 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
||
|
||||
 |
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
Con Day OneMay 26, 2006 Go in search of a Sausage Egg McMuffin for breakfast. Harrumph! The Mickey D's that used to be around the corner from the Concourse is no longer there, or at least I can't find it. I briefly contemplate the possibility that it's still where I remember it being but that either it or I have wandered into an alternate universe. Possibly the healthy-eating vibes of Madison in general or WisCon in particular have driven Mickey into hiding? Strike off down State Street in search of a hearty and not too expensive breakfast. Quite a few restaurants have survived since my last visit eight years ago. A couple of blocks are torn up for something or another, but the sidewalks are intact and the shops on either side are open. Take a chance on a second-floor restaurant called the Sun Room and enjoy a very good breakfast burrito. Attend my first two panels: "Two Different Species?" and "Culture Shock!" The two different species, of course, are men and women; the focus was on communication -- especially the lack thereof -- between the two. It touched only lightly on the scientific research, which was fine with me because I think observation and intelligent reflection is a helluva lot more interesting. "Culture Shock!" began by noting that although communication among the peoples and species that share our planet is intensely complicated, alien planets in science fiction are often astonishingly monolithic. Both are interesting, and of course I have to comment from the audience. A lurker I am not. During the lunch break I visit Room of One's Own, one of the country's few surviving feminist bookstores and an excellent one. After extensive browsing I depart with -- Storyteller, by guest of honor (GoH in f/sf parlance) Kate Wilhelm, about writing in general and the Clarion workshops for f/sf writers, in which Wilhelm and her late husband, Damon Knight, were intensely involved for nearly three decades. Air, by Geoff Ryman -- the novel that won the 2005 James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award. Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde, by Alexis De Veaux. I'd heard good things about this 2004 biography but had never seen it. Lorde was a huge figure in my lesbian feminist coming of age, particularly as an essayist but also as a poet. Standing by the shelf, skimming a page here, a page there, I knew I had to have it, hardcover or not. A couple of hours editing in my room are followed by a Mexican dinner with friends, and then the opening ceremonies, which are wacky and appreciative. Afterward all the past GoHs troop off for a photo shoot on the steps that sweep from the lobby up to the second floor. Elisabeth Vonarburg is to my right, Ursula Le Guin just behind, Ellen Kushner a couple of steps in front, etc., etc. I try hard not to feel terribly outclassed. When I was asked to be a GoH in 1997, I was incredulous. Tried hard to talk them out of it but failed failed failed, and at a certain point the feelings of ungraciousness began to outweigh the feelings of unworthiness. I went along, repaid the honor by giving a pretty good speech -- but the acute discomfort was the big reason that after the following year I stopped going to WisCon. My first two panels are Friday night: "What Would a Feminist Think Tank Look Like?" and then "Fat, Feminism, and Fandom." Both were excellent. The whole idea of a feminist think tank won't leave me alone.
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
 |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
Home - Writing - Editing - About Susanna - Bloggery - Articles - Poems - Contact Copyright ©
Susanna J. Sturgis. All rights reserved. |
||||