ephemeral entries

Find me at DW

selki — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 03:02:12 GMT

Due to the new terms of service (analysis), I've turned off crossposting from Dreamwidth.org to here. Same user name. New entries will mostly be over there.

Easter Pepys

selki — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 17:37:44 GMT

Note, this is a SHARE! Originally posted by vsbooklady at Easter Pepys

Just a very mild prank. I like Pepys, and pastels, and I have remembered I have an unused egg dye kit up in my linen closet.

On Strike; History

selki — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 15:32:08 GMT

Today I am "on strike" (International Women's Day; US protest). So I've been doing laundry, emptying the dishwasher, and will go out "gardening" (picking up sticks, pruning) later. All very domestic, which amuses me. :-)

Also some reading:

Bombastic and impetuous, he sometimes made tactless pronouncements on sensitive topics without consulting his ministers, culminating in a disastrous Daily Telegraph interview in 1908 that cost him most of his influence. -- from Wikipedia on Kaiser Wilhelm (II).

Some (?) of the text of the interview : You English, are mad, mad, mad as March hares.
Analysis of the interview

Dancing and LA

selki — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 21:09:51 GMT

I've been to a waltz and a couple of contras in 2017, and swing dancing in LA!

I went to visit my aunt (my father's brother's widow), whom I hadn't seen for a year, and my sweetheart came with me. We had a really nice time, and she seemed to really appreciate our spending so much time with her. We stayed at a nearby hotel -- she had offered her bedroom but I was concerned about my allergies to her cats. I enjoyed our "subversive" use of public transit and walking while we stayed in downtown LA (LA is so car-oriented, but the most driving around we did was take cabs when it was rainy). We had dinner with her on the Friday night -- she had gotten a birthday cake for me! (I hadn't had any cake for my birthday, just a quiet work day). I was happy that they
hit it off (also, when she gave us a tour of her condo, he loved her library).

While we were there we only did a couple of things each day, to not tire ourselves out. We visited the LA downtown public library on Saturday at Marilyn's recommendation. It was beautiful with exhibits and art and speakers on Saturday afternoon. That evening we had a very good Mexican dinner with my aunt. Later that night we went swing dancing at Clifton's Cafeteria, a historic building with bars and a dance floor. It was jam-packed with a nice well-dressed crowd (mostly younger folks). We got there after 10pm (when the band started) and had to wait to get in. It was a great band but we only stayed for one set b/c of the large crowd.

We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday late morning. Then we had my aunt over for Sunday afternoon tea at the Biltmore. Elegant decor, endless pots of tea, but only a few little sandwiches and scones. That evening we saw the musical "Zoot Suit" (boogie-woogie
music and LA riots of the 40s) and it was great.

Next big trip is Penguicon.

A Few Games

selki — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 15:20:40 GMT

I am a little concerned that my last post,

Movies

where I talked about *Arrival* and related media, and asked for links to folks' commentary which I'd skipped at the time (avoiding spoilers), and
*Hidden Figures*, did not show up on LiveJournal. Is something going wrong with cross-posting? I re-set my password in the cross-posting settings, though it hasn't changed for months (I should change my passwords) so I should probably have let it alone. We'll see if this gets through.

Anyway,
Games

I have played a few games the past couple of months, some new.

Ticket to Ride, an oldie but goodie. Introduced a couple of friends to it who had never played it before. One of them loved it to pieces (even though she lost), bought it, and has gotten her family to play it and they like it too. *warm glow of accomplishment* This was New Year's weekend at Asylum House in Philadelphia.
Dragon and Flagon: bar brawl tabletop game with sort of Robo Rally mechanics. I hear some people find this way too slow, waiting for one's turn to come around. We prevented such sadness by a) only having 4 players b) each player doubled up with two characters c) those of us who caught on varied our characters' actions so that some played actions that took only one or two rounds to complete, and some played actions that took several rounds to complete. I would happily play this again. Learned it at Rev. Karl's Brunswick Games Day (he rents a community center and lots come to play).
Patchwork: quilting tabletop game for 2 players. Each person tries to build a quilt by "buying" irregular shapes from a common pool of "fabric scraps" (think Blokus but each has their own quilt, not competing for space with each other). Soothing, pretty, some strategy, but a little difficult to follow the "track" due to the prettyness. I learned this at my church's Syrian Refugees fundraiser (games night run by the church teenagers).
Pairs. I love this push-your-luck card game with beautiful decks -- 2-player that night, takes up to 7 pretty well. The basic rules are fine for me, but some get into the variants. This was at a friend's party.
Spaceteam: repair your spaceship in a hurry cooperative card game. I didn't have all the energy for shouting frantic help requests
and throwing cards
at each other, but it was interesting to watch. Fun art, what I saw of it.
Tenra: RPG hosted at my house, GM'd by badmagic. I enjoyed playing an anneledist who saw worms on that world as a source of wonder, not disgust. Some combat, some intrigue. We had a good time, but I ran out of steam by the 4th act.

Historical romance and horror

selki — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 21:34:25 GMT

I stumbled across another piece of under-told British history that would make another fine historical novel/movie, though this one has more of a horror aspect.

The Thomas Overbury affair was the greatest scandal of seventeenth century England featuring a heady mix of adultery, murder and necromancy, and has been described as "one of the most sensational crimes in English history".

As riveting as this read was, it seems to skim over a crucial aspect of the story: The woman behaving badly in it is only thirteen when she is betrothed, and sixteen when she is supposed to take up married life. Her youthful marriage was not atypical for the times, but I'm thinking of the raging teenage hormones that drove a lot of the her actions (no excuse, just upping the drama in a way). The corrupt power-maneuverings of others at court (including royal participation / looking the other way) could add some gloomy texture and modern relevance. It could sweep the Oscars!

2016 Wrap-Up

selki — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 14:58:02 GMT

I've been posting mostly-little things elsenet but it's been a long time since I did a general update over here (DW transcribed to LJ).

Work

Finally got a new member of my little SCM team. He's pretty sharp technically, doesn't need exhaustive instructions, and likes documenting things.
December was stressy because a major wait-wait-wait transmorphed into ISNTITDONEYET??!?!? but we got it done.
Holiday parties, potlucks, caroling were fun.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss: reorg time! Got back the boss I had a year-ish ago (not the bad one from 2 years ago). My little team is being uplifted into "Linux Engineering" and we will all supposedly expand our horizons and do cross-training. They've been talking about cross-training for years, of course, and I don't know how my boss will cope with 37 directs without making subteams / task leads, so we'll see how all this really shakes out.

