This was quite a weekend for the Archipelago diarists, apparently. Three people suddenly bailed out and stopped writing. Sandra Posey's exit I had been expecting ever since she had a major conflict with one of her friends who strenuously objected to a particular entry about that friend. The departure of Juan Maldonado was also not a big surprise, given his long hiatus this fall and a few hints along the way. But I doubt anyone could have predicted the spectacular exit of Kim Rollins. She threw over her boyfriend of nine years, her much-envied job, and her popular diary to be with someone new. Once she re-establishes herself she may well return to the world of online diaries, so watch this space.
Note to anyone who professes surprise that Kim suddenly admitted to being unhappy and heavily medicated for depression: anyone who quotes Sylvia Plath extensively is unlikely to be a well-adjusted and jolly individual, and here I am including university professors. Personally, I think anti-depressants are a fine thing but they aren't generally a cure, just an aid.
Poetry, on the other hand, doesn't appeal to me at all. I've never liked the form. This is not to say I'm incapable of admiring certain poets but I tend to think of them as exceptions to the rule which is that poets are self-absorbed and precious. The first poetry I ever liked was by John Ashbery. I dabbled a bit in college with the Pacific Northwest school of the 40's and 50's. After that, I decided Keats was all right, and maybe Coleridge, but the rest of the Romantics gave me a pain. I've toyed with going to see Slam! just to see if hip-hop might change my mind, but I haven't got there yet and my interest in movies is generally a wan and palely loitering thing.
I am sort of getting interested in sf conventions again, though. I felt like I got my money's worth from OryCon, and although I definitely did not at Bucconeer there were other circumstances which made up for it. Little conventions, defined as having less than 500 attendees, and small regional cons which generally have 1500 or less are about the right size for fun. I'll never be deeply interested in con-running or being a Secret Master of Fandom (SMOF) but I do find myself somewhat intrigued by the news that in 2002 the Worldcon will probably be coming back to San Francisco. I know what this means. It means my local fandom will be plunged into war, or the equivalent. Coordinating the logistics of a behemoth operation like the Worldcon takes all local resources, and I'm not especially looking forward to seeing people I like get intensely caught up in the labyrinthine mechanics of organizing a party for 5000 people.
Some of my favorite people are SMOFs, you know. Tom Whitmore, chair of the SF in 2002 bid, is one. I stayed at his house when I first moved to San Francisco in 1982. He was the first person I knew who had a home computer, in fact. I owe him a big favor for letting me take up his and Debbie Notkin's spare room for three months while I was unemployed and somewhat feckless. Having acquired feck, I am now prepared to do something useful if he calls upon me. And he has. He has indicated I might be of use to the con in terms of my travel agent experience, yea, even unto hotel negotiations. This does not mean I'm going to have an important or visible position on the con committee, you understand, only that I am prepared to commit myself to a boatload of work for free. Why? Because I owe it to fandom for all those years of catching me when I fell, and giving me a sense of having, finally, come to safe harbor.
