Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Not this coming weekend, but the next. Back to the ConFusion -- Friday 16 January to Sunday 18 January 2015. The Doubletree Hotel Detroit/Dearborn‎, 5801 Southfield Road, Detroit, MI 48228, is hosting for the third year.

Back to the ConFusion, the 41st ConFusion by name and 42nd annual January gathering (starting with the AA Realx-I-Con in 1974), is a go! 2015 looks to be an exciting year--it will be the year that Marty McFly really traveled to in Back to the Future II, whatever that Facebook meme says, so look out for those hoverboards, they must be right around the corner. (No, seriously, look out!) We're anticipating another excellent con, with the first-time appearance of author Karen Lord, researcher Dr. Cynthia Chestek, and gaming gurus Monte Cook & Shanna Germain. We'll also welcome back Heather Dale, now performing as our Music Guest of Honor. And then there's Aaron Thul, longtime fan and conrunner, returning after two years away as our Fan Guest of Honor. Please do join us, and we hope to see you there in January!

I had four panels and a reading, but they've given me two more panels, from Friday evening to Sunday noon. Including an important reveal -- see below...

Preliminary Schedule for Dr. Phil Kaldon

Friday 6pm: Every Creature (Real and Fantastical) Poops
You may have read the book Everyone Poops, but it's 
so human-centric. What about mermaids, centaurs, and 
other fantastical creatures? Let's see if we can 
analogize from real species to arrive at a theory 
of fantastical pooping. (Caution: conversation may 
stray into food, sex and gestation.)
Rowena Cherry, Cindy Spencer Pape, Lucy Kennedy, 
Dr. Phil Kaldon

(Friday 7pm: Opening Ceremonies)

Friday 8pm: Ghosts of SyFy Past
Come reminisce about the actual science fiction SyFy
used to show, and talk about the network's plans to
get back to its science fiction roots.
Update 12-19-2014: I asked and no, this 8pm panel
does NOT conflict with the Opening Ceremonies, which
are scheduled for 7pm. So you have no excuse not to
come to the so-called SyFy Channel fish fry... (grin)

Saturday 10am: Building a Better Dragon
No two writers imagine the same dragon. How would
yours be different? Flying, fire, temperament,
teeth: what makes a good dragon?

Saturday 11am: Time Travel Devices, Doors, 
and Deus Ex Machinas
How to travel through time (in literature and media)	
Ferrett Steinmetz, Andrew Zimmerman Jones, 
Laura Resnick, Dr. Phil Kaldon

(Saturday 3pm: Mass Autograph Session)

Saturday 4pm: Time Travel (im)Possibilities
Would 1.21 gigawatts get the job done, or would
the flux capacitor even work? Time for our panelists
and audience to debunk our favorite time travel
devices in literature and popular media.

Sunday 10am: Tomlinson/Kaldon reading
This will be the first public reading from
the opening chapters of The Lost Kingdom YA project
I am working on.  I had planned to read this at
WindyCon, but alas the weather kept us away from
Chicago in mid-November.  Their loss is your gain.

Sunday 11am: Science or Science Fiction?
Science fiction novels continue to impress with
amazing technological advances in so many areas.
What's more impressive, though? That some of them
are reality! Come talk about some of the things
you see on the news today that you first read
about years ago in a book.

No room assignments yet -- hopefully it won't be a LONG walk/roll from adjacent events. Anyway, these are all fun panels to be on and I am very excited about my reading.

I've said it before -- ConFusion is one of my favorite weekends of the year and I was gypped out of it last year. So if you can, please come on over!

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

WisCon 38, May 23-26, 2014 / SFRA Conference, May 22-24, 2014.
Madison Concourse Hotel, Madison WI. Memorial Day weekend.

I'll be attending my third WisCon this year, after a nine year absence. WisCon is the world's first feminist science fiction con and features panels and discussions you just don't always see.

