Ahoy, Me Hearties!

It's been an - interesting - week. "Interesting" is such a useful word, as it can convey so very many shades of meaning. In this case, the meaning is "weird, leaning toward the good, but with a lot of supremely curious 'huh-what?' stuff thrown in, along with a goodly dash of the sort of news that makes you despair about whether humans are useful additions to the ecosystem."

And all of that communicated with a single word. Isn't English an amazing language?

There's no need to go into gritty detail. It'll suffice to say that the last week has seen the 6th commemoration of the loss of our collective innocence; there were a few oddities at work; and the news had more than the usual amount of stories which dealt with humans being monstrous to the smaller and weaker among us. Adding to the bizarre, I actually got drawn into a conversation yesterday about the views of Karl Barth, which I was busily relating to elements of Doctor Who. (As Mal would say, "Still working the details.") Based on the available evidence, it seems abundantly safe to say that I could use a break from being a responsible grown-up. And I bet we could all benefit from such a break.

And just in time is today. September 19 - International Talk Like a Pirate Day! This site is chock-full of vocabulary tips and fashion advice. What? You say you fear your "pirate-speak" skills aren't up to public display? No fear, ye spineless bilge rat - if you're able to cut and paste this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMu6e5Dgtg - you'll be treated to a useful (and HI-larious!) language lesson! What? You expect me to know how to link that? Arrr - away wi' ye, scurvy dog! I got plunderin' on me mind; I've no time fer such t'ings!

Remember - to err is human, but to "arrr!" is Pirate!

Returning to Earth

So I'm back home for the time being, having finished the eight-states-in-ten-days tour. I know you couldn't come with me, but fear not! There are pictures galore from Dragon*Con for you to examine, quite likely while saying, "What is that he/she/to be determined is wearing, exactly?" I organized the photos into some rough semblance of categories, with Whedon-stuff first. Enjoy and remember - these are your neighbors, your dentists, your teachers, your plumbers and so forth. My, my, but we're complicated people, aren't we? And yes, this post begins with a picture of the 30+ marching members of the 76th Independent Battalion, which is a very elaborate homage to Firefly. These people, who I am proud to call comrades (no, not that kind - don't let the red fool you), may be a little nutty, but I have pecan-like tendencies myself. And trust me - these are the sort of folk you want watching over you, whether you need a strong back or a soft couch.

Back on Earth, school continues. I have technical issues - a mutant talent of mine seems to be the uncanny talent to make all things electronic go wonky at my approach - but they seem to get resolved while also providing computer techs with both job security and funny stories to tell.

Speaking of both technical issues and funny stories, a new blog will soon be linked to this one. I'll be starting a separate blog for the upcoming Buffy class that I'll be teaching as a six-week continuing education class. The class will be interrupted for a week due to the Turkey trip, but I had the idea for the blog before that puzzle piece fell into place. The blog will give students (and non-students, too) a place to comment, along with some nifty links to information about the episodes we'll be concentrating on, essays that have been published on the material and so forth. Oh, regarding the comments - don't get overly excited; I'm going to serve as moderator, just in case people get irrelevant in their statements. See, there was an article about another cont. ed. course in which the instructor justified his class by saying something along the lines of, "Last year, they had a course on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so there's room for everything." Maybe I was just in a snarky mood, but that stuck in my craw to a degree. It was a bloody good class, focusing on depicitons of morality and values. Pffffffbt, I say! Anyway, back to the post, already in progress . . .

. . . and I'm nearly caught up on laundry and most of the papers that piled up on my desk during my absence have been conquered! Honestly, the pile was so high I wasn't sure if I should grade it or climb it.

I'm going to enjoy just sitting still with a dusty dog (we really need rain around here) and look through my pictures, reliving the glory days of otherwise normal people dressed up as Monty Python characters.

