If You Haven't Been to A Fan Run Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, You Are Missing Out!

My family thinks I go to the big commercial conventions that get a quick story on the TV news, but they are not the conventions I love and regularly attend. I go to conventions that are for the fans, run by the fans, and are joyous, inclusive, and multifaceted celebrations. 

What’s the difference? 

My science fiction and fantasy (SFF) conventions are not for profit. They are run by a team of amazing volunteers. They are not marketing or sales events. These conventions are usually much smaller, a few hundred to a few thousand people, and are held in a hotel, not a conference center. These conventions are local and connected to their cities, towns, and states. They feature a wide variety of activities instead of one or two big stages. They have panels, of course, but also music, art shows, gaming, films, exhibits, performances, food, costumes, activities for children, demonstrations, and a dealers room. These dealers rooms are smaller than the massive rows of merchandise at for-profit conventions, but they feature local small businesses, booksellers, authors, and craftspeople. 

Local conventions are focused on movies, television, games, and books! In fact, many local conventions are part of a network called the World Science Fiction Society that sponsors an annual World Science Fiction Convention (usually called Worldcon). This summer it is in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2025, it will be in Seattle, Washington. At Glasgow, the attendees will vote on where Worldcon will be in 2026! 

At Worldcon, in addition to all the activities above (and more), the annual Hugo Awards are given. This is the science fiction and fantasy community’s Oscar night; the awards given by the fan community. It is a splendid and spectacular event – and if you are part of Worldcon, you can vote! 

Community is one of the key features of a local not-for-profit convention. The larger events are done by professionals and used as marketing vehicles for studios and networks. Smaller, local conventions invite participation, conversation, and community. Newcomers are welcomed and become part of the family. Sure, you can purchase stuff, but the fandom community is the center of the celebration – not the selling or marketing of products. 

Do you enjoy reading or watching science fiction or fantasy? Do you want to discuss your ideas with others? Do you long not to be told that “you are the only one interested in that?” Then these conventions are for you. 

Oh, yeah, they are way less expensive than the cons that have to pay stars, rent huge exhibition halls, and advertise in the media. They are the best convention value around -and they might just change your life! 

I like going to an occasional Comic Con like C2E2 in Chicago or Wizards World or Creation’s Star Trek conventions. There is a place for both kinds of conventions. However, if I had to choose one, I would go to my local conventions without hesitation. My people are there. My friends are there. I am not merely an audience member, I am part of the family. I don’t spend my entire weekend sitting in a seat in a huge auditorium watching something far away. I go to panels about books, television shows, and topics like science, humor, music, and games. I wander through a wonderful art show and talk to strangers (who become con friends) and have a nosh at the con suite. I listen to poetry and singers at the café (and see others enjoy the coffee). I might learn about constructed languages and get a basic Klingon lesson. I reminisce about books, movies, and TV series that I cherished from long ago. I participate in book club discussions. 

Join us! There are local cons everywhere. I regularly attend the two Chicago area conventions: Windycon in November and Capricon in February. In July, I travel to Minneapolis for Convergence. I try to go to the Worldcon in the late summer. Come join the celebration! Come have those wonderful discussions you can only have with people who share your love for these special genres. And if you really like it – volunteer and make it even better! 

And if you see me, please come over and say, hello!

The Emotional Fallacy: The Mirror in the Media

I was introduced to the idea of the emotional fallacy when studying literary criticism in college. The idea was that, instead of evaluating a work on the characteristics and qualities of the work itself, people sometimes respond to their own emotional response to the work. Thus, we are analyzing our individual and personal reactions and not parts of the work. 

For example, few people regard those highly sentimental movies about lovers, one of whom gets a terminal disease, and we watch their relationship grow as one of them dies, as great art. However, someone suffering from an illness or whose lover, mother, or friend had a similar situation might be touched emotionally. They would identify with the characters and situations in the movie. Their evaluation, therefore, might be a function of their response and not a result of the quality of the writing, acting, cinematography, editing, or other pieces of the craft of movie-making. They like the work because they relate to it. 

Yet, people judge works based on their own emotions all the time. They like things that make them feel good, inspired, or uplifted. They recoil from works that challenge their firmly held beliefs or make them think too hard. Sometimes, they miss the real art, skill, and beauty of the work because they are too caught up looking at themselves. Instead of examining the work, they see a mirror that reflects parts of themselves. 

We identify with a character and then that character becomes a stand-in for us. We think we know how they feel. We know how this plot goes because we have encountered situations like this in our lives. The work feels authentic and rings true because it mirrors our experience. 

Or our values. A work that confirms and supports our view of the world can be more appealing than one that challenges us to see a different perspective. A work that is simple and sweet goes down easier than one that is complicated and depends a great deal on the craft of storytelling. We like pretty pictures more than complex puzzles. 

