…on the heels of the previous post about what does or does not rep Nerddom.
The (other) funny thing about this is that when I was in SF Fandom, the hard core raged about the use of the term sci-fi. The correct term is SF, supposedly.
One acquaintance said that using the term sci-fi was tantamount to using the “N” word about black people. The comment is burned on my eardrum as the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
One well-known female professional flew into a rage because when I was sixteen-years-old, I entered a costume contest as Lady Galadriel. Kelly Freas took me aside to warn me that this woman had such a meltdown over me during the contest judging that I was to watch my back around her. “Galadriel is my elf!” cried the lady who claimed rule over something Tolkien created.
Years later, now a pro myself, I met her again. And she remembered. In great detail. And she was still furious at my encroachement on her territory. She was one of those women of SF/Comics whose womanly welcome extends only to women who do not threaten her. A sixteen-year-old blond threatened her a lot. A young female pro threatened her a lot. I still threaten her a lot.
If nerds go from underdogs to top dogs, there’s literally no outlet left for the unpopular, in much the same way that Nirvana hitting the top 40 charts killed the underground music scene.
Everyone deserves their own place to go that is not dictated to by the rules of the majority that already sets the pace for every other social gathering. Nerds should not be beholden to the same concerns that the “cool kids” use to pull rank on each other, and quite frankly, we shouldn’t have to be exposed to those people if we don’t want to be, because a lot of them are simply assholes. It’s like telling the quiet girl who’s into anime that her only allowed outlet for enjoying the medium involves sharing space with the girls who called her a lesbian for not being into the most popular boy band of the moment. The most important freedom is freedom from other people.
I declare my right to freedom from Cat Piss Man.
The comments thread is a wonder.
All I wanted to do when I was a kid was go to a convention and buy some books. I didn’t realize that was an act of aggression like, I dunno, beating up a kid with thick glasses.
Moving right along, an interview with my lovely and talented collaborator Barry Lyga:
An amusing feature on soap operas at The Atlantic.
Tenure is a bad deal not just for universities, which are saddled with its costs, but also for professors, who are constrained by its conventions. Cathy Trower, a researcher at Harvard University who has studied tenure for the last decade, says the current system may actually be scaring talented young people away from academia. “This one-size-fits-all, rigid six-year up-and-out tenure system isn’t working well,” she says.
Someone will tell her that’s what she gets for going to a convention as a NINO.
Colleen is extremely stinky and cross after a morning of farm labor. Not sure that’s news, either. Lack of rain has our watermelons splitting open on the vine. Very vexed.
My thanks to the webcomic Love is in the Blood for linking to A Distant Soil. I truly appreciate everyone who recommends my work, and I hope you will take the time to have a look at some of the creators who have been so good as to rec my work.
If you would like to link to A Distant Soil, here’s a handy image:
