Top 20 Posts For 2009
Well, lots of other folks are doing it, so I thought I would to. Here are the top twenty posts of the year for The World in the Satin Bag. Oddly enough, some of these posts were top posts last year, and have been at the top since I posted them. Don’t ask me why. Some folks are obsessed, I guess. I’ve included the posting dates for the heck of it (and, yes, the number 22 is strangely prominent). Here’s the list: Steampunk Reading List? (Jan. 27, 2009) Reader Question: The Alien Exit (Aug. 21, 2009) A Collective Chillpill For RaceFail, GenderFail, et. al. (Aug. 22, 2009) The Rules of Shelving Books: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Their Literary Friends (June 22, 2009) Oh Sweet NASA (Mar. 22, 2008) Ten Things That Make Me Stop Reading (Feb. 16, 2009) Misconceptions About Star Wars (Dec. 30, 2008) The Terminator Movies: Why the robots lost…badly (Sept. 2, 2008) An Aside: Anime, Space Opera, and Space Westerns (Aug. 8, 2009) Top 7 Science Fiction Sidekicks (in Film) (July 19, 2009) Eight Guilty Pleasures in Science Fiction and Fantasy (July 22, 2009) Top 6 Lesser Known or Forgotten Fantasy Series (July 14, 2009) Movie Review: Star Trek (Why It Sucks and Why Abrams Needs To Stop) (May 15, 2009) Top 5 Science Fiction Leading Ladies (July 27, 2009) SF/F Links: February Roundup Part Two (Feb. 29, 2009) Top 10 Cats in Science Fiction and Fantasy (July 15, 2009) What if dragons were real? (Aug. 10, 2007) Werewolves and Misconceptions About Science Fiction (Nov. 27, 2008) eReaders: Comparison Study (Sept. 23, 2008) Top Ten Fantasy Movies (Feb. 7, 2009) I’m not sure what continues to drive people to some of the my older posts (particularly #4), but I guess there’s something about them that keeps folks fascinated. I am also surprised by some of the dates (22, for example), but I also have no idea what to make of that too. So there you go. Enjoy!
Homesick 2010: Where I’ll Be All Next Year
2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. A few big things have happened, and with the next semester of school coming up I’m sure I’ll be a busy little bee. The sad thing (or cool thing, depending on how you look at it) is that I’ll be away from home for a little under two weeks between the months of February and July. So, what’s going on in 2010? First, I’ll be teaching at the University of Florida, again (I’ll be doing this for the next six years, most likely). January marks my second semester as a teacher, with a few changes to keep things spicy. I’ll be teaching an introductory course to college research papers and, for the second time, a technical writing class for engineers. While neither course is as interesting as an intro to science fiction course would be, I am still getting a lot of valuable experience that will help me get a good job when I graduate with a PhD (or an MA if I somehow get booted out of the academic circuit). Second, I’ll be taking two graduate-level courses. One is on African fiction and the other is a class on Lacan (the latter is a theory-intensive course on psychoanalysis and I am not exactly looking forward to that because I hate Freud). They didn’t have any science fiction courses this time around, or anything that seemed directly related to what I am working towards or studying, so much of my course preferences this semester were based on a “will I find that enjoyable or at least remotely useful” mentality. The African fiction course, however, does look promising and I expect I will learn a lot from it (well, I’ll probably learn a lot from both, to be fair). Lastly, I will be attending three conferences during 2010 to present papers on subjects of interest to anyone who is a fan of science fiction or fantasy. The first is the Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association Conference to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico (don’t ask me why it’s not held in Texas, because I have no idea). I will be presenting a paper on Battlestar Galactica and Philip K. Dick (I’ll be talking about all my upcoming papers in another post) and will be there from February 10th to the 13th. The second is the annual conference of the Popular Culture and American Culture Associations in St. Louis, Missouri. Battlestar Galactica will be a feature yet again, only I’ll be dealing with some different ideas. The PCA/ACA conference is held from March 31st to April 3rd. The last is What Happens Now: 21st Century Writing in English – the first decade, a conference held at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. There will be no Battlestar Galactica in this one (or I don’t expect there to be). Instead, I’ll be talking about the Bizarro and New Weird movements and their influence on the wider world of science fiction and, to a lesser extent (because it’s already weird and bizarre anyway), fantasy. Thankfully, this conference is held towards the tail end of the academic school year (July 8-11), giving me plenty of time to fine tune the essay and do appropriate levels of additional research. And that about sums up the next six months of my life. I have a lot of work to do, since I will have to write three papers for conferences, and likely two more for my graduate courses. That’s five papers, fifteen pages or longer, in six months. I expect there to be much sweating. Any of you up to anything? Attending any conventions or conferences of your own? Let me know in the comments!