Have you ever talked to someone who read a book you read or saw a movie you saw and thought to yourself, “Did we see the same thing?”  They may make a minor character into the protagonist because they see themselves in that character. They may impose their view of the world on the world of the story. They embellish the work with their values and experiences and transform it into an extension of themselves. Their response to it is no longer about the work.

Of course, creators want their audiences to connect with their works. They rejoice when their characters and situations are real to people. However, when the response centers on the viewer to the detriment of the work, we are no longer focused on the work – but on the viewer. 

It is not difficult to play with people’s emotions using words, images, music, or story. Advertisers, politicians, and propagandists frequently use anecdotes and compelling tales to manipulate their audiences. They are so good at this that their audiences rarely look behind the curtain to evaluate the vehicles themselves. They only see their images in the mirror. 

They see themselves in the characters and rewrite the story to fit their world, values, experiences, and prejudices. Think about the responses to the first Hunger Games movie when a Black woman was cast as Rue. The book made it clear that Rue was Black. However, many people who claimed to love the book rewrote that fact in their minds. They brought their bigotry to the novel and, when its explicit features were turned into a movie, it no longer matched what they recalled from the book – and they got mad! 

We recast the world in our own image. We rewrite the story to fit our values, wishes, and worldview. We think we know who are the oppressors and who are the victims because of course they reflect what we have seen and experienced in our world. 

And if it is not the same, if the story is not our story, we sometimes ignore those aspects of the text and rewrite it to reflect us. We create a confirming and comforting carnival mirror instead of analyzing the work itself. 

But the real story, the real movie, the real world doesn’t change. It isn’t just a mirror of us – and that can be difficult and uncomfortable to accept. It can make us the pawns of manipulators and Machiavellians. It can make us allies with evil.  

Forgetting the Painful Past: Strange New World’s “Among the Lotus Eaters”

What happens if you can no longer recall who you are and where you come from? What are the effects when groups’ collective and individual memories are erased? What are the political implications when parts of society retain their history and other parts lose theirs? 

These are questions many people are asking when Black, Queer, and other histories have been removed from public school curricula. Legislators in several states have banned the teaching of subjects that they think will make some children uncomfortable while their removable makes others upset. Clearly, these topics might also make some adults uneasy. 

I don’t usually write reviews, but as I read commentaries on the most recent episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, no one directly addressed how this episode connects to this issue. 

In “Among the Lotus Eaters,” the crew of the Enterprise returns to a place of pain. They must “clean up” the mess they made when they had a very short but tragic visit to a planet in which three crew members died and several others were wounded. This visit seems to have resulted in “cultural contamination” where the iron age culture of the planet somehow has a Starfleet symbol, a clear violation of their non-interference order, the Prime Directive. 

Captain Pike and his crew must face their terrible past and try to deal with their interference in the development of this primitive world. Pike holds himself accountable for the fates of those under his command and accepts the responsibility of setting things right. However, when his crew arrives on the planet, they find these primitive people have phaser weapons and the delta symbol of Starfleet adorns the gates to their castle. Something is horribly wrong. 

Pike discovers the cause: one of the crew members Pike believed had died survived and made himself the ruler of the planet. Pike and his crew are attacked and awaken in a cage – and they no longer know who they are, why they are there, or what happened before. They have lost their memories. 

The dynamic of a ruling class that can retain their memories and a worker class that has no memory seems to me to be a science fiction commentary on our refusal to face our country’s past, whether our relatives were part of it or not. Even outsiders, like the surviving crew member, benefit from and exploit this memory-based caste system. 

When Pike and his landing party confront another worker, the worker rationalizes his lack of memory telling them that memories would be painful. The worker doesn’t want to remember his family, if he lost them. He doesn’t want to feel grief, pain, anger, and unhappiness. Having no memory saves him from this kind of discomfort and makes his toil more bearable. Sound familiar? 

However, our Enterprisians, even without their memories, retain key parts of themselves. Captain Pike knows that he has been separated from someone he loves and instinctually takes leadership. Lt. Ortegas finds strength in her ability to pilot the ship. Dr. M’Benga is driven to heal those in pain. 

When Pike finally confronts the wayward crew member, we learn that the ruling class has been manipulating the workers with fiction about their lost memories. They have used the workers’ lack of history to their political advantage. People without a past don’t cause problems or challenge the rulers. Repressing history and losing memory are the key elements in maintaining this abusive society. 

As our crew regains their memories and figures out how they came to be in this situation; our guide remembers his lost family. Tearfully, he acknowledges that even painful memories are better than none at all. 

In Greek mythology, the lotus eaters were a community that ate a fruit that put them into a drug-like sleep and thus they did not care about important things. They needed to come out of their daze and wake up in order to take real action. 

This episode was about the danger of falling asleep, losing our history, and thus losing ourselves. The danger was not only for the crew of the Enterprise on Rigel VII, but, a comment about our current world.  

