Austin Talks

Here’s my panels for Wiscon! I can’t wait!

Last year’s flirting panel was a blast and at this year’s followup I’m hoping to make a cool handout. Debbie says if I email her the stuff she’ll make the handout, because I have too much to do! One good technique “touch/don’t touch” is actually playing out mini scenarios and then switching roles, so that you get to do the no-saying and the no-recieving and get practice doing that gracefully on both sides. (Something I learned in anti-date-rape workshops in the 80s.) Another super great idea I learned from Ian K. Hagemann - to always thank a person who lets you know a boundary, because they are honoring you by communicating it instead of letting you continue to cross it in ignorance.

I don’t have any specific and book-focused panels this year - no time to prepare properly for that - But I can’t wait for the Karen Axness Memorial Panel where we all list great little-known books by women sf writers and there are always fabulous handouts that expand my reading list. I’m also excited to go to the cultural appropriation panels.

Speaking of cultural appropriation! I can bring a copy of this: Bone White, Blood Red: a roleplaying game of the Pueblo Revolt. It is written in the voice of “Spider Grandmother” and “Worn Pot” who teach Bear, Coyote, Wren, and Badger how to play the game. My immediate reaction is basically, “huh” and a stance of automatic suspicion against what I think of as Cherokee hair tampon syndrome.

The game would be rough for me and I would rather just have character sheets with the beads and string as a metaphor or an optional visual aid, as I could never remember all the details of which bead meant what without written notes. But I would certainly give the game a try and the difficulty of remembering stuff would be part of the point. (Would that difficulty be fun, though?) As the fictional in character bits in roleplaying game books go, this one is not bad at all.

So is it cultural appropriation? Well, yeah. Does that make it awful? It’s not a yes/no on/off answer. It means that it is open to some criticism and commentary, which game authors as well as book authors should listen to with an open mind and some humility, as the Spirit of the Century rpg authors recently did.

In other interesting gaming news, you can download and playtest Steal Away Jordan. The players all play slaves in the U.S.
Your name
Your name is not your own. If you were born into slavery, your parents may not have had much say in the choosing. The name your master calls you may not be the name your relations use in private. If you run away, you will change your name. Therefore, the GM chooses your name, but you may pick a nickname.
That’s pretty interesting! You can read a report and discussion thread of a playtest game on The Forge.

Anyway here’s my Wiscon panels!

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Feminist SF Wiki Workshop
in Caucus Room (Time to be determined)

Come learn about the Feminstsf wiki, learn what wikis are and how to edit them, contribute your ideas, creativity, and feminist vision to the wiki.
Equipment: projector that can plug into a laptop, and a screen
Length: 70 minutes
Laura M. Quilter, Liz Henry

Please Touch/Don’t Touch (Feminism, Sex, and Gender)
Friday, 8:45-10:00 p.m. Friday, 8:45-10:00 p.m. Friday, 8:45-10:00 p.m.
One of the many qualities which sets WisCon apart from most other SF conventions is the perception that, for one weekend a year, the Concourse is a safe and inclusive space for SF fans of all genders, orientations, identities, races, and religions. Many people have commented that this extra level of comfort seems to create a very “touchy-feely” environment, with a lot more casual physical contact between old friends and new acquaintance, and a very different, (more open?) environment for flirting and hook-ups. But not everyone is quite so comfortable with such a relaxed atmosphere… Where do you draw the lines between casual and significant, affection and flirting, too much and not enough? How do the conditions change from situation to situation? And how do you tell someone to “back off”… or deal gracefully when someone else lets you know that you’ve crossed a line?
Karen Swanberg, M: Debbie Notkin, Mary Kay Kare, Liz Henry, Jed E. Hartman

Let’s You And Her Fight (Feminism, Sex, and Gender)
Sunday, 10:00-11:15 a.m. Sunday, 10:00-11:15 a.m. Sunday, 10:00-11:15 a.m.
This year there was a panel about how to flirt at Wiscon. Next year I’d like to see a panel on how to fight at Wiscon. It’s not bad to want to get along; but it is when that urge causes us not to speak our minds in public, and leaves us gr umbling in private. How do you speak up and explain that you think the respected panel member is talking out of her hat, while maintaining a friendly attitude towards someone who is, after all, a fellow feminist and fan? Ideally people will get a chance to practice. I would particularly like to draft Steven Schwartz for this panel.
Steven E. Schwartz, Liz Henry, Joan Haran, M: Alan Bostick, Lee Abuabara
Technorati Tags: conferences, rpgs, sciencefiction

I’m sure we must all know that today is the first day of spring. I’ve been noticing the buds on the trees and the daffodils blooming in the yards and along the streets of Asheville. I’m so grateful that warm weather is on its way. It feels like its been a long time since I’ve experienced a real summer. I was in Australia last June and July, which is their winter. Although it wasn’t like a winter here, it still wasn’t “shorts” weather. I’m truly ready for some heat. It’s my favorite time of year.