Dance: not much -- one contra the last few months? Sick now, so not soon. Did a lot of walking and some hiking last week, though.

Elections: Friends and most family were a great comfort during debate watches and after the election. Church also a comfort. I'm hosting protestors for the big weekend coming up.

Family

Enjoying having my nearest niece practice and sing with me in the second soprano section.
Didn't lose my temper at Christmas. Thanks to sweetheart and DHS for letting me rant at them long-distance instead.
Was able to put aside aggravations for the most part for mostly-good family time with only occasional silent stews.
Need to make a will. Any Maryland estate lawyer recommendations?

Friends

Enjoyed a museum day with some: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2016/vanvechten/ and
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2016/brooks/
Saw part of an opera with Stevendj (it wasn't quite all we wanted and we left at intermission)
Saw Garden of Lights with some
Celebrations with some
It was kind of an old friend to take a few minutes at a very busy time and ask, no really, how are you, and listen, and care.

Loving

Happy with my sweetheart. Good New Year's weekend celebration in Philly (those who could make it).
More remote relationships conversational only these days, but nice conversations with future visit possibilities.
I would really like a local relationship.
Flirty party fun is fun but doesn't seem to lead to local relationships.
Accepted a date in December from a guy who kisses well, but wants to play a very wide field and is aggressively pushy. X.

Singing

Had a short solo during one of our church choir anthems which went went well. Enjoyed the Christmas Eve service singing.
Video game orchestra performances in November went well and attended by some friends, family, and sweetheart. Adapting to my new role as tenor -- they seem constantly short on tenors. Some of the notes I sing up and some I fade out on, as the chorus director wishes. Next concert's April 8.

Signed, Sung, Delivered

selki — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 13:54:21 GMT

A signed and sung performance of Hamilton's Cabinet Battle # 1 is so cool. I love how how the speakers AND the signers are acting (lots of attitude!). I saw a signed-and-spoken play ("The Dybbuk"?) once and it was great. Also the speakers behind the signers reminds me a little of what I've seen of the staged *The Lion King* with the animal mask-extensions.

Holiday wear

selki — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 14:30:51 GMT

A lot of people are wearing Where's Waldo costumes to work today. Some anime hair. A cowboy, a couple of cat ladies, a shark, a Pikachu, Super Mario? a clown. A high Fed is "man cat" (the man pages for the cat command). I'm wearing black (down to my toe shoes) and a pretty coppery green checked mask. Best costume: my fave Fed is the Samsung phone on fire (he was a knight on a hoverboard last year).

I hope to make it to the Glen Echo contra dance tonight. They decorated the hall last night. It should be pretty cool.

Mildly gendered slurs

selki — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 13:54:32 GMT

"Pearl-clutching" came up recently relevant to WorldCon (a panel moderator ran over his panel with a monologue supposedly about SJW pearl-clutchers), and reminded me that I've been meaning to write about it as a gendered slur for some time now. Generally it's women who wear pearls, and women who are accused of getting "hysterical" (another gendered slur) over small unimportant things. To categorize anyone with concerns over a social issue as "pearl-clutching" is pretty much saying they're brainless over-emotional women. Applied to men, it's also a kind of gender policing.

Just this morning, I responded to someone (in a friends-locked post, feel free to identify yourself) looking for a less-gendered term than "wanking" for someone going on and on in a conversation (monologue). I generally use "wanking" to describe self-indulgent musical solos that go on and on, myself, but I understand the desire for a less-gendered but still punchy phrase. Others had some suggestions. I came up with "broviating" which I realized afterwards is of course every bit as male-centered as wanking, but I still like it.

I remember when someone lectured me on my supposed sexism a few years ago for using the term mansplaining, in reference to a man who had been "explaining" something to me I knew more about than him (dance history). I was unimpressed by her argument, since I don't intend to pretend that it's something women do as much as men, especially since I don't think it's helpful to insist that we blind ourselves to gendered patterns of behavior when we're trying to identify cultural weight that shapes our behavior. Certainly women can 'splain on *other* axes to the supposedly-unenlighted (e.g., privsplaining), but I haven't seen them do it as insistently in the face of evidence the other person is already quite knowledgeable on the subject, thank you. Still, now that I've come up with "broviating" I may start using that instead, since it has the connotation of a certain kind of man. (#notallmen)

Similarly: Years ago, I was happy to come across the term "manspreading" to describe people (generally men) who spread their legs to take up two or three seats on trains, since it seemed much more polite than the term I'd seen, "lava-balling" (their balls are so hot, they have to spread their legs or spontaneously combust!). But someone posted on Facebook last week or so, an illustration from a Victorian newspaper which showed a man doing that thing, and it had an even more polite and gender-neutral term for it. Alas, I can't remember it. Possibly since I've never seen a women do such a thing.

I have strong opinions, but actually am open to discussion on all this.

At home and out and about

selki — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 12:42:51 GMT

Home: The neighborhood cookout went well. I finally got new kitchen shelving and I feel much better organized. Also my sweetheart painted the walls so the colors are much better together, got basement plumbing repairs/upgrades, and I got a new refrigerator (old one was 1999 or earlier vintage). My niece got a paying job and moved out, and I de-cluttered and she got bookcases, chairs, etc. Made LN2 ice cream with friends.

Entertainments: improv theatre with LJ's stevendj, Lucia di Lammermore opera in Philadephia, ladies book club, wandering around looking at merchandise and playing old video games after we sang at SuperSmashCon, library book club, got to know orchestra folks better at a cookout, sat at a firebowl, went to Philly for Labor Day weekend (board games and electric bicycle tryout).

Family: I think we've finally worked through the official estate business for my father, although we still have the house to deal with, but LJ's squishydish is living there so no rush.

Service: I helped make dinner at The Children's Inn again, and gave a lay reading at my church for the first time.

Work: We're short-handed, I'm doing a migration this weekend (unless it slips again) and missing the last pool party of the year for it, oh well.

