I'm back!

[ellenkushner]

Had a grand old time at Arisia this weekend.  All my fans seem to be amazingly well-dressed!  If you were one of them, say Hi - or better yet, post a photo.  Friday night's "town meeting" for Interstitial Arts Foundation was full of people with wonderful ideas, which were seriously discussed by the IAF board on Sunday at our all-day meeting (which none of us would have survived without the spectacular hosting - and baking - of Wendy Ellertson & her husband, Jon). Crammed in a few sightings of old local friends, as well:  particularly enjoyed putting on Unicorn hood & prancing with young Ursula Link Grant (who enjoyed bopping the unicorn on the nose) . . . and visiting Laurie Marks & Deb Mensinger.  Oh, my.  Deb is out of the hospital, recuperating at home from her Jan. 5 Liver Transplant. Her brother was a donor - and his ability to fly back & forth for testing and its various expenses was due entirely to YOU, my dears! It really is like a fairy tale:  for the first time in over 12 years, Deb is free of porphyria symptoms.  She's lucid and clear-minded (if unnaturally cheerful - hey, they give you plenty of painkillers when they've cut you open like that: I got to see the humongous scar, with the staples still in) . . . . I do hope that she makes a full recovery, and that Laurie can stop being her devoted nurse and go back to writing novels soon!

A lovely ride home on Amtrak, and then today I collapsed utterly.  Funny:  I thought I was made of stronger stuff.  But, as Delia says, it's what comes of having no Dimmer Switch.

Comments

[redbird]

Thank you so much for the update on Deb Mensinger.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! *debsliverlovers* http://community.livejournal.com/debsliverlovers/
is carrying regular updates from Laurie's "CarePages," and also info on how to sign up for them if you want to.

hi!

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i'm your fan! i meant to come to more of your stuffs but i was sick for a lot of the weekend, and at my artist/author table for a lot of the time i did manage to be vertical. but i lent you a pen and got your autograph!

here's a blurry pic of me and my fellow fan and cosplayer pywaket:



i'm glad you came, it was great to hear you speak at the panel on heroines' journeys. and waket is a long-time fan of your radio show, so he was really jazzed as well :) squee! :)

Re: hi!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the photo! Yes, I remember you had some terrific comments on that panel. May I be totally gauche and ask what Cos you were Playing?

Sorry you were suffering from Con Crud, and that I never even made it to Author/Artist alley! Maybe we can do better next year....in the meantime, we'll Always have LJ.

Re: hi!

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

that isn't gauche at all, i am delighted that you asked!

waket was captain dennis "tip" wilkin, usual point-of-view character and token human in arisia honored guest shaenon's current webcomic, "skin horse". there is a brief summary about him on this page: http://skin-horse.com/cast.html

tigerlily jones (in icon) is a mad scientist from the same strip. she is a recurrent but not primary character. her story starts here: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=43404
when she is brought in to fix skin horse's receptionist, a 150-year-old robot named "moustachio the thinkonium", who went off his rocker in the previous story.

and while i'm pimping shaenon i would like to mention again her strip (now complete) "narbonic", featuring the heroine who's a second-generation mad scientist, at http://www.narbonic.com (now in "director's cut" reruns, back issues on line).

yay, i'm so glad you were there and that you asked and everything! it's the cons that make the con crud worth the trouble :)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to say that my offspring was thoroughly charmed by you signing the copy of Swordspoint that, between the two of us, we've read nearly to tatters. Thank you!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I was utterly charmed by your beautiful daughter in her gorgeous outfit . . . but when she told me the story of the tattered copy, I confess I went weak at the knees. To turn out to have written someone's Comfort Book is a lifetime's achievement resolved, a dream fulfilled.

A very kind man took a really good photo of us together (with book) - but I haven't posted it (or told the story) because I need to ask her permission first - which, of course, she may not wish to give. Is she on LJ?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I believe she's lithiumfobwatch -- and it's both our Comfort Book! She's also on Twitter as VioletMilo, and she's a bit touchy about pronouns these days. I still think of her as "lovely daughter" and "she," but she doesn't agree with me.

I'd love to see the photo!

Delia's comment

[(Anonymous)]

"No dimmer switch". . .is a perfect description of you and several other friends of mine. I play to use it, with attribution.

--Jane (Yolen)

Re: Delia's comment

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

With attribution - of course! Delia noticed long ago that I have an ON switch and an OFF switch (which people who don't live with me don't usually see) . . . but no dimmer. I wonder if I'll find one before I'm 80?

[oracne.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear you actually saw Deb! I was thinking about them while at the con.

It was also lovely to be on a couple of panels with you. And the Ethiopian food was good, but you were totally right about the time, and I missed "The Heroine's Journey."

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Those were some good panels, yeah! Sorry we didn't get to dine together - but glad the Ethiopian was worth it in the end.