Mostly travel

[mrissa]

1. I updated my user info so that it no longer sounds like I just got out of the moving van from California. It was time. Also, I made a brief note about friending. If it might be relevant to you, go see, I guess.

2. Who is going to Minicon? Hmm, that came out sounding like a neutral question. Let me rephrase: which of you, especially from the group of people I don't see very often, or even the group of people I have never met in person, might be cajoled, persuaded, or browbeaten into going to Minicon, especially if I said it might be my only con this year?

I'm not saying it's definitely going to be my only con this year. I might well end up in Los Angeles, Austin, or some other con I haven't yet thought of. But I'm going to be pretty stingy with Mris-energy this year, which means ICFA is entirely off the list: it's in March, and even if I'm filled with pep and vim by the time March rolls around, I will still be catching up on normal stuff from the last six months, not haring off to Florida. It's too bad, too, because I'd love to go back to ICFA -- it was my first con, and I had a great time. But not this year.

(I'm not going to Wiscon, so don't attempt to order me to do so. I'm very glad that many of you find it congenial, and I hope you continue to do so. I'm just not interested. I'm also annoyed by the number of people who, instead of saying, "I think you might enjoy yourself at Wiscon" or "Have you considered Wiscon?", tell me, "You HAVE to go to Wiscon!" Actually, no. I don't. Look outside: the world is still turning, and I have never been to Wiscon. Clearly, I don't HAVE to. Some of you have asked politely, and that's fine, and I'm glad you enjoyed it yourselves. But the orders: not cool.)

3. One of you asked which countries other than the U.S. I would like to visit, and in what order. Umm. "In what order" is not a question I feel is likely to be relevant to the world I live in. I could try a total ordering that put Finland at the top of the list, for example, or Iceland, but if timprov was well enough to do any of a number of things he's contemplated doing in Hungary, markgritter and I would in all likelihood tag along for part of it, or visit him there, or pick him up when he was done and wander around. Possibly into Austria, for example, or the Czech Republic, etc. So while Austria wouldn't be at the top of my list, if there was a decent reason to be in the area, I'd go.

There is very little of Europe I wouldn't visit given a decent excuse. I'm not excited about Albania, I guess, but I probably could be if you gave me time. (After all, there's that song about it....) I'd be interested in seeing Japan, some parts of southern Asia, a few bits of South America. My grandmother is trying to sell me on Morocco (not as a trip to take with her soon, just as something to put on my list -- she had a great time). If I had to guess, I'd guess that I'll go to Canada next. I have had a good time there before, and now I know people in various parts, and you can get there from here without much fuss, and...things are nice in Canada. They understand nice in the same way as Minnesotans do, to some approximation. I've joked about starting a campaign to get annexed, but I'm not entirely joking: Saskatchewan looks a good deal more like home than Florida does.

(The lj icon I want has a series of appropriate images with the following text:
"The lakes,
The snow,
The accent,
The hockey,
[picture of Paul Wellstone] The unreasonable attachment to human rights --
We're practically Canadian already.
[blue Minnesota superimposed with red maple leaf] Annex us."

Or just the last frame would do. Please note that I am not one of those who is seriously talking about leaving the US permanently in frustration over politics. If I left the US permanently, I'd be more than an hour from a Lund's/Byerly's. We can't have that.)

I'm not much of an adventure traveler. I used to say that if you had to get shots to go there, I didn't want to go. I'm not sure that's still accurate, but I'm also not sure it's inaccurate. Right now I'm in energy-conservation mode, and I'm not sure how that'll play out over the next few years, if it has to. So we'll see, I guess. If I had a health emergency, I'd feel a lot more comfortable in Stockholm than in Phnom Penh, and I'm afraid that's not out of the realm of considerations right now.

Comments

[sraun]

iraunink & I will be at Minicon.

I'm surprised that Finland isn't on your list of countries to visit.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Having had health difficulties both places, I'd be more comfortable in Montreal than in my own apartment in Massachusetts. There, I only had to bring someone along who was capable of communicating in rudimentary French. Here, I need someone to advocate for me.

