November 17, 2008 - A Little Work, A Little Fun

Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

November 17, 2008 - A Little Work, A Little Fun

Another quiet weekend for my husband, The Gryphon, and I. I sorted through a lot of submissions for Wild Violet while he played his favorite online game, EVE.

Saturday we did dinner at the terrific sushi buffet, Minado, and then saw Quantum of Solace. I think the first Daniel Craig movie was a little better, but this one does resolve some hanging threads, and it makes exceptional use of sound editing and music.

On Sunday, we ate at our favorite brew pub, the Iron Hill Brewery in Media and then watched The Incredible Hulk on DVD. It was a good adaptation of the comic and reminded me of the classic television series, even evoking the musical theme. The big difference is that Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Ed Norton) has a girlfriend, played by Liv Tyler. Tim Roth is frightening as a gung-ho military operative seeking to capture The Hulk but also longing for his power.

Sunday evening, we received our schedules for Philcon, which is coming up next weekend. The Gryphon was a bit disappointed to learn he was only scheduled for one panel, on Sunday (which is a quiet day, since many people leave for home). Usually, he's pretty busy at Philcon, with several panels every day. But he's spoken to the Powers That Be, and he might be helping out more.

I was scheduled for two panels, which marks the first time I've ever been scheduled for more panels than The Gryphon has. I'd like to seek some feedback on those two panel topics, which are as follows. I'll give the description and then my questions. If you'd like to respond to them, please e-mail your responses to me by midnight Friday.

Sat 2:00 PM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
VIRTUAL WORLDS... IS CYBERSPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER?

[Panelists: Ef Deal (mod), Alyce Wilson, Bud Sparhawk, Tony Finan]

Online virtual realities like Second Life. Multi-Player gaming worlds like Warcraft. Social sites, blogs, and YouTube. Is the real world moving online? Or is your computer becoming your real world? And what's next!

In which online communities do you participate? What about in the past?
Name your favorite online communities and tell why.
How would you characterize the differences between different online communities (i.e. Facebook versus LiveJournal, or an old-school MUSH versus World of Warcraft)?
Has your involvement in online communities changed over the years? If so, how did it change and why?
What do you get out of online communities?
How would you characterize the social interaction in online communities?
How is online interaction different from face-to-face interaction?
What are the positives and negatives of online communities?
Do you have any significant relationships now or in the past that started as online-only and expanded into face-to-face? If so, share something about it.
Have any of your online communities met in person for face-to-face socializing? If so, how did that go? What was different about interacting in person?
Where do you see online communities going in the future?

Sun 10:00 AM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
WHOSE BRAIN DO WE LIKE TO PICK?

[Panelists: Victoria Janssen (mod), Andrew Breslin, Genevieve Iseult, Eldredge, Jim Reichert, Alyce Wilson]

What sources do authors mine for ideas?

What sorts of things do you write?
From what sources do you gain inspiration? Please be as specific as possible.
Have your sources of inspiration changed over the years?
Do you ever write without a clear idea in mind? If so, how does that process work?

Feel free to copy and paste these questions in your own blog, along with my e-mail address (alycewilson@lycos.com) so that people can send me their responses.

Moral:
It's possible to balance both work and fun.

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Musings an Online Journal of Sorts By Alyce Wilson
November 17, 2008 - A Little Work, A Little Fun
	Another quiet weekend for my husband, The Gryphon, and I. I sorted through a lot of submissions for Wild Violet while he played his favorite online game, EVE. Saturday we did dinner at the terrific sushi buffet, Minado, and then saw Quantum of Solace. I think the first Daniel Craig movie was a little better, but this one does resolve some hanging threads, and it makes exceptional use of sound editing and music.
On Sunday, we ate at our favorite brew pub, the Iron Hill Brewery in Media and then watched The Incredible Hulk on DVD. It was a good adaptation of the comic and reminded me of the classic television series, even evoking the musical theme. The big difference is that Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Ed Norton) has a girlfriend, played by Liv Tyler. Tim Roth is frightening as a gung-ho military operative seeking to capture The Hulk but also longing for his power. Sunday evening, we received our schedules for Philcon, which is coming up next weekend. The Gryphon was a bit disappointed to learn he was only scheduled for one panel, on Sunday (which is a quiet day, since many people leave for home). Usually, he's pretty busy at Philcon, with several panels every day. But he's spoken to the Powers That Be, and he might be helping out more. I was scheduled for two panels, which marks the first time I've ever been scheduled for more panels than The Gryphon has. I'd like to seek some feedback on those two panel topics, which are as follows. I'll give the description and then my questions. If you'd like to respond to them, please e-mail your responses to me by midnight Friday. Sat 2:00 PM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour) VIRTUAL WORLDS... IS CYBERSPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER? [Panelists: Ef Deal (mod), Alyce Wilson, Bud Sparhawk, Tony Finan] Online virtual realities like Second Life. Multi-Player gaming worlds like Warcraft. Social sites, blogs, and YouTube. Is the real world moving online? Or is your computer becoming your real world? And what's next! In which online communities do you participate? What about in the past? Name your favorite online communities and tell why. How would you characterize the differences between different online communities (i.e. Facebook versus LiveJournal, or an old-school MUSH versus World of Warcraft)? Has your involvement in online communities changed over the years? If so, how did it change and why? What do you get out of online communities? How would you characterize the social interaction in online communities? How is online interaction different from face-to-face interaction? What are the positives and negatives of online communities? Do you have any significant relationships now or in the past that started as online-only and expanded into face-to-face? If so, share something about it. Have any of your online communities met in person for face-to-face socializing? If so, how did that go? What was different about interacting in person? Where do you see online communities going in the future? Sun 10:00 AM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour) WHOSE BRAIN DO WE LIKE TO PICK? [Panelists: Victoria Janssen (mod), Andrew Breslin, Genevieve Iseult, Eldredge, Jim Reichert, Alyce Wilson] What sources do authors mine for ideas? What sorts of things do you write? From what sources do you gain inspiration? Please be as specific as possible. Have your sources of inspiration changed over the years? Do you ever write without a clear idea in mind? If so, how does that process work? Feel free to copy and paste these questions in your own blog, along with my e-mail address (alycewilson@lycos.com) so that people can send me their responses.
Moral: It's possible to balance both work and fun. Copyright 2008 by Alyce Wilson November 2008 Index Musings Index Who's Who on Musings
What do you think? Share your thoughts at Alyce's message board (left button):