Why lorikeets? Because I spent quite a while chatting about loris with Mercedes Lackey at the Wordfire Press booth. We talked about de-acquisitioning too, and she deduced that I live with a model trains collector (!) What a wonderful person she is. She used to live in the same town I used to live in, by the way.So did author and SFWA president Cat Rambo.  (South Bend Indiana.)  Ah, the Griffon bookstore. What a magical place it was and is.ANYhow. Other highlights. I got to listen in on a discussion between author Chuck Gannon/Dr. Charles E. Gannon and a podcast interviewer--about the cyclical give and take between science fiction and science. I got to watch artist Larry Dixon tape up a fan's broken toes, found out Todd Mccaffrey is a super-kind, tremendously intelligent guy who tells great jokes, met Alan Dean Foster, who is chill and awesome and a scuba diver, talked toCat Rambo, who was just downright amazing and had more colors in her hair than I do...Yeah. It was that kind of weekend. Below you will find more random thoughts that came to me regarding  MidAmeriConII/ Worldcon 74. Yes, they're all self-absorbed, usual ponderings. That's how I roll.

1. Travel diaries are easy. Travel write-ups are hard. Posting each day of the con? NO PROBLEM! Getting a post about the last day up? Three days delayed. Too tired after the flight and getting home to a new episode of Adventures in Spousal Medical Support, back at work the next AM, and then...squirrel!
2. Life list item checked off: I have attended a WorldCon. I feel no urgent need to attend another, but I can't put my finger on why, exactly. A lot of factors unrelated to the convention itself. One is that I live in a major metro zone and am spoiled for choice when it comes to conventions in easy distance. Yes, Worldcon is special but not so special I can justify a plane ticket to Helsinki.
3. Being the stupidest person in the room is my favorite thing in the world.
4. Cons exhaust my emotional batteries more than I realize. The brain sponge starts dripping the day after I get home.  Every time. Note to self: remember this.
5.  The author-identity hat is still small and squishy and doesn't work well to ward off anxiousness yet. There were many panicky moments and lots of awkward stomach-churning.
6. The author hat is slowly taking shape.  First con where I never felt an uncontrollable need to hide in a bathroom and not-vomit, nor did I have to mumble "I have to leave right now" and run out of any rooms. I achieved a bar and a crowded party.  Progress. Huzzah.
7. I am informed by reliable sources that none of my struggles were noticeable. Not a big surprise. Hiding comes naturally. Expecting support does not. That's why I mention the fearfulness, the inability to recognize faces, and physical issues early and often. The public results of my invisible challenges are easily mis-attributed.  I'd rather people know I'm freaking out, hurting, or have no idea who they are than have them think I'm deliberately snubbing them.
8. Purple hair makes great social armor. It confers upon its wearer the power of Conspicuous Invisibility, so to speak.  It gives people something innocuous to remark on, and the hair is what they remember best. Bonus: I can tell my shaky too-exposed nervousness everyone is judging the hair and not me.
9. Hugo Awards. Still important? Depends on who you ask. I'm thrilled for the friends who won them this year, and excited about the winning selections I was rooting for, but...  Mmm. But. I think perhaps the singular significance of the Hugos is fading, but should be seen as a victory for speculative fiction. A healthy, diverse genre needs MANY prizes.  For every Pulitzer prize-winner, there's a Man Booker prize-winner that looks nothing alike, f'rex. Both are meaningful. Neither negates the other.

And on that note, have a happy baby goat. Also, go buy all my books. 

I included the plug because They say writers should include links to their books with Every Blog Post. I'm not a big fan of  One True Way Advice, but hey.Here's a pic that links to my Amazon page, just in case.