I am on three panels and a reading:

Saturday 24 May 2014
8:30-9:30
SPONTANEOUS WRITING CONTEST

4. The 1st 8 people on the list who are physically present at the WisCon (not the hotel's) registration desk (2nd floor of the Concourse Hotel) at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning (for example, #s 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, and 12) will be the contestants.

5. Each contestant will get a USB flash drive which contains a single RTF (rich-text format) document. That document will contain a few lines of dialog. Your task is to load the document onto your computer, construct a story that incorporates the supplied dialog, save it back to the flash drive, also as an RTF document, and turn it in within 60 minutes. We'll take care of printing them out.

Food, Glorious Food
1:00-2:15 pm Caucus
Catherine Krahe(M), Matt Austern, Penny Hill, Philip Edward Kaldon, Rich McAllister
In our lived lives food of our cultural background, or our ancestors, plays a significant part of our sense of home and cultural identity. Who are the writers who integrate details of food with an eye toward cultural specificity and diversity in their speculative fiction? What is the significance of food in stories? What is its function? How does this inclusion affect the world/setting of the story?

Sunday 25 May 2014
The Corporation as Character in Science Fiction
8:30-9:45 am Senate A
Marguerite Reed (M), Alex Gurevich, Chip Hitchcock, Philip Edward Kaldon, Catherine Lundoff
Science fiction, particularly in films, is full of corporations with evil or morally ambiguous intent: Yoyodyne, Terrell Corp, Umbrella Corp, the list is nearly endless. They may be represented by a single villainous character or by numerous faceless functionaries, but what the viewer remembers / is presented with is the corporation itself as the villain. Is that enough to make the corporation an entity, a "person," in their own right? Are corporations inherently evil? Or simply amoral? How has the depiction of the corporation changed in SF? Is it different in anime or manga, comics, written SF vs media SF? Where do we see that image of the corporation going in the near future?

Fashions of the Future
2:30–3:45 pm Conference 5
Jenny Sessions (M), Lucy Adlington, Philip Edward Kaldon, Rebecca Maines, Heather McDougal
Would there be humans in space without zippers and Velcro? Captain Picard wore a spandex corset under his Enterprise uniform because Gene Roddenberry decreed there should be no unseemly bulges in space. How do sci-fi clothes reflect contemporary fashions and social prejudices? Shiny jumpsuits, micro-mini dresses, tribal robes and spacesuits… let's explore how gender/race/status/exoticism are shown through the clothes and uniforms of sci-fi past and present, from 19th century images of "deep-sea diver" spacewear to NASA-inspired outfits, plus more fantastical sci-fantasy creations. Are we seeing inventive or derivative clothes in sci-fi films/TV shows? Is there still a routine overt sexualisation of female spacewear? How might emerging textile technologies affect future human space travel and off-Earth colonisation?

Monday 26 May 2014
Twists and Turns (Readings)
10:00-11:15 am Conference 2
Carrie L. Ferguson, Philip Edward Kaldon, Lucas James Pralle, Zora M. Quynh
Four authors of diverse genres. Life, death, after death, multiverse, getting a date on a starship and the stories we tell children. The only common theme? Some of the stories have protagonists named Lily. Come for the melange, stay for the stories.

The full schedule is here.

Dr. Phil

No Ferrett at ConFusion 2013

Some of you may know author Ferrett Steinmetz. I've run into him at cons for a couple of years and have been reading his blog and some of his stories for a while. Neat person, comments on all sorts of things. Last year I shared a reading with Ferrett (DW) which was a lot of fun.

And then about a week ago, Ferrett posted that he hadn't felt well and headed off to the ER. Heart attack -- triple bypass.

At my reading with Mary Turzillo this year, Mary brought a bag of various nail polishes. Ferrett had posted that people do "pretty princess nails" and send him pictures. No, I didn't do it -- I have a phobia about ink/paint/stains on me. But Steve Buchheit looked over the scarlet red polish, but finally decided to do a couple of nails in gold glitter, a coating of which Mary had done, too.

So naturally I took pictures -- in black & white. (grin)


Steve Buchheit showing off his efforts. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


Mary's sparkly nails. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

Elsewhere At ConFusion

Have a slice of pi, Ferrett. (irrational-grin)

I'm assuming that this was an art installation on the wood frame around the raised central lobby bar area -- lovely calligraphy of Pi and hand written... (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


... for 20 or 30 feet! (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

Then there was Al Bogdan's photo shoot for Jim Hine's charity fundraiser, involving Jim, John Scalzi, Mary Robinette Kowal, Patrick Rothfuss and Charles Stross trying to recreate a real book cover with impossible poses:

Here's the photo.


And the mocked up cover. (Click on photo for larger.)


Of course the big reveal was scheduled for 3pm -- RIGHT DURING MY READING. So when Jim Hines came to the 4pm panel we were on, he came bearing one of the signed prints, which I had him model for me. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

So this page is for Ferrett. Enjoy the fun.

Dr. Phil

The Long Day

Four of my five panels, plus my reading, were all today. Pretty much only did my sessions, plus meeting people. Very satisfying day -- I mean, somebody has to help provide the content for all the people here. Passing the Registration desk today, I asked and found that we're over 800 here at Immortal ConFusion 2013.

Still not impressed with the new hotel, but I'll save it all for a good rant afterwards.

Saturday 19 January 2013
11:00a
Dearborn Doing It Wrong... On Purpose
Story trumps all; sometimes research takes a backseat, anachronism becomes expedience, and logic needs to curl up next to physics and cry. What have authors deliberately done wrong to further the story? Do they have favorite examples of such? How does one do something "wrong" right? (Dr. Phil Kaldon, Holly McDowell, James Davis Nicoll (M), Laurie Gailunas, Ron Collins)

Lively discussion on the things we have to do for story. So are you "allowed" one impossible thing in a story before you lose your readers? Two? (grin) (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)


The room wasn't completely full, so technically it wasn't Standing Room Only, but there was some crowding over by the door. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

And... A Balloon T.A.R.D.I.S. and a Dalek? (Yesterday someone had put a folded paper crane on the Dalek's plunger arm -- hee-hee.)

The balloon artist was funded by ConFusion -- as was the grant to build the Dalek the other year and require the builders to bring the Dalek for a couple of years. The laptop by the T.A.R.D.I.S. shows the balloon artist building it in Fast Forward. A little annoyed that I must've been fooled by the leaning T.A.R.D.I.S., so the picture isn't quite level. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

More coming.

Dr. Phil

WorldCon in Chicago

My revised list of WorldCon panels:

Fri Aug 31 Noon-1:30:pm Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Grand Suite 3 The aim of the game is to write a short story in less than 5 minutes. The moderator will give the panelists a subject to write about, and after 5 minutes our writers will each read their masterpieces and let the audience decide the winner before they head into the next round into the next challenge. Three rounds are planned but a fourth will be added if time permits.
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011 -- I wonder if the audience will be larger with this weekend's news of the death of Neil Armstrong?)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
I'll be reading from the opening of my second unpublished military SF novel, Out of Ashes Rises The Phoenix and Ensign Marie Rossetti's Really Bad Day in Port Outboard Engine aboard the starship USFS Llewellyn.

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell


And then there's the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC):

Thursday 30 August 2012 -- 7pm

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

This is the Official Notice that we will have the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). The dinner is at Ron of Japan -- Wendy was very fond of Teppanyaki. Indeed, we went to Ron of Japan in 1979 when she visited me at Northwestern after the Great Blizzard of '79.

Website with menus and pricing -- there are vegetarian options and I was asked about whether they do gluten free soy sauce or tamari -- they emailed and said they just ordered some gluten free soy sauce:
Ron of Japan
230 East Ontario Street, Chicago IL
Google Maps
Thursday 30 August 2012
7pm to 9pm ?

