Insert Witty Journal Title Here

I mean it when I say random. In the past I've been super-organized, with daily posts, and panel writeups and everything. But nope, you're not getting that this time.

SFRA - I went over to Inn on the Park to see the Tiptree panel. Glad I went over for that. That's the only thing I went over there for. It's a short 5-10 minute walk. The room was AWESOME. It has a 180-ish view of the capitol and the water and whatnot. And it's just quite a shock to find a panel in that room. The layout was odd though. The audience chairs were not centered with the panel table.

Flights/times/whatnot - I definitely think arriving in time to catch the readings at A Room of One's Own is sort of the latest time I want to arrive. Next year I might want to arrive Wednesday. Definitely leaving on Tuesday was a great thing this year. I got to extend the con with random conversations throughout Monday and even at Tuesday breakfast. The afternoon flight out also wasn't full. Though we did get a 1-hour delay because "all flights into Boston are delayed". And the plane wasn't going to be full, but they stuck some airline crewmembers on it and filled it up.

Delta - They charge 25$ for a checked bag, but then when you get to the gate they're begging and threatening you to check your bag (for free this time) because there's no room on the plane for all of them. Such a ridiculous policy. You're just causing more work for your employees at the last minute. And now how do the people feel who paid 25$ to check their bag ahead of time?

Food - Madison is awesome for restaurants and WisCon is awesome for going out to meals with people. And yet I didn't really do that this year (or last year), because the Governor's Club Lounge food is "free" and more convenient, and the consuite as well. I did get to Noodles & Co, because I had that in mind my whole trip there. 'Shuttle to hotel, check into hotel, go get noodles'. We're getting our own Noodles & Co this summer though, so that will be less a thing next year for me. And Keyan and I and someone she knew went to the Spanish tapas place. It was disappointing this year. Only 4 vegetarian tapas, and one was olives (gross), and one was goat cheese (not as bad as I was expecting), and one was sold out (zucchini). How can you not have some form of mushroom thing?! There wasn't even a vegetarian flatbread.

More food - I didn't do the dessert salon this year, and I never saw chocolate mousse in the governor's club lounge! I didn't get any chocolate mousse! Might have to do dessert salon just to make sure I get some. Also it turns out you have to show up for dessert in the lounge at 9pm. They put everything out, and then only take away. They never replace or add. Unlike the appetizers/hors d'ouevres, which they will replace if something runs out. And they love putting booze and coffee in the desserts. Bleh.

Reading - So I repeated what I did last year and wrote my story at the last minute, at the con. Although not all in one sitting. I think I wrote it in 3 different stolen hours. Which is one more reason I did fewer 'eat out' things. I really should write what I intend to read before the con, so I have more time at the con. It was an idea I had been working on, and I tried to use what I'd learned at the Motivation Conflict Uh.. one other thing RWA workshop I attended about a week before WisCon. I think the story is reasonably good, but needs some work. Then I had some panic at the reading, because I was thinking it over and thinking I had been particularly unfair to my trans char for the sake of the main viewpoint char and her character/story arc. But actually I didn't get to that part in the reading. So I can fix it now without anyone seeing/hearing it first. :) I liked that people laughed at my reading. And two people came up to me after to say they liked it. Yay! And it gave me a sense that what I'd written was not just enjoyable, but actually important. (Which is a later theme addressed in the GOH speeches.)

The Flaming Geeks Book of Geeky Trivia - http://amzn.to/geekytrivia1 - is totally eligible for a Hugo for Best Related Work.

And I totally just told you so!

Also, if you'd like a free copy in whatever format for your awards-consideration, just let me know.

Here's the call to submissions. Really cool idea, go read the submission call, etc etc.

But what prompted me to post about it here was this bit:

Who can submit stories for consideration for the special issue? Women.
And what is a woman? A woman is any human being who identifies as one, to whatever degree that they do so.

I like that so hard, you guys! Yes! Whoever came up with that is a wording genius.

I had 5 episodes of The Tomorrow People saved up because I knew it would take a certain amount of attention to get into yet another new show. Now I'm kind of sorry I waited so long, because I could have saved the Tivo the effort. After 30 minutes, I'm dropping it. I really don't need to watch another show about a teenaged white boy who's actually 25. And bad guys and good guys and super powers that aren't all that exciting. And yea, basically, it gave me nothing cool. It gave me nothing new.

