Bit of Ivory

I finally succumbed. asked me some EEEEEeevil interview questions, which I will attempt to answer before I do my usual blogging.

1 – Legolas and Sexy Pirate Boy are battling one on one to win your heart. Who triumphs?

Is this a physical battle or a mental one? If it’s a physical battle, I’ll have to say that I think Legolas has better fighting skills (although Sexy Pirate Boy is no slouch there). But if it’s a mental one, i.e.– they’re both vying for my affections– it’s going to be Sexy Pirate Boy. As much as I love Legolas, I think Will’s brown curly hair is cuter. Plus, as we all know, “there’s nothing sexually threatening about an Elf.”

2 – Who do you give the loser as a consolation prize?

My sisters can fight over the loser. Heh.

3 – What is the most scared for your life you’ve ever been? Do you get a thrill from that kind of danger, or hate it?

I’ve had several near-misses while driving, and I have to say that watching a car trying to move into my lane while I’m still in it is terrifying. I don’t really like that kind of danger. I’d rather have the fake kind– roller coasters and such.

4 – What is there about you that makes you different from all the other members of your family? What do you all have in common?

I’m the only one who has false teeth. Siriusly, that I *am* different from all the other members of my family is something I recently realized, but it’s difficult to put my finger on just why. I’m generally more reserved than my siblings, although I’m gradually working past that. Some things that used to make me different are no longer unique to me– my love of writing and reading, for example. Hmm. Will have to think about that.

As for what we have in common, we’re all incredibly weird. We all share a love for our religion, a similar sense of humor and taste in music, a love of good movies and of good food.

5 – In all of Jane Austen, what is the single best chapter?

Oh, you *are* evil. Hmm. It’s definitely going to be from Pride and Prejudice. I’m going to have to go with the chapter when Elizabeth goes to Pemberley, and Darcy is ever-so polite. It’s tough to choose between that one and the second proposal, though.

Would anyone else like to ask me questions? Or would you like me to interview you?

Just got back from S.Q.U.I.R.T.– which, for the uninitiated, stands for “Sugar Quillers in Utah Including Returning Travelers”– an SQ summit, basically. It was very fun. I picked up Jen (also known as S. Gwendolyn or just plain Gwendolyn) and her brother at 10:45, with Lisa in the passenger seat. We arrived at the unplottable location (a Carl’s Jr. in the south of the valley) at 11, and walked in to find Lilac already there with two of her (adorable) kids, as well as Lazaruspaste, who I had not met yet. We all introduced ourselves to each other, and got our food, and waited for Katinka to show up. We were quite excited to see that they had Squirt, the soft drink. Jen and I both got Squirts in tribute to our meeting.

Lilac gave everyone a HP journal, except me– she’d already given me one at HP night–, but she gave me a Hermione pen in tribute to my Hermione-ness at Nimbus. I took the opportunity to give Lilac her present that Jen and I bought– a purple peacock-feather quill and a bottle of lilac colored ink. I think she liked it.

Katinka showed up eventually– traffic was especially terrible, and she was driving up from Provo– with *her* two adorable kids, and we had a great time. All in all, we sat and chatted for 2 and a half hours about various aspect of the HP fandom– how we all got into it, our various fanfics, our reactions to OotP, James and Severus’ characters, and all sorts of other stuff. We enlisted a guy from the table next to us to take a picture, and he said– “So, what is this, some kind of Harry Potter fanclub?” Heh. We chatted with him and his two companions for a while about HP and SQ. They didn’t think we were as weird as most people do, because apparently two of them are just as into LotR as we are into SQ. One of the guys made note of the address, and we told him about some of the better stories– like HQoW, and Murasaki99’s LotR crossover. I think he might actually go and chex it out.

Lilac is just as cool as ever, Lazaruspaste has some great theories and opinions that we fun to discuss, and Katinka is– well, she’s a lot like Abby, her OC. I had a great time, and I hope we can all meet again soon.

Now, must go to work. *sigh* At least I’m not working again until Tuesday.

I not only finished The Reptile Room, I also read all of The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, and The Austere Academy. This should give you some idea of how boring it was.

And my feet HURT. Badly. Am getting out my foot spa. Wait just a minute.

*Emily retrives her foot spa, fills it with very hot water, and lowers her poor, ill-treated tootsies into it, reveling in the massage feature*

Ah, Much better.

