Hugo Day! Worldcon does this sneaky thing where for the first three days it stretches out before you, you are surrounded by wonders, there are days and days ahead of you, and the idea that it will be over at some point is intellectually real but emotionally impossible to grasp. And then you wake up and it is Sunday, the last full day of the convention. If you’re lucky enough to be a finalist, it’s the big night! There is loads to look forward to, but also the day whizzes past. At the reception you got one drink ticket, and …
Tag: hugos
LAcon V Podcast Roundup
There were a lot of podcasters at the convention, some of them recorded episodes while there and others did con reports. Here are a few to help with the post-con blues – if I run across any others I’ll add them to the list. Octothorpe 168: It’s a Very Little Cat Hugo, Girl!: Worlcon Report: LAcon V Eating the Fantastic: Worldcon Donut Divertissment! The Incomplete Worldcon Podcast Episode 4: LIVE from LAcon V A Meal of Thorns 58: LACON V
Hugo Reading: Novelette
Intersting mix of subjects here; kaiju, vampires, magic, and self-aware machines (the old term is too loaded and too intentially muddled by llm-hucksters to be of any use to me now). The machines take the biggest slice, but each story has a very different focus, so that’s nice. Top of my ballot will go to Never Eaten Vegetables by H. H. Pak, which was wonderfully well rounded, using its relatively short length to pack a short novel’s worth of world-building and characterisation, and also delivers on the feels.
Hugo Reading: Novella
This year I’m going to try to be a bit better about my Hugo reading, instead of trying to speedread three novels and the entire short story category on a train to the airport or something. I’m not going to review in any great detail, but figured doing some posts as I go along to keep track might help a bit. Novella is the first one done and dusted, and a pretty good lineup this year I think. Half of them are retellings of classic stories, which is kind of interesting, and top of my ballot with probably go to …
Got my noms in!
I started filling out the form last week, so I shouldn’t be up late trying to get a tiny bit more reading/reasearching in but of course I am. Every year I saw next year will be the one where I keep better track of the things I might want to nominate, and do more [fill the blank with the category you feel guiltiest about] and who knows, maybe next year really will be. What would help? More recommendation posts, people! There used to be so many! If the blogosphere really is reviving well that’s something it can do very well, …
Hugo Nom
So I’m a Hugo finalist for Best Fan Artist! The announcement went out over a week ago and I’ve posted on the socials, but now that the initial excitement has died down I thought I’d post more complete thoughts than just “yay!”.* The Hugos and fandom are inextricably linked for me. I became aware of the existence of conventions, and therefore fandom, thanks to one of the old Hugo Winners anthologies. The introduction included some anecdote that took place at a Worldcon party. I don’t remember the story, or the names of the people involved, but the glimpse into that …
Books and bathrooms
It’s the middle of the month, I have two weeks of furlough left probably. I’ve gotten quite a few overdue personal projects done, but I have a bad habit of having so many projects on the go that even if I complete several I don’t maintain much of a sense of accomplishment. It’s tricky. Still, one of them is tidying up the website a bit, cleaning up the menus and links, and updating the art pages. It needed doing anyway, but if I’m planning on entering any virtual art shows, an up to date website seems critical. It’s also nice …
Good news everyone!
Well, not for everyone. Generally the news has been pretty dismal, but on a personal level I got a raise, and some adjustments to my job, and some other good news hopefully tab. So that’s something. Then this past weekend Josh visited, which meant John played a LOT of boardgames and was very happy. We played the last on an Unlocked box, which was an excellent Sherlock Holmes mystery. So a good month so far in that sense. We also finally have a date for getting our bathroom re-done, it’s a few months away, and we’ll have to sort out …
Worldcon 2019 in Dublin
Waking at the crack of dawn got us into Dublin city centre by nine-thirty am on Wednesday August 14th. Too early to check into our AirBnB but a fine time for a hearty breakfast at The Bakehouse, right by the Ha’penny Bridge, and a wander through Temple Bar with a quick stop at Forbidden Planet and a look in at Gamers World. At eleven we collected the keys and dragged our suitcases up three flights of stairs. It was bracing, and even less fun at the tipsy end a long con day, but otherwise the place was fine – roughly …