CSN Bookcases: An Upcoming Review
The fine folks over at CSN Bookcases have offered me a free bookcase/bookshelf for review and because that’s quite generous (bookcases aren’t exactly cheap), I wanted to let you all know a bit about the place. CSN Bookcases is a subdivision of a much larger online furniture store (CSN Stores, who sell other things than furniture, by the way). They have dozens of brands at reasonable prices, sometimes cheaper than Walmart. They do sell some of their products through Walmart online, but I suspect shipping is extra at Walmart; most of what they sell through Walmart, however, are the cheap particle board shelves, so if you’re looking for bookcases made of sturdier material, you really should check out CSN’s online store, because they have a whole lot of nice things there. Alternatively, if you want the cheaper shelves, they are less costly at CSN’s online store, since the shipping is included in the cost. I will be reviewing this Ore 4 tier metal shelf. Why? Well, I wanted something that looked like it was made of sturdy material and something I could use for things other than books if I needed to. I’ll likely use this shelf for books anyway, but the size of it is perfect for the space I want to put it in, and it isn’t a particle board shelf, which I have plenty of as it is. So, look for a review of the aforementioned shelf and more about CSN in the near future. I encourage everyone to check them out. With shipping essentially free, they’re well worth browsing if you’re in the market for new shelves (or a table, perhaps, since they have those too). If anyone has had experiences with CSN, feel free to let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what folks think about the place. And that’s that!
Random News For 12/11/09 (Peter Watts, Interviews, and Randomness)
Some interesting things have happened today. First, there is an interview with me up on the Outer Alliance blog that you all might want to check out. They asked me some questions about dealing with anti-gay hatred and Survival By Storytelling Magazine, among other things. It’s fairly brief, but well worth checking out. Probably the biggest news for today, though, is the story of the apparent beating and abuse of Peter Watts by U.S. Border Patrol on Tuesday. He has since been released and is back in Canada, but he has to return to Michigan to face trial for what seems to be a trumped up charge that could not only land him in prison for two years, but get him banned from the U.S. for life (he’s charged with assaulting a federal officer, which is apparently adequate reason to beat people with clubs and pepperspray them these days; here I thought these folks were supposed to be protecting us…Watts was on his way OUT of the country, not into it). In any case, Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing has posted a lot more detail about this here, but what is most pressing right now is that Mr. Watts needs money. He has acquired a good criminal lawyer, but because such trials can often run for extended periods of time and he isn’t exactly Stephen King, he needs a burst of financial aid to pull him through. So, if you can help out by donating a little bit of money, I’m sure Mr. Watts, his family, and his fans would be grateful. Donations can be sent to donate@rifters.com. Update: Peter Watts has broken his short-lived silence here. Update 2: The Toronto Star has a more detailed explanation of everything, which further shows that the border patrol folks are total assholes. That’s all I have for today.
End of 2009 Book Giveaway (Contest)
So, I’ve been thinking of how I can spread the word about Survival By Storytelling and do something cool for my readers and anyone who happens to stumble along. So, what a better way to do that than to give away a book! So, I’m giving away a copy of Survival By Storytelling OR a book of equal or lesser value (if you already have SBS). I’m doing a giveaway like this for a reason, which will be discussed below!How to enter:All you have to do is blog about Survival By Storytelling and our current charity drive. That’s it. Doesn’t matter what kind of blog it is, just write about those two things, briefly, or in-depth. This is why the giveaway is an either/or thing, because if you get SBS to help us give a good contribution to our chosen charity, you can still get a little something for yourself! If you don’t have a blog, then tell folks about SBS and the charity drive on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever else you can. Just spread the word. Make sure to leave a way for me to contact you either in your profile or in the post. How to earn extra entries:–Buy a copy of Survival By Storytelling before the end of the contest and you’ll get an additional 25 entries. If you already own a copy, let me know and you’ll get the same extra entries.–Donate at least $10 to World Education and get an additional 25 entries. That’s all you have to do. Contest will run until January 5th, 2010 and is open worldwide.
Charity Drive: Survival By Storytelling and World Education
I wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention, since I think it’s rather important. The magazine that I co-edit (Survival By Storytelling), in conjunction with my writing website for young writers (Young Writers Online), is running a charity drive for World Education, an organization working to improve literacy and education, among other issues, across the world. During the month of December (to the 2nd of January) we’re donating all of YWO’s share of the proceeds from sales of Survival By Storytelling Magazine, Issue One and from merchandise sales at YWO’s Zazzle store to World Education. More information can be found here. Help us make a sizable contribution to this excellent charity by getting SBS or a mug or funny shirt! Also, please spread the word! Thanks!