Worldcon Business Meeting, Personal Account -- thanks Steven for your service and write-up!

selki — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 02:26:05 GMT

Originally posted by stevendj at Worldcon Business Meeting, Personal Account

I attended all four sessions of this year's WSFS Business Meeting (12 hours), helping shepherd two Constitional amendments to ratification. I really don't like thrusting myself into public notice, but it seemed important.

Background, for those who aren't aware: The Hugo Awards are nominated and voted on by the members of WSFS, the World Science Fiction Society, which is typically mostly the people attending the annual Worldcon, but which also includes people who spend $50 on a Supporting Membership. The number of Supporting Memberships has grown over recent years, since publishers began allowing the Worldcon to distribute voting packets with electronic copies of nominated works. (Not all works end up in the packet, but most do.) Each member can nominate up to five works in each category, and there are five finalists.

In 2014, a group called the Sad Puppies, led by someone who was angry that he hadn't been nominated for a Hugo after having been nominated for Best New Writer and losing, tried to push the idea of slate voting, where they'd come up with a list of nominees and encourage their followers to all vote for them. This effort had limited success, it was widely condemned, and most or all of the slated works (deservedly) finished below No Award.

In 2015, they tried again, this time dividing into Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies (the latter led by an open white supremacist who thinks SF awards pander to woman and minorities, by sometimes giving them awards), pushing a nomination slate of five works in most categories, and recruiting enough followers that the slate swept most categories, leaving no non-slate nominees in those categories. Buying memberships just to vote for a slate of specific works is an obvious attack on the Hugos, and it's been tried a few times before, but nobody has ever tried to knock all legitimate nominees off the ballot before. Social pressure shamed a number of Puppy nominees into withdrawing (and, to be fair, a number withdrew of their own volition and didn't need to be shamed), but there were still eight categories with only Puppy nominees. No Award placed first in the final voting in all eight of those categories.

There was a lot of discussion after the nominations came out, trying to figure out what to do about this. My immediate suggestion was that limiting the number of nominations each person could make to four, and increasing the number of finalists to six, would at least give us a choice of two non-slate works in each category. The obvious flaw in this analysis is that if there are two slates (as there in fact were) they could still sweep the ballot. Still, it would at least make it a bit harder for them to dominate, and when someone else on the forum said he wanted to submit it as a formal amendment I agreed to co-sponsor it.

He also wanted to get rid of a rule that had been causing problems in the short story category, which said that finalists had to appear on at least 5% of nominating ballots. In 2011, 2013, and 2014 this had led to just three or four short stories qualifying as finalists. He wanted to combine both proposals into a single amendment, but I convinced him to make them separate amendments.

In the months between this and the convention, a more elaborate proposal called E Pluribus Hugo was developed and submitted as an amendment. This changed the counting procedure in a clever way to dilute the power of slates. Basically, each voter got one point in each category, divided among all their nominations. Everything that was nominated would be ranked by points, the two works with the fewest points would be compared, the one that appeared on the smaller number of nominating ballots would be eliminated (even if it had more points), and the points for all the works would be re-computed and the process repeated. The idea is that with normal voting, the final ballot would be the five works that had the most nominations, just like the old system; but if there was a slate, then they would have relatively few points compared to non-slate works, eventually two works on the slate would have the least amount of points, and one would get knocked off the ballot. The hope was that this algorithm would knock at least two or three slate works off the ballot in the more popular categories, and at least one or two in the low-turnout categories, giving voters a real choice. I thought this was a superior proposal to 4 and 6, but as I was already co-sponsor of a rival proposal I elected not to co-sponsor EPH as well.

At the Worldcon in Spokane last year, all three of these amendments received initial passage. They needed to be ratified at this year's Worldcon to take effect next year. There is no way to change the rules any faster than that.

Note that EPH and 4 and 6 are compatible with each other, so there's no reason both couldn't pass. However, if EPH is in effect, it has a perverse effect on 4 and 6: the 6 part is good, since the extra finalist will usually be a non-slate work, but the 4 part hurts regular voters more than it hurts slates. There was a non-binding ruling at the Business Meeting that if 4 and 6 were changed to either 4 and 5 or 5 and 6, then that would be what is called a "lesser change" (basically, closer to the current version of the Constitution), and it wouldn't delay ratification. If either number were moved further away from 5, though, such as 3 and 6 or 4 and 7, that would be a "greater change", and the amendment would have to be passed on to the next Worldcon, which could ratify it.

This year, the Sad Puppies effectively ceased to be a force that mattered, and the Rabid Puppies decided to nominate a mix of works that would likely have made the ballot anyway (such as a Lois McMaster Bujold novella, and a Neil Gaiman graphic novel) and works that were designed to be simply offensive (including a few that were basically mean-spirited invective directed at SF personalities they despise). An amendment called Three-Stage Voting was introduced to deal with the latter case: it would have an intermediate stage in which the voters could consider a long-list of the top 15 nominees in each category, and vote to toss any of them with a super-majority consisting of 60% of the people voting on that item, including at least 600 people voting to reject. The hope is that anything that would finish below No Award on the final ballot anyway would get thrown out, and that the offensive garbage would be replaced with worthy nominees. (I'm skeptical that this will be as effective as its proponents think, but I don't think it will do any harm. At worst it's a waste of time, but it shouldn't be actively pernicious.)

There was also a refinement of EPH proposed, called EPH+, which changes the divisors EPH uses to make it more effective: if you have two nominations remaining in a category, each gets 1/3 of a point instead of 1/2, if you have three each gets 1/5 of a point instead of 1/3, with four each gets 1/7 instead of 1/4, etc. Theoretically, this should make EPH more effective.

There were a few other measures proposed to fight slate voting, but they either failed or were small changes, so I won't discuss them.

Whew. Okay, enough background, on to the meeting.

The WSFS Business Meeting was scheduled for four three-hour sessions. Most years, we run out of business before the fourth session and it isn't held, but that's also the only session after the Hugo Award ceremony, which is when the nominating data for the Hugos is released. Pretty much everyone agreed that it would be best to consider EPH, 4 and 6, and EPH+ on Sunday.

