Since it was just a couple days before my birthday, I went a bit all over the map with this one, as I worked through some of the tracks I’ve had set aside to play but which haven’t quite fit into recent weeks. A bit more eclectic than usual, is what I’m saying.
Geekery
Whatever I’m geeking out about at the time.
📚 17/2021: To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer ⭐️⭐️ 1972 Hugo Best Novel
What sounded like an interesting premise was actually an incredibly unpleasant journey with unpleasant people that killed any interest in the purported mystery of what’s actually going on.

Difficult Listening Hour 2021.04.24
Unrehearsed, seat-of-the-pants, let’s-see-what-happens mixing. You never know what might fall into one of these!
Difficult Listening Hour 2021.04.17: It’s About Time!
First there was a time change, then I had other things monopolizing my time, then my computer crashed and I couldn’t get it back online in time to broadcast last Saturday, so this week, I’m finally back, and it’s about time! As in, every track has “time” in the title.
📚 16/2021: The Ringworld Throne by Larry Niven ⭐️⭐️
After the excellent first Ringworld book and a good sequel, this third entry takes a sudden detour into drudge and mediocrity. Boring sludge—large portions are essentially people describing what they see on monitors.

My Norwescon Exec Story Arc
So, when serving on the Norwescon Executive Team, team members can serve in any one position for a maximum of four years before turning the position over to someone else (Norwescon bylaws, Article 3, § 5).
Update: It’s been pointed out to me that I slightly misread the bylaws, and only elected positions are term limited; invited positions do not have that limitation. Even so, I’ll plan to stick to the four year term for this round, and I can come back later if invited. Now, back to the original post….
I’ve been thinking over the past few days that as weird as all of this has been over the past couple years, I’m glad my term of service as Secretary is covering the four years that it is (and this is making a bit of an assumption that I’ll be asked back as Secretary for NWC44; it’s not a given, but I’m hopeful).
- Year one: NWC42. A normal year.
- Year two: NWC43 (2020). We had to deal with canceling the convention due to a global pandemic.
- Year three: NWC43 (2021). We had to figure out how to run an all virtual convention, with everyone involved, from Execs to guests/pros/exhibitors to members, doing all planning and eventual participating from their homes. And we did one heck of a job of it, if I do say so myself.
- Year four (presumptive): NWC44. We hope and expect to be back in person at the hotel (🤞), and I’m absolutely fascinated by the possibilities and am looking forward to seeing how we adapt what we’ve learned this year into our plans for an in-person convention.
I’m sure there will lots to figure out. We’ll do our best. We won’t completely satisfy everyone, but we’ll come as close as we can, as we always do. But I’m really looking forward to NWC44, not just because of how much will be “like it used to be/should be”, but how much will have changed based on this year’s experiences, learning, and growth.
And in writing terms, that’s a far more satisfying story arc than if my term had ended at another point (so, please, next Exec Team, bring me back!).
Birds of Prey: If all of DC’s movies were more like this, I’d have a higher opinion of the franchise.
📚 15/2021: Quiet Pine Trees by T.R. Darling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Over five hundred microfiction sci-fi/fantasy/horror/weird stories. Funny, creepy, thoughtful, occasionally demanding that you put it down and let them sit in your brain for a bit before the next one. Wonderful.

On Talented Hackery
A few minor edits to this paragraph from John Scalzi’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Review and it very nicely sums up my attitude towards all of Zack Snyder’s films:
…that’s the real problem with [Zack Snyder’s] films. They look great [but] I find it hard to give a shit about any of them. I don’t hate them, but I don’t especially like them either…. They exist, and that’s about it. The problem with [Zack Snyder’s] films is not that they’re dour but that they’re empty. They’re not compellingly written, either in the larger plot sense or the smaller character sense, and when you’re done watching them, most of what you’re left with is a sense that you sure looked at something expensive.
I find Snyder to be a very talented hack. What he does, he does very well. Unfortunately, what he does holds very little appeal for me. And with his vision as the guiding force between most of the DC movie universe, it’s never been a particular surprise to me that I’ve not really enjoyed any of the ones I’ve seen, and haven’t been terribly motivated to watch those I’ve missed.
📚 14/2021: The Folded World by Jeff Mariotte ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tos
Mostly a trek through a haunted house, with weird vistas and spooky monsters or villains jumping out. Some odd characterizations that seemed a bit off. Not horrible, but not a standout, either.