In happier news, S.Q.U.I.R.T. (or S.Q.U.U.T.A.H., although I prefer the former ’cause I’m unsure how to pronounce the latter) is tomorrow! Wahoo! I love meeting my online friends. It’s ever so much fun. Must figure out a way to meet Wolf, and Teri, and RJA, and Alec, and Rachel, and all other people I haven’t met in Real Life yet. Alec and Wolf will be the hardest, as they both live not only in other countries, but across oceans. I suppose I must include Katie in that as well, since she also lives in England.

Hmm. Should probably go to bed early so I’m not exhausted for the summit.

Yeah, right.

What I wanted to do today:

• write fanfiction
• catch up w/ threads at SQ
• chat with people
• get some worx done on my editing job

What I ended up doing:

• worxing for 7 hours at boring job
• reading almost all of The Reptile Room

So I guess worxing wasn’t so bad.

The best thing about tomorrow is that, while I *am* worxing again, I’m *not* doing inventory at 7 in the morning, like most of the rest of my poor coworkers. Am worxing night shift instead. I usually end up having to do the CTR rings, or the teeny pictures, or the greeting cards, which are just *awful* to have to count. But I got out of it, without even asking. Oh, happy day!

Kudos to Arabella and Zsenya for the awesome article in the Baltimore Sun about SQ. Share the Quill love!

Have trimmed my fingernails. Typing speed and accuracy are greatly improved as a result.

Random thought: People who don’t wear contacts– especially rigid gas-permeable contacts– will never understand the sheer pleasure of rubbing one’s eyes after taking out said contacts at the end of a long day.

As it is now after midnight, I must bid a happy birthday both to J.K. Rowling, the mother of the madness, and to Harry Potter, her wonderful creation. Harry’s now caught up with me, and we are both 23 (a prime number!) together, and darn proud of it.

My sister Laura made this wonderful screencap. Don’t steal it, please, unless you ask permission first:

Great look on Sexy Pirate Boy’s face as well. Will definitely be making an icon with *that* one, let me tell you.

and

Well, I guess it’s not *quite* gratuitous. Am going to do Sunday at Nimbus tomorrow.

Went shopping today. Bought Lilac a present. Hee.

I wanted to do this yesterday, but my family took an unexpected trip to the Vietnam Memorial Experience, which was stopping in Utah this week, and then to my grandma’s for dinner, so I didn’t have tons of time. So, without further ado:

Saturday started MUCH earlier than I would have liked it to. I awoke with a knot in my stomach and a gigantic headache. Contrary to what Lou said, I was up by 6:30, so she did not wake us up. I was rather confused to have her show up at my door at 7:00, however, and I was so incoherent because of the headache that I’m not even sure what I said to her. I hope I wasn’t too mean– I think I said “I’ll see you downstairs at 8:00.”

After I got dressed and dried my hair and begged some Advil off my roommates, I got all my stuff together for the debate. Mellie lent me a talisman that she’d taken with her to the CoS Press Junket for the debate, which was incredibly sweet of her, and which I clutched throughout the debate. After stacking all the t-shirts and making sure I had my laptop, my evidence, my OotP, and my statement for my second panel, Mellie and I made our way downstairs for the Saturday meeting of the Sugar Quill Breakfast Club.

We met up with everyone in the hallway, and I attempted to eat something. It didn’t work very well. I ended up just drinking a glass of orange juice, which I figured was better than nothing. We handed out the t-shirts, which were a huge hit. Lou had brought Dobby down with her, and we set him up in the hallway so everyone could see him as they were walking down to the conference. In the time remaining before the debate (it started at 9:30), we were highly amused by everyone wanting to take a picture with him. Mellie went off to a panel at 8:30, and I pulled out Ginny and finished writing my opening statement. Yes, I had put it off and put it off, and it was finished literally minutes before the debate. I also stressed out about my family, who were driving over from the condo and had no idea how to get to the hotel. By the time the debate was ready to begin, I was a gigantic ball of nerves.

Angua and I found out that the room we had hoped to be moved to was unavailable, and that we were going to be in the Quidditch room, so we and our opponents went in there and started setting up, only to be informed that we were actually in the game room. So we packed up and moved once again. There were no mikes and everyone had to sit on the floor, so it wasn’t really the ideal situation, but we had to make do. The place was packed, and even as I was pulling out Ginny and arranging my evidence and coordinating with Angua, I was trying not to shake. My family finally walked in, which helped, and seeing Mellie smiling up at me from the front wearing a t-shirt, and the big knot of R/H supporters wearing their t-shirts (including Dobby, who wore one proudly), and Lilac holding up her “Angua and Wahlee ROX my SOX” sign helped to calm me down.

