"Things are gonna slide, slide in all directions/Won't be nothing, nothing you can measure anymore."

[2muchexposition]

As per usual, everyone has already beat me to posting their WorldCon reports. But I started writing about RNC-related happenings in New York well before I headed off to unreality for a few days, and my mind keeps insisting that this is one of the more important things I've witnessed lately, and I can't just not finish it. So:

Comments

[jaylake]

I have seen the future, brother, and it is murder

[2muchexposition]

Heh. I wouldn't have pegged you for a Leonard Cohen fan. Then again, I wouldn't have pegged myself for one before the Natural Born Killers soundtrack made it impossible not to be.

[modernache]

Oh, man. Can I tell you how glad I am that I'm not in the city anymore?
SO glad.
Props to you for having the guts to get out there. I know, personally, my mother would have killed me. And that's at least as scary a thought as being a in a giant crowd of possible maniacs. Well, almost.
I'm just glad it's over and everyone is safe. You had me worried for a bit.

[2muchexposition]

> Oh, man. Can I tell you how glad I am that I'm not in the city anymore?
> SO glad.
Silly. It would have been completely possible for me to avoid, if I'd wanted to, but I just couldn't figure out how to want to.

> Props to you for having the guts to get out there. I know, personally, my
> mother would have killed me. And that's at least as scary a thought as
> being a in a giant crowd of possible maniacs. Well, almost.
Sigh... but what's the currency of youth, if not rebellion? Oddly enough, my parents were really proud of me for marching, especially after seeing hours and hours of peaceful, positive footage on CSPAN. I think the only "giant crowd of possible maniacs" in our city were *inside* MSG.

Re: But love's the only engine of survival

[2muchexposition]

You're welcome. I just hope the display was good for our cause. At this point, I can't even fathom the possibility of things not changing.

[moonlightalice]

I remember Leah telling me about that, it sounded AWFUL. I really wish I had become more involved in the protests, and I agree wholeheartedly about devoting oneself passionately to causes that, really, are quite silly. I mean I work very hard for CUSFS, but shouldn't I be doing something meaningful like rallying against third world debt or the IMF? Sigh. It just makes me love my political friends all the better, for doing what people like me simply can't do.

P.S. I lament not being able to join you all at WorldCon!! Hope you had a blast...

P.P.S. Where have you been my whole life! I haven't seen you since the Kushner thing...

P.P.P.S. Heart you!

[2muchexposition]

Heh. Ironically, every time I express doubts like this, Leah has defended publishing genre fiction as a worthwhile thing to do. I suspect she'd say the same about creating a safe place for geeks. I guess that's part of the bargain: some people are good at saving the world; we're just good at... other things.

I've got Wednesday's CUSFS meeting on my calendar, so at the very least, we should be able to catch up there.

[wellgull]

Anything supportive I can think to say about protesting wound up sounding like it would come across as patronizing. grrr. What I want to say is something like, "It doesn't matter if you're usually political or not, you have the right to have an opinion and go you! for putting yourself out there and expressing it." Yeah, something along those lines.

Right after I read this on Friday I noticed something that I think is really the biggest index of the extent to which America, even normally-not-political America, is getting invested in this election: I was walking down 5th ave a little bit on the way to the bank and passed a Sean Jean or something like that (on like 41st) -- and all the mannequins had "get-the-vote-out" t-shirts on.

You know things are getting mainstream when politics are not just a statement, but a fashion statement...