This is my third day at Torcon. Once again I didn’t set my alarm, and once again I woke up with plenty of time to shower, groom (that is an odd word, groom – I feel like I should licking my paw and swiping it behind my left ear), dress, get a muffin and coffee for desert, and make it to a 10 AM panel.
Not too shabby.
I decided to try something new today. All along I’ve been going to panels about things I already know about and have strong opinions on. Today, while I was walking towards the convention center, I resolved to take in some panels about topics that I might learn something from, but aren’t of my primary interest.
So I’m going to take some of the writing panels. I’m writing a lot on my blog, as you can tell, and I have written a couple of stories and wonder if I have ability in me. That is why I’m here, at…
10 AM: The Publisher’s and Editors’ View on “What Sells?”
I hope you don’t mind if I take notes here.
Wow, what a packed room!!
Obviously, when you write something that sells today, it won’t be selling tomorrow.
First panelist. Right now, large scale male driven quest fantasy is selling (ex: Robert Jordan). The coming thing is Romantic Fantasy. Heck, a romance publisher is publishing fantasy writers, not romance writers, in this area (like Mercedes Lackey). Also selling is the conceptionally intelligent space opera.
Second panelist. Something they haven’t seen before or something they have seen but done exceptionally well. (Well, duh.) Main complaint: a lacking of stories that take place more than after the day after tomorrow. Is anyone doing the far future novels (like Corwainder Smith)? People aren’t doing that.
Third panelist. Books are still outselling magazines. Fantasy outselling science fiction. Horror shows occasional signs of life, like it has been for a while. Young adult fantasy is huge, thanks to Harry Potter, where SF was in the 70’s and 80’s. They get more fantasy and horror than SF, and more SF set in today than in the far future, and not enough humor.
Fourth panelist. They get way more fantasy and SF. Set further ahead than three years from now that isn’t a techno-thriller.
For some reason, they started talking about book and magazine covers. In one magazine, when Star Wars was put on the cover, that issue sold more copies than the rest of the magazine for that year combined. Hierarchy of book covers, started at lower: people on a planet standing there, something happening on the planet, then ships blowing up in space.
They’ve spent twenty minutes on art. I figured this would be more about what writers could give them. Although, I suppose, I did get that answer. Oooh, I have an idea on how to get story elements about the future.
Of course, write what you are best at. And it can take two and a half years before you get published (after you get your book finished). Readers can sense sincerity. So if you can fake that…
The most successful writers are the ones who really want to tell their kind of stories. Make sure it is the story you really want to sell.
They are seeing far too many stories about death, dead returning to life, or as zombies. Another bad theme: the “oh poor me” story. Might be a reflection of the economy – we write what we know. They can tell when the writer has not read anything outside of the SF/Fantasy genre.
Amazing, I got some good information from this panel!! Of course, the story idea I got yesterday was one that would take place today. Ah well. I might write it anyway, just for practice.
11 AM: my panel:
Title: The Computerization of, Well, Everything
Day: Sat Time: 1100
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 201ABCD
Description: Finance, industry, the military (soon to include authorization to pull the metaphorical trigger). Car engines, voting machines (don't get us started), watches, artificial limbs, scooters, vacuum cleaners. Does rampant computerization ever stop? And if not, what will be left for puny humans to do?
Panellists: John Bartley, Charles Cohen, Karl Schroeder, Mark Van Name
Holy crap! The moderator of the panel, John Bartley, was this mega-libertarian. He actually started off by talking, for ten full minutes, about RF ID tagging and how that was going to destroy our privacy and society.
He talked in that slow…plodding…droning voice…where he tells you to do…exactly…what…he…says…so…we…will…all…be…safe. I actually had to cut him off so the rest of us could start speaking. He insulted Republicans in his first statement, and gee, those cheap shots tell me that he will really be open minded about this topic – not.
Feh.
I like Mark van Name more and more. He also seems Libertarian, but he is a moderate and promotes the joining of activist groups so that you can get your voice heard. He did say if you don’t vote, then you really have no right to complain.
We talked about many subjects. I brought up the DARPA My Day project (or as Patrick puts it, the Brain Tivo), as well as facial recognition in public places. We talked about credit fraud and directed advertising. As many people wanted directed advertising as those who didn’t.
One fellow wanted companies to know that he wanted a new product, because then they would all bid to sell him what he wants and he, as the consumer, would win.
Schroeder was the only writer on the group, and one of his themes was what if every object in the world, through the magical device of nanotechnology, was tagged so you could know everything about it, and how it relates to everything else. You could walk up to a piece of furniture and tell who made it, who it was made, its cost, all the warranties. Or you could walk up to a plant and learn everything about it by interacting with the information database stored on the attached nanotech. I thought of it as having Google results about everything, everywhere, all the time.
Except for the moderator, this was a fun discussion, but I’m not sure if anyone learned anything new.
Afterwards two of my cousins (on Elaine’s side) introduced themselves. I’ll hopefully be seeing them later in the gaming room!
Noon: Writing a Good Science Fiction or Fantasy Story
Hmm, these panelists don’t seem to know what they want to talk about. The gave up even explaining what good characters are. Now they are asked what a good story is. Quoted from Ben Bova (not on this panel): A narrative description of a character trying to solve a problem. Not a bad description.
I’m getting bored.
I’ve found it interesting that the very attractive women here don’t usually dress in costume. They dress in a very hot styles and fashions – usually dresses and jewelry.
I’ve not seen many attractive men. Many are old. The young ones have long hair and beards, but not like most men in the SCA. The beards are…well, odd to my eyes. Extra hair at odd places, no hair at others.
What is surprising me is that most people aren’t in costume. When I went to conventions…oh dear, 25 years ago, we went in costume all the time. Now maybe 2% are in costume. I’m not in costume, and I don’t really have any desire to do so.
We are talking about the story of Cinderella, using that as an example of good and bad elements in the story. At least, how it could be changed to give it bad elements.
I’m looking forward to my next panel! I wonder why I’m not hungry.
1 PM: my panel:
Title: The Future of War
Day: Sat Time: 1300
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 202ABCD
Description: Attrition warfare with men and machines is fast becoming as obsolete as smokestack industry. If the ultimate goal of war is to destroy your enemy's will to resist, what shall we have at our disposal to wage war in the future?
Panellists: Paul Chafe, Charles Cohen, Joe Haldeman, Patrick McGuire, Andrea B. Novin
Well, that was fun! Since no one else cared to, I got to moderate. I sat next to Joe Haldeman, and he asked me the first question, which was about FCS (Future Combat Systems). I gave him an earful. I let him know I was a bit biased on the subject, but everyone seemed interested.
