C2E2 2019

I have to admit I wasn't sure about attending C2E2 this year, since we're going to Star Wars Celebration in Chicago next month. However, when I learned Paul Rudd was going to be one of the guests, I knew I had to take Alex, who's a big Ant-Man fan. Alex is also on Spring Break, so he and I would be able to attend all three days.

Friday got off to a rough start when Alex's badge came off his lanyard and was lost. Fortunately, although the event was almost sold out, I could still buy a replacement badge for him. (At least the kid badges aren't as expensive as the adult ones.) I dressed up briefly as a Jawa, but I spent most of the day going around with Alex on the show floor. There was a Dinosaur Parade scheduled for Friday, so I bought an inflatable costume so he could participate. By a lucky coincidence, the dinos ran into a group of Flintstone cosplayers, so that made for some great photos. The best part was when the parade trooped out to the "C2E2" sign, and the DJ played "Walk The Dinosaur." Later that evening, Alex and I went to an autograph signing for Paul Rudd. It was a long wait. (I had enough time to almost finish crocheting a Porg, and we didn't get out of there until after the convention closed.) Paul Rudd was gracious enough to stay until everyone in line got a chance to meet him. I gave him a crocheted Ant Man I made last week, and he seemed to like it. Alex was also happy to get a picture signed.

On Saturday, Eugene joined us and drove us in to the convention center. I wore my Jawa in the morning, and in the afternoon, I switched into my Imperial Officer for Droid Hunt. I spent nearly three hours walking the show floor, searching for people with special badges. (This is why I get my highest daily step counts at C2E2.) Even when I bought a pretzel and lemonade for Alex, I still encountered several people with badges. I also saw a couple of friends.

Sunday was a more laid-back day. We did present a toy landspeeder to a non-profit organization in the morning, and afterward, I changed into my Jawa and walked around with a group of other Jawas, a R2-D2, and a Tusken Raiders. We were quite a hit. One of the garrison members has a new O-O-O (evil C-3PO) costume, so we also got to take pictures with him. Hopefully I'll get a copy soon.

I didn't buy much at C2E2 this year, but I do have some good memories of it, and that's even better.

A Song for Spring

C2E2 is this weekend. I'm preparing a bunch of last-minute projects for the event, along with working on Dryads to Discover, working, taking care of family--my usual super-busy load. Rather than write a less-than-inspired post, I thought I'd share some music for the spring equinox, which is today:



What are your favorite spring-themed songs? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Things I Did at C2E2 2018....

1. Spent wayyyy too much money.
2. Sold Star Wars amigurumi (though unfortunately I can spend money much faster than I can crochet Porg.)
3. Helped my husband win a whopping $0.56 on HQ Trivia.
4. Showed off my status as "Mother of Porgs." I actually had two of them safety pinned to my shoulders.
5. Hunted droids until I dropped.
6. Saw local and out-of-state friends.
7. Reunited with a high school friend.
9. Became Empress of the Galaxy--for a moment.
10. Fulfilled every Jawa's dream of catching K2SO and Chopper.

Science of the Week--4/6/18

Here are some of the most interesting science news stories I read this week:

Researchers find a galaxy without dark matter

Researchers develop a novel RNA-based therapy to target West Nile virus

New study finds world's largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10% since 1920

Is there life adrift in the clouds of Venus?

Scientists confirm water trapped inside diamonds deep below Earth's surface

Researchers develop injectable bandage

Garbage-collecting aqua drones and jellyfish filters for cleaner oceans

Have a good weekend! My family and I will be attending C2E2. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to write a blog post by Monday, so my post on the convention may be delayed. We'll see how long it takes me to catch K-2SO....

Project Updates

I have so many things going on right now it's difficult to keep track of them all, but here's a quick summary.

I'm continuing to crochet Star Wars characters and other items.Here's a TIE fighter I finished last week. My son thinks the wing arms are too long, so I'll make them shorter the next time I try this pattern. The Porg, of course, continue to be popular. At least they don't take very long.