The night before the first session, I run into David Wallace, one of the co-sponsors of EPH. He mentions an amendment that Kevin Standlee, one of the sponsors of 3SV and a major power in WSFS, wants to make which would require re-ratification every year between now and 2022. (There's already a sunset clause requiring re-ratification in 2022. I don't think there's every been a sunset clause requiring more than one re-ratification.) We're both really strongly against making it that easy to get rid of EPH; attendance by reformers at the Business Meeting has been high the last couple of years, but people are going to get tired of going to Business Meetings, and it would be much easier for die-hard opponents to pack a meeting and win one vote than to win two consecutive votes. I mention a counter-proposal I'd thought up, which would allow a Business Meeting to suspend EPH for the following year, which would still allow the Business Meeting to get rid of EPH immediately if they wanted, but would mean that they'd still need two years to get rid of it permanently. David likes the idea, and plans to talk to Jameson Quinn (one of the principal movers behind EPH) about it, and see if Kevin will consider that proposal instead. (I hear later that Kevin says he's too fried to consider the merits of our proposal, and it would be out of order to try to amend his amendment, but it would be in order to suggest it as an alternative during debate.)

The first session is devoted to setting the agenda for the remaining meetings, including the order that items were considered and the debate time for each item. It's also possible to kill items without debate with a 2/3 supermajority. 3SV survived one of those motions, but another Hugo reform proposal was killed. My main objective for the preliminary Business Meeting was to make sure that 4 and 6 was considered after EPH, since if EPH passed I wanted to amend 4 and 6 to make it 5 and 6. I had e-mailed the lead sponsor of EPH well in advance of the Worldcon to make sure he supported considering EPH first, then e-mailed the chair of the Business Meeting to make sure the two items were initially put on the agenda in that order. However, someone at the meeting did move to re-order the agenda to put 4 and 6 before EPH, so I had to make a quick argument against. Basically, I said you could sensibly consider EPH without knowing whether or not 4 and 6 would pass, but the reverse wasn't true, and I said that if EPH passed I intended to propose an amendment changing it to 5 and 6. The attempt to put 4 and 6 before EPH failed, and I don't think it hurt any to put the idea of 5 and 6 into people's heads.

An incredible amount of time is spent voting on how long to debate each amendment. Much, much more time is spent voting on debate times than is saved by shortening the chair's suggested debate times.

The 5% Solution came up for ratification on the second day of the Business Meeting. I'd prepared pretty thoroughly for my speech in favor. I looked at all of the short story nomination longlists for 2007 through 2015, plus the longlists for 1980 (when the 5% rule was adopted by WSFS) and 1984, looking not just at how many works there were above the 5% cutoff, but where each of the stories was published. Turns out that in 1980 and 1984 three-quarters of the stories on the longlist appeared in just two or three magazines. Not the same magazines, but both years a small number of magazines dominated. From about 2010 onward, there was occasionally one magazine (Clarkesworld) that had several entries on the longlist, but basically nominations were much more widely dispersed among markets than in the 1980's. And that was basically my statement: when this rule was put in place, the short story market was smaller and everyone was basically reading the same stuff. Now there's a lot more good fiction being published, nobody can read it all, and it's become much harder for even outstanding work to clear the 5% bar.

If I remember correctly, the only real argument against The 5% Solution came from Ben Yalow, who had in 1980 pushed to adopt the rule in the first place. His argument was basically, well, it may be a good idea in theory even if it's not a good idea in practice, and besides, how can we be sure it's not a good idea in practice, maybe the stuff that's getting eliminated should be eliminated. Not very compelling, but I wish I hadn't cut one detail from my speech for time: In 2014, the fourth-place short story had 1/4 of a nomination less than 5% of the ballots cast. If the Hugo administrators hadn't rounded the cutoff down to a whole number, it would not have been a finalist, and if it hadn't been a finalist, it obviously would not have gone on to win the Hugo, as it did.

There's an effort to add a sunset clause, requiring re-ratification in three years. It fails.

The 5% Solution passes easily.

There is a huge time-consuming debate over whether there is a parliamentarily permissible method for postponing a ratification vote for one way, i.e., taking something that's up for ratification at this year's Worldcon and vote to ratify it at next year's Worldcon instead. Various methods are suggested, and eventually the Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee (which is a real, highly respected standing committee) is instructed to report back the next day. Have I mentioned how much time is wasted on pointless wrangling over rules at these meetings?

Day 3, none of my amendments were up for discussion, but I attended anyway. The Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee decides that the preferred method for delaying ratification by one year is to add a sunrise clause delaying its effect to the year after next, and a sunset clause repealing the amendment if not ratified at the following Worldcon. Sunset clauses have commonly been used, but sunrise clauses haven't ever been put in the Constitution. This report will have unforeseen consequences, as various people attempt to add the hitherto unprecedented "sunrise clause" to various amendments.

A terrible, but badly written, amendment was proposed to 3SV. It was referred to committee to clean up the wording of the amendment, to report back on Sunday. The rest of the amendments were disposed of one way or the other, leaving us with four items of business to deal with on Sunday. Unlike the first three meetings, the Sunday meeting could continue as long as necessary past the three hours in the schedule, although it would be difficult to stay past 2:30 since one of the presiding officers had a plane to catch.

Of note: an amendment defining North America received first passage, which explicitly states that Washington, DC is part of North America. If the amendment is ratified next year, a Worldcon held in my apartment will not trigger a NASFiC.

Later that day, I learn that a report showing what effect EPH would have had on the 2014 and 2015 results is up on the Business Meeting page of MidAmeriCon's website. I go over it before going to bed, noting that 5 and 6 would put Puppy works that EPH eliminated back on the ballot with distressing frequency. Still, 75% of the time it adds a non-slate work. EPH itself adds an average of about one non-slate work per category, which is a smaller effect than people had hoped for.

Sunday. The terrible amendment to 3SV is defeated. A pointless amendment, which would literally have had no effect whatsoever, is withdrawn after that fact is drummed into the maker's head. After much debate, 3SV receives first passage. Still needs to be ratified next year, and I'm not sure it will be.

EPH comes up. Jameson proposes, at the request of this year's Hugo administrator, a technical change regarding how to handle finalists that are withdrawn from the ballot by the authors. It passes, after the chair rules that it's a lesser change, and an appeal of the chair's ruling is defeated. Kevin Standlee makes his motion to add the multi-year sunset clause; David, during debate, describes the alternative I suggested and says he'll move it as an amendment if the sunrise clause is defeated; the sunrise clause fails, with 96 votes in favor, 99 votes against. David proposes the suspension clause, it passes.