I didn’t know that Haldeman was in the Vietnam War. I knew he was in one, but not which one. He had killed around a dozen men, and was exposed to Agent Orange. It does explain how he is able to write stories about soldiers so well.
The conclusions of the talk were basically that it would be impossible to predict the future of war. Novin, an historian, reminded us that no one has ever been able to predict what the next battle would be, or even adequately prepare for it.
It was stressed that unless a soldier could carry the equipment, he wouldn’t, so it had better be lightweight. And easy to use. It almost seems that a soldier needs a Ph.D. to run all the equipment they are expected to carry. Most of them just say that it is broken (and break it if no one believes them) and do without.
One of the biggest problems is electronic warfare. That is, just a bunch of electromagnetic pulses (created by non-nuclear devices) would take out many of our weapons, as well as our communication infrastrucure.
Another odd idea would be to deny space to everyone. Just launch a bunch of small ball bearings into orbit. You’d need a lot of them, but then no satellite would be able to survive.
Youch.
I got to talk to Haldeman at the end, which was nice.
2 PM. Nothing…better grab some food. I still wasn’t starving, but I’m sure I needed fuel. I got some Chinese, and they gave me a ton of it. I’ve been eating really cheaply, which is a Very Good Thing.
3 PM: Storytelling From the Inside Out.
This workshop ended up being for children, but I still had fun. We basically spent the time role-playing the Peter Pan story. I’m not going to tell you what part I played, it is too easy. (Shut up, Shawn.) All in all, it is a technique I could use to entertain at Court if needed.
4PM: The Multiple Implications of Teleportation on Society.
Okay, I couldn’t help it, I backslid. I adore the idea of teleportation. I made that one of my first wishes on my wishlist! It was the one of the first spells I learned in the “You As You Are” campaign. Like a moth to a flame I was drawn to this.
“I’m Harry Harrison, and if you haven’t read any of my works, you’re illiterate!”
“Knowledge about the soul is an area where experimental data is extremely lacking.”
I should look up Wil McCarthy’s books, as he writes about this subject (Collapsium and The Wellstone)
5 PM: Bathroom break. Yes, I brought a book with me.
6 PM: my panel:
Title: Schools of the 21st Century: What Schools Should Teach
Day: Sat Time: 1800
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104A
Description: The core skill for future-proofing is learning itself. Do you agree or disagree with the following quotes? "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." --Plutarch "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." --Alvin Toffler
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Jim Kelly, Paul Levinson, Hayden Trenholm, Pat York
Here are some bits and pieces of things people (panelists and the audience) said.
This was probably one of the most lightly attended of my session. Fifty people, which isn’t bad, but not a packed crowd.
“Why is there no museum of education? Because we are still using everything.”
Teach integrity!
Schools used to have a factory like aspect, whereas now a days it is a bit better. Modern schools are more like cube farms – groups are expected to function independently, with thinking skills, and adopted techniques from gifted skills.
Need problem skills, but more so, problem seeking skills. How do we know what to ask about?
Information literacy…for example, using The Onion as a source.
Plato was the first recorded educator who said “standards are falling.”
Today, a vast majority of people can read or write, and that is much better than it was before (in North America, of course).
Find new and creative ways to access the knowledge, and to use it. Creative thinking, discern truth from fiction, and to validate reality and what others say and write.
The next thing kids are learning is communication. Like with people who are in different areas, etc. Communication is the big technology of today.
Learning how to talk is important, but probably something taught by parents since that happens at year one or so.
We were focusing a bit much on tech, so we tried to go back to what should or could be taught.
Teach that contrary opinions are the bedrock of society. Learn about criticism. Elicit ideas from students, promote them to think.
Perhaps a tiered educational system. One for people who just want the basic education, and more for those who want more. It might mean the death of teaching things like spelling. Start the “give a damn school.” Where students, teachers, and parents all give a damn. If they don’t, that is fine, but then don’t push them into that full education.
Knowledge, going from romance to precision. We seem to not instill a love of learning, because we focus on the end product. One solution: the openness process. Bring in other experts to show the connections between things, like numbers and nature. Show how art creativity is the same as scientific creativity, etc.
You can teach the basics to everyone, but you can’t teach the basics the same way to everyone.
Someone brought up rectitude of reason. Make sure things are connect to each other at a higher level
Well, this was a pretty fun panel! There were 70 people by the time we were done. In an hour we couldn’t solve the worlds problems, but it was a very interesting discussion. Patricia York was my favorite panelist. She has over 25 years of teaching experience, and sounds like my friend Claire, another teacher with a lot of experience. It was amazing – their voices and tonal inflections were very similar!
After grabbing a quick dinner, I decided that, instead of going to parties that I’m not having fun at (and, quite frankly, no one seems to be having fun at – I think I’d have better luck hunting unicorns than finding those mythical fun parties), I’m going to game until the gaming room closes at 11 PM, then if I’m awake, hunker down in one of the filk rooms, listen and enjoy, and play on my computer with the volume turned off.
(later)
I’m awake. I had fun playing a game called Frag, by Steve Jackson Games. It is a board game where you are, well, playing a computer first person shooter game. John van R. will love it!
And I’m in the filk room, and it is pretty nice.
One filk was a B5 one called “Beyond the Rim” to the tune of “Under the Sea.”
There is a group here that I may buy their CD. They are a lot of fun doing some interesting media filk.
It is 1 AM…I heard tons of good songs, but I’m old, and can’t stay up all night like I used to. Night everyone.
This is my second day at Torcon. I did something odd. I didn’t set an alarm or take a wakeup call. I just decided to see if I’d wake up on my own.
And I did. At almost 8 AM.
I was amazed. I didn’t oversleep, even though I was up until 1 AM.
I had a breakfast of coffee (and yes, they have decaf in Canada) and a muffin, and I was on my way.
10 AM: Remembering Isaac Asimov. This was fun, if remembering the dead is fun. Hal Clement and Fred Pohl were on this panels, and all of them had some fantastic stories about Asimov. For example, when he finally was shown Saturn through a telescope, the first words out of his mouth were, “What do you know, it really does have rings!”
11 AM: Does the Scientific Method make Science Work. This was a panel that I wanted to be on but wasn’t chosen for. I’m not really disappointed, as the panel was good and I don’t think I would have added anything. One piece of information that disturbed me greatly was that, apparently, the government and companies have certain companies they use when they want a project to fail or to be really delayed. So…how do I get those kind of contracts??
