My Guest of Honor Gift at Capclave
Posted on October 13, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
Meant to be worn ironically, I am almost sure, given my opinion on who gets to be the Speaker for the Geeks. Very amusing nonetheless.
Today’s schedule includes a panel, a reading, a kaffeklatch, a joint discussion with Nick Mamatas, the other GoH, and a signing. So, in all a busy day. Which is to say, see you here tomorrow.
Answer a question of etiquette Whatever readers:
You get an absolutely great t-shirt like this but you hate the color. *HATE* the color. Is it OK to dye it? (I personally despise white t-shirts)
“I am the Scalzi! I speak for the geeks!” — NotDrSuess
You are one of a dwindling few who know what a kaffeklatch is & an even smaller minority that can spell it! Congrats 8-{D
If it’s from German, shouldn’t the correct spelling be Kaffeeklatsch? (Coffee + gossip.)
Oh look at the Deutschisms sneaking into the language!
Yeah, he missed an e in there.
I think a kaffeeklatsch is a gathering where is served lukewarm coffee so bad it makes you go klatsch. One of the reasons I’ve always preferred meetings I am hosting is that I get to serve fresh-ground coffee made from beans that don’t predate Stonehenge. I learned the hard way when I was young that you get some mighty-sidelong looks if you bring a vacuum thermos to someone else’s gathering, even if it’s a business meeting (where the coffee is likeliest to be klatsch-inducing. And no, I’m not a coffee-snob, I just don’t care to drink motor-oil.
John,
Be careful or the New York Times will accuse you of being pompus because you are steeling from German. How EU of you.
stealing not steeling
At least you weren’t given the title “Speaker to animals” or else you would have to change either “John” or “Scalzi” to “Chmee”… but then that is the the geek in me speaking. Speak away oh “Speaker for Geeks”!
I think they meant to say “Speaker TO geeks,” referencing Larry Niven in a couple of ways.
Idiosynchronic – Dye, dye, DYE!
Maybe you wear that shirt and team up with Howard Tayler (of Schlock Mercenary Fame) and attend the next competition of Utah’s biggest “…single-evening event [that] is a contest for storytellers in the “tall tale” category…” Happens on April 1st in Orem, Utah I hear.
Geez, I hope they used a Hanes Beefy T. That way the shirt will last for-EVER.
I understand ‘klatschen’, which literally means ‘smack’ or ‘clap’, is (or was*) a slang term for “chatter.”
*I was in high school in the 1970s, and my German book was a couple of decades out of date back then. One of the dialogues was titled “Sonntagnachmittagskaffeeklatch,” or “Sunday afternoon coffee chat.”
@Gulliver — oh, yeah. Before it was eliminated in the budget cuts, UCBerkeley had an in-house catering service which provided “coffee” (in large green plastic boxes with spigots) for meetings. Motor oil might have been an improvement.
Kaffeeklatches always go better with pie. :)
At least they didn’t give you a red shirt….
Xopher at 3:51pm – Ah, the delight which agglutinative languages bring to us all, e.g.
Die Oeldrueckwenigkeitswarnungslampe leuchtet. =
The oil pressure warning lamp is lit (lighted).
Thank you for being at Capclave. I came to see the author of Old Man’s War, a modern classic. You were an excellent speaker!
In this case, I think the color fits –it looks like typewritten words on paper –or a blank, white screen. A fitting shirt for a writer who writes from writers who write.
You and Mamatas need a TV show. In fact, a web show, just for maximum geekiness. That was an awesome panel but I’m betting you are really going to collapse when you get home.
It beats being “Speaker To Seafood”, so you’ve got that over Larry…