Day in the Life of an Idiot

PART ONE.

 The first part of which begins like this. I'm going through my online calendar just to make sure that I have all my WorldCON panels sorted out and in the right time zone, when I look at "The Immersive Possibilities of Horror Audio" and I happen to notice...

...I'M THE MODERATOR. 

I'm pretty sure that I had checked that I didn't really want to be a moderator, but, just to be clear, I don't entirely mind. I clearly approved it? And, in many ways, I'm the perfect person to do this since I am NOT a podcast producer. Even Jennifer Brozek, who I'd initially thought was "just" an author, (like me) does a horror flash fiction podcast called Five Minute Stories.

BUT. It feels really weird to moderate a panel if you haven't at least heard of some of the work that the panelists have been involved in? So, I now have a "listening list" (like a reading list, only for podcasts) that includes: Call of Cthulhu Mystery Program, "Mother," She Wrote, The-Channel-Show, and Five Minute Shorts. One of the other people on the panel who didn't include his email seems to produce dozens of award winning podcasts of things like Murder on the Orient Express, Long Night in Egypt, etc. 

Specifically, I am supposed to be discussing the immersive possibilities, which are described thusly: Eerie, unsettling, and spooky tales are a perfect fit for audio dramas. Our panelists converse on modern horror audio dramas, like The Lovecraft Investigations, The Magnus Archives, and Old Gods of Appalachia, and how they use clever sound design, ambient audio, and other audio techniques to immerse their audiences in the world of their stories.

Audio techniques.

Wish me luck, y'all. I know jack all about audio techniques!  But, I suppose that my ignorance is where I will start. What are the basic audio techniques you might use to create atmosphere in your horror podcasts? Why are wind chimes inherently spooky and lonely sounding?

But, so that's kind of the stuff of nightmares. 

Luckily, my panel isn't until Saturday and I can spend some time listening to the various podcasts and thinking up my questions. I do also hope to talk to the panelists about the actual podcasts listed since I'm a huge fan of all of them.


PART TWO.

It's not just WorldCON that is haunting me this week. Let me just go down everything I have to do. Tonight, Monday, at 6 pm, I'm going to be attending a ConFABulous programming committee meeting that I foolishly volunteered to be part of. Actually, I did this last year, too, and it was fine. Unfortunately, I have been feeling incredibly brain dead when it comes to panel ideas for a GLBTQIA+ (mostly gaming) convention. In fact, in desperation, I looked at what is being offered at WorldCON this week, in the hopes that it might at least clue me into what the hot new queer books/podcasts/movies/TV are this year. Alas, WorldCON has a number of queer-focused panels, but.. they don't name their sources!  So, like they're going to talk about Queer Characters in YA Fiction, but they don't say, "like so-and-so in such-and-such." So, I need to spend a least part of today trying to put my finger on the pulse of what people might want to talk about at a queer gaming con. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW. 

Okay, moving on. Tuesday afternoon I have a "how to" training session for WorldCON online. I am also meeting a friend for an online chat later, but that's fun and not work. That will be the carrot to the stick, if you will. I suspect the first will be tedious, but necessary. I always attend these, if possible, because there's always some secret that they forget to tell you in their written instructions that is both obvious and easy to miss. Like, where on the right hand side of the screen the whatever button is. (And we all know how crucial the whatever button is.)

Wednesday I might have started back up with my problematic D&D group because they are running an all warlock mini-campaign, which just sounded too fun to resist. Do I want to talk about this? Maybe, but not today when I'm generally feeling overwhelmed. I promise to post about it in a filtered/locked post.

Thursday, I have my first WorldCON panel at 7:00 AM, and then, exactly twelve hours later, I host my writers' group in-person at my house. My writers group, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that we need to meet in-person again (Congratulations! There's currently a surge in COVID cases across the nation!) I agreed to this with much grumbling because 1) see above (the grumbling), and 2) there has been a lot of noise throughout the years since we had to pivot to Zoom about how hard it is for people to concentrate online, etc., etc., and despite the fact that this has never been true for me, I do believe that it's a real issue for other people and I legitimately want to respect that (the agreeing).   

May I just say? Despite this insistence, we have yet to have an in-person meeting where everyone actually shows up. At least two people have been (or will be) missing every time we do in-person meetings--we've only had one so far, and, to be fair, at least one of the absentees this time is from someone who will be in Glasgow, so I suppose I must forgive. However, I suspect this trend will continue because MOTIVATING YOURSELF TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE IS HARD. This was my number two reason for not wanting to go back to in-person. (#1 being that COVID is not over, despite how much we want to think it is.)  Luckily, I grumbled loudly enough that we are actually only meeting in-person for half of our regularly scheduled meetings. On the second Thursday of every month, we are in-person, but on the fourth Thursday we are still Zooming. I think that second bit (the Zoom meeting) will actually ensure that our group continues to actually function. We also all agreed that, should it just be easier (snow/weather emergency or what-have-you) we can just shift to Zoom. 