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con. We're up to 15 friends and family so far. Teppanyaki is not cheap but it is one helluva show. If you want to be added to the reservation and come celebrate my sister Wendy K. Braxton, you can leave a comment here or email me at:
drphil at dr-phil-physics dot com

Afterwards... I still haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels... and the Chicago River is between the restaurant and the Hyatt.

I'll enjoy seeing you there and supporting me in remembering my sister.

Dr. Phil

WorldCon in Chicago

Since all the cool kids seem to be doing it, I just got my WorldCon panels the other day.

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
(I suppose I'll have to figure out what something suitably short I can read here... grin.)

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell

You might notice that only one of the three involves compatriots -- but that's not because I don't play well with others! It's just the nature of the panels/readings. (grin) Science, Applied Science Fiction and literature. The trifecta FTW.

Oh, and my ChiCon 7 hat came today. Stylin'.

Dr. Phil

It's Coming Up To That Time of Year

I'll be at ConFusion in just two weeks -- Friday-Sunday 20-22 January 2012 at the Troy Marriott in Troy MI. I'm on two panels in the Literary track and a panel and a presentation in the Science track. Plus I'll share a reading with another ConFusion regular, Ferrett Steinmetz. Plus I get another panel with Doselle Young. This is Epic Win for me -- and Epic ConFusion for everyone who comes.

Saturday 21 January 2012
1:00 PM
Dennison I/II The Physics of Digital vs. Film Photography
Taking pictures in 2011 versus 1981. Just a matter of putting a sensor where film used to go? Not exactly. And can't you just fix everything in PhotoShop? Not exactly. If you understand how cameras have changed in the last thirty years, you'll take better pictures. (Dr. Phil Kaldon)

2:00 PM
Salon F Reading with Dr. Phil Kaldon and Ferrett Steinmetz
Join a Writers of the Future winner and a Clarion writer as they read from forthcoming works.*** (Dr. Phil Kaldon, Ferrett Steinmetz)

3:00 PM
Salon E The Writing Process
How do authors go about the actual process of writing, does it change over time or across projects, and is there any general advice, or is it all individual? (Elizabeth Bear [M], Dr. Phil Kaldon, DJ DeSmyter, Sarah Zettel, Anne Harris)

5:00 PM
Salon E MASS AUTHOR AUTOGRAPH SESSION

Sunday 22 January 2012
10:00 AM
Salon G Novels to the Small Screen
True Blood and The Song of Ice and Fire saga have made the jump to television, and Gaiman's American Gods and King's Dark Tower saga are headed there in the near future. Is television uniquely suited to the adaptation of the novel, or is this a short-lived trend featuring a handful of works with crossover appeal? (Doselle Young [M], DJ DeSmyter, Ferrett Steinmetz, Dr. Phil Kaldon)

12:00 PM
Salon E Science and Society Panel
A free flowing discussion of the impact of science on society and of society on science. (Dr. Harley Thronson, Dr. Phil Kaldon, Ben Best, Dr. Henri Gooren)

*** - Technically that would be a WOTF Published Finalist and two Clarion writers? (grin)

I Say This Every Year

ConFusion is one of the best run cons I've attended. The Troy Marriott has done a great job for years. Guest of Honor is Patrick Rothfuss, a great wild man I met at the WOTF XXIV workshop, Toastmaster is most excellent goblin & kick-ass princess author Jim C. Hines -- and author Jay Lake is making his way East as well.

We're about to have a winter storm to finish this week -- maybe we'll have clear driving for ConFusion? If not, well, we've wintered over at the hotel during an icy blizzard before. It is Michigan in the wintertime. (grin)

Dr. Phil

It's Alive!