We need to wake up! We must not lose our histories and thus lose ourselves. We must not let people erase the past for political power and personal gain. Our individual and collective histories are critical to us and our societies. As Captain Pike notes at the end of the episode, such forgetting is not a natural development. He rightfully justifies altering the situation so everyone may remember and takes the power-hungry despot into custody. 

There has been a lot written about how the newest Trek shows are “woke.” There have been complaints that they make political statements. The original Star Trek in the 60s made bold and clear statements about everything from racism to the Vietnam War. Star Trek and science fiction are, by their very nature, social and political commentary. 

This episode was directly addressing the need to hold on to our history, even when it is uncomfortable to face. It challenges us not to become lotus eaters but to wake up and confront the problems of our uncomfortable past and clean up the messes that we have made or inherited. 

Whether or not you agree with the message, “Among the Lotus Eaters”  does what good science fiction, good Star Trek, and good literature always does: use stories and characters to help us see our world in a new way – and inspire us to change for the better. 

Reading for Treasure: Articles I Can't Stop Thinking About

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

My theme this month is articles that have taken up residence in my head, that I cannot stop thinking about. I strongly recommend you read them. Many of them will probably end up being the seeds of my own writing on this blog. 

Lifehacker contrasts two thinkers who have confronted evil: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Donald Ewen Cameron. The piece asks what is the difference between being evil and stupid: “Why Stupidity Is More Dangerous Than Evil.”

When I was first hired as a teacher, I told my department chairman that I wasn’t going to give grades. He said I had to, so I said I would give everyone A’s. He said that wasn’t going to work either. So, I tried to make the idea of grades fit with real student-centered education. These two pieces about how institutions of learning are rethinking grades are excellent discussions of this issue: KQED’s “Some colleges mull the idea of 'Ungrading' for freshman students” and Wired’s “The End of Grading.”

Similarly, I struggled with kids’ use of their smartphones in the classroom. I ended up hanging a shoe tree near the door and requiring my students to relinquish their phones during class. This also made taking attendance quick and easy. This wonderful article in The Atlantic looks at “The Schools That Ban Smartphones.” 

This quick article from The Daily Herald addresses a question I have been asking since I moved next door to the school at which I taught and my children attended: “It’s Good For Kids and the Environment. So Why Aren’t More Students Walking to School”

As a follow-up to several sets of articles about gun violence, The Chicago Tribune addressed a part of this issue that does not receive enough attention. While we hear about people killed and injured by shootings, we don’t hear about how those who are shot cope afterward: “Doctors: A firearm-related injury is a chronic and expensive condition, but many victims are forgotten.” 

Two very political articles from The Atlantic fascinated me. As a former debate teacher, the “Gish Gallop” technique that the former president uses is both effective and highly problematic. “How To Beat Trump in a Debate” is a great analysis of more than Trump’s rhetorical style, but the philosophy behind it. Similarly, “Why Fox News Lied to Its Viewers” looks at how ratings and pandering to the desires of an audience were more important than journalistic ethics on the Fox News Channel. Is there a connection here? 

Finally, two more articles from The Atlantic (can you tell that I am a huge fan of that magazine?) about reading. First, “The People Who Don’t Read Books” looks at some high-profile people who are proud that they don’t read. Second, “A New Way to Read ‘Gatsby’” was fascinating to me as I finished Nghi Vo’s magical spin on Fitzgerald’s classic, The Chosen and the Beautiful. Read them both and you will see why this book has staying power. 

Besides The Atlantic, I am reading Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel Delany. 

Reading Makes Us Better

Can you remember a book that really stayed with you? Can you remember reading something that shaped the way you saw the world and yourself? Can you point to a piece of writing that opened your eyes and transformed your vision? Some of us can, but I am willing to bet that more of us cannot.

For some of us, that book is a form of scripture. For some of us, it is a work of non-fiction or science fiction, or one of the classics we studied in school. However, I am willing to bet that the books that stick with us, the books we hold dear, are mixes between seeing ourselves in the text and seeing the world in a new light. 

I taught high school for thirty-three years. When I selected literature to teach or plays to direct, there were many criteria. Of course, the work had to be accessible and appropriate for the age and reading level of the students. That doesn’t rule much out. It would also be great if it was something that would hold my students’ attention. That rules almost everything out. 

The truth is, most kids are not readers. Most people are not, either. There are a beautiful group of students who read for pleasure, but most high school and middle school students read only some of what they are assigned. Some of those books stick with them. Most of them wash away before they even turn to the next chapter. 

Being a high school English teacher is challenging  - for this and other many reasons. 

So to maximize student engagement, make reading more appealing, and help students grow intellectually, I chose books that both reflected my students’ experiences and gave them insights into the world outside our little suburb. 

I should probably also note that I taught in an overwhelmingly white school. There were non-white students, but no more than a few in each of my classes. Unlike many schools in America, my school had a significant non-Christian population, primarily Jewish. But we are far from diverse. Most teachers were white. A few, like me, were Jewish, but most were Christian. 