Who knows? Maybe I will press that button Thursday if I feel overwhelmed. 

Friday, thank god, I have nothing on. But then Saturday is my big programming day (including the one I'm moderating!) and I have one panel each, Sunday and Monday of next week. 

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!

I mean, I am actually incredibly chuffed (as one might say in the UK) about my WorldCON schedule. I'm very pleased and feel very, very lucky to be taking part in so many wonderful panels, but I like to really prepare for panels, so I am feeling like it's finals week, you know?

Okay. I'd better go off and try to figure out what the queer youth of today are up to!

 One of the exciting things that happened today that I totally forgot to mention in all my various updatery (Patreon and my newsletter) was that I was interviewed by Cat Rambo as part of the promotion they are doing around The Reinvented Heart Anthology. In a couple of days, Cat expects to have the interview with me up on the Cat Rambo Reinvented Anthology playlist. I will also absolutely drop a direct link when it goes live.

I always feel like I'm rambling? But, Cat says they will clean it up, so fingers cross that I come across vaguely human-ish. 

The interview came at a good time, at least, since I JUST (as in literal minutes earlier) finished writing the story that I'd promised Cat and crew for the next "Reinvented" anthology, called The Reinvented Detective. There is no detective in my story? Though it does deal with crime and punishment, per the submission guidelines. I love this story a lot because it is PRIME Lyda Morehouse weirdness, but I am uncertain that it will actually sell to this particularly market. We shall find out in May, one way or the other.

Other than that, I've been watching at lot of Satoshi Kon movies, actually. The Smithsonian's Museum of Asian Art is in the middle of a virtual film festival of Kon's work, and I've been taking advantage of the free access to finally catch up on Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, and a documentary of Kon's life called: Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist. My anime-turned-C-Drama friend had shown me his Paprika movie early on and I ADORED it. Paprika is 100% the kind of science fiction I strive to write. (I should probably read the novel is it based on, but I'm not sure if it's been translated. I should look.) I have not seen Kon's Paranoia Agent (which is a TV series,) but I have now picked up and read at least one of his manga, which I'll probably talk about tomorrow.  

Anyway, the virtual film festival has proved so popular that they opened up additional viewings of Perfect Blue (which I ran out an snagged a ticket for) and Tokyo Godfathers. It is a weird thing they are doing because it's free, but they make you get a ticket? I think because they are the Smithsonian/a museum, they're just trying to get a sense of how many people would attend a virtual showing, and since they have sold out, perhaps they are limited in terms of whatever they may have spent to be an official venue for these classic movies. Anyway, check them out, perhaps there are seats left: https://watch.eventive.org/satoshikon

So, that's been kind of fun.

The other thing I've been doing is finally going through a box of junk that I got as part of a stamp collection someone gave away on our neighborhood Buy Nothing group. I say junk, but it's basically a box full of envelopes with stamps on them. The stamps are all of one kind, so I am currently just harvesting them off the envelopes for eventual resale. But, occasionally, there are envelopes that have not been entirely stripped of their contents. The most interesting thing that I've found so far is a Japanese Government-Issued Peso, which was a fiat bill that was produced during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in WWII. This one is very specifically a 1942 issued ten centavos. 


Image: WEIRD bit of history found in a box of worthless stamps

I was a bit disappointed, after having read the Wikipedia article about these, that this one was not one of the counterfeit bills that the United State government printed in an attempt to destabilize Japan's occupying force. Apparently, those had specific letters printed on them and/or were actually overlaid with propaganda (and then dumped by the bucketful out of airplanes, holy shit)!  

Anyway, I also found a few letters home from 1889, of which only one is interesting because it is clearly in response to an accusation by this person's mother, who is convinced that son(?) talked dad out of an extra $200 loan (on top of the THOUSAND dad had already given him!!) What I found most amusing was the overuse of underlining, which of course made me imagine the whole thing as an ALL CAP email. :-)

The more things change, right?

Okay, I'm off. Hope you all are doing well!

 That'll be Tuesday.

