Why do I go to ICFA every year?

[swan_tower]

Because it's the only place I've ever been where I can spend a weekend talking about makeup in SF/F fandom, adulthood in modern America, Albanian sworn virgins, a myriad of foreign languages, my honeymoon, copyright law, medieval cathedrals, oral-formulaic theory, the Oxford English Dictionary, the perils of caretaking for capuchin monkeys, and Scurrilous Industry Gossip, and do most of it while lounging around a poolside in the sunshine.

There's really no downside to this.

Except that I'm now five days behind on what the Internet's been doing in my absence, and there's no way I'll be catching up. So if you did something interesting on the Internet since Wednesday morning and you want me to know about it, please link it in comments; otherwise, I'm just declaring Livejournal bankruptcy, and moving forward from here. (E-mail, I will be catching up with.)

Comments

[celestinenox]

ICFA? What does this stand for? Looked it up, and somehow I doubt it stands for Insulating Concrete Form Association or International Casual Furnishings Association... though it just might be the International Carp Fishing Association.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

<g> International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, the annual meeting of the International Association on the Fantastic in the Arts -- which is attended by both academics and industry professionals, in a delightful mix.

[celestinenox]

Darn, I was hoping it would be the International Cage Fighting Alliance. :D

[sacredchao23.livejournal.com]

Its always a good time. Though returning to the world is always a bit of a shock.

And by the by: I picked up a copy of Midnight Never Come from the bookroom. I'm looking forward to reading it once the semester implodes winds down.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Returning to the world is less of a shock for me this year, since I didn't have to go back to an Indiana winter.

I hope you enjoy the book!

[ratmmjess.livejournal.com]

What was the context of the sworn virgin discussion?

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the context was one of those grasshopper conversations -- it started out on archaeology, segued to my senior thesis on Viking weapons, took a detour for some reason into a Carol Clover article I read for that thesis, which caused my conversational partner to bring up another article of hers on gender in Viking Age Scandinavia, which discusses a cultural idea from that made me say, "oh, like the Albanian sworn virgins" -- to which my conversational partner said "Yes, exactly," and then I had the glee of knowing I was sitting with somebody else who knew what those were.

(In retrospect, though, I think we know about them from the same source; I thought I hadn't read the Clover article in question, but glancing at my biblio from the thesis makes me think it's one of the ones I list in there, in which case it probably makes the sworn virgin comparison in-text. I wonder if I still have those articles anywhere?)

[ratmmjess.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay.

One of the characters in my needs-to-be-revised novel is a sworn virgin, and I was afraid there was a novel out there which had beat me to it. *whew* :-)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Sworn virgin in the Albanian sense, or in the sense of someone with a vow of chastity?

[ratmmjess.livejournal.com]

The Albanian sworn virgin, yeah.

Girl meets girl, girl loses girl, girl gets girl--it's the oldest story. I'm just ringing a few changes on it, is all.

[savageseraph.livejournal.com]

It was really good seeing you again, and I feel the same about the conference. I'm still here in rainy and cold Florida relaxing for a day before I fly home and get back to the grind.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Relaxing from your vacation? <g> (I know it isn't entirely a vacation, but sometimes it feels that way.)

[caras-galadhon.livejournal.com]

You know, it occurs to me that I should have you Friended, since I always look forward to seeing you at the conference every year, and I'm not sure why I didn't. So. This is me rectifying it. (And I don't expect you to recognize the username right off, but since my RL name's kind of rare and I don't use it in public internet spaces to start with, hopefully a hint will be enough? Think "The Garden of..." and you've got me. ^_~ If not, as soon as I have a chance, I'll message you and clarify. Regardless, I accosted you at the Friday luncheon and forced you to sign your books for me. *G*)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Ah! Hello! Yes, the Garden is sufficient hint. :-)

[shui-long.livejournal.com]

The only place other than LJ - where I suspect you could have all those discussions, but unfortunately pools and sunshine are optional...

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

And really, without those, it's just not the same.

[prosewitch.livejournal.com]

So if you did something interesting on the Internet since Wednesday morning...

Well, I got to catch up with one of my delightful author friends who fled the frozen fields of the Midwest for the West Coast... oh wait... ;p

(it was good seeing you at ICFA, though I hear ya about being behind on the internets!)