I grew up in a similar nearby community. I went to a local college that was more diverse than my high school but still primarily white and Christian. I taught briefly in a very diverse middle school and then took the first high school job I was offered: back in an affluent white suburb. 

It is critical that students learn to see the world through another person’s perspective and be able to take another person’s point of view. It is a mark of maturation. Small children only see things their own way. That is one of the reasons why it is futile to argue with a toddler. 

Yet, my high school students often struggled to articulate multiple sides of an argument. They sometimes could not understand why someone would interpret literature differently than they did. They could only see the world their way. Thus, the critical role of reading and analyzing narratives. 

Stretching that perspective is powerful and sometimes challenging, difficult, and stressful. We talk about growing pains when our children’s bodies mature. Their minds and intellectual capabilities also grow. Just as their bodies can be damaged if they are not eating nutritious foods, their abilities to think critically, and see others’ perspectives must also be nurtured and supported. Some growth happens no matter what we do. Some growth won’t happen unless we water and cultivate the soil. 

Literature is a great vehicle to foster this kind of maturation. When a story is compelling and well written – and the reader is engaged – we are transported to another point of view. We see a new world and experience it from the inside out. We can’t claim that we didn’t know those words would hurt, the narrator both tells and shows us their effect. We get a kind of guided tour of other people, fictional, real, and shades in-between. We truly walk around inside another person for a while. It goes much further than, “How would you like it if they did that to you?” 

This is why some groups see certain books as dangerous. Books immerse the reader in the complexity of personhood. They complicate hate. They provide vicarious experiences and give them context. They are more powerful than any slogan or dogma. This is one reason why many religious figures taught using stories and parables. 

A professor with whom I studied said that human beings should be classified as homo narras because we are the creatures who tell stories. Telling stories, trying them on, living inside them, and learning their meanings and messages makes us better humans and makes us more humane. Movies, television, and other forms of stories can do this, too, but they lack the inner voice, without the perspective and feeling from our point-of-view character, they will never be able to reach our hearts and minds like a good book! 

This is why reading stories, whether they are children’s books, fiction, biography, scripture, or other forms of written narrative, helps to develop us into more empathetic and mature people. It is certainly not the only way to foster these critical skills, but it is a tool we must promote and protect!

Reading For Treasure: Education Issues

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

Earlier this month, I spent two days back at school working with teachers and librarians and talking to kids about books. It was wonderful, rejuvenating, and exhausting! One of the reasons I started this list of articles was I didn’t want to keep sending my not-yet-retired colleagues articles that I thought they would find interesting or useful. So I post them here instead. My mind is on all the different aspects of education: grading, social and emotional health, classroom practices, athletics, safety, and many other topics. Since my list is long this month, I am limiting myself to a very short description of each article.  

First, some articles that focus on teaching and the teacher experience: 

“I No Longer Grade My Students’ Work — And I Wish I Had Stopped Sooner” in Blavity. “I’ve been teaching college English for more than 30 years. Four years ago, I stopped putting grades on written work, and it has transformed my teaching and my students’ learning. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.” 

“The Case Against Zeros in Grading” in Edutopia. I am shocked that some teachers still need to hear this argument. This article and the accompanying video make it clear: zeros demotivate students and count more than their successes! 

“Why So Many Teachers Are Leaving, and Why Others Stay” in Cult of Pedagogy.. Jennifer Gonzalez shares eight teachers’ stories: four who are leaving and four who are not. These are critically important voices that need to be heard.  

“Stress, Hypervigilance, and Decision Fatigue: Teaching During Omicron And, no, “self care” isn’t the answer” in Education Week. Katy Faber paints a vivid picture of what it is like to teach during this difficult time in America. 

"Why is America the Only Country in the World With Regular School Shootings?" in Eudaimonia and Co via Medium. Umair Haque has gone to school all over the world and shares how American schools are horribly unique. The issues we are having are not functions of adolescent development but of American culture. 

"Pandemic Shadow Syllabus" in Sonya Hubor's blog. This is a short and wonderful teacher struggling with the pandemic point of view piece. Teachers – if you read only one of these, let it be this one. 

A few articles that deal with education’s social context: 

“Young people need power.' Southern students on safety, accountability, and what they need from adults” in Scalawag.  This is a series of statements from young people about what it is like to be in school now. Read what the kids say about their experiences! 

"Is Your Child Too Popular for Their Own Good?" in Lifehaker. While some parents are clueless and others are ruthless, there are many kinds of popular in school and this article explores what some studies say about how popularity in middle and high school translates into adulthood. 

“OP-ED: When It Comes To Book Bans, America Could Learn From Apartheid South Africa” in NewsOne. The comparison is eerie and frightening – and right on the money: book challenges in America today are frighteningly similar to those in South Africa during Apartheid. 