The ConFusion 2011 Panels & Events Schedule, that is. No changes from what I posted the other day for my part, so I'll just repost:

ConFusion 2011 -- 21-23 January 2011, Troy Marriott, Troy MI

As I said last month, I'll definitely be at ConFusion again this year. ConFusion was not only the first SF con I went to, but it is also one of the best run regional cons. The ConFusion 2011 Guest of Honor lineup runs as:

* Pro: Paolo Bacigalupi
* Pro: Cherie Priest
* Science: Aubrey de Grey
* Fan: Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale
* Special: Peter V. Brett
* Featured: Tom Smith

Dr. Phil in the Land of ConFusion:

Very proud of my first presentation -- an expansion of a professional talk I've given to the Michigan Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the national AAPT meetings. Plus I'll be reading another new short story.

Saturday 22 January 2011
11:00 AM
Dennison I/II Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (Dr. Philip Kaldon)

12 Noon
Salon G Education, Science Fiction and Fantasy
Can SF and Fantasy be effective tools in the classroom? If so, how and what are some books that would be good to teach specific concepts? (Lisa Garrison Ragsdale (M), Dr. Philip Kaldon, Stephen Leigh, Steven Harper Piziks, Paul Melko.)

2:30 PM
Boardroom Author Reading
Dr. Philip Kaldon reads a police procedural with civilized zombies. (Think "Alien Nation with flesheaters")

3:00 PM
Salon H Science and Society.
Our (almost) all PhD panel discusses the impact of science on society, society on science, past, present, and future. (Doselle Young (M), Dr. Philip Kaldon, Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Dr. Don Kleinsek, Dr. Christine Purcell.)

5:00 PM
Salon E MASS AUTHOR AUTOGRAPH SESSION
ConFusion's authors will be lined up to sign your books. Authors planning to be here include: Paolo Bacigalupi, Peter V. Brett, Cherie Priest, Mike Resnick, John Scalzi, Sarah Zettel (aka C.L. Anderson), Anne Harris (aka Pearl North and Jessica Freely), Lois Gresh, Stephen Leigh (aka S.L. Farrell), Steven Harper Piziks, Tobias Buckell, Paul Melko, Jim C. Hines, Merrie Fuller, Dr. Philip Kaldon, Suzanne Church, Steve Buchheit, Christian Klaver, William Jones, Dr. Christine Purcell, Stewart Sternberg, Charles Zaglanis, Ferrett Steinmetz (aka "The Ferrett"), Doselle Young, Catherine Shaffer, and Jim Frenkel (Tor Editor).

9:00 PM
Dennison I/II Political Correctness
Are we politically correct, should we be politically correct, and can we have fun having a non- politically correct discussion about it? Where is the line? When do we as writers 'cross the line'? What happens when we do cross it? (Paolo Bacigalupi (M), Jim Hines, Dr. Philip Kaldon, Steve Buchheit.)


Sunday 23 January 2011
10:00 AM
Dennison I/II Popular science books
We will engage in an interactive discussion of popular science books such as Freakanomics and others. (Richard Herrell, Dr. Philip Kaldon, Dr. Arie Bodek)

11:00 AM
Salon E Brown is the New Black
What are the reasons for the blooming popularity of Steampunk as an aesthetic life style choice? (Cherie Priest (M), Suzanne Church, Dr. Philip Kaldon, Cindy Spencer Pape.)

The current long range forecast is actually quiet for Friday and Saturday, at least in West Michigan. While that might not last, it is hopeful. Maybe I'll give a quiz at my 1pm class on Friday and let them go early so I can get on the road. (grin) It's not really cheating -- twice weekly quizzes are due/handed out on Tuesdays and Fridays. They're usually take-home quizzes, but don't have to be. (double-jeopardy-grin)

Dr. Phil

Been Pretty Quiet Lately

I do promise to do better. Besides being insanely busy with the end of the semester coming, I've not done a lot of typing lately as I had to deal with an infection on my thumb. Oh, you say, who needs a thumb to type? Well, when it was hurting, leaning it against even a wrist pad hurt. And on the laptop, the bandages kept sliding on the mouse touchpad, which randomly moved the cursor, resulting in unusable typing. (grin)

And then I've had trouble with a compressed nerve and cancelled all my plans for Fall 2010 SF cons, which kept me out of circulation for a bit.

