New GoH Appearance
Posted on April 8, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 29 Comments
If you were wondering what you might do with yourself over the Fourth of July weekend, here’s a thought: Come to Indianapolis, where I will be a Guest of Honor at InConJunction XXVIII. Or stay at home and desultorily wave around a sparkler or two and then toss an M-80 in the toilet. Because, yeah, that’s fun. This is my only scheduled Indiana appearance this year, so if you’re an Indianan (Indianian?), this is the way to see me without having to sully yourself by stepping foot into Ohio. And for all the folks who complain I never manage to get to Chicago, it’s only a couple three hours away from your fair town. I know this because when I travel to Chicago, I go through Indy, using its massive gravitational well to slingshot me up the 65 toward Lake Michigan. So take a trip, come on down and say hello. It’ll be fun, really.
Indianan (Indianian?)
“Hoosier”.
(Indianian?)
See Canfield above. No idea why we accept no substitute. But, we don’t.
I used to work with several of the InConJunction organizers, and they’re good people. Hope that translates into a good time for you.
Have you ever fallen into the gravitational well? Do you need restaurant recommendations?
Hoosier.
Proud of it. There are no substitutes.
From Budapest,
PE
I just had a look at the InConJunction website. You and Michael Z. Williamson? I just might have to go to that one.
Naaaah, there’s a huuuuge fantasy convention on in Sydney in July, with the pope as GOH.
What about the folks that complain you never get to the Northeast? Hah?
Well, dollar-sign pound asterisk planet! That would be the weekend we’re out of town for a wedding. Percent at-sign ampersand!
I’ll try to keep my weeping quiet. Sniff.
I’ll look forward to meeting you there. Should be a very interesting con.
Oh, cool! I’ll mark the calendar.
“A couple three hours” – We’ve turned you into a true midwesterner, John.
So, to any Indianapolitans out there: I’m moving to your fine city this summer. In terms of house hunting (must be within a limited commute of the north-west side), is it better to be looking near Carmel or on the west side, near the reservoir?
I may actually get to meet Scalzi, after being out of town every stinkin’ weekend he’s been in Detroit for a con over the last two years.
Carmel has decent schools. But a lot of pretentious dickwads.
In general IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) is pretty bad, fyi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier
I was always taught that it was the Frontier Banter story.
I went back and finished OMW… much better once the killing started.
I’ve always been more of an action girl than one who can be bothered with all this talk of science that occupies the book’s beginning. I can see where you’d have to include it, though.
One complaint… and it may just be me taking something too personally….
It seems like every book I pick up that isn’t an Irish Mob story or Spenser: For Hire …. whenever someone from Massachusetts is in it, they end up being some kind of tool.
Right when Senator Thaddeus Whatever was shown to be from Massachusetts, I knew immediately that:
– he was going to be a wimp
– he was going to foul up the mission
– he was going to be a blowhard
– he was going to get killed.
It killed the whole section for me.
I did like the wife angle, I thought the fights were cool, I liked the end, and I’ll buy the sequels to see what happens next.
Stacey:
I wouldn’t read too much into the Massachusetts thing. It was just the first state that came to mind, that I hadn’t already used for a previous character (I’d already used Ohio, Indiana, Texas, California, etc).
Only an Angelino would refer to I-65 out of Indy as “the 65.” Your roots are showing, Ohio-boy.
It’s not my fault EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD says it wrong, UM.
First dibs on buying JS a beer at the convention!
And to BUCK, as a “dickwad” Carmellite (ahem) I can affirm the schools are indeed good and located just off of 465 you’re well located to access anywhere on the northside.
Lots of options of the northside and with housing pricing sucking nice places available.
I live on the northwest side. My house is in a quiet, diverse neighborhood that would be considered walking distance from Park 100 if the city would BUILD SOME SIDEWALKS. (And maybe I should unpack “diverse” – there are multiple black, white, Asian, and Hispanic families in my neighborhood, and they range from young couples starting out to retirees and everyone in-between. You could move here without standing out.)
I don’t know what it’s like to live in Carmel. I have a bad impression of the residents – there was a vocal contingent that fought the rail-to-trail conversion of the Monon that led through the area, reasoning that it would allow thieves to hike into their town. As opposed to, say, driving there. (I blame Merlyyn.)
Another thing about those sidewalks – this is a problem throughout the city. I’ve seen people taking their wheelchairs into the right-hand lane on Keystone Avenue, a major multi-lane street, because that’s the only way to get where they’re going. If accessibility is any kind of concern to you, you’ll want to take a careful look for yourself, rather than assuming there’ll be any sort of accomodation available.
