delightful. So there was quite a good dynamic flow between panel and audience and a great sense of excitement about the subject.
Drove home late Monday after dancing, fell into bed, spent Tuesday cleaning house and answering email, spent Wednesday hiding from festivities, now starting to emerge into normal routine and get back to writing. More on that later.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-06 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-06 08:54 pm (UTC)thank you in advance for trusting me with your concerns.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-06 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-07 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-06 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-07 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-07 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-07 04:38 pm (UTC)CHOCOLATE MINT FISH HEADS,
FISH HEADS, FISH HEADS,
EAT THEM UP, YUM!
I kid you not. And if you have extra, they pack them up in a box like turtle food.