It's now the beginning of July, and my memories are fading (which of course is part of why I want to make these posts in the first place, so I can look at them in a year or three). This is mostly a version of notes I made shortly after the con (and the first section is from a comment to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amaebi):
One of the pieces of Wiscon feeling like home for me, to the extent it does (far from totally), is that this was something at least my dozenth Wiscon. That's not just seeing people again in a similar context, with bits like more than half expecting to have random meals out withashnistrike, Nameseeker, and some of their friends. It's other levels of familiarity: knowing where I'm going to get a cup of tea, and the nearest bathroom to the hotel lobby, and which rooms the con uses for what (which is pretty settled in by now), and what I'll be looking for at the Farmer's Market. None of that could happen the first time I went anywhere, and the bits of mental energy saved by not having to think "where can I get a cup of tea?" do help.
That said, I did get moments of "oh, dear, is anyone going to be available for lunch?" along with needing to balance the more intense programming and conversation with both alone time and low-key stuff (such as idle chat in the con suite).
Sunday eveningwild_irises and I were in a conversation in which it transpired that there's at least one Wiscon regular we have both been too shy to approach; in my case I would be saying something like "you have no idea who I am, but I love your work."
It's not so much that Wiscon is central for me (though I know it is for some), as that it's restorative for a lot of reasons. One of them is that I'm finding a lot of good conversation, things like the Trans 201 panel and "The Anatomy of Friendship." Another is that Wiscon and the people there overlap some of the places where I am on the edges. One thing that comes up in various of my conversations is that I am a couple of standard deviations away from a lot of norms and averages. Wiscon isn't so much a place where everyone is in the same direction, as one where enough people are at least aware of those pieces that I can relax a bit. For example, there are plenty of heterosexual and monogamous people who attend Wiscon; what there aren't, at this point, are a lot who expect that everyone in the world is also monogamous and heterosexual, or should be.
Meanwhile, people at Wiscon are mostly okay with my saying "sorry, I won't get those references because I don't watch television—but there are Wiscon conversations I can't take part in. I also skip all the programming that is of the form "this will help with your writing/writing career." But that's okay too.
Programming (in addition to what I wrote about at the con):
I missed the Tiptree auction because I was happily talking to people after dinner Saturday night; this was probably just as well, in terms of saving money and/or not looking at sale items and being unhappier than usual at not being able to buy them. (Ellen Klages is good at getting money from us, and the prices often get above what I would want to spend even while employed.) Though it would have been nice to at least get a closer look at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kate_schaefer's vests, even if I hadn't bought one. The times when Kate has been making vests haven't matched the times when I had that kind of money to spare; when I felt I could afford it, she was making hats, which I know I wouldn't wear and therefore don't bid on. I will hope for next year.
I also missed the bake sale, because first I was at programming and getting tea, and then I found that they had sold out and were closing up early. On the other hand, Monday I walked into the con suite anderik greeted me with "Can you help me with my problem?" I asked what the problem was, he said "I have too much ice cream," and I happily settled in to sit, chat, and eat little bits of at least half a dozen flavors of ice cream, including nutmeg, lime, Mexican vanilla, and violet (and he told me who makes the violet syrup he used). Not for a good cause the way the bake sale is, but equally tasty.
amaebi):One of the pieces of Wiscon feeling like home for me, to the extent it does (far from totally), is that this was something at least my dozenth Wiscon. That's not just seeing people again in a similar context, with bits like more than half expecting to have random meals out with
ashnistrike, Nameseeker, and some of their friends. It's other levels of familiarity: knowing where I'm going to get a cup of tea, and the nearest bathroom to the hotel lobby, and which rooms the con uses for what (which is pretty settled in by now), and what I'll be looking for at the Farmer's Market. None of that could happen the first time I went anywhere, and the bits of mental energy saved by not having to think "where can I get a cup of tea?" do help.That said, I did get moments of "oh, dear, is anyone going to be available for lunch?" along with needing to balance the more intense programming and conversation with both alone time and low-key stuff (such as idle chat in the con suite).