Noon: my panel:
Title: The Year in Review: Computer Technology
Day: Fri Time: 1200
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104B
Description: Computer Technology changes so rapidly, even the experts must work to keep pace. Come hear about the new, the exciting and where all of this could lead.
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Daniel Dern, Marcel Gagne, Daniel Grotta, Mark Van Name
Yes, Marcel was on a panel with me again. We didn’t fight this time. Mark van Name was very cool, and we basically talked about current trends. I was the only one who talked about current research and the near future.
The two technology toys that I brought from Cybernet were a big hit (the inertial map control system and the handheld map system). Many people tried out the tech, and came up afterwards to talk to me. A writer for PC magazine took my card and wants to interview me later. Hopefully that will happen! Other writers asked for my card also and want to pick my brains out gesture recognition.
Oh, I did mention my gesture work that might be used by television stations to control weather maps. That got a great response. I just hope it works and sells!
1 PM: If This Goes On: A Look at USA 2008. S.M. Sterling was on this panel, and oh my goodness, he is exactly as I pictured him from his writing. I still like his writing and hope he continues to write, but wow is he opinionated! Anyway, this panel discussed fears that the US might turn into a fascist state, etc. Hmm, then again, Sterling felt that the pendulum would swing back the other way eventually, unless a nuke gets dropped on us, and then we’d have other problems to worry about. It was a nice happy panel … not.
2 PM: Genetically Engineering Pets. Nancy Kress is cool. I highly recommend her books, staring with Beggars in Spain. Anyway, most people in the audience would want to genetically modify their pets if it were to cure physical problems and other minor things like making them less prone to provoking allergy attacks. I was in this group. Half would go for more extreme forms of genetic modification. I wasn’t in this group. Oh, interesting fact: thanks to breeding, and unfortunate side effect is that many times the Manx cat is born without a rectum. Ewwww. Oh, by the way, Larry Niven was on this panel. He didn’t snore too loudly when he fell asleep.
3 PM: Food! I found the cheap food court across the street. There I discovered that Mr. Sub is way way way below Subway in quality. Ah well.
4 PM: Fantasy Economics. This was fun to listen to, but I don’t think I got much out of it. Basically, in a magical world, the only things that have value are scarce items. Okay, in any world that is the case. (Apparently we now have a method for producing diamonds that can’t be distinguished from ones coming out of the ground. Therefore, in a few years, the price of diamonds should plummet.) So if you have magic available, there needs to be some limitations or else 1) the game won’t be fun, or 2) the book will be boring. Did you know that Ed Greenwood has written over 146 books? He writes AD&D books. 146. Sheesh. Eight more will be out by the end of the year. Sheesh.
5 PM on.
I had an hour until the next panel I thought I’d go to, so I decided to check out the dealer’s room. It was kinda boring. All books, and with the internet, I don’t need to buy books at SF cons. There were some jewelry dealers, but I didn’t see anything fun for Elaine (or me for that matter). At least I know where the autographs are.
I didn’t feel like going to any more panels, so I wandered to the game room. I had a pretty good time. I played, um…can’t spell it, Casscarde (lost), then two games of Cattan (won, and lost). Pretty good time.
I think I forgot to eat dinner. It is 9 PM now and I’m at the Firefly panel (why did Firefly fail where Angel succeeded). This panel is very silly. They are already blaming Fox.
Ack! I overheard three people say this:
“Josh gave his life for this [Firefly] Show!”
“He is a genius!”
“You don’t argue with a genius!”
ACK!
(later)
I’m now waiting for my scan from the Illudium LX-23 Brain Modulator. The doctor isn’t in yet.
Hopefully you will all be proud of me. I got a drink from a very sexy woman in a cute halter and skirt outfit, and then I mingled. I talked with a number of people, a couple of them for twenty minutes at a time. I’m not sure what I talked about.
In all honesty, most people seemed to be just wandering from party to party not knowing what to do and looking for people they recognized from wandering last year.
I have seen some interesting sites, though. I saw a great Centauri costume (the fellow was 7’ tall though, which is jarring is Lando and Vir seem quite short).
I saw a wonderful Honor Harrington costume. I don’t think it was her, but it was that universe. The captain’s uniform, complete with white beret, the Gryphon crest of the Manticore Kingdom, and other parts of the universe.
A couple of chicks from Galaxy Quest.
An unfortunate woman in full chain-mail bikini and such…who didn’t look happy at all.
Several men and women who look like Cumara.
Still waiting for the doctor, but I thinking of blowing this place. The good news is that with all the free food in the suites, I’m not to concerned about missing dinner, although having that first drink on an empty stomach was probably a mistake.
(later)
Apparently I’m thinking about rhinos mating. I’m not sure what that means.
I saw Duff Man, from The Simpsons.
I wandered around some more, but quite honestly, I don’t think this is my scene. I could either listen to filk or go get some sleep, and I decided that sleep was better. Tomorrow night I’ll hang out in the filk lounges and see how that has changed since the last time, years ago, that I did that.
Three panels tomorrow!!
Well, I’m here at Worldcon! Thanks to the free internet café, which not only has computers, but extra lines for geeks like me who carry around their computers, I can read my email and update my blog. So, why am I here on a computer and not partying? Read on…
I left at around 9 AM. There was literally no line in crossing the border at Canada. They asked a lot of questions, but all in all it took me a total of 7 minutes, which was great. I made fantastic time to Toronto, and then…I got lost.
Majorly lost.
In the middle of Toronto, I hit traffic jams, wrong turns, and when I finally found the expressway I wanted to be on, I could get on in the right direction. It took me three separate exits before I found the south bound one.
Then the final directions were wrong, so I had to guess to find my hotel.
But I made it by 2:30. I had reached Toronto at 1:45. Oh well, I still had plenty of time.
Oh, and parking is costing me $25/day (Canadian, of course). Yuck.
I got my room, looks nice, then went back downstairs to find the actual convention center.
On the elevator was a woman with a TorCon badge.
“Are you going to the convention?” I ask.
“I’m going to down to the lobby.”
“I know that, I meant are you heading on over the science fiction convention.”
“*mumble mumble*”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. I don’t know how to get there, but since you registered, would you mind showing me?”
She walks quickly out of the elevator and out the lobby.
Nice.
Another group exits the elevator, with tags, and they happily show me where to go and walk me straight to registration.
Much nicer.
I went to a class on Beauty (in an age where you might one day be able to change your looks at will through nanotech). I was hoping my friend Sarah was there (she used to be in the SCA and started Bedlam). She was on the panel, but I guess she couldn’t make it.
Then I had my first panel:
Title: Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Sentience?
