May. 31st, 2011

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I have decided not to go in chronological order. That requires like, memory and stuff. I'm just going to throw things out there as I think of them! In as many different posts as it takes before I run out of things to say or work the rest of the week crowds the rest of it out of my brain.

Dessert Salon:
I could've sworn I'd bought a dessert salon ticket, but my badge said D:0. And I looked for confirmation, but I couldn't find an Email or a Paypal record of it. So I must've used a credit card, but just.. could not find a record. So no proof.

So I was like.. well, who needs dessert salon anyway? But Kater was going, and she usually doesn't. And I like sitting with the cool people. So I bought one at the last minute. I picked up eclairs and key lime pie because there was no chocolate mousse left. Then as I was entering to go find Kater, this mob is rushing back out like there's a fire or something. It was because they'd announced it was time for seconds. I wish they'd waited a little bit longer. Just a minute or two!

The eclairs were horrible. Salty in the first bite, saltier in the second (when I got some of the middle). Do Wisconsinites not know how to make eclairs? I mean, they're basically Boston Creme Donuts when you get right down to it! Tasted a bit.. cheesy. Which I guess makes sense, actually. But, bleh. You get much better mini-eclairs out of the frozen food section.

Then I hear the chocolate mousse has been restocked, so I ran out to grab one of those. Muuuch better. They do not go wrong with the chocolate mousse.

The key lime pie was very limey. The crust was little bits that got stuck in my throat. The sour and sugar gave me a sore throat on top of that. Jun makes way better key lime pie. I ate roughly half of it.

This all on top of a dish of ice cream from reportedly the best ice cream place in Madison. Malt something or other. (The ice cream, not the shop. The shop was Chocolate something or other.) Very good.

The problem with buying dessert tickets and being in the back of the line is you get seats at a table, but off to the sides and/or in the corner. I could see the stage okay from where we were, but I had no view of the CART. Which I had been interested in checking out.

Reportedly the CART experiment was a great success! Not just for people who have trouble hearing, but for the Japanese contingent and others for whom English is a second (or third or fourth) language.

(For much the same reason I was thrilled to find subtitles on the latest Doctor Who I downloaded.)

Mics:

I felt mic use was much worse than previous Wiscon. I kept going into panels with.. well, apart from the ones with no mics, of which there were many, panels with panelists who were reluctant to use the mic. I don't know what it is. Unfamiliarity with mics? Shyness certainly doesn't seem to be the problem! Sharing mics is a bit of a pain, but most rooms had at least two. Afraid of the microphone as disease vector for Wiscon Norovirus 2.0?

Things heard (paraphrased): This is a small room, we don't need the mic right? There's not many of you here, we don't need the mic, right? I have a loud voice, I don't need the mic. You need to listen better. It was funny the first time, it won't be if I have to repeat it. Does anyone here need us to use the mic?

I may've been the only one to raise my hand on that last one, but frell-it, the mics are there, you're going to use them!

I have more to say on this, not all of it ranty, but I think I'm going to see if the editor of the next Wiscon Chronicles would like to consider it for inclusion.

Best Use of the Mic Award goes to the #notaboutrace panel whose full name I forget. They not only all used the mic themselves, but had the audience members with the questions come up to the front, use the mic, AND FACE THE AUDIENCE.

Seriously, guys, you need the game show format, silly, hilarious, sparkly pony panel to set the example on mic use? Do you? Really?

Apparently you do!
julieandrews: (Default)
I'm beginning to think one day off work isn't enough! More con reports to write. Lots more. Still have kitchen cupboards to clean out. Still haven't brought up my laundry from the basement since Wednesday. And lots of stuff to read!! Oh yea, and I would also like some more sleep.

But I did watch Doctor Who. Even if I did fall asleep in the middle of it last night. :}

Wasted time reading #romancekills tweets on Twitter and trying to amuse the world with my wit. Why did I download that to my phone again?!
julieandrews: (Default)
My 2-month long bookfast starts tomorrow. I can read books. I'd better read books! But I can't borrow any from the library or download any unless I had a pre-existing hold on it, or if it's for Triple Take. And I can't buy any! With that in mind, these Wiscon purchases and the followup Amazon purchases I made today based on Wiscon reqs will be the last books I acquire for 2 whole months! They will be the only ones that look shiny.

ARCs from Galley Ho at the Gathering. 1$ donation to Wiscon gets you an ARC.

Catching Santa
Lost Voices
The Academy Year 1
Television Without Pity
Eona (yay!)
Iron Crowned (Richelle Mead ftw)

Books bought from Dealer's Room:

New:
Eon (already read, needed my own copy) (Also tiptree)
Mindscape by Andrea Hairston (Tiptree!)
Distances by Vandana Singh (Tiptree!)
Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge (Tiptree!)
Wiscon Chronicles 4 edited by Nisi Shawl

Used paperbacks:
Ace double with The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree
Ace double with The New Atlantis by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Falling Woman by Pat Murphy (Nebula Project)
The Sable Moon by Nancy Springer
The Black Beast by Nancy Springer
The Book of Suns by Nancy Springer
The White Hart by Nancy Springer

Books bought on Monday from Avol's and A Room of One's Own:

Earth Magic by Alexei and Cory Panshin
The Drowning City by Amanda Downum (sequel is on Tiptree list)
The Inheritance & Other Stories by Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm
Will Supervillains be on the Final? by Naomi Novik (NA manga!)

Books ordered on Amazon:

Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde (genderfloomp list)
Gender Outlaws (genderfloomp)
Whipping Girl by Julia Serano (mentioned on Princess Boys panel and then on genderfloomp)
Eclipse 4 (because AROOO couldn't find a copy to sell me Monday)
Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease (mentioned on a Tiptree panel)

I begin to see more and more why I need to do this bookfast thing..

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