Quick notes

[jhameia]

- Worked all week on symposium thingum and finished up the paper for Peshawar Lancers at SPWF.

- Symposium went well. Vinh, Jesse and Kasim came out to see the first two panels, which was pretty awesome of them. It was really cool hearing what the rest of my cohort was up to, which makes me all the more mad that I had to miss them!! =((

- So, I was told I had to take a bus to Square One, and from there to Pearson. Turns out the airport bus doesn't go to Square One anymore, but the next stop over (Meadowlea? Something-lea). But I got there on time. My flight wasn't even delayed! But I still had to go do the body scan. Sigh.

- Got into Newark at 7.30, and took a taxi into Somerset with a flirtily sketchy taxi dude. It cost me $100 (sigh) but I was so tired I was way too cranky to deal with getting a train into New Brunswick and then to Somerset. Pick Ay-Leen up from Crowne Plaza into DoubleTree where we were staying, with the Comiku Girls on sleeping bags and all. Ay-Leen and I went upstairs to meet the Texan steampunk crew the Airship Isabelle, and Mr. Saturday and Sixpence, who were neat people and let me bum off a couple of pizza slices. Then I crashed.

- Saturday was a whirlwind of activity. Apparently this year's Fair was just.............. full of administrative drama. Our presentation was too short, because somehow the programming director didn't learn from last year that we need more than one hour. Lunch was in the con suite. I remember very little. I know I had a nap. That night Lucretia read one of moniquill's short stories.

- Sunday was more even hectic since we had to check out and throw our bags in, and both Ay-Leen and I had back-to-back programming - she had to run off to do a fashion show after our roundtable, and I continued to moderate the roundtable until it was definitely time to have the academic panel. And at the very last comment, I had to yell at everyone to shut up and siddown and let the woman of colour have the last comment on the topic of race goddammit.

- People seemed to really enjoy my paper. I'm sorry I didn't get to hear Catherine's, but Leah Richardson's paper, connecting steampunk to Marxist critique, was terrific, just the sort of masterful theorizin' I want to do when I grow up someday.

- Also, I met Magpie Killjoy, who founded Steampunk Magazine! He plays the accordion wonderfully and is pretty hot. And just so soft-spoken and lovely and I wish I got to talk to him more. I also wish I got to talk to Jake von Slatt more. Oh cripes, I wish I got to talk to a lot more people more but didn't get a chance to. Sigh.

- Ay-Leen's friend was sick, so Jonathan Grimm, one of the event coordinators, spent a lot of time running around trying to help me, Lucretia and Ay-Leen get a room. At the end of the day, by a complete fluke, we found a couple of girls who had a room for the night, but were leaving, and had the room for one more night because they needed a nap before the drive home and didn't want the hassle of checking out that day by 12pm, so they essentially... gave us the room. For free. Ridiculous. Amazing. Then we got free Indian food. Again, ridiculous. Amazing. And free wine. (Jon Grimm ended up crashing with us later that night, too)

- Lucretia also agreed to give Professor Elemental a ride into NYC! We met up on Monday morning, repacked the car and everything, squeezed in, and went to the International House of Pancakes for breakfast. Paul (Elemental's real name) was absolutely lovely to hang out with, and I explained more indepth my postcolonial squirrel peeing on the book. He was very frank about his work (he's a special needs teacher) and about how terrible things happened in history and it was just a very lively conversation.

- In order: hanging out at Ay-Leen's, wandering downtown to meet up with Pablo and couple other Texan steampunks, meeting up with melissagrey, dinner with Lucretia, Ay-Leen, Melissa, and OMGrey (who I ran into a lot but never quite had a sit-down conversation with), ice-cream with all of them and Paul (who spent his day with comics and a desolate Coney Island).

- NYC people. It is ridiculous. I WOULD NEVER WANT TO LIVE HERE OMG. I came in during rush hour with Melissa, and as we were walking up to the exit at Grand Central, I looked at the drab gray surroundings and at the drab uniform horde of people and I felt SO FILLED WITH DESPAIR. I mean, Times Square? Seriously? What is this shit? Buncha flashing advertisements? I can find this in Malaysia, kthx. And I was told, NYC is so exciting! So much to see and do! But the museums are expensive and there aren't a whole lotta street musicians out on weekdays, so blah. Would like to see Central park again though.