Sunday evening
wild_irises and I were in a conversation in which it transpired that there's at least one Wiscon regular we have both been too shy to approach; in my case I would be saying something like "you have no idea who I am, but I love your work." It's not so much that Wiscon is central for me (though I know it is for some), as that it's restorative for a lot of reasons. One of them is that I'm finding a lot of good conversation, things like the Trans 201 panel and "The Anatomy of Friendship." Another is that Wiscon and the people there overlap some of the places where I am on the edges. One thing that comes up in various of my conversations is that I am a couple of standard deviations away from a lot of norms and averages. Wiscon isn't so much a place where everyone is in the same direction, as one where enough people are at least aware of those pieces that I can relax a bit. For example, there are plenty of heterosexual and monogamous people who attend Wiscon; what there aren't, at this point, are a lot who expect that everyone in the world is also monogamous and heterosexual, or should be.
Meanwhile, people at Wiscon are mostly okay with my saying "sorry, I won't get those references because I don't watch television—but there are Wiscon conversations I can't take part in. I also skip all the programming that is of the form "this will help with your writing/writing career." But that's okay too.
Programming (in addition to what I wrote about at the con):
- "The last universal common organism?" was mostly about what we know (and are asking) about how various organisms are related, including how viruses fit into this.
- Accessibility 201, to which I arrived a bit late, and got less out of than I'd hoped; I'm guessing that this is evidence of what things I do know (and maybe the ways that the subset of what I know overlaps with what the panelists cared most about), because it didn't feel like a 101/introductory presentation. (Edit to clarify: what I was trying to say is that apparently I was looking for Accessibility 301, or maybe for 201 but focused on different specifics.)
- "Choice feminism," which I had hoped would talk more about whether this is the right paradigm, and less about specific choices.
- Dispelling trans myths was very good, definitely not a 101 panel either. The panelists are understandably tired of doing the introductory stuff (however many cis people still need to hear it, that doesn't mean they need to be the ones saying it), and stated their goal as "blowing [all] your minds." A bunch of stories, some more encouraging than others, about things including name/gender changes on ID, and expectations about surgery.
- Both GoH speeches were excellent, and there was little enough flash photography this year that I was able to stay for both speeches and the Tiptree ceremony.
I missed the Tiptree auction because I was happily talking to people after dinner Saturday night; this was probably just as well, in terms of saving money and/or not looking at sale items and being unhappier than usual at not being able to buy them. (Ellen Klages is good at getting money from us, and the prices often get above what I would want to spend even while employed.) Though it would have been nice to at least get a closer look at
kate_schaefer's vests, even if I hadn't bought one. The times when Kate has been making vests haven't matched the times when I had that kind of money to spare; when I felt I could afford it, she was making hats, which I know I wouldn't wear and therefore don't bid on. I will hope for next year.I also missed the bake sale, because first I was at programming and getting tea, and then I found that they had sold out and were closing up early. On the other hand, Monday I walked into the con suite and
erik greeted me with "Can you help me with my problem?" I asked what the problem was, he said "I have too much ice cream," and I happily settled in to sit, chat, and eat little bits of at least half a dozen flavors of ice cream, including nutmeg, lime, Mexican vanilla, and violet (and he told me who makes the violet syrup he used). Not for a good cause the way the bake sale is, but equally tasty.Tags:
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no subject
I periodically have the "is anyone going to be available for lunch?" Maybe, if you're up for it, we can share a meal at a future WisCon.
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From:
shyness at WisCon
OTOH, if the person is a pro and at the SignOut, I've found that it's pretty easy to have that "I love your work" conversation in that context. I did that this year, partly because I happened to see an author whose book I'd finished reading (and enjoyed) just that morning.
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WisCon programming