Skipping Boskone
Yep, I’m skipping Boskone this weekend, reasons being twofold:
- I am scrimping and saving and economizing like mad, hoping to get to the World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki in August. This is a pricey endeavor.  Planefare, hotels, food, weeks away from home in foreign countries. My current plan is: Yes! I will go! To accomplish this, other things have to fall by the wayside.
- I am in a broody, antisocial mood, brought on by story woes. I am still struggling to sort this book out into decent order. Willing to see small groups of people, yes; grumbly-grumble, lemme-alone-dammit at very large groups of people.
But just because I’m not there, no reason you shouldn’t go! Boskone is a blast. Here’s their website. And here’s the list of program events. (If you click on the list-view selection, you can see who’s on which panels and events.) People you might like who are attending: Jo Walton, Ada Palmer, Brian Sanderson, Ken McLeod, A.C. Ambrose, Bruce Coville, Craig Shaw Gardner, Patrick and Teresa Neilsen Hayden, Walter Jon Williams, Jane Yolen, and plenty more.
Seriously, you should go. You don’t get out enough.
Despite missing Boskone, I will still be attending Readercon, July13-16. I’ve been going to Readercon for ages, and I’ve been invited back this year. (There was a snafu one year; I’ll be sure to follow up and make certain they’re keeping me on the list.)
In other random news: My car is having its clutch replaced. Not cheap; but my mechanic is convinced that this will give the old crate five more years of life. Amortized across five years, and eliminating the need for a new car, this works out pretty well.
We are painting various odd corners of the condo. Furniture gets moved, a thing gets painted, furniture gets moved back. It’s a process.
I have decided to learn as many songs about stories as I can. Not songs that are stories; songs that refer to the existence of stories, or mention story-telling, inside the song. I already have Patty Larkin’s “The Book I’m Not Reading” under my belt. I have recently added Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer’s “The Mountain” (which begins: “I was born in a fork-tongued story”).  Now working on Deb Talan’s “Tell Your Story Walking,” which is much trickier than it sounds.
I am open to suggestions…
February 17th, 2017 at 9:54 pm
Boskone does sound like fun, as does Helsinki (I’ve always wanted to go to Finland). But I’m saving up for San Mateo Worldcon 2018, planning to take the train across. Sorry the book is being annoying, but I have faith you’ll stroke it into shape. Have fun at Readercon!
February 18th, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Hi, Ms Kirstein. My wife and I are big fans of yours from out here in rural Victoria (Aust.) Just keep doing what you’re doing; we think you’re great! 🙂
February 22nd, 2017 at 11:37 pm
Wow, all the way from Australia!
Thanks for the good words. Visiting Australia is definitely on my bucket list. Also, it would be interesting to look up and see some constellations that I’ve never seen before! These Northern Hemisphere ones — I think I’ve used them up.
February 23rd, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Definitely worth it! Although the night sky anywhere is always going to be endlessly engaging 🙂
March 8th, 2017 at 6:16 am
When I read your request for songs about stories, the first artist(s) I thought of was Pete Atkin (music, vocals, guitar, piano) & Clive James (words) – http://www.peteatkin.com.
They’ve been writing wonderful songs since the early 70s, often about unusual subjects. Looking through them, though, I don’t see any explicitly about stories, which is a shame.
However, if you’d like to hear songs about Musicians (“Thirty-Year Man”, “Sessionman’s Blues”, “Practical Man”, “Thief in the Night”, “National Steel”, “The Man Who Walked Toward the Music”, “The Wristwatch For A Drummer”, “Apparition In Las Vegas”, “So Loud I Couldn’t Hear It”), Hollywood (“Screen-freak”),
America (“Driving Through Mythical America”), Auschwitz (“A Hill of Little Shoes”), Vietnam (“All the Dead were Strangers”), Stories (“No Dice”, “Sunlight Gate”, “I See the Joker”), Authors & Artists name-checked (Petrarch, Shakespeare, Ronsard – “You Can’t Expect To Be Remembered”, Verlaine – “Girl on the Train”, Renoir, Rembrandt – “Perfect Moments”), Cats (“Fat Cat”)
There are also many about not-so-unusual subjects like relationships (“The Flowers and the Wine”, “All I Ever Did”, “Between Us There is Nothing”, “An Empty Table”, “I Have To Learn”, “Thought Of You”, “Dancing Master”, …)
Plus some songs that ARE stories (“No Dice”, “Sunlight Gate”, “I See the Joker”)
You can stream the songs, and read the lyrics on the web site. The early albums are steamable from the main site, and all are available on http://www.peteatkin.com/disworks.htm