The big news here is that I did sign a contract on the house I mentioned in my last email. I have tried very hard to keep my ultimate goals in sight as I looked at property. I knew anything I would buy would be larger than a New York apartment – meaning an investment in furniture. I also wanted to keep the price low enough so that I could bank a good portion of my profit from NYC for my old(er?) age. And with a little more investment in finishing the upstairs into a second apartment, there is potential for future income. I think I mentioned that I fell in love with the house, and the yard offers space for a garden. My only concern was the neighborhood. But I drove and drove and drove all around and found that it isn’t too far from the French Broad River and a park along side. It’s also near an area where cool shops are already coming in. I spoke to a number of people who said West Asheville is the fastest growing area for home appreciation. As I drove around, I realized there are a number of number of larger and newer homes nearby, and older homes that have been updated. I finally realized that what really bothered me is the house directly in front of me: it’s a small rental with no appeal.

I’m excited and overwhelmed at the same time. I’m looking forward to having a place of my own – and a home that is a creation of my own style and personality. That’s the part of my personality that I want to nurture and bring forth here is Asheville. But then there’s that dark side that worries about the money. I guess that’s my evil penny pincher, borne of tougher times. This past week I’ve awakened almost every morning is a cold sweat. What have I done? What have I done? I’m in a new place, a new job, surrounded by new people and here I am buying a new house! The fear takes over. But then, slowly the day breaks and the light brings a feeling that it will all be ok. Light over darkness. Faith over fear. It’s just the journey of a well-lived life. One that we are all called to travel.

Today, I joined met for the first time with the book club I wasn’t invited to join a few weeks ago as I sat writing in the Bean Street Café. I was a little nervous. What were these women like? Intellectual? Bright? Well spoken? Perhaps I would have nothing in common with them. I should not have wasted a moment worrying. The jumped right into the deep, difficult subject of any woman’s life: hair. I now think I was invited to join because I have straight hair. The need someone to balance their curly hair problems. If only they knew how much I want curly hair! Maybe it will happen in my next life. I’m really not a spiritual person at all – I’m building good karma for my hair issues.

We finally got into our discussion of the “Life of Pi.” One woman didn’t finish it because she had issue with the brutality of the animal world. One thought is was ok. Two of us thought is was brilliant! The author introduces the story as one that will make you believe in God. Tall order. If we are indeed created in the image of God, then God is all about imagination. Without it, we are nothing. It is main character’s imagnition (in my humble opinion) that allows him to survive a situation that is unimaginable. I certainly believe it is our ability to imagine a better life, a bigger life, that gives our lives meaning. I highly recommend the book. After a puzzling start (which actually contributes to the book) it is engrossing and if you are like me, you will rush to finish it because you must know. The writer is brilliant: not a word is gratuitous. It is all meaningful on many different levels. Yet, it is a simple story, but strange story. Read it.

We ended the session celebrating the Piscean birthday – three of us altogether in a group of six. In fact, I’m noticing a high percentage of us in Asheville. It’s supposedly the most spiritual of the signs. Which also reminds me of an incident with the builder of my house. After the contract was signed and we were just chating a little, he told me that Asheville is replacing Sedona as the spiritual capital of the US. Bear in mind that this is a 76 year old man – not a sex or age inclined to out the box spirituality. HE also told me that when he first saw me, he knew that he knew me. I ask the obvious question, “from a previous life?” The answer was yes. We briefly revisited this yesterday when I met him to stake out the driveway for the pavers tomorrow. Truly unlike any man I’ve ever met in his age bracket. He also shared that he had lost his youngest son to 10 open heart surgeries, and two other of his 6 children. He’s had a difficult life this time around.

I am now writing you from the Mellow Mushroom – where the Pizza’s are always Stoned Baked.

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