- I sat in Union Square Park eating cake and drinking hot chocolate, watching the local wildlife. Then I went to the Strand, and got so exhausted within fifteen minutes (pretty much the only compelling book was a comic about a john). Then I had my interview with Don Spiro (a documentarian on the steampunk phenomenon as it's happening now) and lunch at a nearby Japanese place, and we talked for a long time more. Then I wandered around Union Square a while more before getting totally bored and heading to Melissa's workplace. She was stressed, I was exhausted just walking around doing nothing, we got home, and did a mini-celebration of her dad's birthday. Good times.

- Tomorrow, I'm going to meet a photographer dude I've been in contact with for two years now, and then it's to the Way Station to check it out like any good steampunk tourist. Thursday, I pack my shit again and head to Ay-Leen's to sleep all day before the Steampunk Bible signing and the resultant all-nighter. THEN WISCON. SO EXCITED.

Comments

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Loved your take on Peshawar Lancers; I almost want to read it now just so I can hear your voice in my head snarking at all the Fail. (I'd love to get a copy of your paper if you're willing to pass one along.)

I'll make sure to refer Leah to your post! As for my paper, I'm turning it into an article, so there will be other chances . . . Thanks for your suggestions -- Gaslight Dogs is on my list, but I'm blanking on the other one, if you happen to remember?

The big secrets are that no New Yorkers ever actually *go* to Times Square unless they have tickets to something, and most of the museums have "suggested contributions" so you can pay what you wish, although that's not something that's precisely made clear to out-of-towners.

See you at the signing on Thursday.

[spiralred.livejournal.com]

Thank you for advocating for me at the end of the panel there <3

I loved loved loved hearing all the papers, but yeah Leah Richardson's really seemed to hit the spot that day.

Meeting Magpie was awesome! (there are so many people I need to email) And yeah hot and smart and inspirational.

I'm jealous of you hanging with the Texan Steampunks, Pablo was really cool.

[holzman.livejournal.com]

Next time you come, if you like let me know and I'll be happy to put together an itinerary to show you the NYC I love.

It won't involve Times Square. Times Square exists for tourists from the midwest to step out of the Subway into, get overstimulated as quickly as possible, see a stage adaptation of a cartoon movie for about fifty bazillion times much as it's worth, get back on the subway and go the fuck home before they can get out into the rest of the city and bother us.

It will involve museums, but they'll be smaller museums and it'll be clear that the admission is a suggested donation. It'll also be a museum dedicated to something you're interested in: we have a few hundred museums.

It will involve Greenwich village, and the several tiny little parks that can be walked through for some quiet in the middle of the day. It will involve little tiny, reasonably priced restaurants whose offerings involve rice (because you've indicated that's a priority for you), rather than the "Asian fusion" crap that was all we had to work with yesterday in the culinary wasteland that is the upper east side. It will involve Queens and ten thousand secrets never experienced by people who live in NYC but think only of Manhattan when they say that.

[melissagrey.livejournal.com]

Never judge NYC by Times Square. It was made for leeching tourists of their money. Midtown Manhattan is also a business center of the city so it's not surprising that it isn't exactly the most inspiring place. It's 90% office buildings . . what else could you expect? There are loads of street musicians out on weekdays - just not in midtown. Washington Square Park and the West Village are lovely neighborhoods with loads of personality and style. I wish I could have showed you the more authentic parts of the city, but alas, work is work. It's a very big city and you saw a teeny tiny fraction in a handful of days.

[mortalwombat731.livejournal.com]

Just back in town after a long sojourn through middle America, and wanted to belatedly thank you for your kind words on my paper! (C sent me a link wayyyy back, but LJ on my phone is a pain.) I plan to expand on the topic, and maybe even on my coal miner persona, who knows!

Best of luck with your own grad work!

--Leah ^v^