Dragon*Con

The deal was this - finish the book on time, and get to go to Dragon*Con in Atlanta as a reward. I bought my pass in anticipation of reaching my goal and getting that tasty carrot. This was wise, since as you know, I got the manuscript in to the publisher about ten days early. I frantically prepped lessons for my classes in my absence (I hated missing class - really. I like teaching and I think I'm indispensable, so I don't like not being there) and off I went. While I didn't get to do everything or meet everybody (sorry Lissa and Rhonda), it was - noteworthy.

I'd been to cons before - Akin and I met at the infamous "canned flan" in Burbank back in December, after all - but this was just . . . other. Something like 45,000 attendees with interests ranging from computer gaming to Star Trek to anime to science fiction to Doctor Who to (of course) Whedon. Costumes are the norm and I'm sure any poor Muggle who booked a room at any of the three host hotels without knowing what was happening came out shocked and stunned. I saw stormtroopers and Doctors and Sailor Moons and Batman but I also saw the Death Star Construction Crew (complete with blueprints), the Tick (complete with spoon) and Delirium (complete with fish).

I loved it all.

After all, in so-called "real life," most of us (not just con-goers) are mundane. We fret about paying the bills, whether the car will last through the winter, how much overtime we're putting in at work that takes us away from those we love and so forth. But we are so very much more. Whether your passion is anime or football, passions are good and having people to share those passions with is even better.

I'm already planning for next year. Without the pressure of writing a book.

Who knows? Maybe the geeks will inherit the earth. When we do, it'll be an earth worth living on, I feel sure.

It's in the Mail!

Yes, sports fans, the book is in the mail! My baby is winging her way to the publisher, hopefully even as we speak. (Only we're not speaking. Hmm. Problematical, that is.)

Anyway, I polished stacked librarian's edits while under the influence of way too much coffee to be prudent and must now take full responsibility to what results. From a cold, harsh, practical viewpoint, I know that the larger world won't know (and wouldn't care if they did) how much hard work went into this project. Even more difficult to accept is that most people don't "get" this project - they get excited when I tell them I wrote a book (I wrote a book! Sorry - it's still sinking in and it's real tonight, since the book is in the mail and all), then they visibly deflate when I explain that it's about faith and belief in the works of Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer with footnotes. I swear, it's as if they're mentally patting me on the head like a kindergartner who's showing off finger-painting.

Well, pooh on them, I say! It's solid work (mighty fine finger-painting, to my way of thinking) and I have to believe it'll find the audience it's meant to find. And I wish I had the energy to celebrate in some outrageous way - preferably involving drizzled chocolate - but I'm just too bloody tired.

And what else is in Mockingbird's mail? Oh, look - the Collector's Edition of Serenity!! Well, isn't that rather like kismet, considering everything with this started back with that? (Although I'm too bushed to watch it tonight - classes stop for no author.) But it is a pleasant coincidence. Serendipitous and Serenity - I like that. The Little Movie That Could. I'm sure that, somewhere, there's a Fox executive sobbing at his desk: "I don't understand it! We did our best to kill it, and it just keeps coming back!" I must say, this is shiny packaging - miles better than the first DVD, the packaging of which was just a dismal mess.

Happy now. Also tired, but mostly happy. And a little hungry. But still mostly happy.

Online Classes and Other Musings

The goal line for the manuscript is in sight, but I've yet to cross it. The whole honkin' doorstop-sized draft is in the tender hands of stacked librarian these days, who is looking over it with the flinty eyes of Ilsa the Editing She-Wolf. (No, she's not quite like that, but it's a fun image, isn't it? "Mockingbird, you dummkopf! Ze comma is meant to go here!" [thwack of riding crop on page]) I'm hoping to have the entire, whistle-clean package in the mail to the publisher by the end of next week. Check back for updates.

In the meantime, I've been dealing with the fact that my house is an old one, with old-house problems. Nothing is totally square, or plumb, or standard-sized and we shall speak not of the pink tile. This has caused a small-to-middling sized project to balloon to a "Hmmm - let's put this off six months" size. At least I reached that conclusion before I started the project in any meaningful way - I must be getting smarter.

