Another delightful day at Convolution in San Francisco. It started with a friend (James) buying us breakfast, always appreciated; then got better. Hung out with James and Cat and Chris and Trish a lot, talking about Books & Shit. Did a panel series novels, then one on story telling. The story telling panel was especially good. And we came up with an idea to control the thing that most annoys me on panels:
Appoint an official timekeeper. The job of the timekeeper is to burst out with the current time of day any time a panelist says, “Well, in my book…” Yeah, I know; I’m old and crotchety. Deal with it.
Did a hot tub reading (like in the old days at Minicon), but, alas, hardly anyone showed up. Then, much later, did a reading of Paarfirotica in my room–Chris doing the dramatic reading. Poor James isn’t a Paarfi fan. We watched him writhe in agony. We’d have felt bad for him if we could have stopped laughing at him long enough.
Interestingly, this doesn’t feel at all like a first-year convention. The organization is solid, and things flow nicely. Later, I’m hoping to meet Peter Beagle. Having a blast. Wish you were here.
How can you not be a fan of Paarfi?
It takes a special kind of sadist to make someone’s first introduction to Paarfi by way of the erotica.
@Jenphalian: Awwww. You’re so sweet! *blush*
Paarfi almost killed James, maybe it will immunize him to future florid prose though!
Convolution feels like a full-fledged con because it’s being run by many of the same people who’ve put on Baycon for the last 20-something years. If you’ve got a free Memorial day, I’m sure they’d be glad to have you.
Wish I were there – that pesky wage slavery thing, y’know.
The con sounds wonderful, however I blame you for my poor life choices. Often, when I attend a service in shul I take out my kindle for some…um..meditative.. Reading during the sermon….Paarfierotica was perhaps not my most inspired choice. I had to cover up my laughter by trying to make it sound like a coughing fit, which backfired and two doctors came over to see if I was ok. I knew I should have stuck with Mary Oliver.
Amysue: Oh, to have been a fly on the wall! Hee hee.
It was a good Con, and getting to meet you and have a drink with you, was the best part of it. I appreciate that you take the time to do these, and hope you enjoy them at least a little.
Cheers
To: Skzb
Subject:
“Conclusion of James’ exposure to Paarfirotica”
James:
“I used lithium to get the twitching to subside. I began using arsenic to deaden the top layers of skin and give me back my color. But these are my successes. I took out a spark plug from the engine of my car and, while it was still attached to the cable…the car running, I urinated on in to try to get feeling back to my penis. This hasn’t worked out that well. Needless to say, hookers are not as attractive as they used to be. Still looking for treatment…may need universal healthcare. No one told me paarfi would lead to so may health problems…”
Total Time Exposed To Paarfi: 30 minutes
Subject Status:
Questionable but Stable (improved from Critical)
Chance Of Survival: 20%
Next Paarfi Treatment: 3 Weeks
We’ll keep you posted.
Sincerely,
G. Pendershlouz M.D.
Okay, now THAT is funny.