The debate itself I’ve already commented on, so I won’t go over it again here, except to say that I had a really good time, and Angua was brilliant, and our opponents did a great job. Oh, and the R/H supporters were great. Because of the room fiasco, the debate went overtime, and I barely had enough time to pose for a pic with the debaters for TLC before I had to run, run run to my other panel. To my everlasting regret, this was the last time I saw Angua for the rest of the conference.

My co-presenters on my other panel, “Can Any Wisdom Come From Wizardry?” had kindly waited for me to arrive. It was the first time I had met most of them, so it was a little akward, but they were all very nice. The panel went really really well, and I once again appreciated the support of Lou and Leslie and Kirk and Dobby and my family smiling at me from the audience. After the panel was over, Ebony came up and apologized for not being at the debate, and for scheduling my two panels back-to-back. I had a nice conversation with her, and was once again pleased with how open and genuine she was.

After showing my family through the exhibitor’s hall, I went back upstairs to change my clothes, and we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon. It was hot, and crowded, but we had good luck with the lines and got on enough rides to make it worth our while. It rained in the afternoon, and so many people left that the evening was not crowded at all. I regret not going to the afternoon presentations at Nimbus, though. I really think that having the conference at Disney World was a mistake, as it caused conflicts between the conference and the parks. You were so close it almost seemed a crime not to go, but you also felt guilty about missing part of the conference. It was a no-win situation.

We left the park early enough for me to make it back for the showing of Chamber of Secrets that was part of the Double Double Feature, but after poking my head in I decided not to go in. Instead I met up with Sweeney and Leslie, and we went out on the patio and chatted till midnight. Leslie’s husband had bought me a copy of that day’s Orlando Sentinel, which had an article about Lilac and Nimbus, and included a picture of me that I didn’t know existed. Sweeney filled me in on Fandom Squares, which I had missed, and we chatted about all sorts of things. It was great fun. At midnight Sweeney wanted to see the art awards, and I was pretty well beat, so I went back to my room after making arrangements to meet everyone again at 9:30 for the last meeting of the SQ Breakfast Club. I tried to wait up for Mellie, who was hanging out in the Nimbus Staff room, but I gave up at 2:00. A good thing, as she informs me that she didn’t get in until 5:30. Yikes!

And that, my friends, was Saturday.

I have discovered a new definition of heaven.

Cold Stone Creamery’s Cake Batter ice cream.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I decided I need to do a day-by-day recap of Nimbus. Thursday I already did pretty thoroughly, so I’ll go straight to Friday.

Friday started earlier than I would have liked. I think I got to bed at midnight, but because I was still on Utah time, it was only 10:00 for me (which as anyone who has ever IMed me knows, is ridiculously early for me to go to bed), so it took me much longer than that to get to sleep. The alarm went off at 6:00, and after hitting the snooze button about 4 times, I finally got up at 6:30, and managed to make it down to breakfast at 8:00 with the other SQers. We signed the FA birthday card, and took some pictures, and then headed off to the “Once Upon a Time Turner” panel, which was a history of the fandom. It would probably more accurately be called “a Highly Biased and Selective History of the Fandom”. It was really more of a history of Fiction Alley, with SQ thrown in as an afterthought, and GT not mentioned at all. I don’t think the panelists deliberately meant to exclude us– they gave a history of the fandom as they experienced it. If I had done the panel, I would have contacted all the different sites and asked them for a history of their site, but the panelists were young (they had been around from the beginning, but they were 12 or 13 at that time, so they’re actually younger than I am), and probably haven’t really thought much about how such things should be done. Anyway, after hearing how surprised people were that there were lots of Ron fans who wanted to “Bask in the Orange Glow” of SQ, I went to “The Importance of Being Ron,” a wonderful panel with the great Angua on it. Very entertaining and thought-provoking (and very well attended ). I only wish they had more than 50 minutes.

