CONvergence Conversation

I’ve been jonesing for some con-goodness, and I’m about to scratch that itch in a big way! This Thursday I fly away to the southern climes* of Minnesota for CONvergence. I’ve never been before, but I’m pretty excited! It’s not as big a con as Dragon*Con (which I’ve attended twice) or SDCC (which I’ve never attended), but it’s much larger than the Doctor Who conventions I frequent. It’s in the neighborhood of 7,000 people, so it’s roughly twice the size of my beloved Gally.

One thing it has in common with Gally: CONvergence is a fan-run convention. That’s a huge part of the reason I’m so excited to go. I enjoy the big media conventions as well, but there’s something about the atmosphere at a fan-run con that you just don’t get anywhere else. They’re built from the ground up on love–

Listing Towards OCD

I’ve talked before about some of my coping mechanisms for dealing with mental health issues: how I remind myself depression lies, how I use jigsaw puzzles to calm my anxious mind, how I focus on the good stuff. One other thing I do is try to harness my mental weirdness and use it for good when I can. I have more than a touch of obsessive-compulsiveness. Happily, it’s not enough to interfere much with my daily life. In fact, I’ve found a way to trick my compulsive brain into working for me instead of against me.

The key is randomness.

No. There are two keys: randomness and dice.

Webcomics – Of Questionable Content

I recently stumbled across my notes from an Incomparable episode we recorded way back in 2014. I thought I’d pull them together and flesh them out to make a series of blog posts because web comics are cool goshdarnit! And know there are more out there than these. (The other comics we talked about in The Incomparable #220 are just the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure!) Let me know what your favorites are in the comments!

Questionable Content

Sluggy may have been my first, but Questionable Content is my favorite web comic. Of all the comics I read, has the most realistic characters. They’re quirky and odd, and sometimes act in unexpected ways, but they still manage to stay realistic. Doing that 5-year catch-up felt like reconnecting with a bunch of old friends. And best of all while my life had changed and I’d grown while I was away, they’d been evolving too.

Webcomics – Are They Not Nifty?

I just stumbled across my notes from an Incomparable episode we recorded way back in 2014. I thought I’d pull them together and flesh them out to make a series of blog posts because web comics are cool goshdarnit! And know there are more out there than these. (The other comics we talked about in The Incomparable #220 are just the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure!) Let me know what your favorites are in the comments!

I go through webcomic cycles. I’ll read some religiously for a couple years, and then something lifey happens. I lose track of them for a year (or a few). Eventually I remember to catch up on what I’ve missed and stay current for a year or two. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The last time I was heavy into web comics was about five years ago. I was reading about six strips regularly, which for some of them meant every day. Then I got a new job and the losing-track-of-them phase started up again. I spent the few weeks leading up to the Incomparable ep reading about 5 years’ worth of a couple of my favorites, which was really fun! Sadly, I haven’t read any since that binge. The lost-track phase crept up on me once again. Maybe these posts will prompt me to get back into the swing of things.

Sluggy Freelance

You never forget your first web comic love, and Sluggy Freelance was that for me. I’ve read most of it twice (and some of it more than that). Pete Abrams started this daily strip in August of 1997, so that’s a lot of comics. I mean, a LOT of comics.

Cool People Doing Cool Things – Part Three

It’s been A Week.* So you know what that means? It’s time to focus on some good stuff! In this case, it’s good stuff created by other people. Yep, more cool people doing cool things! If you’re just joining us, do check out the first and second posts in this series.

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 Cool Person: Tansy Rayner Roberts

My Verity! cohost Tansy has one of the most prodigious blogs in fandom!** Not only does she write about general geekery, feminisim, and fandom, but she does regular features on comic books, Robotech, and fun links (most) every Friday! She’s also a novelist, and she cohosts two podcasts: the aforementioned Verity! and Galactic Suburbia, a relaxed, rambly Australian podcast about speculative fiction news with a decidedly feminist viewpoint.  So yeah. Lots of cool stuff, but the one I want to highlight here is this:

Cool Thing: Musketeer Space

Among all the other great stuff she’s writing about, Tansy has been publishing a novel in weekly web-serialized form. And not just any novel! This is a gender-swapped space-opera version of The Three Musketeers.

The Truth About Empathy

My cousin Jack* is in his senior year of high school, and as an end-of-the-year project, he has to interview people from different stages of life. The topic is one simple (or not-so-simple) question. I rather enjoyed creating my response, so I decided to share it with all of you here. I’m also curious about your thoughts, good readers. Please feel free to share in the comments. I suspect answers to such a question will vary wildly. And maybe it’ll get Jack extra credit. ;)

What do you know to be true about empathy?

Empathy is my superpower. It’s my secret weapon. It’s how I get through the day, the month, the year.

I’ve always lived toward the strong end of the empathy spectrum. It’s a mixed blessing, but I do believe it’s a blessing. As I see it, at its heart, empathy is the ability to understand what other people feel and even experience an echo of that feeling (sometimes a rather loud echo). I’m quite proficient at this, and it’s served me well.

It plays a role in each personal interaction I have every single day. Everything from saying good morning to my spouse, to conferencing with a coworker, to ordering a burger at a fast food place, I’m experiencing, and using, empathy.