Where’s Cheryl?

2011 Convention Schedule

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

With SMOFcon over, that’s the 2010 convention season wrapped up. It is time to look forward to 2011. This year’s con-going was thoroughly messed up by the US immigration issues and the hotel problems in Epinal. Hopefully I’ll have more luck next year. Here’s the preliminary schedule:

Other events may be added if they sound sufficiently interesting and I can afford to go.

And yes, there is a big, August-shaped hole in that schedule.

A Weekend Away

~ Cheryl

As you may have noticed, I have been not blogging much over the past few days. That’s because I have been in London. I headed out there on Friday afternoon, attended the British Fantasy Society meeting that evening and sold some copies of Dark Spires (yay!).

Many thanks are due to my friends Teddy and Tom who put me up at their place in Wimbledon for a couple of nights. I generally take them something costume-related to say thank you. Hopefully they enjoyed the latest offering.

On Saturday I attended a party at the home of John and Judith Clute in Camden. The official theme of the party was Clute’s 70th birthday, though the actual event took place some weeks ago and the party was scheduled to allow maximum attendance by desired guests. Despite the snow, a great group of people turned up. Gary K. Wolfe flew in from Chicago, and a bunch of famous writers dropped in, including Robert Irwin and Brian Aldiss.

On Sunday I was back in Camden so that Gary, Clute and I could record an episode of the Coode Street Podcast (otherwise known as “Live with Gary K. Wolfe”, but as will become obvious it is by no means live).

I provided the tech at our end. Initially I connected to the Clute home network, because I expected it to be the most stable option. Unfortunately Skype kept cutting out on us. I didn’t have time to diagnose why, but was able to switch to using the MiFi. That did the job just fine.

I’m listening to the podcast now (you can find it here). It sounds like Jonathan wasn’t able to save anything useful from the failed attempts to record a discussion, which is a shame because there was some good stuff in it. I did précis it at the beginning of the recording we have, but I’ll write more about it tomorrow.

Clute and Gary got a bit animated at times, and I found myself wishing that I had the means to do sound effects so that it sounded like they were actually slugging it out. You’ll just have to imagine it.

I did also record an interview with Gary for Salon Futura. That won’t be online until February, but I needed to get it done now because Gary has to go back to the US and I may not see him again for a year or more.

I’m now back home and looking forward to watching the cricket from Australia, where it will be much warmer than it is here.

Off to London

~ Cheryl

Jeff and Ann VanderMeer will be in London next weekend. They are appearing at a one-day conference called Thrilling Wonder Stories. This is not, as you might expect, something about pulp literature, but rather an eclectic event pulling in cutting edge people from many different disciplines under the auspices of the Architectural Association’s School of Architecture. Panels will look at the future of cities and urban life from a range of different viewpoints.

As well as Jeff and Ann, the conference features Will Self, comic creator Anthony Johnston (Wasteland, Daredevil), concept artist Gavin Rothery (Moon, Grand Theft Auto) and an organization called The Why Factory who are a think tank specializing in urban futures. Jeff has more details on his blog.

I’m going to pop down to see them (and hopefully bag an interview or two while I am there). Obviously this is very short notice, and inconvenient for anyone not in the UK, but the whole thing will apparently be streamed lived through the Architectural Association’s website.

If you are in London, the event is from 12:00 to 20:00, and the Architectural Association’s offices are at 36 Bedford Square. The panels will be in the Lecture Hall, which will hopefully be well signposted. Attendance is free.

I may be a little late as I have a prior engagement at the residence of the Finnish Ambassador where they are launching Turku’s year as European Capital of Culture (which is not entirely due to it hosting Finncon, but I’m sure that helped).

Offline-ish

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

I’ll be heading off to BristolCon shortly. Much to my surprise I have a room for Friday and Saturday nights. This may mean I am offline for much of the weekend.

In Transit: Singapore via A380

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

I have arrived safely in Singapore and am making use of the free wi-fi at Changi Airport. I have a 6 hour layover here so there’s plenty of time to catch up on the world.

The most interesting thing about the trip thus far is that for the first time I have got to fly on an A380. When I first heard about these things I was a bit worried about load times, but with separate jetways for the upper and lower decks it works well enough.

I was in cattle class as the back of the main deck – my United points might have got me a free flight but my status counts for nothing on Singapore. The space was pretty much what I’m used to from flying on 747s and 777s. For someone Kevin’s size it would be cramped.

Of course if you can afford business class the seats are very spacious. First class has lie-flat beds. And if that isn’t luxurious enough for you then you can rent a cabin. Seriously. Singapore claim to be the only airline offering that.