[redbird]

cattitude has been saying that he needs a con, and Wiscon (which I try to attend every year) isn't quite his thing. So we're looking at other possibilities, and Minicon would be one to consider.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I hope you could make it to Minicon - then I'd have a chance to meet you two.

[laurel]

kaustin and I will be at Minicon, but you probably knew that (I haven't missed one since my first Minicon-- which was Minicon 24-- and this will be Minicon 41. Kevin's been going even longer than I have).

I went to Wiscon once, many moons ago, before people talked about the convention like they do now. I should go back in time and say those sorts of things back when no one else was, but then . . . that would be wrong.

[Not that there's anything wrong with Wiscon then or now, mind you, but I think you get what I mean.]

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, "I liked X before X was cool!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That would be nifty.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

1. Nice job on the new bio - very clever of you to write it in such a way that it doesn't need updating unless you move. :-)

2. Barring unforeseen events, I will be at Minicon for Saturday only.

3. There's a song about Albania? Also, I LOVE the idea for the "annex us" icon!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

"I could try a total ordering that put Finland at the top of the list" meant it wasn't on the list?

[ckd]

I've been noodling around the whole "Minicon/Wiscon/both/neither" set of options.

Right now:

Neither is right out.
Both is looking more and more likely. (Cheap airfare, yay.)
If I wind up having to pick one, at the moment the choice would probably be forced by workload/deadlines/vacation time availability, but I don't know in which direction yet! (Working in an academic research environment has its advantages; advance planning is not generally one of them, in my experience.)

I'm pretty sure I would enjoy Wiscon, but I know I enjoyed Minicon last year. I'm still aiming to make it to both.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

OMG! You're channeling Daniel! Angel and I had a friend Daniel who, on just about any subject you named, would have some version of "I liked X before X was cool."

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Actually, I hope it needs a good deal of updating before we next move, with stuff like, "I sold a million books and here's where!" But on the location front, yes, I see what you mean.

The Albania song reference was to "Wag the Dog." I did not have any particular affection for Willie Nelson before that movie, and now I do, because he was willing to make fun of himself. Willingness to make fun of oneself is a trait I appreciate greatly.

[sraun]

Nah, it means I somehow missed a paragraph completely when I read your post the first time. In general, I like LJ cuts, but this illustrates one of the things I dislike about them - after you've opened the cut, there's no good marker for where it was, and I sometimes miss text trying to find it.

[scalzi.livejournal.com]

"I'm not going to Wiscon, so don't attempt to order me to do so."

Every time you don't go to Wiscon, God kills a kitten.

Please, think of the kittens.

(Not going to Minicon, although will be going to Penguicon the next weekend. If you don't go there, God will not kill a kitten. However, he *will* put a rip in someone's favorite Linux t-shirt.)

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

Snag this if you like, or request enhancements:



It should fit the size requirements.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, it would be great to update it with stuff like that, but I don't think there'd be a need to update it. No matter how many books you sell, you'll still be "a freelance writer of speculative fiction and educational materials." Hmmmmm, now that I think about it, you could just have that phrase be a link to your bibliography, so you could just update your bibliography, never need to update your bio, and could use the the same bibliography as a link from novel_gazing.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

This is great! Do you mind if I snag it as well (with attribution, of course)?

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i want that icon, too! mmmm.

i am all about the annexation theory of becoming canadian. then we'd take lund's with us.

hm. are you not interested in wiscon because too many people have told you how much you'd love it (aka why i will probably never read harry potter), or for some other reason? if it's some other reason, i'd love to hear why, and please note i am asking this question wearing my hat as wiscon program haed. either here or in email is good, and kalmn@lj works for email.

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

Go ahead. I needed the break from work... :) (Anyone else reading this is welcome to grab it as well).

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

I expect to be at Minicon. It will be my only con this year.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ooh, geeks in ripped Linux T-shirts! Sigh. That's a catch-22, isn't it? If I go, no rips. If I stay home, I can't appreciate them from this distance. How very sad.