Two pieces that focus on equity in college admissions from The Atlantic: 

"College Admissions Are Still Unfair" Colleges are eliminating legacy admissions, but this will not make things much better. At Amherst, there is a greater percentage of white athletes than in the general student body – and many play sports like crew and squash. Sounds like white affirmative action to me. 

"Colleges Can Fix the Broken Admissions Process They Created" This is a great list of ways colleges could improve the admission process to benefit everyone! 

Two very different focuses on kids and youth sports: 

“Do youth sports really build character? What kids gain from sports depends on adults”  in KQED Mindshift. The benefits of sports participation for kids are entirely dependent on coaches and contexts. This article spells out clearly the nature of adult’s influence, for better or worse, on children. 

“Guys, I Swear I’m Only Transitioning So I Can Cheat at Girls’ Sports” in McSweeny's. This older McSweeny’s satire makes the point well: the controversy over trans students in sports is an invented issue that fans the flames of hate at the expense of kids who really need to be part of the team!  

I am currently reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds 

Reading for Treasure: Banned, Burnt, Beautiful Books

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

Too many people want to control the books that are taught in classrooms or available in libraries. I saw a meme that read, “If you’re afraid that books might change someone’s thinking, you’re not afraid of books, you’re afraid of thinking.” While these challenges may also be attempts to prevent children from learning about specific issues, that is not their main objective. There is no doubt that the rise in book challenges and restrictive legislation is not about learning, protecting children, age-appropriate texts, or making kids uncomfortable. Children can find these books and ideas so easily. Banning books is political, manipulative, and a dangerous attack on our open and free society. Here are some articles about the issue, the politics, and the books. 

What do we know about banning books? Here is a list of articles from Literary Hub to help you learn about the history, purpose, and politics of trying to censor literature. “Recommended Reading for Banned Book Week.” 

In a second Literary Hub article, Deborah Applebaum explores ways that teachers can approach controversial or challenged texts in the classroom and make the questions about them part of the lesson: “Teaching Literature in the New Culture Wars: Some Alternative Approaches.” 

In this fascinating NewsOne Op-ed, Helen Kapstein compares the techniques and purposes of censorship in Aparthaid South Africa to what is happening in the United States now: “When It Comes To Book Bans America Could Learn From Apartheid South Africa.”

Clarence Page, of the Chicago Tribune, writes about his love of banned books: “Here’s why I celebrate banned books.”

Are you surprised I have a third article from Literary Hub on this topic? This spot-on article addressed a key issue: “The Purpose of Book Bans Is to Make Queer Kids Scared.” There is no doubt that challenges to books that deal with BIOPOC and LGBTQ+ topics are a form of bullying. It is designed to further marginalize these communities.

A high school student in California, Sungjoo Yoon, writes about how her liberal community banned books and why she opposed it in this New York Times Op-ed: “I’m a High School Junior. Let’s Talk About ‘Huckleberry Finn’ and ‘Mockingbird.’”

Finally, not exactly banned books, but books that explore the restrictions on woman’s reproductive rights. This article from CNN has some great titles on it, “6 books beyond 'The Handmaid's Tale' that explore the loss of reproductive rights.”

I am currently reading War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. 

Time Enough for Heinlein

There are books that we treasure. There are books that live in our minds. There are books that shape our identities. For me, the writing of Robert A. Heinlein, but especially Time Enough for Love and Stranger in a Strange Land were formative reads. I read them as a high school student and, time and again, I keep coming back to them. 

I have reread Stranger several times since high school, but recently, I reread Time Enough for Love for the first time in decades. I had forgotten about the novel’s almost uncomfortable exploration of love taboos. What I remembered strongly were two other aspects of the novel: The character and wisdom of the main character, Lazarus Long, and his wonderful list of aphorisms in his “notebooks.” 

I have quoted these aphorisms from memory ever since. I have posted them on my dorm room door in college and used them as sample belief statements in my Sunday school class. One, in particular, formed the basis of final exam essay question, and another has justified adjourning congregational committee meetings for more than two decades! I will list some of these wonderful, wise, and clever statements a little later. 

Time Enough For Love argues that, “The more you love, the more you can love — and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.”

That majority includes everyone – and this book explores that in-depth. Everyone means that you could love, passionately and sexually, the people our society says you can only love in a platonic non-physical way: your family! I had forgotten how this novel took the idea that long-lived people might eventually fall in “Eros” love with their children, siblings, and parents. In fact, Heinlein’s lengthy and obsessive exploration of our main character’s affair with his own mother was at times both excruciating and cringe-worthy. It made the point – and then kept making it. 

What stuck with me as a teenager was not the incestual nature of the book, but the wisdom the oldest man alive shared. His thoughts about love, for sure, but also about religion, politics, and plain old not-so-common sense. 

So here are only a few of the wonderful aphorisms from “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long.” 