The food was much better than I’m used to from United. Actually that’s very faint praise; a trip to Taco Bell would be better than United’s food, but Singapore’s food was pretty good, with some Nice Asian options. I particularly enjoyed the seafood and egg noodles for breakfast, which included a small piece of red chili. Just what I needed to wake me up.

But where the A380 really scores is in the entertainment system. There were 120 movies on offer, in a variety of languages. There were similar numbers of TV programs, including plays, ballet and concerts. Personally I could have spent the entire time sampling the music collection, which was vast and included a lot of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and other Asian bands I had never heard of. Lots of Tokyopop, of course. Kevin would have loved it.

There were a few audiobooks on offer too, including Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science.

Not only that, but the system comes complete with a collection of plugs for attaching your own equipment. If I hadn’t packed the USB cable in my checked bag I could have hooked up my MP3 player through the plane’s audio system and had all of my own music available too.

The iPhone doesn’t work that way because Apple’s directory system isn’t supported, but you can use the USB socket to power your iPhone or iPad during the flight.

All in all I was very pleased with the A380. I’m hoping I get one on the trip Sydney too.

In Flight

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

I’m heading out to Heathrow now. I’ll be on aircraft pretty much all of Wednesday. I’ll try to check in from Sydney on Thursday but I won’t be back online properly until Friday. Hopefully there will be updates on Twitter.

Pride Bristol Friday

~ Cheryl

Last night went very well. The film, Diagnosing Difference, was very good. Much of the material about medical approaches to trans people was slightly off target because the UK doesn’t follow US psychology practices (no DSM here, folks, we are de-pathologized). However, the wide variety of trans people interviewed was very refreshing, and the attitude very positive.

The panel also went well. Roz and I, of course, are panel veterans (though as moderator I tried to stay out of things most of the time). Finn Greig and Natacha Kennedy did well as the professional experts, but we need to drag them along to a few conventions to get panel practice. Bethany Black, being a professional entertainer, was superb. And it turns out that she’s also a total fangirl.

Beth’s bio does say that she’s a Goth, but during the panel Roz likened the experience, as a kid, of finding out that other trans people exist to the “sense of wonder” experience in science fiction. She quoted the first couple of lines of Roy Batty’s death scene from Blade Runner: “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.” And Beth immediately completed the quote.

She’s also very funny. We need to get this girl to Eastercon.

Because I Can

~ Cheryl

I am in a cafe at Temple Meads station in Bristol. The MiFi is working very well. This is a great relief.

Also I have been photographing steam trains. There will be evidence in Twitter shortly.

The Warming of Houses

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

I spend yesterday evening over near Oxford at Paul Cornell’s housewarming party. There was an interesting mix of people: some fans, some folks from nearby Farringdon where Paul used to live, and some proto-vicars who are at college in Oxford with Caroline. I should note that the latter group were lovely people and not at all the sort of folk that come to mind when you hear the word “Christian” these days.

The star of the evening was probably Lee Harris’s iPad. I really didn’t think that I needed one of those things, but now that I have seen one and had a play with it I have a serious case of WANT. I think I may finally have found an e-book reader that I like.

Back home I feel like I have finally settled in here. For the first time I have cooked a proper meal in my new home (as opposed to slinging a prepared meal in the microwave). It case you are wondering, it was a curry.

I haven’t forgotten about the virtual housewarming, but I’m going to be busy next weekend and then Kevin’s going to be traveling for a few weeks, so it might be a while before I manage to have a party. Bear with me, please.

Busy Weekend

~ Cheryl

Tomorrow I am off to Oxford for a party. I’ll be back home on Saturday. I could spend a lot of the weekend doing stuff. There’s the Bath Coffee Festival and the Love Food Festival in Bristol to think about. Probably, however, I will go home and collapse on Saturday. And on Sunday I’ll start getting the cottage organized and cheer on England in the Twenty20 World Cup Final.

Yes, you did read that correctly. The England cricket team are in the final of an international event. They will either play Australia or the current cup holders, Pakistan, who play their semi-final tomorrow. The fast Barbados pitch will favor the Australian bowlers, so odds on an apocalypse on Monday are not as good as you might think.

Heading Out

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

I’m closing down the network in Darkest Somerset now and heading back to the cottage. In theory I’ll have Internet access there by midnight at the latest. If you see happy blogging from me later today you will know that all is well. If you see furious tweeting instead then I’ll be stuck using the iPhone.