There's a report showing what effect EPH would have on the 2016 nominations, for both the 2016 Hugos and the 1941 Retro-Hugos, but only five paper copies. They're working on getting it up on the website. I find the links on the website, but both links go to the report for 1941. Fortunately, at some point while the Hugo administrator is answering questions, they get the link fixed, and I manage to pull the 2016 report up on my cell phone. 5 and 6 puts some really, really awful stuff back on the ballot, but 80% of the time it adds a non-slate work. This is data I need.

EPH passes. A resolution to request that the Hugo administrators report next year to the Business Meeting on the effect of EPH passes. (The Business Meeting doesn't have the power to require that the Hugo administrators do anything.)

On to 4 and 6. Before I can speak, someone makes a motion to add a suspension clause to 4 and 6, like the one in EPH. I think it's unnecessary, but it passes pretty easily. I don't think it will ever be invoked, though. As maker of the motion, I am then given priority to speak in favor of the amendment.

I begin by making a Point of Parliamentary Inquiry, asking if changing 4 to 5 would be a lesser or greater change. On being informed that it's a lesser change, I so move, and am immediately and enthusiastically seconded.

I begin my speech by comparing 5 and 6 to 5 and 5, the status quo. I argue that the change can't reduce the number of non-slate works on the ballot, and, based on the 2015/2016 data, it will add a non-slate work 75-80% of the time. 20-25% of the time it will put a slate work that EPH got rid of back on the ballot, but I argue that the benefit of giving the voters more non-slate options outweighs the harm of adding a few more slate works to the ballot. Combined with EPH, therefore, 5 and 6 is an improvement on the status quo, in terms of fighting slates. I give a condensed argument that 5 and 6 is better under EPH than 4 and 6, referring to some charts Jameson had prepared for the agenda comparing various systems, which I hope people will either follow, or take on faith. Finally, I say when changing the Constitution, we should also consider the effect that the amendment will have when the slate voters finally go aware, and I argue that with the increasing diversity of the field—stylistically, geographically, in terms of content and subgenres—moving to six nominees allows us to better reflect the breadth of what's being published, and a modest expansion in the number of finalists is a good thing not just in terms of fighting slates, but for its own sake.

I've used up just about all the debate time in favor of the amendment. There are several speeches against, during which I am reminded of the dictum "Debate need not be factual" (or sensible). The vote is called, and after a show of hands the chair rules that the amendment is ... defeated. Ooof. I honestly don't understand why anyone is voting against this. (Against the underlying amendment, I would understand, but why does anyone prefer 4 and 6 to 5 and 6?)

There's a motion for a serpentine division, which is a precise count in which those voting on each side count off in sequence. 85 votes in favor. I note, when the count against reaches me, that it's running slightly behind the yes vote. Votes against peter out at 61. The chair was wrong. My amendment to change from 4 and 6 to 5 and 6 passes.

I'm asked if I want to speak in favor of the underlying motion, and decline. Nobody wants to make any further arguments against the amendment either. We vote, and it passes.

Someone tries to move to adjourn immediately, without considering EPH+. The chair rules that this is out of order; since EPH+ was moved specifically to this point in the agenda, we can't adjourn until we deal with it. He then moves to suspend the rules and adjourn immediately. He needs a 2/3 majority to prevail, and there is at least 2/3 against him. Everyone is exhausted. After a bare minimum of debate, someone moves to call the question, the meeting votes to end debate, we vote, EPH+ passes. A motion to adjourn is passed enthusiastically. The Business Meeting is over. It took almost exactly three hours, which largely by coincidence is the time it was scheduled for.

Side note. I didn't support these amendments in the expectation of glory—in fact, when I agreed to co-sponsor them, I didn't think I would even need to speak at the Business Meeting, but it turned out that the lead sponsor was an indifferent orator and was agreeable to letting me make the opening arguments—but after the meeting, several people came up to me, thanked me, and congratulated me on my success. I think I'm better known in the Worldcon community than I was, and I have gained a significant amount of respect. Which is probably the way things ought to work, but it did take me a bit by surprise.

I was gratified that everything I sponsored passed in pretty much the form I wanted, and glad to have made a suggestion that helped EPH.

Upcoming DC / Montgomery County homeschooling co-op Literary Fantasy course

selki — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:49:41 GMT

To be taught by a friend of mine who is the 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award winner! I love her books and she writes great reviews and essays at Black Gate.

Originally posted by dr_pretentious at So I'm Teaching This Course On Literary Fantasy

A homeschooling cooperative asked if I'd be interested in teaching a class of high school age kids. They knew I would be good for creative writing, but they were always looking for literature classes. (They're always hoping to pick up new students, too.)

The more we talked about it, the more all of us got excited about the idea that turned into this official course description:

Survey of Literary Fantasy

This course will offer an overview of literary fantasy in English, from Sara Coleridge's lyrical Phantasmion, the first fantasy novel in English, to the latest crop of authors on this year's Nebula Awards ballot. We will read some of the landmark novels in the genre, to include Hope Mirrlees's Lud-in-the-Mist, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Ursula K. Le Guin's first three novels of Earthsea, and Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. Most of the works on the syllabus will be short stories, so that we can explore as much as possible of the range, variation, and evolution of fantasy literature over its two centuries. In a few cases, we will read excerpts from longer works, such as the Mu Lan movements from Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts, and fragments of unpublished works, such as the youthful fiction experiments of the Brontë siblings. Students will come away from this course understanding a microcosm of literary history, one that allows them to explore concepts of genre, lineage, influence, literary movements, and canon formation.

Books:
Tom Shippey, ed., The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories
Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore
Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn
Assorted short supplemental readings, either handed out in class or available free on-line

Authors:
Sara Coleridge, the Brontës (Branwell, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), George MacDonald, Andrew Lang, William Morris, E. Nesbit, L. Frank Baum, Lord Dunsany, Hope Mirrlees, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore, Mervyn Peake, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin, Peter S. Beagle, Jane Yolen, Angela Carter, Maxine Hong Kingston, Charles R. Saunders, Leonora Carrington, Neil Gaiman, Sandra Cisneros, Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, Kelly Link, Catherynne M. Valente, James Enge, Nnedi Okorafor, Ken Liu, Carlos Hernandez

Instructor Bio:
Sarah Avery is a working writer and a longtime private tutor with a Ph.D. in English Literature and seven years of university teaching behind her. She won the 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Tales from Rugosa Coven. Her short fiction has appeared in Jim Baen's Universe and Fantasy Scroll, as well as the Hugo-nominated online magazine Black Gate, where she has also written columns on teaching and fantasy literature. With David Sklar she coedited the themed anthology Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic. Her next book, The Imlen Brat, will be out this autumn. In her previous incarnation as an academic, she taught creative writing, literature, and composition. A parent who has homeschooled, she is delighted to make her return to classroom teaching in the company of homeschoolers.

