![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
then raise the scarlet standard high
So I was planning to go to the National Book Festival again this year. It's free, it's a day out on the Mall, I can geek out over books and fangirl authors - not really seeing a downside here. I was planning to pack a lunch, take an early Metro train, meet up with anybody who wanted to meet up, hang out and maybe go to a museum if the literary stuff started to pale. It's the Saturday, Sept 24, and activities start around 10 AM, although people will probably start lining up for Neil earlier.
Then, in my Katrina wallowing, I came across references to this: There's a large peace rally scheduled for the same time, farther down the Mall, and past experience + the mood of the country the past few weeks suggests that I should not count on it being completely, um, orderly. (although we could all be pleasantly surprised. Or it could be arbitrarily cancelled by the gov't, although given aforementioned mood, I doubt that would be wise.)
My instinct says that I have two choices: Go despite the rally, or go because of the rally. My mother, who attended college during the height of the Vietnam protests (and, in fact, got out of exams her senior year due to Kent State) spent the peace movement hiding in her dorm, complaining that the scent of tear gas was distracting her from her studies. I've not been involved in the modern protest movement, beyond whining on LJ, reading the Diamondback, and attending a few very lackluster rallies on campus. My sister says we should go dressed in hippy gear. I'm torn between not believing anything will happen, hoping it does, and deciding to pack tear gas countermeasures and emergency gear anyway just to say I did. q-: And I was planning to dress in my Goth Hippy outfit, black lace peasant skirt and peasant blouse and black kerchief and ankh and stompy boots, but you know, I might lose my nerve and go for the respectable career girl look instead.
(Note that my only news source the past few months have been lj, NPR, the Baltimore Sun, and the Daily Show, so my knowledge of current events is a bit patchy. Still.)
In other news, I'm intrigued by the fact that the National Book Festival seems to have folded F&SF in with general fiction this year. Not sure whether that's a good sign or a bad one for my favorite genre.
Then, in my Katrina wallowing, I came across references to this: There's a large peace rally scheduled for the same time, farther down the Mall, and past experience + the mood of the country the past few weeks suggests that I should not count on it being completely, um, orderly. (although we could all be pleasantly surprised. Or it could be arbitrarily cancelled by the gov't, although given aforementioned mood, I doubt that would be wise.)
My instinct says that I have two choices: Go despite the rally, or go because of the rally. My mother, who attended college during the height of the Vietnam protests (and, in fact, got out of exams her senior year due to Kent State) spent the peace movement hiding in her dorm, complaining that the scent of tear gas was distracting her from her studies. I've not been involved in the modern protest movement, beyond whining on LJ, reading the Diamondback, and attending a few very lackluster rallies on campus. My sister says we should go dressed in hippy gear. I'm torn between not believing anything will happen, hoping it does, and deciding to pack tear gas countermeasures and emergency gear anyway just to say I did. q-: And I was planning to dress in my Goth Hippy outfit, black lace peasant skirt and peasant blouse and black kerchief and ankh and stompy boots, but you know, I might lose my nerve and go for the respectable career girl look instead.
(Note that my only news source the past few months have been lj, NPR, the Baltimore Sun, and the Daily Show, so my knowledge of current events is a bit patchy. Still.)
In other news, I'm intrigued by the fact that the National Book Festival seems to have folded F&SF in with general fiction this year. Not sure whether that's a good sign or a bad one for my favorite genre.
no subject
(I keep forgetting you live around here!)
no subject
(I'm always suprised when I check people's profiles and realize, hey, they live near me!)
no subject
I'd love to run into you, though, perhaps at something else?
no subject
Um. We should find each other and say hi. Or something. I'd love to meet you but in a totally non-stalker way.
no subject
no subject
Please though, if you go to the rally, don't dress as hippies. It's hard enough to get people to take the peace movement seriously as it is. -_- And everytime the media covers these things, they go right for the dumbass college kid who thinks they're Joan Biez and it makes the rest of us look bad.
But if you decide to do the festival, I'd certainly be happy to accompany you (if I can get off work, that is ~_~).
no subject
no subject
Probably a good one; Fantasy and Sci-Fi *has* been more commonly read in the past decade or two. (Then again, they might just not have budgeted for a seperate section. XD)
Off-topic, but would you happen to know off-hand if the magic of public transportation makes it possible to get from Anne Arundel Co. to College Park before 10 am on a Saturday? I've got a M:TG (read:geeky) thing to get to, and I know nothing about getting from Anne Arundel Co. to there.
no subject
no subject
*plays with it for awhile*
Pah! That looks less and less feasible; oh well. I'll prolly just see if GCS will have any release stuff going on.