After that I went to “Fanwords: The Evolution of Fandom Vernacular in the Harry Potter Fandom” which was again sorely lacking in any information on SQ. The presenter was one of the same girls who did the fandom history panel, and while she was very knowledgable about “plebe” and where the Characteristic!Character convention came from, she again didn’t bother to find out if specific sites have specific slang. I was very helpful about SQ’s slang, which really isn’t slang per se as it is spelling. They were all mystified by the filter, which I thought was quite straightforward, and I’m not sure they got that the letter K doesn’t really exist as SQ. It’s a good thing I didn’t mention 87. It was still an interesting presentation, as was the one right after it, which was a more academic look at fandom lingo and how much it spreads or doesn’t spread across fandoms. The next hour didn’t offer any choices that I was particularly interested in, so I hung out at the exhibitor’s hall (called Compulsive Alley) and looked in the gameroom before going to the Keynote luncheon.

Judith Krug of the American Library Association was the speaker, and her topic was censorship. It was a very good speech, and I highly enjoyed it. The lunch wasn’t all that great, though– a butternut squash soup, a very weird salad, coffee or tea (neither of which I drink) and a cookie. Not worth the $26 I paid for it.

All of the presenations right after lunch were about social issues, which I’ve had more than enough of, so I didn’t go to either of them, instead hanging out with Sweeney and other SQers, making plans to go see Pirates of the Caribbean that night at Downtown Disney after we’d dropped off the birthday card for FA. I did go to Ebony Thomas’s panel entitled “Imperial Harry: Race, J.K. Rowling and the Post-Colonial Context,” even though it was about a social issue, because my Senior Course in the English major was about Empire and the English Novel, and I was interested in seeing what Ebony had to say. I also avoided the Slash panel, which was an added benefit. I’m really glad I went, because it turned out to be one of the best presentations I went to. I also stayed for the presenation right after, which was about house-elves mainly, which was also very interesting. Together they comprised the most thought-provoking hour I spent at Nimbus. I didn’t agree with everything that was said, but it was still extremely interesting, and Ebony and I found a bond that I never would have suspected existed.

I poked my head into the “Can Draco Malfoy be Redeemed” panel, but it was really, really full, and I didn’t feel like standing for an hour to listen to people being wrong. I did get a glimpse at the eminent Cassie Claire, who looked a lot different than I imagined her. Other than that, I couldn’t have told that she was even at the conference. I didn’t see her again. I also didn’t want to stay for the whole thing, because the panel on “Cloaks and Cauldrons: An Anti-Sterotypical Analysis of Wizarding Fashion” started about halfway through the Draco panel. It was basically a discussion about the costuming in the movies, and was very fun. The presenter, Mary McGrow, asked us to say what our favorite costumes were, and I raised my hand and mentioned Snape. At my “Anything Alan Rickman wears is good” comment, Mary literally fell on the floor. I couldn’t hear, but someone said something about her muttering “Alan Rickman in nothing.” I was rather happy to have gotten such a reaction.

It was tough to decide on what to attend during the last hour, but no one should be surprised when I tell you that I decided on “When Harry Met Jane: The Legacy of Austen in Rowling’s Harry Potter.” It was very, very good. Lots of connections that I had already seen, and lots and lots that I never thought of. A close second to the Postcolonial paper. I hope it’s published in hte proceedings, ’cause I would definitely like to read it again.

After the Austen presentation was over, there was really nothing for us to do until the FA birthday party started at 9. I ended up hanging out with various SQers, working on evidence and my opening statement with Angua for the debate the next day, and finally walking down to the Boardwalk with Antar Uriel and Sweeney to get some food, and waiting for to show up. I finally managed to get a hold of Mellie on her cell phone, and found out that she had already arrived while I was out getting food, and was already over at the Dolphin, which is the sister hotel to the Swan and was where the FA birthday party was being held. All of us SQers gathered at 9 and made our way over to the party to present the birthday card to the FA admins, who accepted it graciously. Before we did the official presentation, though, I finally got to meet Mellie, who is one of the very first people I met in the fandom and is just as cool in person as she is online. The FA mods put the card up on the DJ stand, and I would have liked to stay longer, but we had to skedaddle to make the movie.

When we got outside it was pouring. Absoloutely pouring, and we got completely soaked. After changing our clothes (and convincing two of my roommates to come along), Sweeney, Angua, Antar and I, along with Tracey and Laurel, hopped on a bus over to Downtown Disney and the AMC 24 theatres.