If you guys out in blog-reading land know any homeschooling teens in the DC/Montgomery County area, feel free to spread the word.

Broken nose?

selki — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 22:15:14 GMT

Pretty sure I broke my nose last week and somehow didn't realize it until this morning. Timeline:

Went to NC last week for the annual family summer vacation (at the beach by our hometown). Pretty good time, also had to work some and got some chores done (e.g., got crack in car's front glass sealed).
Thursday? Or was it Friday morning? a fierce wave flipped the boogie board I was hanging on into my nose. It was a fierce smack and I really felt it, but there was no blood, and I even joked with my nieces about it being a near miss for a broken nose. I skipped voicing my internal musing about it almost being like one of those deadly palm-strikes one reads about -- it really had seemed to drive my nose straight back, up from the lip.
Friday late afternoon (but not so late as to be shark time), went swimming again. Felt fine -- jubilant that I didn't get burned this week but got a lot of time in the ocean.
Friday night: trouble sleeping. CPAP fiddly.
Saturday: drove back with my niece-housemate. Still not noticing anything.
Sunday: Slight headache, low energy.
Monday morning: woke up and nose hurt. Assumed my CPAP had been on too tight. Nose tender all day, but busy first day back at work.
Lunch: Phil met me for sushi. He didn't notice anything. I didn't think to say anything.
Monday night: hurt to put on CPAP, even with looser fastened headgear. Pulled off old nose seal, got a different size out of supplies to put on, hurt a bit less. Slept.
This morning: ow ow ow. Felt all around and noticed a bump about mid-way up on the bridge of my nose. Tender. Looked in mirror. My nose now seems to tip slightly to my right, from the dark patch mid-way up my nose.
#*O(T%UW@$P@(*&U@(&

If it is broken, it's probably already partly "set" and would take surgery? to fix. Is it possible I just slightly damaged it last week, and then did something else to break it all the way on Sunday?

Journeys, Housemate, Balticon, Dancing, Music

selki — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 02:08:17 GMT

I went to a gorgeous play in May, a production of *Journey to the West*, a Chinese literature classic which has been adapted in many forms. Years ago I acquired a sheet of playing cards based off a Chinese mini-series of it. Last week a friend of mine got a very short comic book adaptation of it as a freebie with some shipment. I saw the fun and musical production with LJ's stevendj; we had a good dinner before at Rice (Thai).

One of my nieces moved in with me in May. She just graduated college and has an internship in DC through (most of) August, and is hoping to find a permanent job up here. We're getting along fine, each trying to respect common space (not leaving things lying around), sharing groceries (I've gone vegetarian for my home meals while she's here), chatting when our schedules work that way, and the place is big enough that we can each hermit when we need to.

Balticon was fun. LJ's squishydish came up for it, dhs came down for it, I saw a bunch of friends and went to good programming, and I got to dance a lot. The schedule disappeared from my phone app sometime after the con, but I remember enjoying a panel about utopias and optimism, and Fran Wilde's last-minute kaffeeklatsch.

Having gotten a taste for dancing again, the next weekend when my sweetheart visited, we went to two/three dances, depending on how you count them:

Ballroom dance at Colvin Run in Virginia: nice double-sprung wooden floor, small stage for live bands, around the same size as Oella. Dance community-owned converted schoolhouse. Reasonably friendly crowd, around my age (some older, some younger), more Latin dances than I'm used to, no noticeable vintage.
Swing dance at Glen Echo, part of the folk festival
Contra dance at Glen Echo, part of the folk festival

Last weekend I went to a benefit concert and practiced my charitability when the guy seated next to me kept tapping his knees All. The. Way. Through. I was reminded of that bit from the first Master and Commander book when the captain meets the doctor at a concert and the doctor is aggrieved by the captain's ... enthusiasm for the music. The next day I relaxed at a friend's party with fresh strawberries and gave myself a henna job on my troubled thigh ("painting" water and flowers along the muscle which keeps giving me problems).

After 3 rehearsals last week (including an extra sectional and a "dress rehearsal", in which we dressed up to the nines in colorful clothes / cosplay), the geeky Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra I've been rehearsing with finally performed in Virginia. What an experience! Next week's near-to-me performance (Saturday night) is coming up fast. It will be even better! It's so wonderful for all our hard work to pay off with great music.

This morning I was the liturgist for the taize' service (meditative, lots of chanting), with three days' notice (the pastor emailed me to ask if I could do it). I remembered how my dad took his readings very seriously, and would go over all the words beforehand, and I did review them, if not quite as much as he would have -- next time I would actually practice reading them aloud; it's different from just reading the words with my eyes. Still, after the service, several people told me how much they appreciated my readings, and my singing the chants along with them. The music director who had played the piano for the service gave me a hug and told me with a grin, "You know what the reward for a good job is..." and I smiled back and told him I'd enjoyed it.

"Hell", eek

selki — Thu, 19 May 2016 12:34:41 GMT

Accidentally said that to my choir director last night. We were taking our tea break, and he mentioned leadingly, the church will need some soloists this summer while the choir's off. So I mentioned my sister's spasmodic disphonia (I'd been thinking about telling him), and that my voice sometimes "jumps like hell"
oops, this is the choir director, and he regards his job as a ministry...
"Uh, sorry, I mean ... it jumps a lot. Still, even after I've been singing regularly, though I admit I don't practice scales every day."
He took it calmly, and offered contact info for an ENT who works with singers. My sister ended up having to see more than one specialist (including a neurologist), but I may take him up on that. It may just be that I'm not practicing enough/right, or damage from acid reflux I had a while back, or something like that.