Day: Thu Time: 1700
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104B
Description: AI or AS -- what's the difference? Can we have one without the other? Which would we prefer? Perhaps we should be questing instead for Artificial Stupidity, the ability to get the expected result most of the time with limited resources...
Panellists: Andrew Burt, Charles Cohen, Julie Czerneda, Marcel Gagne, Bill Taylor
So, all of them did show up. Marcel talked and talked and talked. He was actually kinda fun. He felt that it would be impossible for a sentient AI to develop. I disagreed just as strongly, and we had a really good time debating.
Even better was something he said that got me a-thinkin’.
I contend that our behaviors and intelligence are driven by our primal needs and reactions. We react to pain and pleasure. One step of from that is the need for food and sex. That is mainly what drives us. (And sex encompasses companionship, friendship, all relations, etc., but essentially, we are driven as a species, on the whole, to reproduce, and to live).
Okay, so, given that, I’ve always wondered that if an AI became sentient, what would its drives be? Would they be different from humans, and if so, what kind of intelligence would be derived from that?
But here is another interesting thing. We build AI systems (and robots) to perform certain tasks or to solve certain problems. If we succeed, we’d probably still say that we don’t have AI, because they would be limited in scope.
Very well. Then what problem would you think up to solve that would require an AI with human level cognitive reasoning to solve? Is it even possible to define such a problem so we can program? In other words, what are we trying to solve where sentience is the solution?
And that is why Marcel feels that AI is impossible. I still disagree, but I need to think on that.
Another cool idea came from the audience. In AI systems and in robotics, we are incorporating more and more fault tolerant systems and behaviors. Such fault tolerant systems might be the beginnings of emergent behavior that leads to AI’s developing self-preservation behaviors.
Crap. That idea scares me, because I think that it would work.
My next session was…hmm, not on my original list. It was:
Robots Learn to Shoot: The Use of Robots in a Military Role.
Only two others showed up. One of a military guy in the Canadian Army who does a lot of tech stuff. The other was a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. So we had a soldier, a scholar, and a researcher. Very cool.
We discussed how the military isn’t allowing robots (and UCAVs, etc.) to have final determination over pulling the trigger. That is, a human has to decide to launch the missile or drop the bomb. It will probably stay that way for a long time.
Most of the audience wanted know when we would have Terminators, and who was researching it. We pointed out that we are all researching the pieces, but there are major hurdles (like fuel cell density) that need to be solved before we can even consider building one.
The main discussion items were interesting stories about military research. I told some fun DARPA stories (current and past), as well as some other fun research things that I’ve noticed. Ask me about them in person sometime.
After that talk there were two people who were discussing this stuff we me, so I suggested we have dinner together. One guy has the same last name as me, and, get this, he runs around a dozen porn sites and rakes in two million a year. He employs a dozen people, so he isn’t rolling in dough, but he’s obviously doing well. He basically stumbled onto doing this by accident, which is odd itself. Basically, a friend put his stories on a web page, but because the stories were good and free, he was getting billed for the huge amount of bandwidth he used. So he got some friends together who had similar sites and put up an additional charged site (for $30/year, which is cheap) with all new content every week. And thus a business is born.
I went to another panel at 9 PM about R&D in a magic society, and that was fun to listen to. There I met and talked with Ed Greenwood of AD&D fame. He was cool, in a geeky sort of way.
After that I tried walking around to a few parties, but I guess I wasn’t in the mood. I went to three of them, stood there not knowing anyone, and left. I need to try to insert myself into conversations, but right now I didn’t feel like it.
So, it is after 11 now, and I’m exhausted. I think I’ll go to my room and relax before going to bed. My panel tomorrow isn’t until Noon, so I’ll have plenty of time.
I’m speaking at Worldcon, the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, at the end of this month. Here is a list of the panels I’m going to speak on, and some comments.
***
Title: Schools of the 21st Century: What Schools Should Teach
Day: Sat Time: 1800
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104A
Description: The core skill for future-proofing is learning itself. Do you agree or disagree with the following quotes? "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." --Plutarch "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." --Alvin Toffler
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Jim Kelly, Paul Levinson, Hayden Trenholm, Pat York
***
Wow, I just realized that they spelled ‘panelists’ wrong in every entry. Anyway, some of the SBIR work I do with the government is in the area of education. I’ve also done a number of sessions with students over the years, from grade school to college, so I do have an opinion on this topic. And since I am a science guy, pushing information, teaching, schools, and learning is the only way we will continue to have more science guys and gals. I won’t need any preparation for this one.
***
Title: The Future of War
Day: Sat Time: 1300
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 202ABCD
Description: Attrition warfare with men and machines is fast becoming as obsolete as smokestack industry. If the ultimate goal of war is to destroy your enemy's will to resist, what shall we have at our disposal to wage war in the future?
Panellists: Paul Chafe, Charles Cohen, Joe Haldeman, Patrick McGuire, Andrea B. Novin
***
Yay yay yay!!! I get to be on a panel with Joe Haldeman, author of The Forever War!! YAY!!!
Most of my work is in warfare systems, such as Future Combat Systems, J-STARS and the like. I’ll probably talk mostly about UCAVs and the automation of forces. Should be a fun topic. If I bring my laptop, all the notes I will need are already on there.
***
Title: Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Sentience?
Day: Thu Time: 1700
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104B
Description: AI or AS -- what's the difference? Can we have one without the other? Which would we prefer? Perhaps we should be questing instead for Artificial Stupidity, the ability to get the expected result most of the time with limited resources...
Panellists: Andrew Burt, Charles Cohen, Julie Czerneda, Marcel Gagne, Bill Taylor
***
This is an easy one. I wake up many nights screaming from nightmares about this topic because I think about it too much. And yes, I do believe we will have Artificial Sentience. It is just a matter of time. But I don’t think we will recognize right away, and I don’t think it will hunt us down and kill us. No preparation (needed for the talk).
***
Title: The Computerization of, Well, Everything
Day: Sat Time: 1100
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 201ABCD
Description: Finance, industry, the military (soon to include authorization to pull the metaphorical trigger). Car engines, voting machines (don't get us started), watches, artificial limbs, scooters, vacuum cleaners. Does rampant computerization ever stop? And if not, what will be left for puny humans to do?
Panellists: John Bartley, Charles Cohen, Karl Schroeder, Mark Van Name
***
Oooh, I’m so looking forward to this one. Gloves will come off if anyone takes an anti-technology slant, stating that we will become mindless peons in the computer world. They said this back in good old Ben Franklin’s time, and it wasn’t true then either. No preparation needed.
