Category: personal
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Happy Tax Day!
And I mean that non-ironically. I don’t like paying taxes, but I am proud to do it. Taxes are not only necessary to maintain the way of life we value. They are a direct investment in the very concept of civilization. Taxes are the explicit statement that we are a community and we have…
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Lunacon 2014 (2e): Magic and Religion
Saturday 3 PM. Panelists: Carole Ann Moleti; Michael F. Flynn, Raymond Feist, Jane Sibley Interesting tidbit: religion = re+ligio = a rebinding of society (to join again). Religion has always had a social purpose, to increase community and tie society together. The panelists offered a definition of magic as “a belief that mundane objects have…
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Lunacon 2014 (2c): Reading by Merav Hoffman
Saturday 12 Noon Panelist: Merav Hoffman (duh) I don’t attend a lot of readings, because I generally prefer reading things at my own pace. I don’t find the timbre of the author all that engaging. On the other hand, Merav was a very welcoming presence at my first Lunacon and I wanted to make sure…
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Lunacon 2014 (2a): Altering Time and Perception
Saturday 11 AM Odelle Panelists: Walter Hunt, David Sklar This was not especially well-attended: at first, just the panelists and me. By the end, another 6 or so people had shown up. First panel on a Saturday is probably a dead zone. There were really two topics to be discussed: How is a story paced?…
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Lunacon 2014 (2b): Write What You Don’t Know
Saturday 12 noon Panelists: Walter H. Hunt, Laura Anne Gilman, KT Pinto Sadly, this was not (imho) a very successful panel. The panelists talked around the topic but never addressed head-on how to avoid the pitfalls of writing about things you haven’t experienced. Walter Hunt mentioned that he’s spent a lot of time volunteering at a living farm…
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Lunacon 2014 (1c): Firefly the Game
I was excited to attend this game demo. I am a fan of all things Firefly, and actually have a copy of this game but hadn’t had a chance to play it yet. So when a game got underway in the gaming room, I dropped by to check it out.
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Lunacon 2014 (1): Friday
OK, so it’s really Saturday when I’m writing this. But it’s about Friday. 🙂 I attended three panels (and one fire alarm): “Building Character“, “Alternate Technologies in Historical Fiction“, and “Firefly: The Game“. I also poked around the dealer’s room for a bit,
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Lunacon 2014 (1b): Alternate Technologies in Historical Fiction
Panelists: Russ Handelman, James Cambias, Paul Calhoun And here he is, That Annoying Guy From One Seat Over. This archetype shows up at every con, like a restless spirit. One of the panelists pointed out that, more or less by definition, this would actually have to be about alternate historical fiction. Examples of a missed…
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Lunacon 2014 (1a): Building Character
Panelists: Mike Flynn and Ken Atlabef. I was a little disappointed to see that the first panel sported Mike Flynn as a guest. At the last Lunacon, Mike Flynn was the moderator for the panels I consistently liked least. My recollection was that he was a know-it-all who made points only to emphasize his intelligence…
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Lunacon 2014 (0): Arrival
After a five-year hiatus, I am back at Lunacon, at the suggestion of my lovely wife (who says it’s important we tend to our individual needs as well as our married ones, and who — I believe — also might like having the apartment to herself for a weekend. 🙂 ) Standing in line to…