InConJunction has an odd Author GoH history. Last year it was George R. R. Martin. But in 2006 it was some vanity-press PublishAmerica author.
Canfield: I use the Monon as a route to work but live close to the “dickwad” your referencing as a “blocker” of the trail. He does indeed match your description of a Carmel resident. The biggest issue with Carmel is the massive affluence and the “entitlement” many seem to feel is due them as a result of their paycheck. if you can ignore the DW’s it’s a good place to live. But truly there are many good areas in which to live in Indy. And with that I return this comment to its regularly scheduled topic.
JS: Will you be signing books/items/body parts at the convention?
look forward to meeting you. looks like i was just added as a featured guest.
Carmel is pretentious dickwads. I like Greenwood. West side is more industrial, near the airport. You don’t want to be ANYWHERE between 9th and 46th streets, and likely not a couple of blocks north or south of that. The schools are bad. We moved after being told our daughter would have to wear a school uniform because of the risk of gang violence…IN KINDERGARTEN.
The burbs are quite nice, but Indy is reaching big town critical mass, sadly. It’s still great to live nearby and visit, though.
InCon is a good con, too. Reasonable price, ready access to lots of restaurants within walking distance (the hotel connects to the Fashion Mall) and with a short but slow drive, you can be in Castleton Hell.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Brazilian Grill http://www.braziliangrillindy.com
MMm…dead animals.
Merlyyn:
Yes, I’ll be signing stuff.
Dang you Scalzi! I live near there, but I’ll be in California at the time! Noooooooo!!!
Hoosier!! :)
Too bad I won’t be around. I read “Old Man’s War” as a free ebook, and am currently awaiting the sequel (Japan’s slow in getting English books).
You don’t want to be ANYWHERE between 9th and 46th streets, and likely not a couple of blocks north or south of that.
While this area wouldn’t be my first choice either, I wouldn’t put things so strongly. A friend of mine used to hold D&D games in his mother’s house, which was in a neighborhood just off West 38th. It was in a little tucked-away neighborhood of well-maintained houses. As I recall, the mother hadn’t had any problems in the years she’d lived there. We parked on the street without worrying about theft or vandalism.
I wouldn’t have walked around on the nearby part of 38th street at night, and when I drove over I often passed groups of police cars with their lights flashing. Nevertheless, I felt safer there at night than I would in the rough parts of Chicago or DC in the day.
We moved after being told our daughter would have to wear a school uniform because of the risk of gang violence…IN KINDERGARTEN.
I don’t have kids in schools, and I had two college degrees before IPS instituted the uniforms last year. So what follows is the POV of a non-parent with teacher friends.
There isn’t a problem with gang violence in kindergarten. There is a gang presence in some schools. (My high school, Crispus Attucks*, had plenty of “Black Gangster Disiples” graffiti. We used to joke about starting a gang called the Editors and correcting the other graffiti in blue spray-paint, but we didn’t think anyone else would find it funny.) But the uniform policy covers all IPS schools and grades.
The policy is partly about gang-related clothing. Parents and administrators had other concerns as well, though – overly sexy or revealing clothes (kids these days!), T-shirts with hidden or not-so-hidden drug and alcohol references, pajamas worn as everyday clothes (I myself have a pair of pajamas with a girl writing “I will not wear my PJs to class” over and over on a blackboard; teacher friends assure me they see this all. the. time.), and – especially relevant on Whatever – expensive brand-name clothes that make kids who can’t afford them feel left out.
The uniforms aren’t all that uniform, either. You basically have to wear solid-colored shirts and pants or skirts. There are exceptions for the Scouts and ROTC, clothing mandated by religious groups, et cetera. And the policy specifically says that students can wear armbands, buttons, et cetera, to exercise their freedom of speech.
The burbs are quite nice, but Indy is reaching big town critical mass, sadly. It’s still great to live nearby and visit, though.
The burbs do skew differently when it comes to politics. On this map from the 2000 election you’ll see that Marion county is a blue square surrounded by red. Indiana is a red state, and there’s no shortage of conservatism in the city, but overall you’re more likely to have conservative neighbors in the suburbs. (Whether this is a plus or a minus is entirely up to you.)
* this phrase will be extra-informative to long-time Indianapolis residents
Last time I was at InConJunction (admittedly – over 12 years ago and possibly longer) – the featured guest was the guy who was Brent Spiner’s hand model on TNG.
Glad to see they’ve improved their taste in guests.
Not that I’m implying you don’t have strong, manly hands or anything
My hands rock.