I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, November 5, 2007

World Fantasy and the Whatever

Meeting everybody at WFC was just a mind blowing experience. You all are very neat and cool.

I spent about a half hour talking with George Scithers when I just wanted to thank him for his personalized rejection letters. Sat with Jay Lake and Elizabeth Bear for ten minutes (I didn't contribute much to the conversation). I was able to talk with a boat load of authors; some I knew, some I didn't, some I should have been reading (sorry about that L. E. Modesitt, I really do want to read your stuff).

And there were about eleven or fourteen people who asked me if I was the Steve that posts on the Whatever. Yes I am. I recognized some of your names, but not all of them. Thanks for saying hi, though. It freaks me out a little (so that's why I kind of hesitated each time). I mean, I'm still there to play fanboy to the writers and editors, so when it happens to me, it's a little disconcerning. When you're at these cons, there's lots of badge checking. When you see someone you look to their badge to grab their name. I'm not good at that. But yeah, you guys and gals zoom me. It's a serious rush to have that happen.

But I do have to make clear some things about me.

One, I'm horrible with remembering names. Seriously. I blew that section of my mind out with NutriSweet. Before I tried diet pops, I was pretty good with names. Afterward I have to work very hard to remember them (the people from the first night, I wrote their names down on scraps of paper, I didn't have the opportunity on the other days). But I never forget a face. So walking around places like WFC is an experience, I know many of the people walking around having seen them all before. The people I've talked with I know I've talked with them (I can remember most details about those I meet). It's just not remembering names.

Two, I blew some of my hearing out playing in marching band, orchestra, jazz band, and my own rock band. My HS marching band (GlenOak, under Roger Hall) was small, but we outplayed bands twice our size. We were very loud (controlled sound, not blatty). The "cocktail party effect" (where you can focus in on one person talking in a crowd) doesn't work for me. So when I'm in a crowd, hearing someone even if they're right next to me is very hard. I sometimes go by reading lips.

Anyway, you all were great. I hope to see you all again real soon.

2 comments:

Todd Wheeler said...

Congrats on the Whatever spottings. It's a loud party over there so you must be writing stand out things (as usual).

Thanks for the Con updates as well. Always interesting to read.

Steve Buchheit said...

No worries, Todd. It's all about the networking. But like the earlier post I did that linked to another site about con going (I'm too lazy to look up the link), you should go to have fun first. Everything else is second.