WindyCon 36 -- Day II
Nov. 14th, 2009 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anthimeriaAnyone who's ever paid attention at a con before knows that the busiest day is always Saturday--and WindyCon is no exception. Not only did I go to 10+ hours of programming (including the Masquerade), but I missed a lot of neat things because I was doing other neat things! Alas, thus is the curse of the good con. Everything awesome happens at the same time.
Took more notes today, on everything from writer's support to the roots of steampunk (apparently, Verne and Wells are gods, with Burroughs, Poe, and Twain as acolytes, and the old Wild Wild West tv show got an honorable mention). The panelists lauded Lois McMaster Bujold in the worldbuilding panel (apparently she gets engineering right and handles religion admirably--I really must find the first Vorkosigan book) and bashed SF authors who don't know how solar systems work, non-eurocentric steampunk got advocated in the "I don't wanna be an airship captain!" panel, we talked about where to get free books (the answer is: the internet), and of course, I topped the evening off with the Masquerade.
For as many cons as I've been to (more than many my age, not as many as I should've), I've never stayed for the Masquerade before. But so much of steampunk is bound up in the maker, the aesthetic, that not staying for the Masquerade was unthinkable (for steampunk-newbie me, anyway). I got a lot of cool pictures, though due to the fact that I don't know any of these people, I probably won't post them publicly. I also got a few research recs from professional costumers and LARPers who work with steampunk, since drawing from primary sources is important.
Panels that I missed but wanted to attend include "Lady Adventurers," "My Life in Comics," "The New Weird," and "Dystopia Begone."
In more disquieting news, the mall across the street from the con, where I went for dinner, did not have a bookstore. No bookstore. The entire mall was bookstore-less. I found this disturbing, not the least because the only reason I go to my mall is because it has a bookstore.
Took more notes today, on everything from writer's support to the roots of steampunk (apparently, Verne and Wells are gods, with Burroughs, Poe, and Twain as acolytes, and the old Wild Wild West tv show got an honorable mention). The panelists lauded Lois McMaster Bujold in the worldbuilding panel (apparently she gets engineering right and handles religion admirably--I really must find the first Vorkosigan book) and bashed SF authors who don't know how solar systems work, non-eurocentric steampunk got advocated in the "I don't wanna be an airship captain!" panel, we talked about where to get free books (the answer is: the internet), and of course, I topped the evening off with the Masquerade.
For as many cons as I've been to (more than many my age, not as many as I should've), I've never stayed for the Masquerade before. But so much of steampunk is bound up in the maker, the aesthetic, that not staying for the Masquerade was unthinkable (for steampunk-newbie me, anyway). I got a lot of cool pictures, though due to the fact that I don't know any of these people, I probably won't post them publicly. I also got a few research recs from professional costumers and LARPers who work with steampunk, since drawing from primary sources is important.
Panels that I missed but wanted to attend include "Lady Adventurers," "My Life in Comics," "The New Weird," and "Dystopia Begone."
In more disquieting news, the mall across the street from the con, where I went for dinner, did not have a bookstore. No bookstore. The entire mall was bookstore-less. I found this disturbing, not the least because the only reason I go to my mall is because it has a bookstore.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-15 03:12 pm (UTC)(I'm a big fan of the Vorkosigan books. I will cheerfully blather on about them for days, if I'm given half a chance. The quote in my icon comes from Memory, which is my favorite of the lot, but a poor place to start.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-16 05:53 am (UTC)The Baen free library online was mentioned in the free books panel, but I haven't had time to check it out yet. Thanks for the link!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-16 01:38 pm (UTC)You're welcome! The first hit, as they say, is free ;) (If you haven't been warned, and that sort of thing is important to you, Shards of Honor contains a depiction of rape. Not excruciatingly explicit, because it's not that sort of book, but with enough detail and reality to bother some people. It's part of the plot, so it isn't gratuitous, but I've heard of someone being triggered by the scene.)