Which is a shame, because I have a fond memory of the original series. Though 'fond' is about the only memory I do have of it. I don't remember specifics. I never saw all of it, and it was so long ago. I don't know how old I was, since it started airing before I was born, but I was definitely a kid. And there is no way I would've liked this new remake as a kid. Since I don't like it now either! Maybe if they used actual teenagers it would stand half a chance. Maybe if it wasn't CW. CW only knows how to make one kind of show.

So, 5 deletes and a canceled season pass.

And we'll see if Fox ever decides to finally premiere Almost Human.

Witches of East End - I found myself not paying a lot of attention to episode 2.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland - Pretty good for a pilot. Interesting. Also a bit strange, but I suppose it is Wonderland. I want Alice to acquire a harem. Two boys and a rabbit isn't enough. Give her a couple more. :)

Ironside - Watched two episodes. Not bad, but it's a cop show. I usually need more of a hook in a cop show.

Tomorrow People - Recorded, not watched yet.
Sean Saves the World - Season passed, but it hasn't managed to record an episode because of other conflicting things, so not seen it.

So far my new recommendations are: Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Mom, Michael J Fox Show (which I have trouble catching).

SHIELD is just not cutting it. And I thought Sleepy Hollow was going to be the dud!

Still to come - Dracula, Almost Human

I was reading through this lengthy article about women in science and I was finding it interesting and informative. Until I got to page 3 and her discussion of Big Bang Theory.

I will readily admit, and could even be induced to rant, about the sexist.. everything in Big Bang Theory. I do not disagree that that show has problems, as entertaining as it may be. (And it's more entertaining when it's doing geeky things and not relationship crap, btw.) But WOW! WOW! For an article that's supposedly about how we should have more women in science, she is incredibly harsh about the women on Big Bang Theory!

"For proof of the stereotypes that continue to shape American attitudes about science, and about women in science in particular, you need only watch an episode of the popular television show “The Big Bang Theory,” about a group of awkward but endearing male Caltech physicists and their neighbor, Penny, an attractive blonde who has moved to L.A. to make it as an actress. Although two of the scientists on the show are women, one, Bernadette, speaks in a voice so shrill it could shatter a test tube. When she was working her way toward a Ph.D. in microbiology, rather than working in a lab, as any real doctoral student would do, she waitressed with Penny. Mayim Bialik, the actress who plays Amy, a neurobiologist who becomes semiromantically involved with the childlike but brilliant physicist Sheldon, really does have a Ph.D. in neuroscience and is in no way the hideously dumpy woman she is presented as on the show. “The Big Bang Theory” is a sitcom, of course, and therefore every character is a caricature, but what remotely normal young person would want to enter a field populated by misfits like Sheldon, Howard and Raj? And what remotely normal young woman would want to imagine herself as dowdy, socially clueless Amy rather than as stylish, bouncy, math-and-science-illiterate Penny?"

The men are 'awkward but endearing'. And one isn't a physicist by the way, but an engineer and an astronaut. And dude, he is not particularly endearing. He's kinda gross. Also, two of them aren't Penny's neighbor.

Penny is 'an attractive blonde'.

Bernadette speaks not just in a 'shrill' voice, but one with a metaphor attached.

Amy is only 'semiromantically involved'? And Sheldon is 'childlike'. Presumably because he's asexual and their relationship hasn't progressed much in sexual directions, it gets characterized as 'semiromantic' and Sheldon as 'childike'.

Amy is then described as "hideously dumpy"! Which is not at all like what Mayim Bialik looks like, by the way, in case you were worried!
Amy is then additionally described as "dowdy" and "socially clueless".

She really has it out for Amy! I assume because she couldn't find anything to say about Bernadette's appearance.

Look. Bernadette has her quirks, because they ALL DO. Her voice is a minor thing compared to Raj's inability to talk to women or her husband's lecherousness. Amy has her unique style of dress, again, because they ALL DO. I could show you the outfits of any character on the show, devoid of their actors, and you'd know who wore them. They're so distinctive that I NOTICED. The only other time I noticed something like that was Smallville's color scheme.

Why is she giving the men a pass? Why are they "endearing" in their awkwardness, but Amy isn't?

I guess geeks and myself included are not "remotely normal", because I see myself and fellow geeks in the characters on Big Bang Theory. It's lacking diversity -- someone overweight, someone not-straight, someone older, someone with a beard, someone disabled, more non-white people, etc etc. But I could readily imagine all of them at a local con and not being surprised by how they appear, how they act, or how they speak.