Heinlein was clearly a religious skeptic, another point that would have made this book a winner for teenaged (and later) me: 

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.”

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent-it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.”

“The most preposterous notion that H. Sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all of history.”

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other sins are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful - just stupid.)”

Several of Lazarus Long’s statements might be commentary on today’s political issues: 

“What are the facts? Again and again and again-what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable “verdict of history”--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!”

“Does history record any case in which the majority was right?”

“A generation which ignores history has no past—and no future.”

“The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of “loyalty” and “duty.” Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute--get out of there fast. You may possibly save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed.”

“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity!”

Most of the wonderful aphorisms are just plain good advice:

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.”

“Yield to temptation, it may not pass your way again.”

“If you don’t like yourself, you can’t like other people.”

“A motion to adjourn is always in order.”

“Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.”

“Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity.”

“Another ingredient for a happy marriage: Budget the luxuries first!”

“To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.”

“Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash.”

“Anything free is worth what you pay for it.”

“Pessimist by policy, optimist by temperament--it is possible to be both. How? By never taking an unnecessary chance and by minimizing risks you can’t avoid. This permits you to play the game happily, untroubled by the certainty of the outcome.”

There is no doubt that some of Heinlein’s writing has not aged well. Many of his ideas were chauvinistic and sexist. His portrayal of women is deeply problematic. Yet, unlike some of the other important writers of the golden age of science fiction, his work is still engagingly readable and shockingly relevant. 

That may be why, once I finish reading the Hugo nominees, I am going to read The Cat Who Walks Through Walls! 

Return to the Comic Cons: Cons Run By Fans and Cons Run For Profit

I attend science fiction fan conventions. Since I was in high school, I have loved their community, conversation, and connection. The first conventions I attended were not-for-profit events run by fans. The folks organizing these conventions were doing it for the love of fandom. 

These conventions featured panel discussions, film, video, and game rooms, music events, art shows, dealers' rooms, con suites (to eat and talk), and countless other planned and unplanned fun. They were immersive all day (and much of the night) experiences. The featured guests at these conventions were usually writers, artists, and, in the early days, movie and television creators and stars. Even when I attended alone, I was pulled into parties, conversations, and made friends I still see at cons today. 

In the eighties, soon after the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I attended some conventions run by companies for profit. These conventions were different than the fan cons. Initially, these pro conventions only had two spaces: a main stage and a shopping mall. Sometimes, there were exhibit spaces as well. The guests at these conventions were almost exclusively movie and television stars and creators. 

Over the years, I had seen all of the original Star Trek series cast and many from the other series at a fan-run convention in St. Louis called Space Trek. However, as the pro cons grew, they became the primary or only way to see the on-screen (or screen-related) celebrities. 

At these pro run cons, I often felt like a commodity. These for-profit conventions were shows. I found a seat in a big main stage room and stayed there most of the day. Many of the presentations felt like commercials. I felt like the Ferengi had taken over the con business. 

To be fair, a few of the fan-run conventions focused far more on literary science fiction than television, movies, or comic books – sometimes with a problematic attitude. I remember a person at a panel sneering, “Haven’t you ever read Left Hand of Darkness?” But this was not true at all fan cons; each one had a unique personality. 

I was introduced to science fiction through short stories and novels and I have always been a reader. I am also an enthusiastic fan of genre television shows and movies. There are fan conventions that catered to all of these interests, even if some had a higher-brow tone. But the pro conventions focused on comic books and media (and related products). The fan cons focused on what the fans who organized and attended them wanted: some were more literary, some were more media-focused, and some included anime, comic books, music, art, and more. 

In the 90s, I was immersed in my career and family, so spending the entire weekend at a convention was impractical. Sometimes, spending a Saturday was a luxury.  I did my best to go to the two local fan-run conventions, Windycon and Capricon, as often as my schedule permitted – which wasn’t as often as I wanted. 

For decades, my connection to fandom was through these two conventions. I did not attend the big comic cons that had become popular or the professionally run conventions focused on Star Trek or newly popular franchises. Since I didn’t have as much time (or money) for conventions, when I went, I wanted to connect with community and have substantive conversations and experiences. The pro cons felt like cotton candy, the fan cons were a sustaining meal! 

As my children and I grew older, I attended a few fan-run World Science Fiction Conventions, which were everything I loved about conventions writ gargantuan. I ventured out and went to a few fan-run conventions out of town. 

Recently, I retired. Now, I have time. I attended my first comic con, C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Exhibition). When the folks who run C2E2 announced a major Star Trek convention in Chicago, it felt like an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the pro cons. 

I enjoyed C2E2 and Star Trek Mission: Chicago. However, if I have to make a choice between these stage and store cons and the cons run by fans for fans, I am going to the latter. I had a good time and I met some nice people, but the connections were superficial and commercial. 

