April, Courtney, and I headed to WonderCon yesterday. We parked close to the convention center and then followed the people in costumes to the door. First, we headed to the exhibition hall, where April found some amazing Simpsons toys. Several artists were trying to sell their wares–a few were handing out samples. Then, we came upon the stars.

Which stars? Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on STTNG), Aaron Douglas (the Chief on BSG), Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk), Richard Hatch (BSG), Richard Herd (the Greatest American Hero), Suzie Plakson (Q’s “wife” on STTNG), Q himself, Brent Spiner (Data), and Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. We didn’t actually get to speak to any of these people–they were charging for pictures and photos and thus weren’t open for free geeky conversation. Spike from Buffy was behind a curtain somewhere, charging $40 for an autograph. The Chief from BSG had a sign up that his money was going to a charity, at least.

There was one man we couldn’t resist, however. Adam Baldwin, from Firefly and Chuck, made us gasp in a display of nerdiness we hadn’t experienced in years. We pooled together $10 to get a picture with him. (Just as we were crowding together, he commented on the aroma of weed that passed by us.) The best part was that I got to touch him for free. The second best part was that we kept hearing people say that “Alec Baldwin” was there.

After a quick lunch, we headed back in for panels. We were going to sit in on a panel on Star Trek and Philosophy, but the speaker, a preacher, seemed boring, so we headed off to a celebration of the “anniversary” of the Galaxy Quest television show. We were afraid that a few of the audience members wouldn’t play along with the panel as they discussed their favorite episodes, guest appearances, and the resurgence of the series, but everyone seemed game. In the very entertaining panel, they mocked the conventions of sci-fi tv and showed that we nerds can make fun of ourselves.

Then, as we were heading into a panel on Kick Ass, we were stopped by one of the marketing people of the film. He asked us if we would see the film that night for free and then be interviewed on camera about it afterwards. He said that they needed to reach out to a female audience and that our femaleness (combined with our hotness) made us ideal. He also seemed to think we were young.

Thus, armed with our VIP tickets, we went into a crowded room for a panel discussion with the cast and one of the graphic artists. I’ll be reviewing the film for matchflick soon, so I’ll sign off with this:

April, Adam, Courtney, Karma

http://www.matchflick.com/column/2139

Only one of the words in the term “Spring Break” was accurate. You can guess which, but I’ll give you a hint–the weather was perfectly pleasant.

It’s back to the grind tomorrow. Actually, I’m excited about getting new groups of students and I’m especially excited about The Graphic Novel course, as it will allow me to teach a plethora of new works.

The boy’s concert at the Mondavi center on Saturday was wonderful. he looked amazing in his tux and the orchestras played amazingly well. Every time I see them, I’m reminded of how much my orchestras apparently sucked. The best moment of the day, though, was when I happened to catch a glimpse of the boy on an outdoor balcony, playing his violin for some friends, surrounded by green leaves and sunshine.

Here’s to the coming of Spring and a better quarter for us all!

Blogs recently: 0
Trips to the ER after starting to faint in my classroom: 1
Students freaked out by me starting to faint: 25
Incidences of getting dumped: 1
Pieces of jewelry lost: 5
Winter courses finished: 4
Spring courses prepped: 3
Movies seen (outside the house): 2
Good night’s sleep: 0
Jobs possibly lost: 1
Jobs definitely not won: 2
Jobs applied for: around 20
Hours wasted yesterday figuring out that I’ve taught over 100 sections, after I had to type up each and every one for a job application: 2
Lord of The Rings movies rewatched: 3
Harry Potter movies rewatched: 1
Cats bathed: 3
Plagues of insects/rodents: 4
Rat in cupboard trap at the moment of this writing: possibly 1 (we’re afraid that if we open the cabinet, it will leap out and bite our faces off)
Butterflies seen: 1
Sandal days: 5
Weeks I had to go without my allergy shots since 1/1 due to insurance crap: 11
Drugs my insurance refuses to cover now: 2
Insurance bills that got sort of passed, but then the Republicans tried to take it back, and then their crazy supporters started physically threatening congresspeople: 1
Sightings of wysteria (my favorite flower): 2 (though I haven’t been able to get close enough for smellings)
Amazon author pages created: 1
Major awards Atwood has won recently: 1
Film bios of Weird Al coming out: 1
Times Eddie Izzard has been named the honorary Pres of a university: 1

