Launchpad 2012, Laramie, Colorado
I'm in the roof garden of the Four Seasons in Denver (courtesy of a bargain from Hotels.com) drinking a cocktail that is supposed to have Vodka in, but I have work to do. Remaining ingredients:
diced ginger, cilantro/fresh coriander, ginger ale = delicious
At some point I will dive into my email.
I have had the most incredible week. I applied for Launchpad three years ago and what with one thing and another the dates never worked. This year it all came together, New Job let me have the time off and I flew out.
I had received the astronomy book from Mike Brotherton months ago but it's too large for commuting and I never had time to read at home, so I read it on the flight until they turned the lights off (why do they do that on day time flights) when I switched from half watching Shrek 2 and half watching The Hunger Games over someone's shoulder (verdict: script? who needs a script? And clearly in order to survive you need to be white with blue eyes. Having a magical negro child along -- and yes, she's lovely-- is also helpful).
I also watched Albert Nobbs and now want to find the short story. It was sort of good, but I wanted to tighten the script.
I read half the book on the flight and half the next morning in a lovely diner next door to my not very good hotel (I got distance from the airport and quality wrong, saving no money and not enjoying it, but I had real problems figuring out what was where).
Turns out I was the only one to think of asking for the book ahead of time. Mike never mentioned this and just sent it. I think this is called "teacher/good girl" syndrome. It paid off though as I'd never have kept up if I hadn't read it through.
The group: Tiffany Trent, Merrie Haskell, Ellen Datlow, Nova Suma Ren, Christie Yant, Sandra MacDonald, Jody Lynne Nye, Linda Nagata, Robin Wasserman, Matt Kessrel, Matt Rotundo, Mary Turzillo, Geoff Landis (also a speaker),Robin Peters, Jake Kerr, Doug Farren. And me of course. I love you guys. Sloppy I know, but it was intense.
Classes were ten to 6 each day, lunch in the room (took most of them the week to discover the outdoors--I am light hungry and was out every day). Teachers were Geoff Landis, Mike Brotherton, Christian Ready and Jim Verney. All had their strengths but I found Mike particularly good at explaining concepts.
Evenings: I died of jetlag on the Monday but managed Sweet Melissa on the Tuesday, a vegetarian restaurant so good that the entire group went back on Saturday (the gf, vegan cheese cake was to die for). we did the Wiro telescope (I'm glad we went but it's basically a large telescope and a computer array--in many ways 19th century instrumentation is far more fun to play with, and the talk from an amateur astronomer had me wondering where our binoculars are.). I wish we'd done some more just plain star gazing but I Have Plans involving a weekend away somewhere high and isolated with chilperic. We need more short holidays and this would suit both of us. Any suggestions for places accessible in December, when the nights are short? Must have decent skies.
Mornings: were either the gym with Merrie and Sandra (a fantastic gym, and I got my first decent work outs since I was sick in January) or I went for a walk. Being me I found a lovely coffee bar with a patio and by the end of the week several of us were meeting there.
Laramie by the way is what we'd call a market town: very pretty with a social life that suggests a large hinterland.
What I learned: that interstellar travel might actually be possible and that (surprisingly) Ken MacLeod's Learning the World may be one of the more plausible fics out there; that radio is a light wave; I think I now have a grip on red shift and the Main Sequence of stars and what happens when; and that galaxies are possibly the most fascinating aspect of astronomy.
The course was exhausting (in part because the schedule fell heaviest in the afternoons when I am not at my best) but my brain is fizzing, and that's a feeling I like.
Readercon: two additional thoughts.
1. I would like to see Readercon policy change because life time bans for anything shouldn't be automatic, and because people tend to want to weasle out of applying them; but I do not think two years is remotely appropriate for harassment. That said, the rules at the time, are the rules at the time. I am totally opposed to the actions of the Readercon board (note: that is not the same as the committee).
2. I said in the previous post that Rene is my friend. I regard that as a current statement because friends do crap things and if you ditched every friend who did something crap--well, would I have any friends left? Whether the friendship will continue is another matter which will depend on what happens next and which I will not be blogging. Be very clear on this: my definition of friendship includes the assumption that my friends will call me out when I screw up. I do not assume or expect that friendship means being nice to someone in all circumstances.
diced ginger, cilantro/fresh coriander, ginger ale = delicious
At some point I will dive into my email.
