hey love, I'm an inconstant satellite

Apology first: There was some displeasure at the lawyer references made during this panel. I didn't perceive it as derogatory at the time, just that talking to people with very different skill sets is hard. I apologize: on reflection, it definitely played to negative stereotypes. I'll be more careful as a moderator next time.

Thanks to @partiecolored for tweeting some of these links! I definitely cribbed from you. :)

This was a lot of work and I know I messed things up, so please correct me as needed!

( Panel notes with many links )

This was one of the times, taking overnight flights, that I thought, oh, finally I am tired enough to be able to sleep in this crappy situation. Still no, though: turbulence, and a guy snoring with speed and verve in the seat just ahead of me, were enough to prevent more than a few minutes of nap.

We at least managed to depart on time depite a highly entitled person actually breaking the hinge on an overhead compartment while attempting to jam her giant fluffy bag in there. Everyone had to take their things out and a maintenance person with special enormous navy-blue tape (six inches wide?) came and taped the latch down once it was closed.

Weirdly energetic in the deserted Minneapolis airport, I decided to take the chance to go backwards on the moving walkway. Harder than I thought, and I shuffle-ran awkwardly, then hopped off.

It is cold here, and I have done a lot of napping since getting in at 9. Soon, guest of honor readings!

My panel is among the candidates, so please go express your interest. ("Real-life Science Fiction" under Science/Tech.) I want it to happen!

Up early due to light sleeping, I went down to Heteronormativity in YA SF and ate my blueberry bread there. Good panel -- lots of YA dystopias mentioned and critiqued, the passivity of the titles right now (so many of which are past participles), Delirium mentioned as actually referring to homosexuality ("unnaturalism"), appearance policing even when there's no romantic choice possible, overt reproductive or sexual pressures.

[I got Delirium at the library today and was surprised at how good it is. Sure, the whole reason Ordinary Girl questions her dystopia is presented as being An Outsider Boy With Golden Eyes, but there is a lot more going on than that -- some good slow reveals of just how fucked up things are, decent worldbuilding, and lots of relationships among women and girls.]

Geek Girls and Self-Objectification panel: already complained about it. Check out http://doctorher.com/?p=1208 for an updated presentation by Courtney Stoker on the same subject as the panel's source material.

Lunch: more delicious farmer's market bounty, hanging with roommate and her friends.

Reproductive Justice: lots about the different things this can mean, not just the ability to decide when to be pregnant, but access for both parents, the ability not to fear your kids will be taken into foster care, and more interesting issues. Mostly not that SFnal, though we got into some works at the end. The Testament of Jessie Lamb won awards, but the premise is appalling (pregnancy kills you! your choices are to die before or after the baby is born; also you are comatose at the time!) and one of the awards is the Man Booker Prize, so enough about that forever. It did remind me of The Clockwork Rocket, which I recommended. And in When She Woke by Hilary Jordan the scarlet A is for abortion and covers your entire skin.

Shoujo Fairy Tales: Obviously Princess Tutu was the queen of this panel, and I tweeted Håll Om Mig Nu as a panel summary. (yes, I rewatched it when I did that, taking betsy somewhat aback when she came in to very loud music partway through; and yes, I also rewatched it right now; and yes, I still got chills both times.) A few notes on Japanese fairy tales: Natsume Yuujinchou, Xxxholic, Kamichu; Susan Napier, Thomas Lamar.

[Don't go looking for my Twitter account expecting content or anything; it's just for Twit-specific things.]

I debated chilling in the room at that point, since I was tired, but found myself unable to chill while Eleanor Arnason was reading something. The thing that killed me dead at the Aqueduct reading, though, was Liz Henry's poem about the moon landing. Kiini Ibura Salaam's stories were very good, too. And this is where the Wiscon Chronicles explaining Moonfail were explained aloud. I bought all three books.

Dinner with boxofdelights, who knows me too well, at Buraka. Wonderful as always. Quick stop at Ragstock for a shirt to go with my other silk clothing-swap skirt; I genderfloomped femme this year, which I had basically planned, if only through thinking men's clothes are too hot for dancing in.

When we came in, the line for the dessert salon was still going in, and it was halfway through its timeslot. Why people do that I will never understand. I went away for a little while, came back and got leftovers (seedy strawberry-rhubarb crumble and perfect blackberry panna cotta), and watched the speeches just fine. Really liked Andrea Hairston's about SF and expectations, and bucking them to fulfill SF's promises in her own way.

After that I danced all the things. Once again I fail at dancing with people, but I think I can sometimes tell when they want to now? If you grab my hands, even I will definitely clue in, though I am still crap at doing anything about it. (Sorry, S!) The "cops" -- probably hotel security -- came by to legitimize our rocking at about 2am, and we broke it up around 2:30.

Me as a pony by Alex Heberling, who draws fantasy comics as well as MORE PONIES and OUTFITS.

Vid party: Pretty fun, mostly with a couch to myself, which led to literal curling at times. I did get some company when maevele and friend were around, yay. Vids looked better when F.lux was turned off, despite being projected on a textured tan wall. My amazing swap skirt came from futuransky, who clearly has no shortage of wonderful clothes, as she was wearing a great minidress with silk-screened octopuses. The sing-along had a few too many newer songs I don't know, but the Occupy vid and a truly amazing Clark/Lex were definite highlights of the show overall. (I can find neither right now but will link the playlist when/if it goes up.)

Farmer's market: Very depopulated in the rain! You could walk at your normal speed and even go around slow people; this unfortunately meant people felt free to stand around doing nothing in the path, but oh well. Even the booths were thin on the ground. But I got delicious foods and admired impossible things like cooking-only foods (golden oyster mushrooms!) and flowers.

• Kalamata olive bread


• Cinnamon roll with frosting (breakfast; too sugary)


• Sugar snap peas (also breakfast; just sweet enough)


• "Hull-less" popcorn named "Baby Rice"


• Pint of strawberries


• Beautiful rosy-red radishes (if oyceter had been here I might have gotten the black spanish radish to share, but that thing was big)


• Cheese curds (2 bags for $6 rainy-day special)


• Chevre with ash


• Little blueberry bread


• Raspberry turnover


• Little rhubarb pie


• Pesto-and-something croissant

So, picnic on more market goodies, then off to the green room to prep for my panel on PONIES Fantastical Girlhood.

What I should do: eating. What I want to do: NAPPING.

I did get a little sleep on the plane, since I had a row to myself and could become horizontal enough, but it wasn't really that long a flight. And since then I've had to switch to a later connection, which sat on the runway, went back for more fuel to reroute around the thunderstorms, sat some more, and finally got here. Plus I barely missed the first hotel shuttle I saw, but at least by then I was outdoors, not in a stuffy hot tube.

I will pursue some form of eating and then napping.

And hey, I already talked to some people! Cross that off for the day. :)

Who's going? Whom can I bribe in appropriate or excessive fashion to cause them to go? Anyone want to get a room?