Let's see, going back in time.... Thursday night was Wyrdmiths. A good meeting, actually, as always, but, for me, the best part was the stranger coming into the coffee shop wondering if anyone had a jack. Their tire had gone flat and they had a spare, but no jack. I told my compatriots at the table that if I _didn't_ have a jack my lesbian badge my get revoked. Sure enough, I had one!  Alas, it was missing all the parts (the crowbar we had was, apparently, not the original and didn't fit.)  I plan to go get a replacement tomorrow at Menards, but I was pretty darned pleased that I had the TOOLS!!!

Friday, my Canadian pen pal was scheduled to arrive... I thought at 1 pm? But, it turned out 10 am.  Unfortunately, when I got the text that her plan had landed I had already coaxed Eleanor and pegkerr out to the coffee shop. So, we had a VERY SHORT get together before I ran off to Brooklyn Park to pick up my Canadian and together we went off to the Walker.




The sun was out, but the wind was cold, so we wandered the sculpture garden a bit before heading inside to look at the exhibits. Shawn was having a crisis at work (an unfortunate regular part of her job now that she's a director, but also "Senators Try to Slash Historical Society's Budget Over a Sign,") and Mason, being an independent 15 year old, agreed to take the bus/train home so that I could spend extra time with my international visitor.  So, from the Walker, we wandered over the poetry bridge and into Loring Park. It was cold enough that we quickly zipped into the nearby Dunn Brothers and relaxed for awhile until Shawn texted. We picked her up, got caught up on all the work drama, and then went out to Dinkytown for hot pot, as a place I've been trying to get my family to go for ages, "Tasty Pot: A Taiwanese Restaurant." Unlike the usual hot pot, the bowls are pre-filled with food and it just sits and boils at your table. I had a curry hot pot, which was quite amazing. After a leisurely meal, we took a stroll around the University of Minnesota's campus.  There was some kind of "battle of the bands" that was set-up outside of Coffman Union, but we missed the show. Though we did get to hear the winners! Yay?

While I was out to eat on Friday, I thought I was missing my monthly gaming group, but luckily that was planned for Saturday. So, I sent a stupid "Aaaah! I'm not there" message only to have to write back, five seconds later, "Oh. Today is Friday. Nevermind."

Saturday, after dropping Mason off at his work (again he agreed to train home), I headed out to pick up Anna and take her to dim sum at Yangtze in St. Lous Park, which is the restaurant near the new Minicon hotel. SO. GOOD.  I need to note that I have never HAD dim sum before, anywhere, ever, so this was particularly wonderful for me. I am now going to try to convince my family that this is what I need from now on for my birthday meals and whatnot.

After delivering the leftovers back to Anna's hotel, we went off to another museum, Mia (Minneapolis Institute of Arts.) 



We spent HOURS wandering around the third floor of the Mia, and I don't think we even saw half the things on that floor. I will say that i was surprised how BUSY the Mia is these days. Maybe they're always like this on a Saturday? But, it seemed like every gallery room was filled with people milling about, students hanging out chatting, and there was just a general air of activity--though not at all in a BAD way, at least not for _me._  Perhaps because it's free all the time now? I mean, if I lived closer, I might consider hanging out there on a regular basis. 

From the Mia, we went to a cat cafe... Cafe Meow on Hennipen.  



Because of health codes, the cats actually have to be in a room completely separated from the food and drink.  We ordered our drinks and hung out until our reservation was called. Yeah, that's the other thing. You have to pay to go into the room with the cats, by the hour.  So, I left my house with three cats I can hang out with for free, to hang out in a room with cats who don't know me and who basically ignored me the whole time.  Whatever. It was still fun, because I was hanging out with my friend with cats that ignored me.

Pretty darned cute cats, though:



Then, I rushed home for an excellent gaming session, which went until 11 pm. Many Borgs were blown up. My character ran like the chicken he is. All was good.

Sunday, I got up early and drove out with coffee from Claddaugh for Anna, and we hung out until she and her mom had to get on the shuttle bus to head to the airport, It was quite a lovely time. The only bummer was that my family and i had some miscommunication about lunch, and whether or not they should wait to eat, so I came home to some hangry folks who needed food ASAP. Alas, that interfered with my weekly video chat with my folks, but we did at least get to say hello/goodbye, so all was not lost.  

Mason then announced, "Fun fact: I agreed to go help R with some pre-Calc tonight, so we've been invited to dinner at the Randalls!" So, I quick made some M&M cookies and we spent the evening chatting with R's folks about politics, National Geographic, and a host of far ranging things. Her parents are currently fans of "Mayor Pete," and even went down to South Bend the day he announced his campaign. So, we heard about all that and chatted about the state of the world (grim) and the rest. Since Mason and R broke up, we haven't had much of a chance to spend time with her folks, whom we like tremendously, so we were very glad that Mason has figured out how to remain friends (something I'm not sure I have YET learned, though to be fair, I haven't had an "ex" in several decades, so maybe I'm better at it now? I'll never know.)

