Wiscon: notes and comments III
wiscon
Sunday: Rather to my annoyance, woke up about an hour before I needed to and was unable to get back to sleep. Also, was still unable to connect to wireless network. However, the day improved considerably when I met coffee_and_ink for breakfast: once coffee had been taken, conversation was so delightful and engaging that I was about 15 mins late for the 'Where is Grandma's Story?' panel.
This was an excellent panel asking the question about where are the older women characters in sff (either literal grandmothers or female elders), and comparing the relative absence of such figures except as peripheral and supporting characters to their central presence in the mystery novel. Someone suggested that Misses Marple, Climpson, etc, achieve their results as a result of sitting quietly observing, and being overlooked and ignored. The issue of very long-lived characters was also mentioned - it was felt that they fitted into the paradigm if they were shown to have accumulated years and experience rather than just remaining c.25 for a lengthy period. Various texts and productions in other media including positive and dynamic depictions of older women were mentioned, and a list is being compiled: see this post on whileaway. More general topics about the visibility of older women, 'croning', the celebration of the acquisition of experience and confidence were also discussed.
Then for lunch and continuing conversation with coffee_and_ink and hww.
After that, to a lively panel on 'The Canon That Dare Not Speak Its Name' and a) whether there is a 'canon' of feminist sff and b) if there is, is a canon a good thing or does it become a narrowing of options and a should-read rather than a recommended list? Good notes on this by badgerbag here. One participant also made an important point about the benefits of reading really widely in the genre, including large amounts of 'crap'.
Another Green Room session, and then I decided to skip the next round of panels in favour of sitting in the hot tub to see if it did my stiff neck (some of the conference rooms are rather draughty) any good (yes, is the answer, though I wish the sauna had actually been switched on and ready for action as well).
Also spent Yet More Time in the Dealers' Room and bought several things, mostly more books, plus a Broad Universe Mary Shelley t-shirt.
Delicious sushi dinner in the stimulating and witty company of matociquala, heres_luck, renenet, valancy, and sosostris2012, followed by exceptional ice-cream, which, however, was I think a bit of a mistake in the light of the fact that I had a ticket for the Dessert Salon.
Agreeable socialising (with, as far as I know, non-lj people) over delicious (if in my case excessive to the point of gluttony) desserts (I think I should have gone for the fruit cup instead of either the pumpkin cheesecake or the cherry pie, but, well, decisions! decisions!). Followed by the Guest of Honour Speeches - considering that there were very significant differences between the style and content of the 2 presentations it was surprising how much resonance there was (though enough water has passed under the bridges of my mind since then that I'm a bit hard put to it to get into words exactly what created this impression).
Thence to the LJ Party, where I was able to put faces to a number of fairly familiar names - aided by the stickers (kudos for whoever undertook the work of making these) with icons and lj handles, even if this did mean that there was a certain amount of peering at other people's chest regions. A lot of people were beautifully dressed up - I wished I'd brought something a bit more sparkly and/or dashing in my luggage, but reading matter always takes precedence over clothes when packing.
Faded out around midnight, feeling exhausted and not like attending the Fancy Dress Party in the character of 'Typical Archivist whose couturier is Marks and Spencer' (or, like Wednesday Addams, as 'poisoner - they look just like ordinary people'). However, then sat up, madly excited by actually managing to be connected, posting until ridiculously late/early.
***
As a result of this round of riotous living (or something) was laid low most of today with a rather severe migraine, ameliorated from the worst effects but not completely cleared up by my medication. However, I did manage to get up and be ambulant in time to have a final coffee with coffee_and_ink and say our farewells, and then went for a walk in the fresh air (it's a lovely day today) past the Capitol and down to the lake, and now feel more resemblance to something like human.
But the overall overview is, I've loved it, I want to come back, and maybe next time (am hesitant to entirely commit myself to next year just yet) will offer to be part of panel programming....
