Boskone, Briefly
Posted on February 21, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 18 Comments
Dan Dos Santos painting me. Photo by Irene Gallo
I was planning to do a long recap of Boskone this week, but in a general sense my plans for the week have been upturned due to my father-in-law’s death. Nevertheless I wanted to make sure I made it clear that I had a really excellent time as the convention’s guest of honor. This is due to three things: One, the expert care of the Boskone convention committee and staff, who made sure I wanted for nothing and who also sprang into sympathetic action when my plans changed due to Mike’s passing; Two, the Boskone attendees, who seemed genuinely excited to have me as a guest; Three, the programming schedule, which, while hectic, also did some very neat things for me and the other Guests of Honor.
Chief among them was the combination interview/painting session, in which artist guest of honor Dan Dos Santos did a quick oil painting of me while audience members asked questions. It was a really interesting and fun experience,not to mention slightly absurd in a good way. A great deal of this very cool experience was down to Dan himself — he’s a great guy and a lot of fun to do something like this with. Basically, if you ever get a chance to be painted by Dan Dos Santos, take it.
My Sunday was thrown awry because of the death in the family, and I had to duck out early and missed doing my autographing session. I don’t expect anyone holds that against me, but I still feel bad to have missed people and not to have signed their books. So: Sorry, folks. It’s possible I’ll be in the Boston area in the summer for a book tour; if I am I’ll be happy to sign then. I did still manage to do a panel and my reading, the latter of which was actually very useful to me. I was knocked for a loop about Mike’s death, so being able to dive into performing some of my writing was a nice way to get out of my own head for a bit. So if you were at my Boskone reading, thanks. You helped my brain, you did.
In all, Boskone was fabulous. Thanks for having me, Boston. I’ll be back.
John, I was at Boskone and especially at the interview/painting above. I especially liked your story about groupies and your wife :::grin::: I was slightly bummed that you left early (not knowing the circumstances). The other story you told, about Android’s Sheep, your wife and father in law, funny then, now brings a tear to my eye.
My condolences for your family. Mike sounded like a good man and he’ll be missed (and remembered) by all of you.
I’m still looking forward to the panel where we interview Dan dos Santos while you write a short story about him. Thank you for being a wonderful GOH. And sorry it ended on such a sad note.
My sympathies to your wife, you and all the family. Your FIL sounds like a really great guy, who touched a lot of people in positive ways.
Please accept my sympathies for your family. I lost both my parents in the last few years and know it is a pain that lasts for a long time, particularly if they are as wonderful as your father in law sounds.
As far as missing the signing – have you seen the BigBangTheory episode where Sheldon tracks down Will Wheaton for failing to show up for a signing session?
My condolences to you and your family.
Clarence Rutherford:
I am familiar with the works of Wil Wheaton, yes.
John, it was awesome having you as our Guest of Honor! I’m looking forward to seeing you again this summer (whether in Boston or at Chicon 7 or both!) My condolences to your family.
John, I am sorry for your loss. Give Chrissy a hug from me.
May you and your wife be comforted among those who mourn for your father-in-law.
I was also at Boskone, and want to thank you for being a wonderful GoH — my wife and I had a fantastic con, and you were one of the reasons why.
That was a great reading. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of “Redshirts.” Also looking forward to reading the NESFA Press collection.
Add me to those waiting impatiently for Redshirts. That was a fantastic reading.
John, I may be alone in saying this–but I truly hope that I’m not–there is NO REASON AT ALL for you to try to update us about anything that happened at a convention this weekend, nor anything else going on in familia Scalzi beyond what you have told us. For goodness sake man, at least from a fellow recent griever, take the time to spend with your family. When my brother-in-law/second father/oldest brother/best friend died a part of my life was ripped out. Gone were the days of lazing in the pool and drinking beer, and more things than I even care to think about. Fuck telling us about some stupid convention. Go spend time with your wife and daughter and let the rest of us go for now.
Trust me, digitalatheist, I’m doing these updates in the moments when I’m not doing other things. And to be clear, popping up here is a little bit of stress reliever for me; I get mentally backed up if I don’t write something on a daily basis. But (genuinely) thank you for being concerned.
John. I understand. I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to us, your adoring public. It is jsut that I wanted you to know that there is at least one person who–and I’m bet tons of others–who doesn’t expect you to keep us informed of every thing you have/are/will be doing in the next few too busy days. Today has been an emotional day for me in both directions… concerning the recent death of my mother. I also understand about stress relief. I know it may sound bad, but my stress relief was most of a 1/5th of Evan Williams Single barrel bourbon. My mother wouldn’t have approved, but after the last couple of years of dealing with her Alzheimer’s on a daily basis, it was more of a relieif than most people can believe to be able to actually forget for a while and wake up the next morning smiling because the first thing I recalled was a happy memory. Love and peach to you and thoe two lovely ladies of yours.
gah.. peace… damn teary eyes. I grieve with ya’ll. As for Boskone, I do hope that you managed to avoid the Eddorians. Heck forbid they actually took over.
No disrespect to the artist, but from this angle, his portrait looks more like Wil Wheaton than you. Will we see the final product in a better shot?
I checked out some of Dan Dos Santos’s work on his web site. I really like his stuff. It would be great to see the finished portrait at some point.
Huh. That’s me, right there in the dark sweater square in the middle of that photo! (Any chance I could get a higher-resolution copy?)