I'm also teaching my first ever "pure" online class - I've done hybrids before (some computer-based, some in-class), but this one is set up so I never actually see my students. Think of it as a Internet-abled correspondence course. (Actually, we will have one face-to-face meeting when we have our courthouse "field trip." [It's a business law class.] Wonder how we'll know each other? Maybe a rose in our lapel or something equally film noir-ish.) So far, so good. Most of my students seem eager and able and are champing at the bit to work ahead. (There will be none of that. I'm still figuring out a few things about how all of this actually fits together.)

With all of this going on, it's safe to say that I'm busy enough to stay out of pool halls.

But that finish line is so close . . .

Gobble-gobble-gobble!!

Yes, that's right, sports fans - Mockingbird is flying to Turkey!

I'm sure there's a bird-based joke that should go there - birdbrain, perhaps?? At any rate, I have been approved to travel to the BUFFY HEREAFTER conference in Istanbul which is being held in mid-October. That gives me about two months to learn all the lyrics to that song. You know, the one that goes:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night . . .

You'll have to forgive me - I'm a little giddy. From my perspective, this is a huge deal. The fact that the conference is happening shows that the academic study of Whedon is continuing to gain steam. The conference organizers are showing confidence in my work by selecting my proposal for inclusion in the event. The school is showing me a great deal of support in my interests and area of developing expertise by financially backing the trip. Oh, and Cambridge Scholars Press has indicated interest in publishing a collection of the polished papers from the conference. Probably won't affect me since my paper is based on a chapter of the book that McFarland has under contract, but hey! it's still cool.

As to that, give me another ten days-two weeks and I think the behemoth will be in the mail. I'm not sure if I'm ready to send my baby out into the cold, cruel world, but you gotta let go sometime.

A book, a chance to have the ol' passport stamped, and a successful encore of a very funny play - not too shabby for a girl who grew up out so far out in the country there wasn't a stoplight!

Pass the stuffing - I'm going to Turkey!

End with the Beginning

Don't you just love it when things come together? I know I do.

The encore of COMPLETE WORKS is chugging along nicely. Houses have been small, but enthusiastic. The actors are comfortable enough to improvise and play off of each other in ways that make the show sparkle each night and my backstage crew makes it all look easy. It's not, but they make you believe that it is.

The part of the show that never fails to bring down the house is the last four minutes or so when the actors finish HAMLET ("the rest is silence"), then do it again. Then faster! Then - backwards!! Oh, the effort and labor that went into nailing down those last few minutes, for not just the lines but also the blocking is run backwards, like a film - only it's live. And it's wonderful to see that hard, hard work rewarded. So the show finishes with the beginning ("Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt . . . "), which ties in with my next point.

Thank you and pass the chocolate, I finished the first edits on the manuscript today. With (yep, you guessed it) the introduction. Maybe you have to see everything before you can accurately point out the way in the intro. At least that's the way it seems to me.

This means the book is yet another step towards completion on my end. Once my editor-fiends (umm, I meant "friends." Yeah.) have finished their reviews of the text, there will be one more round of edits to cut our duplications that I missed the first time. This is an occupational hazard of writing so much - you don't write in order, so points get made and then re-made. There's no way I caught them all. But I don't want it to go out like that - it'll seem like I made my points with anvils: "Lookit, Chumley! She thinks Whedon is all about forming relationships with people who aren't like you are! She must think that - she says so over and over and over again! Geez, couldn't she have just said it twice and trusted us to figure it out from there?" So more edits.

If it's a performance, it's all in the rehearsals, folks. If it's a book, it's all in the re-writes, for hardly anything that's truly worthwhile sparkles the first go-round. Diamonds have to be cut and so do manuscripts. Then, and only then, do you get shine and fire.

And it really is all about having a good beginning!