This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/282933.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View
comments.
Sunday: Rather to my annoyance, woke up about an hour before I needed to and was unable to get back to sleep. Also, was still unable to connect to wireless network. However, the day improved considerably when I met coffee_and_ink for breakfast: once coffee had been taken, conversation was so delightful and engaging that I was about 15 mins late for the 'Where is Grandma's Story?' panel.
This was an excellent panel asking the question about where are the older women characters in sff (either literal grandmothers or female elders), and comparing the relative absence of such figures except as peripheral and supporting characters to their central presence in the mystery novel. Someone suggested that Misses Marple, Climpson, etc, achieve their results as a result of sitting quietly observing, and being overlooked and ignored. The issue of very long-lived characters was also mentioned - it was felt that they fitted into the paradigm if they were shown to have accumulated years and experience rather than just remaining c.25 for a lengthy period. Various texts and productions in other media including positive and dynamic depictions of older women were mentioned, and a list is being compiled: see this post on whileaway. More general topics about the visibility of older women, 'croning', the celebration of the acquisition of experience and confidence were also discussed.
Then for lunch and continuing conversation with coffee_and_ink and hww.
After that, to a lively panel on 'The Canon That Dare Not Speak Its Name' and a) whether there is a 'canon' of feminist sff and b) if there is, is a canon a good thing or does it become a narrowing of options and a should-read rather than a recommended list? Good notes on this by badgerbag here. One participant also made an important point about the benefits of reading really widely in the genre, including large amounts of 'crap'.
Another Green Room session, and then I decided to skip the next round of panels in favour of sitting in the hot tub to see if it did my stiff neck (some of the conference rooms are rather draughty) any good (yes, is the answer, though I wish the sauna had actually been switched on and ready for action as well).
Also spent Yet More Time in the Dealers' Room and bought several things, mostly more books, plus a Broad Universe Mary Shelley t-shirt.
Delicious sushi dinner in the stimulating and witty company of matociquala, heres_luck, renenet, valancy, and sosostris2012, followed by exceptional ice-cream, which, however, was I think a bit of a mistake in the light of the fact that I had a ticket for the Dessert Salon.
Agreeable socialising (with, as far as I know, non-lj people) over delicious (if in my case excessive to the point of gluttony) desserts (I think I should have gone for the fruit cup instead of either the pumpkin cheesecake or the cherry pie, but, well, decisions! decisions!). Followed by the Guest of Honour Speeches - considering that there were very significant differences between the style and content of the 2 presentations it was surprising how much resonance there was (though enough water has passed under the bridges of my mind since then that I'm a bit hard put to it to get into words exactly what created this impression).
Thence to the LJ Party, where I was able to put faces to a number of fairly familiar names - aided by the stickers (kudos for whoever undertook the work of making these) with icons and lj handles, even if this did mean that there was a certain amount of peering at other people's chest regions. A lot of people were beautifully dressed up - I wished I'd brought something a bit more sparkly and/or dashing in my luggage, but reading matter always takes precedence over clothes when packing.
Faded out around midnight, feeling exhausted and not like attending the Fancy Dress Party in the character of 'Typical Archivist whose couturier is Marks and Spencer' (or, like Wednesday Addams, as 'poisoner - they look just like ordinary people'). However, then sat up, madly excited by actually managing to be connected, posting until ridiculously late/early.
***
As a result of this round of riotous living (or something) was laid low most of today with a rather severe migraine, ameliorated from the worst effects but not completely cleared up by my medication. However, I did manage to get up and be ambulant in time to have a final coffee with coffee_and_ink and say our farewells, and then went for a walk in the fresh air (it's a lovely day today) past the Capitol and down to the lake, and now feel more resemblance to something like human.
But the overall overview is, I've loved it, I want to come back, and maybe next time (am hesitant to entirely commit myself to next year just yet) will offer to be part of panel programming....
This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/282933.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View
comments.