I have had the most incredible week. I applied for Launchpad three years ago and what with one thing and another the dates never worked. This year it all came together, New Job let me have the time off and I flew out.
I had received the astronomy book from Mike Brotherton months ago but it's too large for commuting and I never had time to read at home, so I read it on the flight until they turned the lights off (why do they do that on day time flights) when I switched from half watching Shrek 2 and half watching The Hunger Games over someone's shoulder (verdict: script? who needs a script? And clearly in order to survive you need to be white with blue eyes. Having a magical negro child along -- and yes, she's lovely-- is also helpful).
I also watched Albert Nobbs and now want to find the short story. It was sort of good, but I wanted to tighten the script.
I read half the book on the flight and half the next morning in a lovely diner next door to my not very good hotel (I got distance from the airport and quality wrong, saving no money and not enjoying it, but I had real problems figuring out what was where).
Turns out I was the only one to think of asking for the book ahead of time. Mike never mentioned this and just sent it. I think this is called "teacher/good girl" syndrome. It paid off though as I'd never have kept up if I hadn't read it through.
The group: Tiffany Trent, Merrie Haskell, Ellen Datlow, Nova Suma Ren, Christie Yant, Sandra MacDonald, Jody Lynne Nye, Linda Nagata, Robin Wasserman, Matt Kessrel, Matt Rotundo, Mary Turzillo, Geoff Landis (also a speaker),Robin Peters, Jake Kerr, Doug Farren. And me of course. I love you guys. Sloppy I know, but it was intense.
Classes were ten to 6 each day, lunch in the room (took most of them the week to discover the outdoors--I am light hungry and was out every day). Teachers were Geoff Landis, Mike Brotherton, Christian Ready and Jim Verney. All had their strengths but I found Mike particularly good at explaining concepts.
Evenings: I died of jetlag on the Monday but managed Sweet Melissa on the Tuesday, a vegetarian restaurant so good that the entire group went back on Saturday (the gf, vegan cheese cake was to die for). we did the Wiro telescope (I'm glad we went but it's basically a large telescope and a computer array--in many ways 19th century instrumentation is far more fun to play with, and the talk from an amateur astronomer had me wondering where our binoculars are.). I wish we'd done some more just plain star gazing but I Have Plans involving a weekend away somewhere high and isolated with chilperic. We need more short holidays and this would suit both of us. Any suggestions for places accessible in December, when the nights are short? Must have decent skies.
Mornings: were either the gym with Merrie and Sandra (a fantastic gym, and I got my first decent work outs since I was sick in January) or I went for a walk. Being me I found a lovely coffee bar with a patio and by the end of the week several of us were meeting there.
Laramie by the way is what we'd call a market town: very pretty with a social life that suggests a large hinterland.
What I learned: that interstellar travel might actually be possible and that (surprisingly) Ken MacLeod's Learning the World may be one of the more plausible fics out there; that radio is a light wave; I think I now have a grip on red shift and the Main Sequence of stars and what happens when; and that galaxies are possibly the most fascinating aspect of astronomy.
The course was exhausting (in part because the schedule fell heaviest in the afternoons when I am not at my best) but my brain is fizzing, and that's a feeling I like.
Readercon: two additional thoughts.
1. I would like to see Readercon policy change because life time bans for anything shouldn't be automatic, and because people tend to want to weasle out of applying them; but I do not think two years is remotely appropriate for harassment. That said, the rules at the time, are the rules at the time. I am totally opposed to the actions of the Readercon board (note: that is not the same as the committee).
2. I said in the previous post that Rene is my friend. I regard that as a current statement because friends do crap things and if you ditched every friend who did something crap--well, would I have any friends left? Whether the friendship will continue is another matter which will depend on what happens next and which I will not be blogging. Be very clear on this: my definition of friendship includes the assumption that my friends will call me out when I screw up. I do not assume or expect that friendship means being nice to someone in all circumstances.