WisCon 34 panel notes forthcoming...
Back at home base, not unpacked, plunging back into work and spring cleaning and planning and ongoing projects and triathlon training.
This was my first visit to WisCon. I met some delightful people, had books signed by Andrea Hairston, Nnedi Okorafor, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Moondancer Drake (I didn't have my books by Nisi Shawl and other authors with me but hope to have them signed in future). Attended the People of Color dinner on Friday night -- unsurprisingly there is a fairly notable amount of ethnic diversity at this con. I met blogger & theorist Jaymee Goh. As someone who has made use of or worked in archives since childhood, I found her analyses of steampunk and postcolonialist perspectives very interesting. I recommend two blogs where her writing appears: Silver Goggles and Beyond VIctoriana.
Many interesting panels, some of which resulted in my taking copious notes; at others I sat, listened, enjoyed, pondered. As people warned me, it was hard to sleep much -- there was always more to investigate, to explore. The idea wheels begin to spin more quickly than usual, and it's hard to slow down for something non-interactive like sleep.
I walked to Lake Mendota nearly every day to "center down" and bask in the sun (mosquito season apparently hadn't begun yet, or so a local resident told me). Being accustomed to humidity in the form of cold rain, the steamy afternoons didn't bother me at all. The hotel was welcoming and cozy and I liked eating big portions of good food -- it was the Midwest, and they don't play. During an average week I cook with tofu, consume my breakfast cereal and coffee with soy milk, and eat largely vegetable-based meals, but sometimes I freely indulge my fondness for a stereotypical American meal: a cheeseburger and fries. The cheeseburgers crafted by the Dayton Street Grille were huge & delicious -- a soft, huge bun that gleamed lightly on top as though it had been brushed with egg white after a baker formed it by hand; a thick beef patty; a slab of delicious, melting Wisconsin cheese (Swiss, American, cheddar, pepper jack, your choice); thick, and juicy tomato slices; a crisp lettuce leaf as wide across as one's hand with fingers outstretched; a spear of tart, properly crunchy pickle. Best of all, a haystack of golden fried potatoes, sliced long and thin, cooked to be perfectly hot and crisp and savory.
I've eaten French fries, frites, fries, taters in various cities and countries and these were some of the best I've ever had. I am not a fashionable "foodie" (as I interpret it, good food is food that is clean, safe to eat, affordable or just accessible to people if they are unable to buy any) but I know what I like. Fries are difficult to walk away from. As a result of this junk food fixation, I have been to the Friet Museum in Bruges ( not my sole reason for being in Bruges at all, but it's actually the first place I went to after putting my luggage away; I followed it with a visit to the Choco-Story Museum. Such self-indulgence, eh?). My lifetime fry favorites include my dear father's homemade fries; the yummy ones served at the cafe at the central library Rotterdam; the thin, drooping fries served at Dick's Drive-In in Seattle, which still have some of the potato skin on; the sweet potato fries served at friend's home; and various take-out stands the names of which I've forgotten. While in Seattle on a Sunday afternoon earlier this year, I sat eating Dick's Drive-In fries while perusing an early, downloaded and printed version of the WisCon program schedule, keeping it to the side to prevent the fry grease from smearing the pages.
There was much more to WisCon than food, of course, and I will be posting about that later this month. I attended panels on race and steampunk, social class, and more. I regret missing the cultural construction of sexuality panel, but hope to find some notes from other attendees. There were many fascinating topics under discussion, often simultaneously, the usual conference experience. Too many good choices! Many fascinating new (to me) book recommendations and blogs to read!
This was my first visit to WisCon. I met some delightful people, had books signed by Andrea Hairston, Nnedi Okorafor, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Moondancer Drake (I didn't have my books by Nisi Shawl and other authors with me but hope to have them signed in future). Attended the People of Color dinner on Friday night -- unsurprisingly there is a fairly notable amount of ethnic diversity at this con. I met blogger & theorist Jaymee Goh. As someone who has made use of or worked in archives since childhood, I found her analyses of steampunk and postcolonialist perspectives very interesting. I recommend two blogs where her writing appears: Silver Goggles and Beyond VIctoriana.
Many interesting panels, some of which resulted in my taking copious notes; at others I sat, listened, enjoyed, pondered. As people warned me, it was hard to sleep much -- there was always more to investigate, to explore. The idea wheels begin to spin more quickly than usual, and it's hard to slow down for something non-interactive like sleep.
I walked to Lake Mendota nearly every day to "center down" and bask in the sun (mosquito season apparently hadn't begun yet, or so a local resident told me). Being accustomed to humidity in the form of cold rain, the steamy afternoons didn't bother me at all. The hotel was welcoming and cozy and I liked eating big portions of good food -- it was the Midwest, and they don't play. During an average week I cook with tofu, consume my breakfast cereal and coffee with soy milk, and eat largely vegetable-based meals, but sometimes I freely indulge my fondness for a stereotypical American meal: a cheeseburger and fries. The cheeseburgers crafted by the Dayton Street Grille were huge & delicious -- a soft, huge bun that gleamed lightly on top as though it had been brushed with egg white after a baker formed it by hand; a thick beef patty; a slab of delicious, melting Wisconsin cheese (Swiss, American, cheddar, pepper jack, your choice); thick, and juicy tomato slices; a crisp lettuce leaf as wide across as one's hand with fingers outstretched; a spear of tart, properly crunchy pickle. Best of all, a haystack of golden fried potatoes, sliced long and thin, cooked to be perfectly hot and crisp and savory.
I've eaten French fries, frites, fries, taters in various cities and countries and these were some of the best I've ever had. I am not a fashionable "foodie" (as I interpret it, good food is food that is clean, safe to eat, affordable or just accessible to people if they are unable to buy any) but I know what I like. Fries are difficult to walk away from. As a result of this junk food fixation, I have been to the Friet Museum in Bruges ( not my sole reason for being in Bruges at all, but it's actually the first place I went to after putting my luggage away; I followed it with a visit to the Choco-Story Museum. Such self-indulgence, eh?). My lifetime fry favorites include my dear father's homemade fries; the yummy ones served at the cafe at the central library Rotterdam; the thin, drooping fries served at Dick's Drive-In in Seattle, which still have some of the potato skin on; the sweet potato fries served at friend's home; and various take-out stands the names of which I've forgotten. While in Seattle on a Sunday afternoon earlier this year, I sat eating Dick's Drive-In fries while perusing an early, downloaded and printed version of the WisCon program schedule, keeping it to the side to prevent the fry grease from smearing the pages.
There was much more to WisCon than food, of course, and I will be posting about that later this month. I attended panels on race and steampunk, social class, and more. I regret missing the cultural construction of sexuality panel, but hope to find some notes from other attendees. There were many fascinating topics under discussion, often simultaneously, the usual conference experience. Too many good choices! Many fascinating new (to me) book recommendations and blogs to read!