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

I would like to go to Wiscon, but I have discovered an intractable problem with school-year conventions that are out of town. Now that my husband commutes an hour to work, and my in-laws are gimpy and unwell, I really have no one to do the before and after school thing if I'm not around. When Glen was little, I'd just send him off to grandma and grandpa's, or Brent would fiddle his schedule around, or whatever. And it would work out. But now I can't quite figure out how to arrange it. The g'parents would probably *offer* to come out and stay at our house and take care of things, but our house is very un-senior friendly and they have trouble getting up and down the stairs. I really don't want to subject them to it for days at a time.

Anyway, which is all to say that I'm pretty sure Wiscon won't happen for me. It is a nice convention, and a pretty good value for your convention travel dollars if you live in the midwest, so I think it's true, Mris, that you might enjoy the convention. But you don't HAVE to go to it. I didn't go last year and nothing bad happened.

I might actually go to worldcon, by virtue of it being in the summer and in the states. Isn't it going to JAPAN next year? I know I can't afford that.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am not interested in Wiscon because it is a convention focused on Feminist SF, and Feminist SF, as a category, is not something that interests me, although many of the specific examples interest me individually.

Not only do I think there's nothing that you could do about that with programming, I think there's nothing you should do about that with programming: I'm glad people have a Feminist SF convention. It serves many people who want such a thing, and they seem to be having a great time with it. I'm just not one of them.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, this is why Minicon is Easter weekend: so that people who have issues with kids' school or work have more of a chance to get time off.

This doesn't address people who have religious and/or family stuff to do Easter weekend, of course, but I'm told one can't have everything, at least not all at once.

And yes, Japan next year. Meep.

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

I've heard this, too. Also, I have been catching up on "House," which is a surprisingly enjoyable show, and I learned from the show that "You can't always get what you want," and also "If you try sometimes, you can get what you need," which all ends up being neither here nor there.

I'm limiting my convention-going this year as well, and haven't yet decided which con or cons will be graced with my rare presence. What a treat, what a treat for that lucky con.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I hear you on the "in what order" bit. Our vacations lately have been a lot of fun and we have gone to really interesting and wonderful places, but for the most part, they haven't been *my* or even *our* choice so much as so-and-so is going to be here at such-and-such a time, so you should come. I am definitely not complaining, but it has meant that I have gone to countries like Tunisia, which was really fascinating and exciting, but I wouldn't have picked on my own, given a choice. (Although, incidently, if you ever feel the need to be stared at and admired for how you look, this is a great place to visit. They clearly find light skin, eyes, and hair marvelous and are very up front about it.) That said, I could start a list with my first choice countries to visit as Greece and Turkey (I lump them together because they are close enough we could do both and I'm not sure I could make a choice between them). This is very influenced by what I have read recently and my parents' commentary on the countries, so it could change when I read something new. After that, I'm sure I could come up with others, but at present these won't be happening for at least two more years, so there you are.

Heathah

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Minicon is one of the two cons careswen and I attend every year without fail. We are not going to Wiscon this year (we spent too much money going to WFC), but perhaps next, just to see what all the fuss is about.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Be sure to alert them in advance so they can prepare the rose petals.

When we arrived in Minneapolis to look at houses, there were fireworks as the plane was landing, and there were rose petals all over the hallway out to the parking garage. Neither was supplied by people who know me.

I love my life.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Although, incidently, if you ever feel the need to be stared at and admired for how you look, this is a great place to visit.

Well, she is going to Minicon.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Arright, you.

[allochthon.livejournal.com]

I'll probably be at Minicon. Depends mostly if I'm on-call or not.

"You HAVE to go to Wiscon!"
I'm most likely one of those, as I am a Wiscon fanatic. I'm sorry.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I don't recall you giving me orders. I do recall you enthusing about Wiscon, and that's fine -- I don't mind hearing about people's enthusiasms even when I don't share them. I just don't care for the imperative phrasing.