Philcon panelling

[lagilman]

So much for a slow-paced, leisurely Philcon... *grin*


Fri 10:00 pm People Eating People ("mooom! There's nothing for dinner!")
Sat 11:00 am Care and Feeding of the "Monkey Mind"
Sat 12:00 pm Arrgh Matey - Pirates as Heroes
Sat 2:00 pm Media Tie-Ins, Novelizations, and Franchises
Sat 4:00 pm Writers Living Amongst the Normals
Sun 12:00 pm The Anthology I've Always Wanted to Edit
Sun 2:00 pm When Should an Author Self-publish? (oh, that's a gonna be fun)

Comments

[kefiraahava.livejournal.com]

Looks like some of my college class schedules.(wry grin) Hope it's fun!

Although I have to say, (rant mode enabled--skip rest of post if rant bores you (grin))

I've always been very irked by the "normals" and "mundanes" thing. Maybe because my day jobs have--except for the seven-year exile in CT--been in fields that were NOT publishing- or SF-related. I got very tired of going to cons and hearing people like my co-workers sneered at as "mundanes" just because they didn't read SF. I pointed out icily to one woman that =I= was a "mundane" too, after all; I read SF, but I worked outside publishing/SF. "Oh, no, YOU'RE not one of THEM."

I told her attitudes like that were in my experience a large part of why people in the outside-SF world sneered at SF. Plus that IMHO =nobody= had the right to cop attitude like that because it was insulting both when used against people in the SF field AND against people outside the field. And also in my experience, people who felt insulted by comments and sneers like that managed to get =even= for it.

And I had a LOT of experience when I said that: I was a financial aid officer at the time. We took similar flak from students/parents who considered us Stupid for being Just Bureaucrats and not Creative Artistes. I got lines like "Are you people THAT stupid? How long does it take you to scratch your heads and write down a few numbers?"--this when talking about certifying a loan app the parent hadn't bothered to submit until the day of registration.

I would get angry, but I never yielded to the temptation to get even with parents/students for that kind of garbage. Wouldn't have been ethical for me to do so. But, I saw colleagues at other schools who got angry and =did= get even--and the students/parents never realized they were paying the price for their attitude problem. I'm not saying I approve or it's ethical or I'd do it...but I understand why they did it.

So I always find myself more on the side of the "mundanes" and "normals" than on the side of the SF people who like to use those terms. Mileage varies.

(rant mode disabled)

[lagilman]

Actually, if I remember correctly, that panel is about being married to a non-writer, non-fan. Which is a slightly different use of the term "normal."

And, anyway, they are different. Or we're different. Just like rabid sports fans are different ("They are not of the body. They do not know Tailgate.") And if you get that reference you're a geek too! *grin*

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

I am emphatically not a Rabid Sports Fan, but even I know Tailgate.

Badger, who went to one-exactly-one-count-it-ONE football game in college, and only then to be able to tell her father that yes, she went, and yes, she hated it

[lagilman]

Meant the Trek reference, actually. But yeah, there are some souls out there who do not understand the concept of "tailgate." *shaking head* Very strange. Why do they think we have sports in the first place, if not to tailgate?

(in New York City [also the boroughs] you can't tailgate. This explains in one what's wrong with sports in NYC. Also why the Giants and Jets play in NJ)

[kefiraahava.livejournal.com]

Difference is cool. Not gainsaying difference. Just don't like EITHER side being obnoxious and sneering.

I didn't get the Trek reference, but you betcha I got the OTHER reference.(grin) I have not the opportunity to tailgate that I would like, alas. It's probably fortunate. Since I'm probably worse at a tailgate than watching football on TV, and none of you have ever seen me watch football on TV. I am a born-and-bred-dammit-was-living-there-during-The-Perfect-Season-Dolfan. (Aka Miami Dolphins, for those who need explanation.(grin)) I even remember my mother NOT objecting to people dancing on our CAR after that Super Bowl...

But my mother taught me to watch football on TV in the following manner: scream at both good and bad plays, pray loudly for referees' oft-failing sight to be restored, call down imprecations and express wishes for massive injuries to opposing players (to be miraculously healed after the game, of course--we didn't really want them HURT, but off the ##$%@ field), and so forth. This was another of the many things my ex found...inappropriate.(eye roll)

I look forward to finding a man who LIKES a woman who can watch football and scream at the TV just as passionately as a man. But I won't inflict my watching habits on my poor unsuspecting friends.(grin)

[lagilman]

Lesley,

You will enjoy the Superbowl party. Oh yes you will...

(Please. Remember who I live with? Mr. "If I call him an @**!%^$ enough times he'll start making better plays"?)

[kefiraahava.livejournal.com]

You mean "If I call him a @**!%^$ enough times he'll start making better plays" DOESN'T work? But...but...but...(grin)

Are we all going to CARE what teams are playing this year? I'm too superstitious during the regular season to check the standings so I don't know how Miami's doing.(grin) Mind you, being a good guest, I'm perfectly happy to root for whoever your personal favorite is, so long as they're not playing Miami. Except for Buffalo. I can NEVER root for the Bills. It would betray my Miami-fan heritage.(grin)

[lagilman]

Our personal favorite couldn't even get tickets to the Superbowl.

*sigh*


And we won't mind if you insist on rooting for the Fish. So long as you don't ever root for Dallas...

[kefiraahava.livejournal.com]

The future ex is a Dallas fan. Now, I know it's not THEIR fault...

But 'nuff said, right?(evil grin)

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I got "People Eating People" too. [puts on anthropologist hat]