All conventions must make money. There are bills to pay. Convention spaces don’t donate their space or resources. However, the commercial focus at C2E2 and Mission: Chicago was prominent. For example, it was very clear that Mission: Chicago’s real mission was to sell the new Star Trek shows. It was peddling all sorts of products and subscriptions connected to them. That was its main purpose. The celebration, exploration, and community were by-products when fans buy products. 

I liked hearing from the stars and creators, yet I missed the analysis and thoughtful conversations that are often present during smaller panels. The comedian emcees at Mission: Chicago did not seem to be fans themselves and often, perhaps unconsciously, took a condescending tone. I sometimes felt like I was at an event for children. 

I met some very nice people and had good conversations with the folks sitting around me. We didn’t walk to the con suite and sit down and talk. We didn’t ask each other, “Where are you going next?” I doubt we’ll see each other at the next con. 

I was pleased to see that both pro conventions had some events beyond the main stage. However, they were few. There were a few costume-related events, a secondary stage, and a panel room (or two); skimpy by even COVID fan con standards. 

The pro cons are not cheap! They want high prices for entry – and all the stuff in the exhibit hall. They also sell products related to their famous star guests: autographs, photo opportunities, and other ways to rub shoulders with celebrities were main items on the menu– for a price. 

Fans created these conventions many years ago. Business people now use them as marketing tools. Conventions, for me, are far more than celebrities and shopping. 

I wonder what all the folks who go to these big productions would think of their local conventions? Would they join a fan group, help with a fan-based charity project, discuss a book, and become more substantively connected to the brilliant, inclusive, and thriving fan family? I hope so. The World Science Fiction Convention is coming to Chicago over Labor Day Weekend. Windycon is in November and Capricon is in February. Join us! 

Reading for Treasure: Looking for a Book to Read?

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

What book should I read? I often use award nominees and journalist recommendations as a way to find good books. So here several lists of books you could read. Many, but not all, are genre lists (my favorite catagory). Many, but not all, come from Tor.com (which is a great source for genre-based information). 

Of course, you could also look at my list of favorite books, but most of these lists are of books written more recently. 

The Hugo Awards are nominated and voted on by the science fiction and fantasy fans through the World Science Fiction Convention. I have found Hugo nominees to be one of the best sources of new authors and works to read. 

The Atlantic has a variety of book lists. Here is their summer reading list. 

The Nebula Awards are given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. These are the awards given by  (and to) the writers themselves. 

The African Speculative Fiction Society’s Nommo Awards recognizes science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors and editors who are “part of the African diaspora.” This is their long list. 

Locus Magazine focuses on the profession of science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing. They have their own awards and provide a very inclusive reading list of books written each year. These lists are wonderful shopping lists for your next book! 

President Obama is a voracious reader. Here is what he recommends. 

Here are the nominees for the World Fantasy Awards. 

The LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize “honors and extends Bradbury’s literary legacy by celebrating and elevating the writers working in his field today.” And, of course, Bradbury is from Waukegan, Illinois! 

The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society along with the Phillip K. Dick Trust give the Philip K. Dick Award to ““distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States during the previous calendar year…” This article lists the nominees. 

Finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards which are for the best LGBTQ science fiction, fantasy, and horror literature. 

The Shirley Jackson Awards are for  “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic…”

NPR published this article on "Your 50 Favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade" on the same day I published this list!  

Of course, there are many other awards - and awards in many genres! There’s a lot to choose from! Pick one and READ! 

I am currently reading Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark 

Reading For Treasure: Hey, Educators! Read This!

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

While I was teaching, my colleagues and I would send articles to each other about things related to parts of our personal and professional lives. When I retired, I continued to find these reading gems (call them treasures), but I didn’t want to be that voice from beyond that keeps assigning busy working folks more things to read! That is one of the reasons I started posting Reading for Treasure. 

Yet, I’ve been finding wonderful things I want to send my friends who are still in the classroom. Some of them are for a broad educational audience and some are extremely narrow. I have lost track of the number of times a week (or a day) that I think to myself, “Oh! I know what I would do with that in the classroom!” So here are a few pieces of summer reading about education for anyone interested! 

KQED Mindshift shared an article reprinted from Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education that expresses one of my core teaching tenets: every student should feel that they are the teacher’s secret favorite. Teachers, please read this. New and pre-service teachers, you must read this!  “How Unconditional Positive Regard Can Help Students Feel Cared For”

KQED Mindshift also republished an NPR article titled,  “Colorado Becomes 1st State To Ban Legacy College Admissions.” When we discuss affirmative action, can we also discuss legacy admissions, elite sports, and other ways that the college admission game is not based on students’ merit and is rigged in favor of affluent mostly white students? One of the pandemic side effects has been this kind of shaking up of college admissions! 

