I know I've been delinquent about responding to emails and comments lately. I've just been...not depressed, but having no desire to participate in life, either real or online. I am not sure what the problem is. Every time I think I'm starting to pull myself out of that, something happens to knock me back down.

So, I want to post this quickly. Normally I would flock (and filter) something like this, but this appeals to the cultural studies geek in me, and there may be people on my flist who know people who aren't on my flist who might be fellow geeks and would like to see this. At WisCon this weekend, I did attend the panel "Fanfic and Slash 101", and it was rather interesting. The panelists included someone who's just a massive fic writer, someone who's a massive fic writer and is a collegiate English instructor, and a woman named Anastasia Salter, who is about to complete a master's degree (in communication studies? can't remember) and is doing her thesis on this topic. At the end of the session, they offered us a list of academic publications regarding fanfic that we might be interested in perusing. Should that kind of thing appeal to you...here it is.



If you can find anything written by Anastasia Salter, I would also recommend reading her words. Listening to her gave me flashbacks to working on my degree, in a good way. Very near the beginning of the panel, she pointed out that there are plenty of people who would jump at the chance to see Wicked and would discuss it in detail afterwards, but would sneer at someone who said they write stories about Harry Potter. However, Wicked is fanfic. Gregory Maguire took a minor character in an established fantasy world and extrapolated a story around her, based out of canon.  It may have been made into a Broadway musical, but it's still fanfic.

You know how I keep saying "I'm going to write up a bit about seeing Zachary Quinto at Starfest" and never get around to it?

...this isn't that write-up. But the folks who ran the convention have photo galleries up now and there is a metric buttload of pictures of him. (That's a very precise, scientific measurement in Ohio, by the way. Just like BFE is a very precise, scientific description of distance. But I digress.)  The photos have credits on them and the folks who ran this convention were very nice, so if you use the pics, please be nice back and give them credit.  Also, if you go up to the main gallery, there are pics of Masi Oka and Adam Baldwin and Nichelle Nichols and Nana Visitor and, oh, everyone.

I am heartened in looking at these pictures because they were taken by folks who were far more professional than me and yet there is still plenty of blurriness.  I'm telling you, the man will not hold still. 

I think this big happy smile is my favorite...

You know what the cutest thing in the world is? 






Wish I had better pics.  But the lighting was awful in the main event hall, no matter what setting I used on the camera, and the light from the windows in the signing area was falling oddly and making it hard for the camera to figure out what to focus on.

Well. I am finally in Denver at Starfest. I shall spare the complaining about the new $225 camera that was missing parts and the flight that was delayed and the annoyances of SuperShuttle. Largely because I was sitting on the SuperShuttle grousing to myself that next time I was just paying for a damn rental car because it had been two hours since my plane landed and I still wasn't at my hotel...and then I discovered that the girl in front of me was going to the con too.

Turns out she helps put together Phoenix Comic-Con, which had Wil Wheaton as a guest this year (and I have to admit, I was never a Wesley fan, but Wil is one of the funniest writers around and a massive, massive geek and I would love to meet him) and when she found out that I was a newbie to con-going, she told me to make sure I tracked her down at some point this weekend so we could exchange info and she could talk me into going to DragonCon.

Also, according to her, the only sci fi actor she's ever met who was a jerk?

Shatner.

OK. I need to go try to wake up now. I was horribly tense about getting here and now that the tension is dissipated and I've eaten a giant meal thanks to room service (this hotel makes one of the best burgers I've ever had), I am sleepy and want to take a nap...but things start in a half-hour.