At the end of the evening when we were sharing news and concerns, I mentioned the gamer symphony orchestra that I'm in, and our concerts coming up in June (in Virginia and Maryland). I mentioned that the video game industry makes more money than movies these days, and that was where a lot of the serious money for composers is going these days. One of the tenors behind me said something about how we're (America?) going to hell if more money is going to music for games than for church. I *think* he was joking ... I hope. I think there are more obvious reasons for America to be going to hell (if it is).

Coincidentally last night, my sweetheart was watching a play about a Christian church, identity, and a pastor's grapple with conscience.

Girly

selki — Sat, 14 May 2016 13:36:07 GMT

Some three or four years ago, I pampered myself with my first-ever pedicure. I kind of wanted to get a green glittery polish for Penguicon, but my language skills weren't up to it. It might have just been a clear polish; I don't remember. When I got my second pedicure a year ago (more pampering, a few weeks after my dad died), I went with what seemed like a fairly benign pink color. Once on my feet, the color looked SO weird! I startled myself every time I saw my bare feet. It's gradually worn/chipped away except for on my left big toe, where the top third or so still has that garish pink.

Three weeks ago, I got my first-ever manicure, in prep for a sort of promotional interview at a different business unit at my employer (I haven't heard back, may have fizzled). I went with a clear polish because I didn't want to startle myself again and I didn't want my nails to be too flashy, but I did want to look polished. What I wasn't expecting was how weird my fingernails would FEEL to myself. So slippery, almost bionic/robotic/alien. It's been interesting to see the progression of the chipping-away this time. It's not too obvious to others since it's clear (at least, no one's made comments). Little sections still feel glossy, and they sort of shine unevenly.

Last Saturday, I went over to my neighbour's (the one who cuts and occasionally colours my hair) and we had some wine and watched the Kentucky Derby together. That was fun. This afternoon, I'm going over to her house for a Mary Kay party -- I expect I'll buy some moisturizer cream or something, but who knows? I'm going for the general festiveness and because she asked me, but maybe I will let myself be talked into something more. Not a facial, though -- I got one of those a few years ago and it hurt, I made them take it off almost as soon as it went on, even though it was supposed to be "our gentle version". I have very sensitive skin.

Tomorrow is the ladies' [ex]co-workers book club at my house, so I have some chores to do now!

Jim Hines' Shield Theory (complementary to spoon theory)

selki — Sat, 07 May 2016 21:00:20 GMT

Originally posted by jimhines at Shield Theory

My son and I both had rough days yesterday, and right before bedtime, my wife and I were talking to him about good days and bad days, limits, and why at a certain point we all start to feel overwhelmed and fall apart. I considered bringing up spoon theory, but thought it would be a bit too abstract for him. So instead, I started talking about about Captain America’s shield.

Because in general, every day has good stuff and bad stuff. And just like Cap, we all have a shield we can use to deflect some of the bad stuff and keep it from getting to us. But sometimes there’s too much stuff to block it all, and Cap gets hurt. We all have bad days like that sometimes, where there’s just too much.

What makes life trickier is that your shield can change size. If you’re hungry or overtired, your shield might shrink down to the size of a saucer, which makes it harder to deflect anything. On the other hand, if you’ve had a good night’s sleep, gotten some good exercise, and had fun with your friends, you could end up with a super-shield that’s as big as you are. (Or even a full suit of Iron Man armor. We went off on a tangent at this point, wondering why Tony doesn’t go to Wakanda and make an Iron Man suit out of vibranium.)

As a metaphor, Cap’s shield worked well. We talked about why something might not bother you one day, but the same thing might really get to you on another, depending on how big your shield is that day, and how much else you’ve been trying to deflect. It also seemed to be a good way of talking about self-care, and ways to strengthen your shield so it wouldn’t shrink or crack.

Don’t know if it will be helpful to anyone else, but it was a good conversation with my son, so I figured I’d put it out there.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Kindness, charades, cherry blossoms, competence

selki — Sun, 10 Apr 2016 14:22:35 GMT

A few weeks ago, I straggled into a store. I thought my hair was in need of a cut, kind of sticking out from my head, but the woman behind the cash register thought it was great, and told me so in a kind of rushed quiet voice, "Love your hair!" or some such. Maybe it looked punk-on-purpose or something. :-) I thought *her* hair was gorgeous, with braided loops, but I was a little flustered and just said "Oh, thank you!" That was so kind of her, to make a point of saying that to someone she didn't know. On my way out, there were other staff around, they were busy, and I thought it might be weird to compliment her hair out of the blue, but I did smile at her and wish her a good evening as I paid and left.

I won a little prize for charades at a friend's birthday party, a little Game of Thrones raven statuette. I don't watch, but it's an impressive raven. I hadn't warned the party folks about the cut-throat charades we played in my family.

The cherry trees sure were pretty this year. I've only braved the crowds at the Tidal Basin a few times, but there were some lovely ones up here, and I had a nice walk outside on the peak Saturday. I should call a tree person to strip the ivy from the one in my backyard, and trim it back where it's brushing up against my chimney. I thought I had a bunch of cherry saplings in back (growing from the roots of the big one), but only one seemed in evidence when I went back there during the bloom.

A house guest broke a toilet seat and I was pleased that I was able to take out the old one and select and put in a new one without much trouble. I'm not mistress of all home repairs, but that one I can do. Also I cleared a clogged sink using a "Zip-it" tool (long plastic strip with teeth) I picked up at the same time.

Verizon 1, neighbor 0

selki — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 16:57:49 GMT

I like my neighbor, but I'm not impressed with her architect boyfriend, and neither is Verizon. FIOS and phone restored with temp overland wire. Tech told me my neighbor took out at least 4 people and she's going to be fined for not calling "Miss Utility" when her boyfriend put in the steps that go down from her backyard. Verizon will be in my backyard and others' over the next 2 weeks marking (spray paint on ground) and then digging and laying more fiber underground, and then I will need a "compliance technician" to come back and connect that with my house. None of this will cost me, yay.

I wonder if I should hire the landscapers to clean up my backyard before then, or wait until they're done. I'm leaning toward the latter.

Singing up a storm

selki — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 14:15:39 GMT

Choir practice Wednesday night was a little nerve-wracking, with me as the only soprano*. I made some mistakes, but we got through it and it was overall helpful that I was there. Helped me, anyway! :-) The director, as ever, was kind to all (he's demanding, for the music, but in a very constructive and encouraging way).