Speaking of ways that affluent, usually white, students get advantages in education, can we talk about private education? The Atlantic’s cover makes the statement, “Private Schools are Indefensible.” This highly detailed and very powerful piece argues that private schools not only give students a leg up, but they also have a detrimental effect on everyone! The actual title of the article is “Private Schools Have Become Truly Obscene.” 

This past year was not easy for teachers, students, parents, or anyone connected to schools (or anyone in general). So the argument that many classrooms were only just getting by before schools closed feels harsh. However, the pandemic pushed these teetering teachers over the edge. Jennifer Gonzales, writing in Cult of Pedagogy, asks teachers not to hit the “easy button.” “No More Easy Button: A Suggested Approach to Post-Pandemic Teaching” makes highly specific recommendations about what school should look like next year. I would argue that Ms. Gonzales’ suggestions are just what school should look like – always. 

I love Math With Bad Drawings. If you haven’t looked at that blog, please do. It is magnificent. In this satiric entry, “Kafka Explains Math Education,” Ben Orlin is specifically talking about math education but his points apply to many (if not all) subject areas. He even uses real Kafka quotes!   

American Lit teachers, look at this! A new book takes a magical new look at The Great Gatsby. It focuses on Jordan Baker, who in this telling is a Vietnamese adoptee who was raised by a wealthy white woman. She is also queer! Read the review from Tor.com:  “A Greater Gatsby: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo”

I am currently reading Think Again by Adam Grant

Reading for Treasure: The Hugo Awards!

 

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles (and other readings) that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction! 

 

Looking for something fun to read, but not ready to start a long book? This month’s Reading For Treasure has some award-nominated short fiction that is outstanding and free!

 

The Hugo nominations were announced last month. The Hugos are the fan nominated and selected awards for science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. To learn more about the Hugos, click here. Fans who are attending or supporting the World Science Fiction convention each summer may nominate and vote for these awards. I try to do this every year, even if I am not traveling to the actual convention. This year, the convention, which was going to be hosted in Wellington, New Zealand, has gone virtual. So you won’t have to travel to participate – or vote for the Hugos!

 

The Hugos have many categories. Here is the official list of all the nominees. Since there were no science fiction conventions during World War II, many worldcons also have RetroHugo awards for a year in which the awards were not given. This year, the RetroHugos are for 1945. Here is the list of Retro nominees.

 

If you register and become a member of the convention (either supporting or attending), not only can you vote for the Hugos, you can also download a reading packet with many of the nominated works in it. Click here to become a member; an attending membership will allow you full access to the online convention. A supporting membership means you will receive all the updates and publications (including the reading packet), be able to vote for the Hugos and the site selection of the 2022 World Science Fiction Convention.

 

However, you can read many of the nominated works without doing anything! Here is a list of nominated short stories and novelettes that are only a click away. Since all of the short story nominees are available online, if you read them all, let me know which you think should win. I am voting!

 

Short Stories:

 

·       “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing” by Shiv Ramdas

·        “As the Last I May Know” by S.L. Huang

·       “Blood Is Another Word for Hunger” by Rivers Solomon

·       “A Catalog of Storms” by Fran Wilde

·       “Do Not Look Back, My Lion” by Alix E. Harrow

·       “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen

 

Novelettes:

 

·       “The Archronology of Love” by Caroline M. Yoachim

·       “Away With the Wolves” by Sarah Gailey

·       “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye” by Sarah Pinsker

·       Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin  (you have to be a Prime member to read the whole story).

·       “For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll

·       “Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang  - this one is not available for free

 

 

I am currently reading the Hugo nominated short fiction (short stories, novelettes, and novellas).

 

 

Reading For Treasure: Thinking about Learning

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids: Kids learn more from what we do and how we behave than what we say. This article from The Atlantic argues that kids know that, although parents say they want their kids to be kind and caring, achievement and happiness is far more important – but in ways you might find surprising, kindness will serve them better in the long run.

I was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t The Hard Part: Professor Jack of the Harvard Graduate School of Education shares his powerful experiences about being a low-income first generation college student. It is clear from both his story and his experiences as a college professor that our university system neither understands nor adapts to this important population.

How Revising Math Exams Turns Students Into Learners, Not Processors: Thinking about our thinking is metacognition. It is not enough to just solve the problem, we want students to really understand the process and think behind problem-solving. This article from MindShift talks about how a math teacher upended her teaching based on the ideas from writing revision. Math teachers, what do you think of this?

New Study Finds Gifted Programs Favor Wealth Over Ability: There are more wealthy students in gifted programs? Really? I don’t think any of us are surprised. Here is the opening line from this article, “A new study confirms that lower-income elementary students are far less likely than their wealthier counterparts to be placed in gifted programs. That’s even when those students go to the same school and display the same levels of academic achievement.”

Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers: The Atlantic’s article focuses on what parents can do to help their children develop a true love of reading and not merely see it like eating their veggies.

I am currently reading Brand by Henrik Ibsen.