Norwescon, where Spring has Arrived with a Vengeance

[elfs]

It was a lovely weekend. I took Friday off from work to go to Norwescon, went to a ton of panels, made new friends, caught up lots with past friends, got at least two promises of future dates with lovely ladies, got a lot of business advice regarding the Ellody project, my lifestyle startup idea, picked up only a few art books and one collection of Lesbian Steampunk Romance-- which goes nicely with my Heterosexual Steampunk Romance collection, now all I need is a Gay Steampunk Romance collection. I wrote 2000 words and 800 lines of code. I wore both kilts, and ate badly.

Omaha and I let Kouryou-chan free-range at the 'con, and she's decided that she wants "Kouryou-chan" on her badge next year. She played a lot of games, drew a lot of art, and hung out with a gaggle of boys and girls her age. Giving her a cell phone was a brilliant step toward adulthood, since it worked well as a nice virtual leash.

And I learned a Jedi Mind trick. I've figured out what in my body language puts people off, and reversing it was amazing. Strangers welcomed me into their personal space, spoken kindly to me, and wanted to get to know me better. It was surprising, to put it mildly. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and now I have to remember to keep applying it.

When we got home, I became a Pacific Northwest stereotype: perennial power washer man! I cranked up the power washer and cleaned off the main driveway and part of the garage space, raked up all the leaves (we have a pin oak; it keeps its leaves all winter and drops them in spring), chopped wood for the fireplace, packed the compost bin.

I also made dinner. First grilling of the season: Salmon marinated in lemon juice and macadamia nut oil, rice pilaf made with home-made chicken stock, and broccoli steamed above garlic broth.

Of the 800 lines of code, I'm quite satisfied. It doesn't quite pass the attendent test suite, but it's remarkably close, and I'm really happy with the results. There are some moments in the code that are clunky, but I can't tell yet if that's a pattern problem or a naming problem. I'll just say this: the HTML5 state machine specification and the attendent reference implementations do not impress me, but that's for another post on elfsternberg.com.

Of the 2000 words, I'm conflicted. I finally, finally worked out how it's possible for Linia to be poly and Misuko to be mono, and I finally figured out how a third person makes this conflict come to the fore. But it's a weak conflict because Linia and Misuko are just too damnably decent people who like each other too much to let this wreck their relationship. And my external conflict is just... it's not gelling. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Possibly a post for Pendorwright.

Oh, damn, I didn't draw yesterday. And I spent all that money on art books, too. According to my Deviant Art account, I haven't posted anything there in a year. And last month I was thinking, "I need to learn how to do watercolors in Photoshop," when it turns out my very first post there was... an example of watercolors in Photoshop.

Comments

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

What was the body language key difference?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

I have a tendency to anti-mirror. If people have their hands open, I tend to cross my arms. If they cross their arms, I tend to let mine hand at my sides. By doing so, I send the unconscious signal "My thoughts are in conflict with yours."

People at conventions tend to be holding something in their primary hand: keys, a book, a coffee, a phone. I held a paperback book in my right hand and slowly and deliberately, after about three heartbeats pause, brought it into a mirror gesture of whatever they were holding. (If they were drinking coffee, I wouldn't bring the book to my lips, but I would gesture with it in front of my chest.) It was a freaking Jedi Mind trick: the ease with which they talked to me was mind-blowing.

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

Congrats on figuring out the body language detail! If you feel like explaining, I'd love to know how you figured it out.

We were also at Norwescon -- it was a lot of fun, glad you enjoyed it!

[blaisepascal]

Let's see if I'm interpreting this correctly:

You gave both your daughters fake names online to protect them from random net-strangers who might intimate that they know them by addressing them by name.

Your eldest decided, when she was old enough, that she didn't want to be referred to by the fake name and is now known in your blog by her real name.

Your youngest has decided that she wishes to be known in-real-life at cons by the online fake name.

So one daughter rejected the fake name, the other embraces it?

[elfs.livejournal.com]

They do that. That's what happens when you blog about trying to create mature, self-willed, self-knowing children. If you're to succeed at the blogging part, you have to suceed and they ultimately do end up as mature, self-willed, self-knowing teenagers, and make their own decisions.

Persons we know in both worlds know of the dichotomy. One chose to reject it, the other enjoys the complexity of it all.

[omahas.livejournal.com]

And, in fact, Storm has actually changed her online name in some areas (Facebook, especially) at times to reflect her opinion about something or her emotional status. So she has taken the idea that a name is not a static thing but a concept that you can use to reflect something about yourself to heart as well.