Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
My grandmother died last night. This wasn't a shock or a surprise. Her health has been on the decline, and she's been in hospice for the last month. She lived a long life, and in her final days she was surrounded by her three adult children.
My grandma was a kind woman. She wasn't perfect, but I always felt loved in her presence. She was a retired kindergarten teacher, and was still working when I was a kid. I have so many happy memories sitting at her kitchen table, and I'm going to carry those with me for the rest of my life. She was also proof that anyone who claims that you get more conservative as you get older is full of shit, because she certainly didn't.
I think it's interesting how the body processes grief sometimes. I don't know that I'll cry, but over the past month, knowing this was coming, I've felt a tension in my gut. Now that she's passed, instead of relief that tension is replaced by a sense of emptiness. That something is missing that should still be there. Something has been taken away, and I feel it.
Of course, as I wrote that, I immediately started crying... so I guess my body processes grief in pretty ordinary ways too.
I wanted to come up with something profound linking this to Beltane, which we sit in the middle of right now, but it just seemed hackneyed. Like I was trying to dig out some greater significance when the truth is death comes whenever it wants. The only predictable thing about it is that it's the end of all of our journeys. I hope that when I pass I'm so lucky to have lived such a long life with people that I love around me in my final days.
For the record, I will be fine. I just needed to get these words out while they were still in my head. I don't have some rousing conclusion or deep insight to tack on here at the end, just that gut feeling that something is missing.
Because it is.
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Totally not what I thought it would be. I should have posted my predictions (frivolous lawsuit, venue extra-EXTRA unavailable…uh…I know I had at least one other…) with the last comic.
This should be interesting.
…oh S**T
Now that’s a nightmare. Embezzlement?
Set the Wayback Machine to 1980. Galacticon in Los Angeles is supposed to be at the Bonaventure Hotel downtown. All the fen show up and… no con. It was eventually learned that the chair had “invested” the entire con treasury in a white, powdery substance and got busted. There’s a whole class of us called Galacticon Refugees who discovered Loscon 7 at the Anaheim Sheraton and have been going to Loscon ever since.
Well that explains a few things – that was when a “friend” told me how Galacticon, the con he was working on had just lost it’s person in charge of the art show and would I pullleeeezzzee take over running said art show. Next month. Already all organized and stuff. Being way too naive for my own good I said ok, and about the time I noticed the “organization” was nil and I had stuck something together with spit and wire, I was informed that the con was suddenly cancelled due to losing its hotel (this about a week before it was scheduled). I was so relieved I really didn’t pay any more attention to the thing. Figures they didn’t warn anybody. Chairman get caught pushing or just send the whole budget up his nose? Idiot.
Caught pushing.
I can rarely say something “started on a cliffhanger”. Consider me in suspense!
What about many episodes of 21st century “Doctor Who?”
…not what I had guessed… really hoping is something along the lines of ‘oh, didn’t we tell you? The money all gets transfer to this other account during the off-season. For reasons.’
Hmmm. Now willt his be a Los Pegasus situation…
OK, what ancient Chinese guy did they manage to tick off? “May you live in interesting times” indeed…
Did they invite a musical act who, not realizing that a fan-run convention is not a typical venue, took advantage of Room Service?