Today it is rainy and dark. My big plans are to get to the store so that we can have these new homemade fried chicken patties that I recently learned to make for dinner. They come with a spicy coleslaw topping and, weirdly, my family LOVES this addition, so I have to make sure I have the right cabbage, etc.  

Ugh! So VERY busy, but very fun. 

How was your weekend???

One thing we've been noticing as we've been going along is how few families seem to still do this whole road trip thing. We seem to be throwbacks, dragging our child across the country. Do people still do this?

I should say, clearly, people still do, but they all seem to be retirees, no children. There were hardly any groups that included children, unless they were Native American. We saw several Native American families all traveling together.  (Also, the majority of tourists in these places seem to be white.)

Today, however, was one of the few days I regretted this idea. We saw some pretty amazing things, which I'll get to in a moment, but we spent a lot of time on the road. Worse, we kept hitting road construction that was more than a slowdown through some orange cones. We'd come to a full stop and then have to wait for a "Follow Me: Pilot Vehicle." This was frustrating as heck, though occasionally it meant that I had time to frame a kind of lovely-in-its-starkness photo.



I call this, "Lonely Fence Post."

We also legitimately came across sections of road in Wyoming that had been sloppily paved over and a road sign that read, "Road Damage." My family and I spent some quality time trying to figure out if it was more expensive to print up the sign and mark the road or to actually fix it. Obviously, Wyoming Department of Transportation figured the signs were cheaper.

The interstate driving was really, really dull through much of the state. I kept saying, "Well, there are some horses. We must still be in Wyoming." A lot of it looked like this, only more desolate:

The nice surprise was the Big Horn Mountains. Shawn had done some research (naturally) and found us a highway that was rated safe for RVs. Shawn had found a blog and a video of people in an RV driving over one of these stretches (maybe Beartooth?) and we kept repeating what the blogger had said anytime we went down any grade as steep as 7 percent, which was, "My wife was on the floor... crying." (Their experience was apparently much steeper and their brakes were burning out.) We didn't have anything like that, but it was pretty exciting driving through this:



We would pass signs that would tell us which era of rocks were exposed. There was a lot of "Pre-Cambrian" and "Lower Cretaceous." At one point, after a particularly long and arduous "Follow Me" truck construction zone, we decided to stop at a roadside diner called "The Meadowlark Resort," just outside of the town of Ten Sleep. The diner had a poster of Robert Taylor as Walt Longmire from the TV show Longmire/books by Craig Johnson. Apparently, the nearby town of Buffalo was an inspiration for the novelist. The only reason that was particularly striking to us is that Shawn and I, who loved the show, had started thinking about the fact that the landscape must be very similar to the faux Absaroka County that Longmire is the supposed sheriff of.



It was good to sit and have a real meal, something we've been neglecting this whole trip. We've been subsisting on road food and things we've packed like trail mix, chips, beef jerky, and granola bars. A real omelet made by an actual short order cook was just the ticket. It probably added a half hour to our day, but I regret nothing.

Except all that interstate driving. The interstate was hideously boring. I kind of wanted to claw my eyes out after driving for hours and hours along the interstate. The only good thing about the interstate was that the speed limit was 80.

Eventually, we got to Devil's Tower. Or, at least the turn off for Devil's Tower. Devil's Tower was made famous for my entire generation by the mashed potato scene in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." There was, of course, another "Follow Me" truck on the way to Devil's Tower. Also, the guidebooks lie. This is not a quick jaunt off the highway, this is a legitimate detour WAY THE HECK OUT. However, it is classic:



The gift store would sell you aliens.

Also, because I could no longer take the Interstate, I insisted on a detour through "ANYTHING PRETTY." So we took off on 14-A towards the Black Hills National Forest. This also took us through Sundance, Sturgis, Leads, and Deadwood.



The Black Hills National Forest was really amazing, but Mason was starting to lose it in the back and said, "OMG, it's just more rocks and trees. Shoot me now!"



As you can see, he's not wrong. We were getting pretty punchy by this point, too, and Shawn was snapping photos by sticking the camera out of our sunroof.  We got some surprisingly good shots that way.

Then, finally, we made it to the hotel!  I was super-ready to be here. Our only concern at this point is, do we really want to spend the next several days DRIVING AROUND???!!  Ask me tonight and my answer would be: no $%!@ing way.  I'm going to guess that tomorrow, I'll be all, "Pack up the car, we're on the road!"

We have to AT LEAST see Mount Rushmore.