***
Title: The Year in Review: Computer Technology
Day: Fri Time: 1200
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 104B
Description: Computer Technology changes so rapidly, even the experts must work to keep pace. Come hear about the new, the exciting and where all of this could lead.
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Daniel Dern, Marcel Gagne, Daniel Grotta, Mark Van Name
***
I did this last year, by myself. So with four people and less time, I won’t have to say much at all. I’ll be bringing some Cybernet demos to show off, and talk about other work we are doing. Minimal preparation to make sure I know how to run all the demos.
***
Title: The Economics of Innovation
Day: Sun Time: 1000
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 203BD
Description: Sometimes what seems like a brilliant idea really isn't, when the true cost of implementation is considered vs. other options. This panel will try, once and for all, to drive a stake in the heart of the so-called "solar power satellite", but will also discuss what advances or breakthroughs are needed for other ideas to become economically feasible.
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Cory Doctorow, Tom Doherty, Richard Lynch
***
Um….we will??? I think I need to do a little research on this.
***
Title: Stump the Scientists - Interactive Panel
Day: Sun Time: 1600
Duration: 60
Room: CC: 103A
Description: Kids ask questions the experts may not be able to answer
Panellists: Charles Cohen, Julie Czerneda
***
This is going to be tons of fun. I’ve done this before, and kids are just very smart and insightful at times. Instead of just answering questions, I hope to be able to draw them out and get them talking about what they think about science and technology.
Well, should be a fun few days in Toronto, although I’m incredibly sick of traveling. My last talk is over at 5 PM on Sunday. I’m driving home that night, which means I’ll probably make it home before 11 PM, even with stopping for food. That gives me Monday off to relax and spend some time with family.
It will be fun sitting in on some of the other talks too. What will be odd is that I’m going alone. It has been a while since I’ve done that. Wish me good luck.
I’m back from the Pennsic War and exhausted. Literally. Today we spent from 7 AM until 9 PM manning a booth at a conference, and I’m not sure how worth it the work was. Yes, that is fourteen hours. As I’ve said before, when I travel for work, I don’t get to sight see. I’m literally going to go to bed as soon as this is uploaded.
As you probably know, Pennsic was very wet, then very hot, and on the last day it threatened to be both. Nevertheless, I did have a good time. Not the best time in the world, but I am glad I went. On the other hand, I probably would have enjoyed staying home too. Sleeping sounds really nice.
For those of you who care, I now present to you a summary of my activities. For those of you who don’t care … wait, you wouldn’t be reading this unless you did!
I left on Saturday. I figured, why leave Friday after work, at night, get there and have to sleep in a futon away from my wife, child, and cats? I had no problem driving down. I missed all the bad traffic Shawn had, and the weather held pretty well.
Until I hit Pennsic. I threw my armor in my tent, parked my car, and made it back to Starry Knights in time for the rain to hit. And boy did it rain. The good part was that, while we were waiting for the rain to stop I got to hang out in a tent with friends and just talk. The bad part was that I forgot to fully close up my tent, so I had a little flooding. Not much, but enough to make me run out and fix it and get thoroughly soaked in the process.
That night was Curia. For those who don’t know, in the Middle Kingdom, Curia is made up of the Crown and Kingdom Officers, of which I am one (a Kingdom Officer, that is). It started at 7 PM and was a tad stressful. So, I did what any reasonably mature adult would do in such a situation: I got drunk. It wasn’t really my fault. Her Majesty kept plying me with some wonderful raspberry cordial, and after the second bottle I was quite happy and apparently entertaining. Nevertheless, I was still able to give a coherent report, and Curia helped me choose who my successor for the exchequer office while likely to be. Having that decision made takes a big load off of my mind.
This part of war was a bit of a downer, though. Elaine wasn’t there, and wouldn’t be showing up until Tuesday night. Now, even when we both are there, we hardly see each other. I’m on the battlefield or doing Coxcomb, while she is dancing or dancing. Yet, I like knowing she is nearby, that I can get a hug or a kiss whenever I want. I’ve said it many times before: home is wherever she is. For most of that war, I felt a bit empty.
Sunday was spent at some more meetings. In the morning I had a Middle Kingdom Exchequer meeting, which I considered a success. I got to put some faces to names, answer questions, and have some good discussions.
Afterwards I got to walk around a bit with Shawn. Finding her campsite was quite the adventure. You know the battlefield? Behind that are some roads covered in mud and sewage. Go beyond the mud (and hold your nose) and you’ll see some trees. Go past the trees and you’ll see a couple of big hills. Go past the big hills and look for the old Russian woman who lives in the hut that has trees growing in them. I sweat that the roots almost looked like chicken legs. Go inside the hut and look for the lady applying henna to the old crone. That lady is Shawn. Reid was in the stables out back somewhere.
I’m exaggerating. Her camp wasn’t that far away. There were no hills.
Anywho, we wandered the merchants. Shawn lives in a strange world with strange people who I never would have had the chance to associate with unless I was walking with her. I mean, seriously, I got to:
1. watch a very old man rub toxins on her feet,
2. get steel claws put on my hand and, with the help of a gentleman (who could arm wrestle Hercules and probably win) who also had a set of claws on, stratch her back,
3. see her try on more hats than Alice saw in Wonderland, and
4. discuss the buoyancy and aerodynamic properties of Shawn with other Midrealm fighters.
And people say Pennsic is boring.
Later that afternoon I went to the Coxcomb meeting, which consisted of people trying to be funny when we were seriously trying to be funny. Seriously.
It also rained that day. Business as usual.
That night I went out to some party on the Battlefield. Arabella made my a very pleasant and mild lemonade vodka drink, which was 2 parts lemon, 5 parts water, and I believe 37 parts vodka. After I picked myself up off the ground she gave me a hug and sent me on my way. This was my second night of getting drunk.
Monday was my favorite day at war. It was my favorite day last year too, mainly because of all my Coxcomb activities. This year was no different, except for my first real battlewound.
No shit, there I was [TM], out there in the Woods battle. It decided not to rain that day, but instead go up to around 88 degrees. Or maybe it was 108. I’m not sure, as it is hard to tell when you are wearing a thick quilt, lots of leather, and some metal. (Come to think of it, I usually do sweat when I’m wearing a thick quilt, leather, and metal, and not just when I’m fighting.) I was having fun. I got some kills. I died a lot more than I beat others, but since we were so out numbered, I didn’t have far to walk to resurrect.
With only one minute left in the battle, the commander nearby (Anna’s husband Reneau, or Alison’s husband David, whichever you prefer) tells us to charge.
