And a long weekend ahead
Jan. 15th, 2015 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironicLife, as usual, has its little ups and downs. But I must say today is an up. Because:
1. Finished my Festivids treat draft last night. (!) Really wasn't sure it would work out, but it's good enough that I'm willing to post it, and we'll see if I can get some friends to watch it over the next couple of days and tell me if there are ways it should be made better.
2. Walked on the treadmill at the gym on lunch break while reading, rather than while watching the Food Network with no sound, and 40 minutes passed before I knew it. That felt good.
(It's The Martian by Andy Weir -- thanks for the rec,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mific -- which has some originally-self-published quirks I wish an editor had ironed out, and so far nothing to say beyond plot, which feels weird after the Ancillaries and a Left Hand of Darkness reread, but is a light and pretty enjoyable read while I gear up for some work-related nonfiction that requires concentration.)
3. Found and joined a SF/F MeetUp group over the weekend with the goal of meeting more people, and discovered that not only do they have a monthly book club in a convenient location, but they were meeting this week, and the book was Ancillary Justice! Fate, as the Radchaai would say. I just got back and am very happy with how it went.
Being a dork, I made a little checklist of what I wanted to get out of it and what would qualify it as a success. All boxes ended up ticked:
- Actually go to the event
- Hear something you hadn't thought about regarding the book
- Participate/contribute an insight
- Meet at least one new person
- Do not give up on it if it doesn't go perfectly
The level of conversation was good, the mix of 'jump in' and 'raise your hand'/'be called on by a moderator' was fair, people had recommendations for similar works, there were about equal numbers of men and women, and, hopefully this doesn't make me sound terrible, but it wasn't all a bunch of weirdos. There's nothing wrong with being a weirdo, it's just that I've joined many a sci fi club in the past that wasn't a good match for me. One sometimes wants compatible weirdos in life, which makes them not seem like weirdos to you, right? Anyway, I will definitely be trying out more events from this group. There is Star Trek trivia in a few weeks and someone said the book club will be doing The Martian.
(There were a few cuties, too. Heh. A related goal of joining more social groups, as recently discussed. & One of the women reminded me ofcorbae, which made me like her immediately. ♥)
Okay, now to calm down in order to go to sleep.
1. Finished my Festivids treat draft last night. (!) Really wasn't sure it would work out, but it's good enough that I'm willing to post it, and we'll see if I can get some friends to watch it over the next couple of days and tell me if there are ways it should be made better.
2. Walked on the treadmill at the gym on lunch break while reading, rather than while watching the Food Network with no sound, and 40 minutes passed before I knew it. That felt good.
(It's The Martian by Andy Weir -- thanks for the rec,
mific -- which has some originally-self-published quirks I wish an editor had ironed out, and so far nothing to say beyond plot, which feels weird after the Ancillaries and a Left Hand of Darkness reread, but is a light and pretty enjoyable read while I gear up for some work-related nonfiction that requires concentration.)3. Found and joined a SF/F MeetUp group over the weekend with the goal of meeting more people, and discovered that not only do they have a monthly book club in a convenient location, but they were meeting this week, and the book was Ancillary Justice! Fate, as the Radchaai would say. I just got back and am very happy with how it went.
Being a dork, I made a little checklist of what I wanted to get out of it and what would qualify it as a success. All boxes ended up ticked:
- Actually go to the event
- Hear something you hadn't thought about regarding the book
- Participate/contribute an insight
- Meet at least one new person
- Do not give up on it if it doesn't go perfectly
The level of conversation was good, the mix of 'jump in' and 'raise your hand'/'be called on by a moderator' was fair, people had recommendations for similar works, there were about equal numbers of men and women, and, hopefully this doesn't make me sound terrible, but it wasn't all a bunch of weirdos. There's nothing wrong with being a weirdo, it's just that I've joined many a sci fi club in the past that wasn't a good match for me. One sometimes wants compatible weirdos in life, which makes them not seem like weirdos to you, right? Anyway, I will definitely be trying out more events from this group. There is Star Trek trivia in a few weeks and someone said the book club will be doing The Martian.
(There were a few cuties, too. Heh. A related goal of joining more social groups, as recently discussed. & One of the women reminded me of
corbae, which made me like her immediately. ♥)Okay, now to calm down in order to go to sleep.
no subject
Date: Jan. 16th, 2015 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 16th, 2015 10:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 19th, 2015 01:11 am (UTC)I'm glad to hear you're enjoying The Martian; I've been meaning to check it out, and every good review from a friend edges it higher up my to-read list.
no subject
Date: Jan. 19th, 2015 01:38 am (UTC)In the end, I wouldn't wholly recommend The Martian. It was good at some things (i.e. projecting near-future technology to answer the question of how an American astronaut might survive on Mars) but not at others (such as psychology, or having enough women). Been meaning to post about it.
Also: \festivids/
no subject
Date: Jan. 19th, 2015 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jan. 19th, 2015 01:43 am (UTC)I wrote down:
- Hamilton (?) for group minds
- Fire Upon the Deep by Verner Vinge
- Kiln People by David Brin
- Frank Herbert's Lazarus Effect
- Sturgeon's More than Human
Someone at the meetup posted:
Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge (4.12 on Goodreads): Definitely a modern classic. A large part of the book focuses on a really cool species of aliens, where each individual is a hive mind of usually 3-5 biological bodies.
Metaplanetary, by Tony Daniel (3.89 on Goodreads): An obscure book, but one of my favorites. A lot of it's elements are reminiscent of AJ: it has multi-bodied consciousnesses, sentient ships, tons of idea-rich world building, and a civil war fought to resist a dictator that basically wants to subsume all consciousness into his own personality.