Since I crochet so many Porg, I've decided to create a "Mother of Porg" outfit for C2E2 when I'm not in my Imperial Officer uniform. (I may leave the Jawa costume at home this year to simplify packing.) I have Porg-themed clothes and accessories from head to toe--though I'm still waiting for some of them to arrive. I'm planning to sew a skirt from Porg-print fabric in case the skirt I ordered comes late. When everything is complete, I'll post pictures.

All these other projects do take time away from my writing. Although I'm nearly done drafting a short story for Uncanny Magazine's Dinosaur issue, I don't expect to have it ready by the deadline, which is this Thursday. Maybe I'll save it for my newsletter subscribers. Hopefully I'll have more news to share about my short stories soon.

Wakanda Worldbuilding

This weekend was super busy, as I participated in three Star Wars troops. Here are a couple of pictures from the troop on Sunday. (I'm the kneeling Jawa in the top picture and the shortest officer in the bottom one--yes, I switched costumes mid-troop.) However, I managed to find time Sunday morning to see Black Panther. 

Before I share my thoughts on the movie, I'd like to mention that I don't see many superhero movies these days (still haven't had a chance to watch Wonder Woman or Guardians of the Galaxy 2), and although I've read a little about Black Panther and Wakanda online prior to seeing the movie, I'm very much a newcomer to this world.

My favorite character (and favorite part of the movie) was Shuri. How can you not love a female scientific genius with an attitude? I'd love to see her be the protagonist of her own stories. In comparison, T'Challa, though noble and admirable, seemed almost too perfect to me.

To me, Wakanda was the key part of the movie. I was definitely intrigued by the mix of green trees, traditional items and customs, and advanced technology in the cities. However, I wanted more background on this country. What other factors beside vibranium shaped Wakandan history? How much influence did tribal customs, Bast, and other factors have in making Wakanda so advanced while the country hid its true nature from the rest of the world? I'll probably have to track down comics collections or graphic novels to find these answers. Hopefully C2E2 will be a good place to learn more about Wakanda--and enjoy Black Panther cosplay.

The News You Missed

April was obviously an active month for blogging, but my family and I were busy with other activities too.

We dozed with the dinos again at the Field Museum. (This time, we found a better spot to sleep--though Alex didn't get to spend the night on his favorite bed in the Egyptian marketplace.)










We also got to go behind the scenes and see dinosaur fossils that aren't on display. They have so many some are still in their field jackets, waiting for preparation.

 I marched for science in Chicago. Due to poor weather, lack of energy, and my plantar fasciitis, I skipped the climate march.

 The March for Science was the same weekend as C2E2. I hunted droids, including this oddly shaped one that was looking for a doctor. I walked over 19,000 steps on April 22nd, my second highest distance since I started tracking my steps. No wonder my feet are so sore!

My husband and son had a blast getting blasted at...











So I awarded Alex the Dark Side Cookie Award. I'm wearing my Imperial Staff Officer costume, which was just approved by the 501st Legion.

Here's a better view of the costume. (Humm, maybe next year I'll do Star Wars Costuming A-Z.)

Oh, and I finally finished the developmental edit of Summon the Seasons. Now to format it and maybe give it a quick sentence-level edit before I send it to the beta readers.

So, what did you do this April? Feel free to share in the comments.

Season Avatars #A-ZChallenge: A Slew of S's

There as so many "S" characters in the Season Avatars series that I can't do full descriptions for them. Here's a quick rundown of what makes the letter "S" so special:

Goddess of Spring: The Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen have no names other than the season They're associated with. Spring is normally pictured as a matronly woman with long blonde hair, and She looks after the people of Challen. Although She's considered "married" to Winter, Summer and Fall aren't Their children.

God of Summer: Little is known about this quiet God, pictured as a green-skinned youth thin enough to disappear into a tree. He controls all the plants in Challen through His Avatars. Homosexual, bisexual, or transgender men, as well as men who wish to remain single for other reasons, might declare themselves Summersmen.

