[if you’re new to the Journey, read this to see what we’re all about!]
by Gideon Marcus
Ah, Geek Girl Con. Every year, Seattle's clarion call of intellectual feminine fandom calls us to attend Washington's signature science fiction/fantasy event. It is an intimate (but growing) gathering of sff devotees with a fascination for things both creative and technical.
This year, as with last year, the Journey was invited to speak on the last 12 months in fandom, and boy did we have a lot to relate. From coverage of Marvel Comics' slew of new superheroes to a report on this year's Hugo winners, and with a special piece on the woman pioneers of space exploration, our four panelists ensured that our several dozen attendees left educated and excited.
Of course, there was plenty more going on this year, from a burgeoning Huckster Hall to an active costuming scene. There was a host of interesting panels. We personally attended one on activism and how our breed of fanaticism can be channeled to make a positive difference in the world. Sort of a "Fen Forward!" or "Beatniks for a Better world!" With all the racial strife, economic inequality, strife on the foreign scene, and the increasing specter of Goldwater isolationism and reactionary policy going on, we need all of our wacky team united in the cause of improving society.
There was also an excellent panel on Black fandom (there are more members than you think!) and the hope for the appearance of a Black comic superhero. My bet is that, of the two big comics houses, Marvel is the more likely to dare in that direction. But who knows?
Here, then, is a mini-gallery of some of the dressed-up friends I managed to snap photos of. My apologies for not having so many this year – it was an awfully busy (but very fun!) time:
The radiant Sarah Kauppila as Snow White…and her lovely mother, Luann, as the Evil Queen
Cruella de Ville from last year's Disney film, 101 Dalmatians
Erika Rae Heins, a Middle Earth enthusiast
Rosemary, a modern-age Wonder Woman
Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble
That's it for this year, but it's almost a certainty we'll be flying back on Alaska Airlines come next October. Especially now with their swell Convair 880s, which go a bit faster than the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8. First time we've ever ridden in one!
[AND DON'T MISS LIVE COVERAGE OF WALLY SCHIRRA'S SIGMA 7 MERCURY FLIGHT BEGINNING TONIGHT!]
It was so nice finally getting to meet you and your lovely co-editors and writers in person! As I said in the convention hall, I'm awfully sorry I haven't been a good correspondent as of late – but I promise you, I don't miss an ish, and with teaching finally settling back down into its ordinary winter mode, I hope I can dash off at least short letters more often!
I thought you gave a very good talk, by the way – though it was a tad amusing listening to someone talk about solar power in rainy, rainy Seattle. I don't think it'll ever fly here – but thankfully, we have our hydroelectric supply.
To pick up a topic we had to cut short – I'd honestly thought reading it that the latest Hugo-winning Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land) was a bit of a spoof – Bob just goofing on his own work. Reading it that way, I found more than few laughs in it. (And also, more than a few winces, I'm afraid, but, well.) Are you telling me I wasn't laughing with it, but just at it, and not even knowing?
Either way, I stand by my vote for Dark Universe. I suppose history will be the judge as always, of course.
Anyway, wanted to get a note off while I had a moment. Hope to see you and yours again, in the not too distant future!
It was great meeting you too after so long! I, of course, have always plumped for the Galouye.
It's easy to forget that western Washington is so different from San Diego — especially since we always seem to bring the sunshine with us when we visit. Wasn't it supposed to be stormy last weekend? I guess even with TIROS shutterbugging away, weather prediction is still an inexact science.
Oh, it was! But honestly, everybody here knows you can't trust the forecast. Six hours out, that's fine, 12 hours is pushing it. Tomorrow? Oh, hardly. Best just to assume it's going to rain, you're probably right.
Except from the 4th of July through mid-September. That's reliably sunny. Around that, you've got a couple of weeks of uncertainty, but other than that, you just know.