These Things Three

[mmerriam]

I have been invited to be the guest speaker at a teleconference for a group of blind fiction writers and poets. One of the members read the piece I have up at Breath and Shadow and sent me an email, asking if I'd like to take part in a discussion session with their moderator, followed by Q&A with their members. The moderator said it follows a format similar to the one on Inside the Actors Studio. Of course I agreed! I am both honored and boggled.

I've settled on the conventions I'll be attending this year. I'll at Con of the North (gaming con), Minicon, 4th Street Fantasy Convention, CONvergence, and Diversicon.

Since all these conventions are local, careswen and I will only be staying at the hotel for Con of the North (because we need someplace to change into costumes for the nightly LARPs) and CONvergence, (because I always end up on too many programming items and because the con is super-frantic, making it important to have someplace quiet to retreat to). We'll be driving back and forth to Minicon and 4th Street (both of which are close to our home) and I suspect I'll only be at Diversicon on Saturday.

Finally, I'm thinking of taking an internet sabbatical in February. I would only be checking email twice a day, and staying off the internet and all the networking sights I frequent for one month. Unless, you know, I sold a book and needed to make an announcement.

I take sabbaticals from the news from time-to-time where I won't watch news, listen to news, or read news, because honestly, it depresses me. I've feeling that way about the internet in general and blogs in particular for the last couple of months. There just seems to be an awful lot of doom and gloom and bitching and fighting and anger out there right now, and while I know it's always been there (because I've been on the net for a long damned time) I find myself just--out of energy for trolling, internet slapfights, flame-wars, and even heated-if-polite discussions. This has begun to affect both my mood and my writing negatively, and it needs to stop. I'm thinking I need to step away for a while, hit the reset button, and get myself pointed back in the right direction again.

Comments

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Goddamnit, why not WisCon?

Oh. I mean: how cool about the guest speaker thing!

I really should go to Diversicon, though, so at least I'll see you there.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the honor of being invited to speak at the conference!

[tiny-wings.livejournal.com]

That's so awesome about guest speaking at a conference! You'll have to tell us about that!

I think you are suffering from mercury retrograde :-(

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about the news; I avoid it for the same reason.

I hope that your haitus will give you the peace and boost that you need. You'll be missed if you do decide to go quiet.

[careswen.livejournal.com]

Something useful about the hiatus might be that it will help you decide how much of this stuff you really need in your life. You can eliminate the things that have little-to-no value, but still keep the useful stuff, and return to it after your break with renewed enthusiasm. A problem with the internet has always been the signal-to-noise ratio, so we have to work harder at filtering out the noise. But (if I may add another metaphor) don't throw the baby out with the bathwater -- how will you keep up with your close friends without LJ?

[dmbaird.livejournal.com]

Kudos on the speaking engagement - having seen you in action , I am NOT mystified that they invited you.

I understand the static-to-noise ratio issue. There are so many hours in the day & we must choose how best to spend them.

[joelarnold.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the speaking engagement!

As far as a sabbatical from the news/internet, I think everyone should do that every once in a while! It's good for the soul.

[queenofillusion.livejournal.com]

When and where is Diversicon? I'm looking for a (cheaper) alternative to attending 4th Street...unless, 70 bucks suddenly drops in my lap.

(looks upwards expectantly)

V

[matastas.livejournal.com]

Can you register on-site for Con of the North? ANd what're y'all playing in? Now that I look at the site, it looks like it might be fun.