Online Again, and Trains

~ Cheryl

The good news is that I have a stable broadband connection again. The bad news is that this has entailed going back to Darkest Somerset. I really do want to move into my new home, but I can’t do so if that means I can’t work.

Because I needed to get back here, today has been my first day using the magic rover ticket that Kevin found for me. That allowed me to go shopping in Bristol before heading down here. It is very nice indeed to be able to get on a train anywhere around the region and just go. I’m hoping I’ll be able to manage one day of tourism, assuming that the weather stops pretending it is November.

Right now, however, I have an awful lot of catch-up to do.

Still Travelling

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

I shall be headed back to Darkest Somerset one day later than planned. Kevin did some clever research on rover tickets on the trains which is going to save me quite a bit of money, but as it is a 15-day ticket and I need it to cover May 15th I had to start it from tomorrow.

More bloggery tomorrow when I (hopefully) have a regular connection again.

Clarke Award Coverage

~ Cheryl

I’m off to London again tomorrow to attend the Arthur C. Clarke Award ceremony. I understand from the organizers that the phone signal from the room they use is not good, so I may not be able to tweet live, but I am planning to get as much coverage as possible, including some Twitter interviews on AudioBoo like I did for Amanda’s concert on Sunday. If all goes according to plan I’ll also interview the winner for StarShipSofa, though that won’t go live until Tony has a chance to edit it.

Home / No Home

~ Cheryl ~ 10 Comments

Well the good news is that today I signed the rental contract and got the keys to the cottage.

The bad news is that it looks like it will be several weeks before I can move in.

Why? Well before I agreed to take the place I checked that it did indeed have a working phone line, because I need one for my broadband connection. Then of course I was told that I could not move in for several weeks. Now I have been told that it is my responsibility to arrange for a phone connection, and that will take several more weeks to sort out. I could, of course, have been sorting that out while I was waiting.

As it happens, I have to be in London Wed/Thurs, and I have train tickets from, so I’ll stay in the cottage for a couple of nights. After that I’ll need to go back to Darkest Somerset until such time as I can actually work from the new home.

Can you tell that I’m not very happy.

Drive By Blogging

~ Cheryl

This is probably all you are getting from me today. I’m off to London. Yes, just for the day, which means I’ll spend more time travelling than I will be actually there. What’s this all about? Well, I’m going to see some friends. And if the words “Camden” and “ninja gig” mean anything to you then you might want to keep an eye on my Twitter feed today.

The Last Lap

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Today I packed as much stuff as I could into two suitcases and headed off to Wiltshire. I’m staying with my friend Marjorie for a couple of days and Monday, if all goes according to plan, I’ll move into the cottage. It will be a great relief when it is all sorted.

In the meantime I shall be busy. My friend Gareth Powell has a book launch in Bristol tomorrow, and we’ll be taking the opportunity to do a bit of BristolCon business as well. While I’m over there I shall probably make a start on buying kitchen gadgets, a favourite hobby of mine, and one I now get to indulge in all over again.

Sunday I am going to do something mad and impetuous. Keep an eye on Twitter.

Over the next few weeks I shall be exploring the neighbourhood. This will probably involve a lot of stuff in Bath, including bathing, but there are many other interesting places around here for me to report upon. I’ll make a start now. This evening Marjorie and I had dinner at a very splendid Italian restaurant. What they don’t mention on the web site is that they have a very impressive collection of malt whiskies as well. I can see this getting expensive.

Right now, however, sleep.

Brief Status Report

~ Cheryl ~ 8 Comments

First up, a huge thank you to everyone who expressed sympathy with my travel difficulties during Eastercon. I did have to go through the story rather a lot of times, but I was happy to do so because everyone I spoke to was clearly interested and friendly.

The thing I was telling people at the con, because I found out about it a day or two before the con started, is that I now know why none of the lawyers have got back to me yet. The H1B temporary work visa has a season. There are a limited number of them available, and in the past they have run out very quickly (under Dubya sometimes in a matter of days). So the period around the opening of a year’s allocation is the busiest time of the year for immigration lawyers. The opening date is April 1st. I’ll expect to hear back from people in a couple of weeks time. When visas are concerned, patience is a virtue.

I am currently back in Darkest Somerset and have all of my computers working (though I am now afraid to move the netbook, which kind of defeats the object of having an ultra-portable PC). Email has been attended to. The next job is to catch up on blogging. I also need to start packing up my stuff so that it can be transported to the cottage.

Engaging Brain

~ Cheryl

Bleagh, morning.

I’ve just done a big update over at ConReporter.com. I have to do one for SFAW too. I don’t have the braincells to do one here as well. Sorry. Need more coffee.