Unfortunately, we missed the showing we wanted to see, which was at 10:20, but we were pretty much right on time for an 11:00 one, so we went to that instead. We didn’t get home till after 2, but it was definitely worth it. One of the highlights of the convention. Sweeney hadn’t seen it yet, and Angua is such an Orlando Bloom fangirl, it was just a blast. Angua ended up watching Johnny Depp more than Orlando this time around, though. I can’t really blame her, as he’s much closer to her age than Sexy Pirate Boy. It was still all about Orlando for me, though.

When we got back to the hotel I found Mellie sitting outside our hotel room. She didn’t have a key. By the time we got everyone in, and the cot sent up and set up, it was 3:00. And I hadn’t finished my opening statement.

So ends Friday. I’ll write up Saturday later.

Am almost caught up with LJ/Blog entries and e-mails.

Still have many threads to read, and much LJ/Blogging to do myself.

Am much too tired to do it.

See you tomorrow.

I’ve switched hotels, and this one doesn’t have internet access at all. I’m not even sure how I’m going to get this entry onto my LJ, and if I do manage to get it on, it will be expensive, so I don’t think I’ll be able to check my e-mail or anything for the next week. Not that I won’t try. I’m going to keep my eye out for internet cafes. I’m actually in a timeshare condo, which is very nice in many ways but not yet as technologically advanced as the Swan was.

So. The debate. It went well. I feel like our side held our own. Angua was, as always, brilliant. I was a bit snarkier than I was planning on being. When Zorb and Pallas Athena seemed to be remembering the Katie Couric interview wrong, I offered ever-so-sweetly to play it for them off my laptop, among other things. I feel bad about that, actually. I didn’t plan on getting snarky. I really don’t know what else to say. I was so involved with trying to find quotes and thinking about what I was going to say next that I wasn’t able to see the audience reaction– which as we all know is so crucial in a debate. I’m going to have to throw it out to all my pals who *were* there to say how I did. I’m simply unable to tell you.

There was a tape recorder on the table, and I hope it got recorded and that there will be a transcript. I have my doubts about the quality of the recording, though. The room that was scheduled for our session was simply too small to fit everyone who wanted to come, so we switched rooms– but the new room didn’t have any sound equipment, so it wasn’t miked. So I really hope it turned out. I’m going to check on that when I get home.

The t-shirts went over really, really well, though. Once again I was too distracted to see what the H/H reaction to them was, but the R/H reaction was priceless. We’ve had several requests for additional shirts. I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to get them to anyone who wants them, but once again it will have to wait until I get home.

Nimbus was amazing, and I’m terribly sad that it’s over. There were so many highlights that it’s difficult to say what the best part of it was. The conference itself was highly entertaining. All of the panels I went to– from the semi-frivolous fannish ones to the serious academic types– were interesting, engaging and fun. In fact, the blend between a fan conference and an academic symposium worked really well. The informal programming that I went to was also a lot of fun.

Because of the nature of the Harry Potter fandom, this convention was different than most fan conventions. Almost everyone here was involved one way or another on the internet, and it was really fun to finally be able to put faces to these screen names. I’ll admit to being apprehensive about meeting some of the people that were there– but for the most part, they were all very nice. Ebony in particular was not only cordial, she was warm, and eager to know us. I was surprised how much in common we had after we got past the shipping issue. Eb, if you’re reading this, I’ve added you to my friends list, and I hope we can continue to interact with the same goodwill we had at Nimbus.

Speaking of meeting people, this conference wouldn’t have been half as much fun as it was without all the great friends I was able to meet. I was really looking forward to meeting all my oldest and dearest fandom friends– Morgan Tuatha, also known as Leslie, Raven Snape, also known as Lou, and especially Melissa Anelli, who i’ve probably known longer than anyone else. I wasn’t disappointed. Leslie is wonderful, Lou is a delight, and Mellie is an absolute sweetheart. Then there were the people I’ve only known for a little while, or not at all. Of course meeting Angua was a real pleasure, and she’s every bit as delightful and smart in real life as she is on the net. I only knew Sweeney Agonistes distantly, but we’ve become fast friends, and I didn’t know Beruna Ford or Antar Uriel at all, but it was sure fun to get to know both of them.

I won’t say the conference was without faults. There were things that went wrong, things that could have been planned better, things that were less than equitable, and fans that seemed intent on snarkiness. But the good far, far outweighed the bad, and I’m going to start saving now for Nimbus 2005, wherever it’s going to be held. I’d do this all again in an instant.