Salth: A magician from Kron's original time. Rumor has it she was born in a king's harem and escaped it thanks to her gifts. Obsessed with magic and time, she is both neglectful of her son Sal-thaath yet his fierce protector if he's threatened.

Sal-thaath: Salth's son, created through magic and skilled in magic himself. He seeks Kron out for company in Seasons' Beginnings.

Selathens: Descendants of people who fled the Dead Land when Salth's power increased. Most of them have settled near the border, but some moved inland and assimilated into the general population of Challen. Those who remain separate have split into two groups: those who want little to do with magic and those who worship Salth. Ysabel's father belongs to the latter group. Perhaps due to lingering resentment toward Salth, Selathens generally hold women in lower esteem than men.

Sophia: The Fall Avatar from Margaret's quartet. When Margaret dies suddenly, the other two members of the quartet have no interest in holding the group together, leaving the inexperienced Sophia to pick up the leadership.


I'll be participating in the March for Science in Chicago this morning and attending C2E2 the rest of the weekend, so I won't have much time to visit other blogs until Monday. My report on C2E2 will be delayed until May as well.

C2E2 2016

Although my family always accompanies me to cons such as WisCon and Chicon, they never actually join the convention. C2E2 was the first one they attended. It was also the first con (at least in a long time) that I attended as a fan, not a writer. (I did leave bookmarks in the fan area, but I don't know if people took them or if they were thrown away.)

Alex had no school Friday, so I took the day off. We took the train into Chicago and taxied to McCormick Place. We tramped all over before finding the Midwest Garrison table—even though it was close to our entrance. We got into costume for a while, but Alex had problems with his mask, and we had to take a break to fix it. Eugene joined us later in the afternoon, and while he went around with Alex, I checked out the show floor. We all suited up to get one of Alex’s books signed by Jeffrey Brown. (See photo.) We were also lucky enough to get an ARC of his forthcoming book about Stone Age kids. I walked so much on Friday I set a personal Fitbit best—over 21,000 steps! Needless to say, I was sore the rest of the weekend and scaled back on walking around.

Since we didn’t have a hotel room, we drove back and forth every day. This meant we got up much earlier than normal both days, but we were lucky enough to get good parking even with the crowds. Saturday morning, we shopped first, but we took too long and wound up missing the Star Wars group shot. In the afternoon, I went on a droid hunt. The Midwest Garrison handed out special badges, and I and other hunters went around, finding the people who were wearing them and giving them raffle tickets. As you can see, I managed to collect badges despite the poor vision I have in costume. At the end of the day, Eugene and Alex helped with the raffle drawing.

Alex and I suited up briefly Sunday morning, but we didn't troop very long. Eugene got into costume so kids could blast him with Nerf darts for Blast a Trooper, a fundraising event put on by the Midwest Garrison. Alex helped with that by collecting used darts and reloading guns. I spent the time at a self-publishing panel for comic book writers. (They face many of the same issues book writers do, but they have it tougher with print costs and distribution.) We walked around the main floor again before heading downstairs to hang out with the Midwest Garrison until the end.

 There were lots of great costumes: many Reys from The Force Awakens, Disney princesses, Spiderman, a group as the characters from Inside Out, and many more I didn't recognize. Surprisingly, even with all the other wonderful costumes on display, Alex and I gained a lot of attention when we were Jawas. (I just followed stated costume requirements for the 501st Legion, but apparently I make a very good Jawa. Must be the lack of height.) Lots of people took pictures of us; in fact, whenever we stopped to let someone pose with us, we'd get other people taking pictures too. We made the highlight video of Day 1 (we're posing with R2-D2), and I was even interviewed about comics.  

It's getting late, so I won't discuss all the loot we bought or considered buying. Although it was an exhausting weekend, with little writing, it was still a lot of fun. We're already planning to attend next year--and this time we'll probably stay at a hotel to make things easier.