Category: WWdN in Exile

Scott Kurtz, who is the mad genius behind PvP, recently took a week off while he had the bird flu or the bubonic plague or the Andromeda strain or something like that.*

While he was recovering, a bunch of people filled in for him and did guest strips at PvP Online. One of those guest strips was done by Rich Stevens, the mad genius behind Diesel Sweeties. When Rich told me that he was guesting and asked if I would I like to write the strip with him, I dropped everything (note to self: don’t carry priceless works of historical pottery while reading e-mail from Rich in the future) and put on my thinking cap, which as it turns out was made of bacon.

Please to be enjoying Brent Sienna and his Amazing Nitrate-Free Porknicolor Dreamcoat, written by Rich and Wil, and drawn by Rich.

*all kidding aside, it was a pretty serious case of staph and I’m glad that Scott recovered fully, because he’s a good person and I really like him.

Atrios used to have this series of posts called "What Digby said."

Digby and Atrios are two of my favorite political writers and thinkers (Glenn Greenwald, Josh Marshall, John Cole and Bob Somerby probably round out the starting infield on my all-star team, if you care about that sort of thing) so I always enjoyed it when Atrios — who is no slouch — would quote Digby and simply say, "What Digby said."

I think I’m going to have to start a similar bunch of posts here, called What Scalzi Said, because I keep trying to write up my own take on something John’s written, and I end up feeling massively inadequate. It would just be better to point to it and say, "What Scalzi said." Or, if I was on Fark, I’d quote it and add: THIS.

Today’s edition of What Scalzi Said addresses a complicated issue that I could have written about myself if I wasn’t so self conscious about the whole thing. He calls it Meeting Authors (and me):

One aspect of fame — even the rather meager portion of it that I and
most authors have — is that more people know you than you know, and
they have a relationship with you that you don’t have with them. I
can’t individually know everyone who reads one of my books or reads
Whatever; I’d have no time left at the end of the day. And once again
it makes me feel sorry for people who are genuinely famous, who have this sort of unequal relationship with millions of people, not just a few sundry thousands.
I do think it’s worth remembering that even though you’ve
read our books (and our blogs) and feel friendly toward us, on our end
of things you’re a stranger, even if we’ve interacted with you through
blog comments or e-mail or whatever.

[…]

That said, you know: I’m just this guy. There’s no great
science to meeting me or any author for the first time. Presuming that
you are adult and socialized reasonably well, the way to introduce
yourself to me is the same way you would introduce yourself to anyone
you’ve not actually met before in real life. You come up, make sure I’m
not currently engaged in a task that needs my full attention, say
“excuse me” or “hello” to get my attention, and then introduce
yourself. Wherein you and I will likely have a nice, brief chat, and
after a minute or two we’ll disengage and go about our lives. Pretty
simple.

It’s hard for me to just excerpt a little bit of it, especially because I’ve been on both sides of the conversation, but all I can really add to it is, "THIS."  I really want to encourage everyone who may find themselves in a position to meet an author, actor, musician, or net.celebrity to go and read it. The conversation in the comments is great, too.

This has been the first installment of What Scalzi Said, brought to you by Slurm (it’s highly addictive!) Please stay tuned for Everybody Loves Hypnotoad, coming up next!

I am so excited to announce that I’ll be going to Seattle next month for the Emerald City ComiCon!

This is an awesome show, with a focus fucos on indie books and publishers. I think I’ll feel right at home, if I can keep myself from totally geeking out too much. (Yeah, who am I kidding?)

The schedule hasn’t been finalized, but I’ll be doing a performance from Happiest Days and maybe Just a Geek on Saturday, and I’ll be doing a more general Q&A about blogging, writing manga, being a geek, the burdens of being awesome, and writing humorous panel descriptions on Sunday.

I will have a booth to hang out in when I’m not empaneled, so I’m bringing copies of all my books, pictures to sign, and my glasses and my shoes, so I have them.

Details:
May 10-11
Emerald City ComiCon
Washington State Convention and Trade Center
Seattle, Washington.

As long as I have your temporary attention: I’m working on adding a convention in June to the 2008 Geektour. We’re like 99% of the way there, so I’ll blather on about it as soon as the last 1% is worked out.

Dear Ferris and Riley,

You’re adorable, and I’m happy that you’re playing with each other. It’s especially cute when Riley dives down with her butt in the air and bites the carpet while she wags her tail so Ferris will chase her.

But I’m trying to finish breaking this story, and every time you crash into my chair or run under the table you kind of disturb my concentration.

Also, running over next to me and panting heavily while you wait for the other to quit whipping the rope around and get back to chasing you is cute and everything, but I’m not "safe" or "base" so you can just as easily do your thing on the other side of the room.

Stop giving me that look. I’m not taking you for a walk until I get more work done, which I can’t do for all the reasons I’ve outlined in this note. I don’t care if you roll over on your back and wag your tail while you look at me upside down.

Hey, I think there are some birds on the patio. You should totally go out there and see how fast you can make them fly away.

Signed,

The Guy Who Feeds You