ConFusion!
Science fiction conventions are so cool! I love being a nerd! Okay...deep breath...
Today, I went to a science fiction convention with my science fiction (O RLY?) research group to present a couple of our different projects. It was amazing. Despite waking up at 6 in the morning, I can say that I had an absolutely amazing and astounding experience of the galaxy of fantasy and science fiction fandom. And if you get all four of those references, bonus points. But seriously, from the moment we got there and were greeted by the people running the convention, I knew that I had found an amazing place. We got name tags and ribbons and free mini bagels. Mostly, though, everyone was really laid back and cool. Yeah, there weren't a lot of people at our presentations, but the people who did come were really engaging/engaged when we got to the workshops (we quantify aspects of literature/magazine covers) and, partially because they were outsiders with very specific interests and ties to the material we cover, their insights were incredibly helpful. There's nothing like presenting an academic project to fans of the thing you're critiquing- it's really cool to see how they react and what kinds of things they bring out and bring up. This kind of critique was especially useful for the magazine covers project, because the instrument is so new and is really just in the final few phases of development. We also need to know what kinds of loopholes and flaws people are going to find in our research methods, because then we can defend them when they are brought to our attention in more academic contexts.
The convention itself was also really cool once we got to explore it a little bit. There are apparently dances and parties and movies that happen after the official events close for the evening, and there is a whole gaming room that isn't just super-intense D&D. C'mon, Settlers with a bunch of geeks? Fucking amazing- I only wish I had gotten to do it. Apparently we missed the science fiction folk singing room, but suffice it to say that when Eric mentioned it on the way home my jaw absolutely dropped. I'm appalled at myself- how am I not involved in this? How have I never heard of this? Could there possibly be any better reason to learn guitar? I definitely need to get into this fandom stuff. While I definitely think it can be taken too far, it is super cool, and I say that without my usual sense of self-irony. Science fiction is cool!
I also heard of a couple books that should be good. A lot of people in book communities like posting about Scott Westerfield's Uglies series (no, not about the library) and, d00d, I totally saw him today. It's so cool that there's a subculture out there that can bring in authors and artists and weirdos where they can all get along and chill out and revel in their different-ness. I feel like such a poser, but it's all right. I'm super stoked for life and stuff now!
I think that I have to be weird and that I truly belong in places like this. Seriously, people, do you ever notice that I have a strange awesome zeal for life after doing things like this? It's the life high that I get when I hang out with Gini or go to Faire (which is often the same thing). Hello! Meg! Hi, it's me calling, you know, the real you! I love this whole being enthusiastic thing, and science fiction can get me there because there are so many people so incredibly into it, and for the most part they seem to be really accepting and cool. Cool, seriously, cool. Can you imagine a room full of people dropping book references right and left, arguing about the pros and cons of different empires laid out in different sci-fi series? It's fucking awesome. Bullshit to naysayers about the quality of sci-fi lit. If a book can get this many people excited and energized, why not support it fully? These books are getting people to engage in serious discourse about history and politics in a way more interesting way than academics often do.
Fuck everything, man, I'm going to become a cool person when I grow up.
Today, I went to a science fiction convention with my science fiction (O RLY?) research group to present a couple of our different projects. It was amazing. Despite waking up at 6 in the morning, I can say that I had an absolutely amazing and astounding experience of the galaxy of fantasy and science fiction fandom. And if you get all four of those references, bonus points. But seriously, from the moment we got there and were greeted by the people running the convention, I knew that I had found an amazing place. We got name tags and ribbons and free mini bagels. Mostly, though, everyone was really laid back and cool. Yeah, there weren't a lot of people at our presentations, but the people who did come were really engaging/engaged when we got to the workshops (we quantify aspects of literature/magazine covers) and, partially because they were outsiders with very specific interests and ties to the material we cover, their insights were incredibly helpful. There's nothing like presenting an academic project to fans of the thing you're critiquing- it's really cool to see how they react and what kinds of things they bring out and bring up. This kind of critique was especially useful for the magazine covers project, because the instrument is so new and is really just in the final few phases of development. We also need to know what kinds of loopholes and flaws people are going to find in our research methods, because then we can defend them when they are brought to our attention in more academic contexts.
The convention itself was also really cool once we got to explore it a little bit. There are apparently dances and parties and movies that happen after the official events close for the evening, and there is a whole gaming room that isn't just super-intense D&D. C'mon, Settlers with a bunch of geeks? Fucking amazing- I only wish I had gotten to do it. Apparently we missed the science fiction folk singing room, but suffice it to say that when Eric mentioned it on the way home my jaw absolutely dropped. I'm appalled at myself- how am I not involved in this? How have I never heard of this? Could there possibly be any better reason to learn guitar? I definitely need to get into this fandom stuff. While I definitely think it can be taken too far, it is super cool, and I say that without my usual sense of self-irony. Science fiction is cool!
I also heard of a couple books that should be good. A lot of people in book communities like posting about Scott Westerfield's Uglies series (no, not about the library) and, d00d, I totally saw him today. It's so cool that there's a subculture out there that can bring in authors and artists and weirdos where they can all get along and chill out and revel in their different-ness. I feel like such a poser, but it's all right. I'm super stoked for life and stuff now!
I think that I have to be weird and that I truly belong in places like this. Seriously, people, do you ever notice that I have a strange awesome zeal for life after doing things like this? It's the life high that I get when I hang out with Gini or go to Faire (which is often the same thing). Hello! Meg! Hi, it's me calling, you know, the real you! I love this whole being enthusiastic thing, and science fiction can get me there because there are so many people so incredibly into it, and for the most part they seem to be really accepting and cool. Cool, seriously, cool. Can you imagine a room full of people dropping book references right and left, arguing about the pros and cons of different empires laid out in different sci-fi series? It's fucking awesome. Bullshit to naysayers about the quality of sci-fi lit. If a book can get this many people excited and energized, why not support it fully? These books are getting people to engage in serious discourse about history and politics in a way more interesting way than academics often do.
Fuck everything, man, I'm going to become a cool person when I grow up.