I went to my first official practice with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra -- it's nearby on Monday nights. It's an 80-musician group (including ~23 singers) that performs original arrangements of video game music. I attended their last spring concert, I like the music they do (lots of variety, not afraid of dissonance), and LJ's Silmaril recruited me. There was some griping among the singers during practice about some of the music, which surprised me -- I guess I'm spoiled by choir. People were friendly, though.

In addition to singing 3 times a week (WMGSO practice, choir practice, and church service). I've also been doing some treadmill lately, which should help with breath control. I kind of feel I have to seize the chance to sing while I can, since one of my sisters has the same voice problem radio host Diane Rehm** has, and has to get botox shots in her throat to be able to talk (she used to love to sing). There's no evidence spasmodic_dysphonia is genetic, and probably my voice is shaky sometimes just because I haven't sung regularly for years, but it unnerves me and so I'm singing a lot this year. Both singing groups will take a break over the summer, and I'll see how I feel about it all come fall when they start up again.

* There was only one alto, too. Probably a combination of the sleet, rain, and tornado watch, and no anthem for the coming Sunday, but I'll miss practice next week due to another certification class, so I wanted to make this one.
** Rehm says she's retiring after the 2016 elections.

Song and Dance Woman

selki — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 05:52:57 GMT

Hamilton the musical was great! Seeing it with LJ's SquishyDish was great! I scored a great hotel deal by waiting until the last minute (oops), and the weather was great, some friends of mine (including LJ's ElissaAnn) met us for a delicious birthday brunch, and we also lucked into two good meals on our own by a little online searching and wandering around a few blocks from Broadway (one a nice tapas restaurant and bar, and one tasty Moroccan restaurant).

The Hamilton cast album has been running through my brain, brain, brain, INCLUDING at a Western Swing dance and a salsa lesson and dance I attended last week, and even our pastor's cadence during the Sunday sermon got me going again.

I sang at what I think was my first ever Ash Wednesday service tonight -- nearby Lutherans asked our church choir to help them out. They have a pretty church, but our choir had over half as many people as were out in the pews. It was a quiet, respectful service, with good thoughts and meditations, and only a bit of jarring with the He/Him/His language (our church uses words like Creator and God rather than Lord and other gendered terms). Thankfully, no Hamilton intrusions during tonight's service, although Cabinet Battle #1 has been saying hello in my head since I got home. Pushing back against it is the choral a capella version of Du Hast (Mich).

It might have been prudent to wait until after my LJ-free sister's wedding and then my next professional certification/exam in March to join another singing group. However, I've enjoyed the music of the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra, and a friend of mine in the soprano section recruited me, I auditioned, and I'm now a member. I join the regular rehearsals in a couple of weeks. Part of how I talked myself into this is, my voice will likely do better if I'm singing three times a week regularly (WMGSO practice, choir practice, church) than only two. You might think it would have been easier just to do daily scales/practice, but I don't seem to have been doing that. Sort of like the difference between going on walks with friends v. the exercises I don't do much on my own. Anyway, I'm having fun singing new music with new people.

Snowy Waiting

selki — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:58:07 GMT

I was really ready to get back into the office yesterday, after teleworking Ths&Fri last week and then being snowed in. The vegan superhero neighbors were great, helping others clear their cars too. Other neighbors shoveled snow into my cleared walk and on top of someone else's car. Guess which neighbors got a homemade dessert thank-you from me.

While buried in snow, I listened again to the Hamilton cast album. My twin SquishyDish and I are really going to see the show! We can't waaaaaiiiiittt!!!

Waiting room

selki — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 20:18:09 GMT

Sportsball is" , some diss is talking to it a lot (mercifully, less some other dudes showed up), and another guy talking OVER the game on his phone, but at least it was in another language. I noticed my car was overdue for oil change by 1000 miles, oops, so took off from work to get it done before the weather hits. Have run through work email and social media except full Twitter feed which I only ever dip into a few screens at a time. Incidentally, I listened to "Wait For It" from Hamilton about 10 times this weekend.

2015 Wrap-Up

selki — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 16:52:57 GMT

Family: Went to NC for Columbus Day and Christmas weekend, very nice visits. Been Skyping with the sibs. Also various Asylum visits back and forth.

Dance: Ballroom here, contra sonic there, but I want to dance more.

Home: Got stuck with the HOA treasurer position for 2016, oh well. Also got my front yard fixed up and hung some of the art I've gotten, looking good, now looking at painting and plumbing to be done.

Professional: Obtained another ITIL certification, and presented at USENIX. The company merger went ok. I'm a little grumpy about benefits changes and related poor communication (e.g., where's my new prescription card?), but no serious issues. The contract reorg has also been going ok. I did get a new manager, but she's been ok so far. She has her hands full and our sub-team more or less runs itself (well, with my leadership). We're expecting our team's workload to ramp up again soon with the new year. We'll have a lot of new tool/process changes to adjust to, as well. Keeps things interesting. :)

Books and related media/experiences:

The Ladies' Ex-Co-Workers book club continues (just 4 women right now) at a leisurely pace. We had good discussions of our last couple of books, *The Watchmaker of Filigree Street* by Natasha Pulley (British Victorian steampunk? time/memory sf), and *Tales from Rugosa Coven* by Sarah Avery (New Jersey pagans). Coming up in a few weeks: *The Martian* by Andy Weir -- I enjoyed the book, haven't seen the movie.
Local library book club: I really liked *The Dog Stars* by Peter Heller. No one else did; I don't think they're used to post-apocalyptic novels. Next book is some emo thing which I'm happily missing because <lj user=stevendj> and I will be seeing "Best of Storytelling" in DC that night.
Enjoyed Chessiecon.
Moby Dick: I have only read sections of it, but I did enjoy the related movie *The Heart of the Sea* (I don't understand the bad reviews: I thought the characters were nuanced, I rooted for the whales but the movie conveyed these whalers doing a dangerous, difficult, sometimes disgusting job, and the FX were good but not too in-your-face, mainly giving depth, e.g., waaaaaay up in the rigging). And last weekend, I enjoyed a game of "Dick", a Cards-Against-Humanity style game with interesting quotes from the book (e.g., lots of sperm whale stuff) to fill in the blanks.