Which I did.
Right into a very hard sword stroke to the right side of my temple.
Now, I’ve taken hard shots before. Just earlier that day a friend of mine have me a nice strong face thrust that was more invigorating than ten cups of coffee.
But this shot was different.
It threw me off of my feet and twisted me around. Hard.
I ended up on my knees holding my helm encased head in my hands, rocking back and forth slightly because my head had exploded in pain.
That was when I noticed the blood dripping down onto my gloves, through my fingers, and onto my shield.
The first through that went through my mind was: hey, this should be hurting a lot more than it does.
I took stock of my situation. Let’s see. Head in pain. Check. Both eyes working. Check. Still need to pee? Hmm, strangely, no, yet bladder is still full. Check. Head still in pain. Check check. Still bleading? Check.
I decided to just sit there for a while, that would be fun.
Eventually, I heard a whole bunch of people yelling, “HOLD!” around me. Ah, good, someone noticed. On the other hand, it might have happened only five seconds after I got hit. How would I know? I do wonder why the fellow who hit me didn’t stick around. I mean, if I hit someone and blood spurted from their helm (as others claimed they saw, by saying, “Wow, that was so cool when you got hit and blood spurted from your helm!), I would stop and ask them, “Hey, are you doing okay?”
Anyway, a hold was called, and people came over to wonder how I was doing. They were pretty good about it. They called a chiurgeon almost immediately and helped me off with my helm. Actually, they let me do it. It never occurred to me to take off my helm. I guess my thoughts were elsewhere. But the gloves and helm came off easily.
A marshal picked up my helm and started to yell at me that my helm did not pass inspection. Well, duh. I tried to discuss it with him but I wasn’t thinking straight.
Go figure.
I figured it out later. The padding over the rivets by my forehead had shifted over the years (heck, maybe during that battle, I don’t know), exposing the rivets, which were then slammed into my head when I was hit excessively.
It took me a day to figure it out. While I was being torn a new asshole by the marshal, I couldn’t figure out what was up, and quite frankly I didn’t care.
Oscad, from my home barony Cynnabar had showed up at that point. I recall him looking at the marshal and just saying, “Can you give the guy a break and not yell at him right away?” Somehow that shut him up. Oscad and some other friends gathered up my gear while a chiurgeon led me off.
My whole sense of direction was screwed up. I thought I was heading one way and I ended totally where I didn’t expect: back at Midrealm resurrection point. The chirugeons were very nice and took good care of me. I got a nice cleaning and a band aid. I signed a bunch of forms, given some advice (like clean the wound later, apply a new band-aid, and pad my helm better next time), and sent on my way.
The wound was incredibly tiny. Just a small cut within my right eyebrow. I have a small scar there now, but you have to look very carefully to see it.
People told me that women find scars very sexy. So far, it isn’t working.
The back of my shield has a nice large bloodstain on it. For some reason, I am quite proud of it.
The cut bled off and on for about six hours after that. This made my day a ton of fun, especially since I got to teach a class at 2 PM.
Surprisingly to me, I made it back in time to teach the class. I didn’t have time to shower (ewww), but I was able to change out of my stinky fighter garb and into something relatively clean. Then again, week old underwear would have been relatively clean next to fighter garb after two hours in the woods.
The class was Introduction to Improvisation. I expected around ten to fifteen people to show up. It was more like forty to fifty! I taught some of the basics of what to do and how to work with others. I had a bunch of routines we could go through, but only for groups of five people at a time. Because so many had shown up, I threw away most of my notes and, well, improvised.
We did skits that allowed everyone to do one or two lines and move in, in response to a situation that I presented.
Everyone was utterly amazing. Okay, at least 95% were good, and the others tried hard and overall I was incredibly impressed. I had such good laughs during that class, and so it seemed did everyone else. There were some very funny lines and I just had a blast. I hope I get to teach this again next year. I’ll be more prepared for a large group of people showing up.
After that I got my well-deserved and even more well needed bath. Then it was off to the Fool’s Parade.
I’ve run the parade for years. This year I passed the torch to Sophia, and she did an excellent job. I think we had over fifty fools running around with us. I think the coolest part of the parade was when we ran into Wolgemut, and they performed while we danced with them. This is the second year they’ve come over from Germany, and they are a wonderful performing musical troupe. Elaine has some of their CDs, which you are more than welcome to listen to next time you come over.
After a quick dinner…wait, did I have dinner? I forget. How about this…later, at 7 PM, I went to the second annual “Whose Line Doth It Be” performance and show, once again run by Captain Matthew! This is where we get to do improv in front of an audience. I had a blast last year, and this year was just as much fun.
This time we had 15 people that wanted to perform. So we were randomly put into three groups of five. These groups did four skits each. The best one or two from each group, chosen by the audience applause meter came back in a group of five and performed for the rest of the show.
I got lucky. I was one of the ones chosen, so I got to play most of the evening! I got lots of good laughs – I think me throwing Sophia around the entire stage was one of the biggest – and had a ball. I also was voted the best performer, which of course made my head swell to huge proportions.
In fact, my head swelled so much it pushed the clouds away from Pennsic, and the sun shined until the very last day of war.
Hmm, that almost sounded like a fable.
But now you can see why I love Mondays at war. Between the Fool’s parade and the Whose Line show, I’m just overjoyed with fun activities. Add to that my improv class and between knocked off my feet in the woods battle, and you have a day that will be hard to top again.
And as long as it doesn’t involve me loosing the use of any body parts, I’ll be very happy.
Tuesday was both good and bad. It was bad because my friend Anna left that day. I did get to spend some time with her, and I’m very glad of that. She also was amazing at organizing the camp. But it was sad she had to leave.
The good news was that Elaine showed up. Yay!! I got a deposit on the snuggling I needed, and could see her whenever I too. Yay!!
The Castle battle on Tuesday was long and short at the same time. It
is so much "fun" charging, and dying, and charging, and dying, and
charging, and having ten people land on my face, then dying.
After the slaughter we had a friendship field battle with Atlantia. We
won the first one, they won the second, then something fun and amazing
happened.
The leader of our group, Ragnvaldr, and the leader of their group,
Some Other Duke, decided to do a one-on-one challenge before the
battle. So all the fighters got in a huge circle to watch them
fight.
They started with a very friendly boast to each other and fought.
Then two other fighters did a boast and fought. Then every fighter in
the group paired up, one pair after the other, and gave a boast and
fought.
It was beautiful.
It was magical.
It was one of the best fighting experiences I ever had.