But I ALSO wouldn't be surprised to see Penny! She is geeky in her own way, and interested enough in what her friends are doing to try to learn more about it. Would I be surprised to see her alone at a con? Probably.

Do I want to be her? No. I don't want to be a waitress, or an actor, or a blonde, or a sports fan, or more of a slob than I already am. Oh, wait, you mean Penny has personality traits beyond "stylish" and "bouncy"? *gasp!*

I guess the author of this piece wants her female scientists to be pretty, stylish, "normal" women. All others need not apply.

Sorry, Bernadette, you didn't work your way through school in a lab like any respectable scientist would. And you talk funny. You're out.
Sorry, Amy, you don't dress pretty enough, and you didn't spend enough time socializing with the right people. You're out too.
Penny, you're in! Just apply yourself harder to that math and science you don't like all that much!

Sleepy Hollow - There's enough good in it to keep me watching, but it's opposite some sitcoms I like.

Mom - One of said sitcoms. Not bad. It's on after 2 Broke Girls, so like, no reason not to grab it. On the other hand, if Sleepy Hollow gets better, I'd drop it without a second thought. (And watch 2 Broke Girls some other way.)

The Goldbergs - Bad. Horrible. It's got annoying narration a la The Wonder Years and the rest is just people yelling at each other.

Lucky 7 - Potentially interesting. I'll have to see where it goes. It has no skiffy content. And despite one of the characters looking kinda like the gay guy from Warehouse 13, it's not actually him.

Survivor - I was excited to see Rupert. And yet he may not last much longer. I was anti-excited to see the bigoted, racist, ableist, classist gay guy who is the worst guy on that show ever and they shouldn't have brought him back in a million years and how did he ever manage to get a fiance? And OH EM GEE YOU GUYS but watching it on cbs.com is the most annoying thing ever! There's like 4-5 commercials in every normal commercial break. I only needed to watch the last half hour (because America's Got Talent finale was on), and of course the last half hour is packed with the most commercials. Fox.com running Sleepy Hollow commercials IN THE MIDDLE OF SLEEPY HOLLOW was a much more enjoyable experience in comparison.

Oh yea. SHIELD - I found it boring. I found the characters boring. It'd better get good fast.

So I heard that the AP took the word of ONE PERSON who wasn't even a reporter. One VERY BIASED PERSON. That the bill passed and it totally wasn't midnight yo. Only it totally was, because we could all see it. I was watching Twitter on my phone and the stream on my laptop and my phone's clock is synced. We all knew it. The national news media didn't.

Then there was a screencap of the website showing that the vote was datestamped 6/26. This mysteriously changed a few moments later to 6/25. But EVERYONE HAD SCREENCAPS. You guys know how the Internet works over there?

I finally went to sleep. This morning it sounds like they did decide that midnight is a real time and a rule is a rule, did they?

They'd better be prosecuting a few people over there. Like whoever was dumb enough to order that website change.

Also, I hope Daily Show is all over this muffin thing.

Kerfuffle: A commotion or fuss
Fuss: n. A state of excessive and unwarranted concern over an unimportant matter:
v. To trouble or worry over trifles.
v. To disturb or vex with unimportant matters.
synonyms for fuss: dither, pother, tizzy, flap
fret, niggle

Try and pretend 'kerfuffle' isn't gendered. Who else fusses? Who else gets into a tizzy? Who else frets? If your answer isn't 'women', but 'babies', well, that's not any better, now, is it?!

I for one would much rather be part of a SFWA Hue and Cry.

I'm finally reading the.. I keep wanting to call it a screencap. Scan, scan. I'm finally reading the scan of the bulletin article in question.

Did anyone else notice Resnick refer to the publication he's in as "SWFA Bulletin"? And the editor didn't catch that either?

That's hardly the only error, but jeesh! Your own publication!

As for ageism, sort of.. they started it! "a group of younger writers and fans". I'm sure it wasn't just younger ones. Unless they're both 100 and therefore everyone commenting on it is younger than them.

Oh my head! There's a fake geek girl reference in here if you know where to look!

Speaking of heads, the lack of men's heads on romance covers does not even compare to the lack of women's heads on multiple genres' covers.

Also, when you say 'liberal fascists' with a straight face, my eyes glaze over.