I got two apologies in my email, recently. The first was from WisCon, apologizing for the computer glitchy-ness relating to panel assignments. Me, I think, hey, I know that WisCon is done on a totally volunteer basis, and the still do better than any other con I've been to. So. While apologies are always a mark of class in my mind, it's only icing on an already perfectly chocolaty cake. Maybe I'm just too much in love with WisCon to see any of its faults, but, with me, its credit is so high it'd need to do something horrific to lose my faith. Thank you, WisCon volunteers, for everything you do.

The second apology was from Expedia. Remember how they screwed up my flight last October? How I was on hold for four and a half hours before giving up? Did I mention that I never did get to speak to someone there, and that their first email response was just simply wrong (after taking a week) and my follow-up email was never responded to and that I ultimately had to contact American Airlines directly to get a refund on my ticket.

Well, now, seven months later, they sent me an apology. According to them, their problems have been resolved, and they're offering me a $50 certificate by way of compensation. Unlike WisCon, Expedia is a business, and this, in my opinion, fails to entice me to ever try their service again. Screw you, Expedia.

I attended my first WisCon on an impulse decision. Someone had mentioned the con on alt.poly, and when I read the panel descriptions, I was, like, "wow." This was something like three weeks before the con.

In those three weeks, I booked a room at the Concourse and bought my plane tickets. Advance membership sales had closed, but I bought a membership at the door. The WisCon block of rooms at the hotel had expired, but I got a room in the Governor's club. Fascinatingly, someone involved with doing WisCon hotel coordination recognized my name on the reservation lists and, without any prompting, arranged to have my reservation included in the WisCon rates (this remains one of those moments that makes me feel that WisCon is a more organized con than any other I've attended).

That was eight years ago, for the WisCon in 2000. It's a bit sobering to think that I couldn't do that now. You hafta plan your attendance to WisCon so much earlier now; the hotel fills up quickly and the registration is capped at a certain number of people.

A little while after WisCon, I was asked to talk about the Transsexuality as Trope panel on RadioFree Transburgh, an online Internet radio interview show. Both Charlie and I were interviewed (separately, though), and the final interview was just posted today.

Sadly, at times we had sound-quality problems, but in general, I think Emilia has done a good job with bringing the material together.

( Not too long; just long enough )

Here's an idea: four or five self-identified transfolk get together on a panel. They've all read the same half-dozen books with some rilly good gender content (they'll chat well beforehand, and agree on some titles). And they analyze the content for what it says and doesn't say about gender, binary gender, and/or transness. Obviously, one of the books on the list would be that year's Tiptree winner.

Would you be on such a thing? charliegrrrl? jiawen? Maybe we could get Aaron (doesn't he have a livejournal?) or nadyalec (whom I saw only once, I fear).

I'm actually serious about trying to plan for it, now. I think I'm starting to believe that the best panels at WisCon are composed of people who've talked enough to know what each other is going to say.

Saturday was a nice, full day at WisCon. ( I cut because I care )

Continuing this thought process:( Again with the long, and potential spoilers to some stories )

Contains references to Crygender, The Matrix, I Will Fear No Evil, Perdido Street Station, Commitment Hour, The Silence of the Lambs, and a lot of spoilers around A Game of You

The other trans woman on "Transsexualism as Trope" panel posted her assessment of the panel on her journal. Which, of course, fires a lot of thoughts in my brain that I want to respond to. I want to be clear that I'm not say, "no, no, no, Charlie has it all wrong!" But I do think that the points of disagreement are interesting sites of exploration.

( And then it all got very long after that... )

So, I had a panel yesterday morning: "Transsexuality as Trope". ( Thoughts, kvetching, etc. )

( You know what's wrong with WisCon? )

Counting Past Two
Thinking in terms of opposites -- man and woman, black and white, good and evil -- is deeply, deeply entrenched in Western discourse. What alternatives are there? Some theorists, like Homi Bhabha, talk about "third spaces" and hybridity. What's that all about?

Taking It To The Next Level
Instead of repeating the same '101' discussions about class, race, (parenting, trans issues), etc., how can we facilitate a more advanced discussion of these issues?

The Tragedy of Change
How often is futuristic morphological change viewed in a tragic light in fiction, as in the cybernetically enhanced person feeling sorrow for the physical feelings they've lost, or the "inhumanity" of disembodied aliens? Why are transsexual humans of today often portrayed tragically in fiction and movies? How about post-menopausal women? People who've lost mobility or ability through illness? Is there a way to look at the future of our bodies that doesn't involve what we've lost, but what we have to gain?

Transsexuality as Trope
Much science fiction and fantasy of recent years deals with changing sex. But it treats it as a trope rather than a process: LARQUE ON THE WING, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, "Changes," the work of John Varley. While there is no denying the usefulness of transsexuality as a trope in discussing the social construction of gednder, what are we missing by eliding transsexuality's nature as a process?

Guess which constituency I'm representing at WisCon this year!

Does anyone who is going to WisCon know if panelists have been selected for programming? I haven't heard anything, and I'm reflecting on the fact that I didn't get my "you've successfully signed up" email. I'm wondering if my sign-up was completely lost.

(Every year, I seem to have some crazy problem with the programming sign-up process. It's enough to make me tear my hair out some times)