This is why I like fighting in the SCA, to see wonderful chivalric
events like this happen. No one cared who won their bouts. People
would tell others "No, my lord, my thrust was no good" or "Oh no, that
attack was flat" or "Please, good lady, let us turn so the sun isn't
in your eyes while we fight."
The friendly challanges lasted at least an hour. I only fought once
and I had a blast. I got to fight another Pelican. I legged him, he
killed me, and we both were very happy.
What a fantastic time.
At four I once again taught my Intermediate Juggling class. It is amazing how much one can sweat when you are juggling balls for 45 minutes in the late afternoon on a hot Pennsic day. There was a good turnout (the Coxcomb tent was pretty full, but not as full as my Improv class), and I was very pleased.
That night was Cynnabar Court. I got to Herald that again, which was more fun than a china shop filled with Elephants. You see, during court is when I really get to shine doing Improv. I have to be careful because it is Straum and Ute’s show, and not mine, but I can add to it and augment it, and help make it interesting.
Besides, it is another good excuse to get drunk. My plan backfired though. I was going to insert the name “Brenna” into my talking so she’d know when to fill my drink back up. The rest of the group morphed that into that I had to drink whenever anyone at all said her name.
People sure did like saying her name.
I had to leave to MC the Coxcomb Magic show. Poor Anthony had to take over, and he developed the same drinking I had.
Poor lad. He never saw it coming.
The magic show was fun. We had some very good performers there, and I got to play too.
On my way back to Cynnabar I stopped by Aethelmarc’s Court to see my friend Michael get his Laurel for, well, for the things I saw Michel doing back in high school when he should have been studying physics. Well done, Michael. You are definitely a Peer.
I had a horrible headache that night. I thought it might have been because of the drinking. Apparently, it wasn’t. It was from the blow to the head I took on Monday. I learned that if you get a concussion, which I guess I got, then 12 to 24 hours later you get a splitting headache as a reward. How nice.
Later night I took a fourteen year old girl out drinking with me.
The next day was the other Castle battle, and ….
Hmm, maybe I should go back to the drinking part.
A friend of mine, who I first met at Cynnabar when she was oh, eight, wanted to hang out with me one night. So I figured the best thing would be to take her to the Shadowclan’s Corn Party, and …
This doesn’t get better, does it?
Don’t worry. I asked Gwen’s parents, and made sure she promised to:
1. not drink anything alcohol,
2. show me whatever it is that she will drinks,
3. repeat the following phrase whenever a boy tried to speak to her: “I am too young for you!” and
4. stay by my side at all times.
She did great. I got nice and plastered. She had fun laughing at me. Yet she never left my side and I never lost site of her. I introduced her to lots of fun people (who also liked laughing at my buzzed state). She also got to see a Clan Tinker juggling/jester performance, as well as a small “trunk” show put on my Captain Matthew and Henry Best (which turned out to be a wedding proposal! – but not between the two of them). We also visited Elaine at the dance tent a couple of times, and walk a bit around Pennsic. I got her back around Midnight (which was earlier than we expected). A very cool evening.
Wednesday had the other half of the Castle Battle. This time we defended. Cynnabar and part of Dark Yard defended the center gate. Instead of making a kill pocked, we instead blocked the gate itself, with one shield covering another in a full walk. Time and again they crashed against us and couldn’t get through. I got pinned nicely against one of the doors. We not only held the gate the entire battle, we held it and defeated everyone to the last man after the battle was over (when our side was apparently overrun from one of the side entrances).
During a field court my good friend Daniel got a Dragon’s Tooth for his work defending the gate!
We did some other friendship battles, but quite frankly I can’t remember much about them.
I think this day was also the day I got interviewed on hd.net (or hdtv.net – I’ll figure it out later). They asked about my work (and yes, I plugged my company), the SCA, and what I liked and my adventures at Pennsic. I think I talked for ten minutes. Later I saw my knight get interviewed. I think he was filmed for about 530 minutes. It must be the hair.
That day I attended two of my favorite classes. The first was by Matthew on how to entertain at Court. That is, the King says, “Hey, Midair, Court is going to be 15 minutes late. You are a jester. Please entertain the crowd.”
Right. Well, I can do that. But this class has given me great ideas on how to do that better than before. In a few months I will be much more prepared, and even ready to offer my services.
The other class was an introduction to stage combat, put on by the gang from Ravenspittle. I have to say, they were amazing! I thought the class was going to be on sword fighting, but it was instead on using punches, kicks, and grabs. I wish I would have known how to do this stuff when we were doing Bedlam!
I think one of the best parts was when he was showing us how to react to a punch. He had us all do it simultaneously, so I asked if he would throw a punch to cue us. He did. Let me tell you, seeing forty people respond simultaneously to a fake punch is a site to see! He looked at his fist and laughed with glee, “Hey, let’s do that again!” And of course we did.
Later that night my wife and I and some friends joined House Leonthas for dinner, and then we all went to see a Heather Dale concert. It was fun processing with them and eating. The concert was tons of fun, with other bards performing with Lady Heather.
Thursday were bridge battles. We had fun, and lost again. Luder showed his stuff by beating four fighters on his own during the friendship battle after that. The King himself complimented him on his prowess.
Midrealm court was Thursday night. It was overflowing and hard to hear, but I had a good time. I got to see Shawn and Reid again, which is nice. Our Cynnabar Baron, Straum, appeared before the King and Queen and talked about Cynnabar’s prowess on the field, and they were so moved they called the fighters forward and awarded us an award of the Dragon’s Teeth (yay!!). A friend of mine who I highly respect got a Kingdom Augmentation of Arms (the Midrealm Dragon) – a very well deserved award for her.
The only sour note was when a bunch of mercenaries approached at the end of court, demanding that we thank them, even though they fight for money and show up “most of the time.” Ugh. Look, if you are a mercenary and fight on our side only for money, then you have already been thanked, with whatever you have been paid. That is how it works. I saved my applause for those who volunteer their time and energy to the Midrealm without any hope of material compensation. So no thank you. And how dare you interrupt my King while he is talking to His populous!!!
Later that night was an informal wake for my SCA father, Cormac. It was, well, it was a wake. I’d much rather he was still alive and drinking with all of us than fucking dead, dammit.
Friday was the field battle. Elaine left for home early that day to brave the power failure. She made it home with no problem.
We fought three of the field battles. During the first we followed the Cynnabar Champion as he lead us ahead of our own troops straight into the enemy’s flank. The enemy’s flank thought we were delicious, and thus ended the first battle.
The second battle was cool. It was really like a turn based game. The Mid moves forward one step. The East sends another group over there. Eventually after much maneuvering we attacked each other and much combat ensued.
