This morning I woke up to a cold cat nose in my face and my first thought was, I must have left KitKat upstairs for the night, and my second thought was, Where am I? I knew I was in bed, but at first I couldn’t even remember what the alternatives were, that it was either my own house or my mother’s, or who KitKat is (my mother’s cat, up in Rice Lake). Bed: cat: me. It was very unsettling.
Mostly news update-type stuff this week.
Spider content warning: Yeah. some spider snuck up to Rice lake in one of my shoes, which I learned when I put the shoe on. At home, I always shake my shoes out, because this is how I got the last spider bite as well; but everything has been…weird. I killed it as soon as I felt the bite: a small brown recluse, about a quarter the size of the last one (guessing by how far apart the fang marks were then). I have had several brown recluse bites over the years, as well as various other spider bites (why, spiders, why?) and I have been lucky enough to heal relatively quickly. Conclusion: I’ll be fine.
I am back in Lawrence with a LOT of things that need to be done before I leave Wednesday for Houston and ComicPalooza. Last summer, I had set a date in my mind when Everything Would Change: May 15, the day after graduation, when KU and the English department would slip to being a part-time gig or I might even be able to leave entirely. Things happened all academic year that complicated this plan, and then Mom went into the hospital on 5/2, and since then nothing at all is known, except that yes, I am down to 25% KU.
This coming weekend is ComicPalooza, and I’m looking forward to this, so so much. Here’s my calendar:
| Friday 5:30 – 6:30pm. The Storytelling of Star Trek; Daphne Strasert, Kij Johnson, Dominick D’Aunno Saturday 10:30 – 11:30am. Fantasy Novels – It’s My Fantasy; Rose Garcia Kij Johnson & Terry Brooks . Saturday 11:30 – 12:30pm. Autographs: Terry Brooks & Kij Johnson Saturday 4:30 – 5:30pm. Comic Writing and Collaboration Rob Saucedo Stephen Graham Jones Kij Johnson Saturday 5:30 – 6:30pm. Thrilling Your Reader Kevin Tumlinson, Kij Johnson, Hank Schwaeble Sunday 12:00 – 1:00pm. Writing and Reading Mysteries and Thrillers C.D. Lewis, Stephen Graham Jones, Kij Johnson, Hank Schwaeble Sunday 1:00 – 2:00pm. Write What You Know – Mining Personal Experiences for Fun and Profit Rob Saucedo, Kij Johnson, Preston Fassel, Saba Syed Razvi Sunday 3:00 – 4:00pm. Autographs: Kij Johnson, Stephen Graham Jones & Terry Brooks |
Doing a signing with Terry Brooks? I expect I’ll get about eight people, and for the rest of the time I’ll smile pleasantly while ten thousand fans file past him, but that’s okay. Many years ago, I would have gotten one or two fans only, and Stephen Graham Jones will be there, who I like and look forward to knowing better. And it’s been a LONG time since I have done a signing at all.