Ex-boyfriends on the way over to check the rat trap: 1
Weeks until the book is out: 5-6
Students who’ve sent me emails about how awesome I am just when I needed them most: 5
Pies made in celebration of Spring: 1
Spring Breaks that are full of work: 1
Luck: immeasurable. No matter what else has happened lately, the thing that has stood out has been how lucky I am to have the friends that I do. They’ve been supportive and generous. They bathe cats, bring me food, ply me with alcohol, show up at the hospital, send me flowers and cards, have their mothers send me cards, get me massage certificates, go with me to orchestral recitals, and threaten to come down hard on the boy’s school when there are problems.

on my pop culture movie rules is here: http://www.matchflick.com/column/2133

Those who know me know that I’m regularly over-committed. I teach a lot; I’m on many committees; there are vague attempts at a social life. There are many doctors’ appointments.

Sometimes there are more things to do than others. The galleys came for the book this week, so that’s certainly something to do. And then there’s grading. And then there’s course prep. There’s a full in box, reviews to do, letters of recommendation to write.

There are my friends–one has an interview this week; two others have broken up with their partners in the last few days.

There’s mail to open, muddy kitty footprints to clean up, and a child to be relatively ignored by.

If I had the time, I have movies to watch, a DVR to clean off, and books to read.

It probably goes without saying that I have to eat, use the toilet, bathe, take vitamins and medications, wander from room to room, breathe, blink, and digest.

I haven’t mentioned sleep, but sleep is really only an elusive idea of something I should be doing rather than something that’s happening. I sometimes nod off, but then I awake again, sweating and with a sense of lead in my stomach, hanging there (to paraphrase Douglas Adams) in exactly the way bricks don’t.

I’m wandering in a state of near tears, from exhaustion and stress. Due to budget cuts, I have about a 50% chance of losing my job.

This makes all the other things on the list seem silly, since I should be applying for jobs 23 hours a day. I am applying, but I can’t turn my back on my teaching. After all, this is my calling and my current students shouldn’t suffer just because of this stress (although my sanity seems to be suffering quite a bit).

Any ideas welcome and appreciated.

I haven’t been writing because I haven’t been sleeping. I keep waking up every day at around three a.m. and then I can’t get back to sleep for about an hour.

But I wanted to share this quick thought about the news today. An AP headline today said that the IRS agent killed in this week’s attack was a “loyal family man.” I don’t want to debate that. What happened to him was tragic, but it is not necessarily more tragic because he was a family man. If he were divorced, would his life be worth less? If he were never married? If he were socially awkward? If had the kind of union that many people in this country would refuse to see as belonging in the category of family?

on A FISH CALLED WANDA: http://www.matchflick.com/column/2114

I just had to share these two stories (then it’s back to work).

First, Du clued me in to this story: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1813692.html Is there some reason why Fresno is the drunkest city in the nation and one of the least educated? Well, it might have something to do with a certain community college instructor who teaches the Bible in health class, explaining that the textbook is wrong (because abortion kills more people than cancer) and that homosexuality is wrong, but curable by shots. He’s gotten in trouble for this kind of thing before, but apparently it’s okay, because he doesn’t believe in the separation between church and state (or facts and religious belief).

Second, a story on NPR today really hit home. I was just writing about my insurance issues this week and then a certain company (mine) decided to raise its rates over 30%. Listen in: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/10/pm-reich-commentary/

And now tell me why insurance companies are immune from anti-trust laws. Anybody?

(Small question for the Fresno teacher: why are those who are pro-life often pro-gun as well (I don’t know if you’re one of those people)? Guns are used to kill lots and lots of people, but we’re not supposed to outlaw them because “guns don’t kill people, people do.” Even if you see abortion as murder, shouldn’t you hold that “abortions don’t kill people, people do” and not try to outlaw them? Just asking.)