I forget what happened during the third battle. I stuck around and did some pickups, and watched some of the champion battles. I think I stayed in my armor for at least five hours. It was able to walk home without me by the end.
Thank goodness for the Leonthas shade and all the drinks and pickles they provided, or I don’t think I could have survived all the fighting.
That night was pretty relaxed. I hung out with Coxcomb until it looked like it was going to rain. I was pretty wiped out. I did some dancing that evening (Gwen dragged me there), and I got to see Daniel and Jackie, which is always nice.
Oh, I almost forgot! At 10 PM we got to see an incredible fireworks display. I hear over 4,000 people showed up near the fort to see it. There were some aerial fireworks, but also lots of ground based stuff. Seeing the fort almost explode many many times was quite the site to see! I hope they do this again every year.
Saturday Starryknights struck the came. We made excellent time and we were on the road home after eating dinner at around 4 PM. I could barely move.
It was worse when I finally made it home at around 8:30. I got out of the car and I was stiff and sore and sad. I was shaking and shivering, and probably other ‘s’ words too.
I went in the house, hugged and kissed my wife, son, and cats (in that order), took a long hot shower, and went to sleep.
The next day I helped a friend move. My muscles were still screaming in agony, even after all the vitamin ‘i’ I was taking. In all honestly, moving probably helped me as it loosened up my muscles.
Today my fingers still hurt, but my body aches less and at least I’m getting some sleep here in Huntsville.
It will be good to be home for a period longer than two days.
As everyone can easily guess, this will be my last entry for a while. I’m heading off to Pennsic on Saturday. Surprisingly, I’m not all that excited. Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad to be going, and I’ll have fun, but I’m not jumping for joy about going.
The main reason, of course, is that Elaine is only going for a few days. Hmm, actually, that is the only reason. Everything else should be fun, unless it pours. But even if that happens and the battles are cancelled, that just means I’ll have more time for other things, like classes, or sleep.
Part of my dread is definitely from my schedule. Here it is for those of you who are curious:
Saturday, August 9th to Saturday, August 16th: Pennsic.
Monday, August 18th to Thursday, August 21st: Space and Missile Defense conference in Huntsville, Alabama.
Monday evening, August 25th to Tuesday evening, August 26th: Business meeting, New Jersey.
Wednesday, August 28th to Sunday, August 31st: Worldcon, in Toronto, Canada. I’m a guest speaker for lots of science panels.
Monday, September 15th (probably for a couple of days – ack, just sent email to find out specifics): National Science Foundation panel, Washington, D.C.
That is about it…for now. I’m sure there will be more trips, but oh dear is this month insane.
This means that, with Elaine only at Pennsic for three days, over the next three weeks I’ll be away from her more than I’m with her. I'll see my son even less. And that really stinks - I'll miss them both, and the kitties, terribly.
That is why I’m not leaving until Saturday. Instead of getting there late Friday night and sleeping in my tent alone, I definitely will stay home one extra night with my sweetheart, get a good shower in the morning, and drive to Pennsic during daylight hours. As long as I make it by 7 PM for Curia, I should be fine.
I’ll start writing again after Pennsic while I’m on my first trip. Take care, everyone.
We got a phone call last night. We were told that a friend we both know was “ready to admit that her husband is physically abusive.”
Elaine handled the phone call because it was her friend calling.
I got to sit downstairs with Pythagoras purring on my lap wondering what is wrong with this world.
I knew the guy. I hadn’t seen him in five years at least, but back then, before he got married, we hung out together and did things. We had similar interests. He was, and probably is still, a very nice boy. He seems gentle and kind, and never showed a temper.
Admittedly, I don’t know his side of the story. Unfortunately, the friend we heard from does, and from what we know of their relationship, this result isn’t a surprise, though it still throws me for a loop. And actually, what is going on is far worse than I’m mentioning here.
How can anyone – anyone – physical, verbally, or emotionally abuse their spouse?
I mean, isn’t this the person who said they loved you? The person who is most likely your best friend?
It still comes as a shock. I’ve had people turn on me personally in the past, yet the surprise is still there. I can’t wrap my brain around it.
And it always leads me to the same question: will I ever do that?
Will I in a fit of anger hit my son or my wife? Will I verbally assault them, thinking that just because I’m not punching them in the face it is an okay thing to do?
I think it was C. J. Ducasse who said “To speak of ‘mere words’ is much like speaking of ‘mere dynamite’.”
In that case, though, it was definitely more than words.
What causes people to change like that? When do couples stop listening and resort to violence?
I hope I continue to remain oblivious and naïve. I like it here that way.
My wife and I hugged before she went back to bed. She was probably feeling the same way too.
This weekend I went down to Pennsic with my household to set up camp. This entails putting up lots of period canvas pavilions, digging lots of holes, filling them in with something other than dirt, putting other things up, and trying to do all that before the sun sets so you have a warm dry place to sleep.
Which means, of course, that it rained and rained and rained. Buckets and sheets of rain.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad, and we were, in fact, quite lucky.
I drove down early Saturday, and got there around 2 PM. It was sunny the entire time. Five of us set up four tents (and two of those people who got there before me had unloaded all the stuff from the storage locker). It went pretty well, and dinner was fantastic because, well, when you work out doors all day, a crisp salad and a thick steak is like the nectar of the gods.
And that night, it rained and rained and rained.
I woke up four in the morning to the rain and thunder. I love the way rain sounds on tent canvas, especially when I’m warm and dry and cozy inside.
Oh, I also woke up because I had to use the bathroom really bad. So I got my warm and cozy self out of bed and ran through the rain to the port-a-john. I got back to my tent all nice and soaking wet, no longer warm and dry.
The rain stopped ten minutes later.
The next day was dreary, but we got lucky again, mostly.
It rained in the morning, nice and hard. While we were hiding in a friend’s tent eating the breakfast of champions (Pop-Tarts, chips, and dip), I realized that I had left my tent flap open. As my friend said, “You have chosen … poorly.”
So out in the rain again. There wasn’t much of a flood. I fortunately set up my tent well. I bailed a bit and fixed things up, sealed up the tent and went back in for more chips.
The rest of the day was mainly full of drizzling. We put up the gate, the party tent (with great help from Cynnabar), dug a ditch, put benches together, picked things up, put things down and got pretty soggy.
I came home stinky and smelly with my cold getting worse (I’m not sure what I’m coughing up now, but it isn’t pretty) and got a wonderful hug from my beautiful wife, a cute squeal of joy from my son, and head butts from my kitties.
Not a bad weekend at all.