LiveJournal Begins at 40
Aug. 27th, 2005 06:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeToday is my 40th birthday, and I've resolved to try and actually post things to this LJ rather than just use it to read other people's journals. On the other hand, my first attempt at actually doing so resulted in my browser hanging up after I composed the entry and before I posted it, so there's no guarantees.
I wish I'd been able to take the time during Interaction, this year's Worldcon, to post during the convention my impressions while running the Events division, because even now the details are starting to fade; however, I hope the memory of what I think was a reasonably-well-run set of major convention events remains with me.
Because of when my birthday falls, I'm usually traveling at that time on something having to do with Worldcon or NASFiC. This year is no exception. As part of being the Fan Guest of Honor at CascadiaCon, this year's NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention, held whenever the World Science Fiction Convention is outside of North America), I volunteered to put together an exhibit about myself, showing photos, costumes, and other memorabilia from my (as of this next weekend) twenty-one years in fandom. I determined that there is a chunk of years missing from what I can put together from here in the Bay Area where I currently live, and that I need to go to Yuba City and rummage through the large storage locker I have there. Yuba City is about 150 miles from where I currently live in Fremont; I'm from that part of California originally, and when I moved to the Bay Area, I put much of my stuff into storage up there -- it's far cheaper than the Bay Area, and I have a lot less space here than I did there. The disadvantage is that it's a three-plus hour drive away. You might think of it as "cold storage," except that, especially in the summer, it is anything but cold in the Central Sacramento Valley. I am not looking forward to digging through the locker in the 100-degree F temps forecast for today, particularly as I'm certain the things I want, if they exist at all, are likely to be at the very back of the locker, meaning it will take a long time to get to them. Some birthday party. The hotel where I'm staying in Yuba City does have a pool, however, so I should be able to cool off this evening.
Tomorrow, I'm going to go see my grandfather at his house in Sutter (near Yuba City), and my mother is coming down to visit as well. Again, because of my schedule and hers, it's rare that we see each other around my birthday, and we're taking advantage of me being in the area to get together for a little while.
I wish I'd been able to take the time during Interaction, this year's Worldcon, to post during the convention my impressions while running the Events division, because even now the details are starting to fade; however, I hope the memory of what I think was a reasonably-well-run set of major convention events remains with me.
Because of when my birthday falls, I'm usually traveling at that time on something having to do with Worldcon or NASFiC. This year is no exception. As part of being the Fan Guest of Honor at CascadiaCon, this year's NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention, held whenever the World Science Fiction Convention is outside of North America), I volunteered to put together an exhibit about myself, showing photos, costumes, and other memorabilia from my (as of this next weekend) twenty-one years in fandom. I determined that there is a chunk of years missing from what I can put together from here in the Bay Area where I currently live, and that I need to go to Yuba City and rummage through the large storage locker I have there. Yuba City is about 150 miles from where I currently live in Fremont; I'm from that part of California originally, and when I moved to the Bay Area, I put much of my stuff into storage up there -- it's far cheaper than the Bay Area, and I have a lot less space here than I did there. The disadvantage is that it's a three-plus hour drive away. You might think of it as "cold storage," except that, especially in the summer, it is anything but cold in the Central Sacramento Valley. I am not looking forward to digging through the locker in the 100-degree F temps forecast for today, particularly as I'm certain the things I want, if they exist at all, are likely to be at the very back of the locker, meaning it will take a long time to get to them. Some birthday party. The hotel where I'm staying in Yuba City does have a pool, however, so I should be able to cool off this evening.
Tomorrow, I'm going to go see my grandfather at his house in Sutter (near Yuba City), and my mother is coming down to visit as well. Again, because of my schedule and hers, it's rare that we see each other around my birthday, and we're taking advantage of me being in the area to get together for a little while.
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Happy Birthday!
Date: 2005-08-27 04:58 pm (UTC)my first attempt at actually doing so resulted in my browser hanging up after I composed the entry and before I posted it, so there's no guarantees.
This may or may not help, but I usually compose off line in Word, then copy and paste. Since we use dial-up, composing off line means I can work on something over several hours rather than rushing to get it done. If the browser had a problem, it doesn't effect the off line part. I did lose a lot of a post when the power went out, so save often!
Re: Happy Birthday!
Date: 2005-08-27 06:01 pm (UTC)Everything I experienced at Interaction was well run. I think it was one of the best organized worldcons I've been to.
With all your stuff 3hrs away, you might start to realize you don't need so much of it. This time next year you may join the ebay crowd!
no subject
Date: 2005-08-27 09:27 pm (UTC)Locker of Stuff
Date: 2005-08-27 11:10 pm (UTC)Thank you! I know we had a really hard-working crew, and I'm really pleased with the results we had. I read some reviews of the Opening/Closing Ceremonies that called them "naff," which hurt a little as I scripted a bunch of it as well as acting in it, but others said they thought we got it about right -- not too long or too short. But I want honest opinions, not just people saying what they think I want to hear.
(I would have liked to have heard the person who disliked the Open/Close to say what would have made it better. I'm serious about that: although I don't expect to do that job again, other people who will do it might want to know what people want to see in Open/Close.)
Actually, most of what's in there isn't even worth eBaying. It's mostly my personal papers, fanzines, books, and some furniture left over from a larger apartment. At the time I put it into storage, I was "temporarily" moving to the Bay Area and living out of other people's houses. When I did finally get a place mostly of my own, the "slan shack" (house full of fans in which I rented a share) was breaking up, and a couple of members of the house sold me all of their furniture cheaply (it being easier for them to sell it to me than for them to transport it to Michigan and Ohio, where they were moving). So I ended up with two apartments' worth of furniture.
The locker would be more trouble than it is worth if it were not for the fact that my family all live up in these parts. I stopped by my grandfather's house on the way to the locker (and will be there tomorrow). My sister lives in Yuba City. My mother is in Dobbins up in the Sierra foothills. So about once every three months or so I make the trip up here. And at only $60/month for an 11x11 locker, it's a bargain, (I've paid more in the Bay Area for a space the size of my hall closet) and it's proved easier to just keep paying the rent than to shrink my belongings. (I'm a packrat.)
Opening & Closing
Date: 2005-08-28 06:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-29 04:36 pm (UTC)