So I hope to get some updates done Real Soon Now.

ConFusion 2011 -- 21-23 January 2011, Troy Marriott, Troy MI

For years I've been going to ConFusion on the other side of the state. Not only do I have fond memories of my first SF con, but I really lucked out making my first SF con a good one. ConFusion is one of the better run regional cons I've run across. And with a good list of GoHs, including an awesome real science track, there are lots of authors and publishing people who show up. Also quite a number of Canadians come across the border as well.

Speaking of Guests of Honor, the 2011 ConFusion lineup runs as:
* Pro: Paolo Bacigalupi
* Pro: Cherie Priest
* Science: Aubrey de Grey
* Fan: Lisa Garrison-Ragsdale
* Special: Peter V. Brett
* Featured: Tom Smith

Last year I was on six panels and a reading. So naturally I've been working with the Programming people and while I don't have my assignments yet, it looks pretty good that I'll have lots of panels to be on for 2011.

What's really interesting for me is that as a Physics professor at Western Michigan University, I was invited to do a talk on the science track. Ooh, yes please! I'll let y'all know when I know more about my scheduling, but I've got a couple of good things in mind.

So I Should Probably Go Ahead and Register

Yesterday I took a couple of minutes before I had to leave and did my con registration and hotel. The Troy Marriott is a very nice facility and they seem happy to get ConFused every year.

I was surprised when I got the number "51" on my registration. Last year I registered in November and got a number near 100, unless my mind is paying tricks on me. Assuming that my badge number is 51, that should be the lowest number I've ever gotten for ConFusion. Of course that also makes me worry that the pre-registration numbers are down from last year. While that may be in part due to an earlier glitch in the online registration system, COME ON AND REGISTER, GUYS. (grin)

Seriously -- if you're in Michigan and the surrounding areas, you should try to come to ConFusion. Driving to the Detroit suburbs in January isn't totally crazy -- should I mention the year of the blizzard when a lot of us stayed an extra night (evil grin) -- and what else is there to do in January?

And As An Added Bonus...

I am planning on finishing my zombie murder mystery story over Christmas break and hope to have a reading of it at ConFusion. Now you would't want to miss that, would you?

I didn't think so. (triple-word-score-grin)

Dr. Phil

Friday 22 January to Sunday 24 January 2010
Troy Marriott, Troy MI

General reminder that this weekend is ConFusion on the other end of the state from West Michigan. You can get more info via my post about my Six Panels and A Reading at ConFusion here.

Getting There Is By No Means Half The Fun

I mean, who wants to drive I-94 in Michigan, even if you can switch over to I-69 in Battle Creek and I-96 in Lansing? Thankfully, the weather looks to cooperate, at least on the trek eastward. My second class ends at 3pm. As soon as I can, I'll hit the road, getting off the overly used I-94 before rush hour formally begins. But times vary. Not sure if I can make it to Troy, fight the last few miles of heavy Detroit traffic to I-75 and then up to Big Beaver Road -- yes, that's its name, no snickering you in the back row -- check in and grab my con badge in time to hear Cat Valente's reading at 7pm. But that's how things go.

Good news is that the big western storms that dumped so much snow in the Californian mountains will be reduced to rain on Sunday, high around 42°F. So that when I leave ConFusion between 1-2pm, I at least won't have to deal with ice and snow.

If You're In The Area

This is a really nice regional con and it attracts lots of writers, editors, artists, fans of all flavors -- and it is well run and the hotel really likes hosting ConFusion. Can't always say that about hotels. (grin)

So come on over if you've got a chance. It'll be fun.

Dr. Phil