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100 days to go
Jul. 26th, 2020 07:52 pmYesterday the SO and I picked up a stack of New-Zealand-style meat pies from Pacific Pie Co. so that we can pretend to be in NZ a bit during Worldcon. It was the first time we'd been to downtown Portland since mid-March.
I am still incredibly nervous about the "Accessible Magic" panel, not helped by a second person self-rejecting off of it. At least it's my very first one, the first day of the con, so I'll get it over with and then be able to relax.
Speaking of downtown Portland, there is nothing that has captured the mix of horror and absurdity this week like this Washington Post story on the arrival of leafblowers as a protest tool. On the one hand, how ridiculous is it that the feds in their military getup have had to rush off to the hardware stores to buy their own leafblowers to play, as I've seen it described, "tear gas tennis"? And on the other hand, bits like this:
In my own neighborhood, it is hot and eerily quiet. No sounds of baseball games over at the one nearby school, or the Sunday morning cricket practice in the field behind the other one. The only signs of regular summer activities are the occasional smell of charcoal smoke and the sounds of kids splashing and arguing in a wading pool in some nearby backyard.
I am still incredibly nervous about the "Accessible Magic" panel, not helped by a second person self-rejecting off of it. At least it's my very first one, the first day of the con, so I'll get it over with and then be able to relax.
Speaking of downtown Portland, there is nothing that has captured the mix of horror and absurdity this week like this Washington Post story on the arrival of leafblowers as a protest tool. On the one hand, how ridiculous is it that the feds in their military getup have had to rush off to the hardware stores to buy their own leafblowers to play, as I've seen it described, "tear gas tennis"? And on the other hand, bits like this:
CS gas, or 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, has been classified as a chemical weapon. Its use is banned on the battlefield by nearly every country in the world, including the United States. But it is legal to use domestically by police and federal agents to disperse crowds.
In my own neighborhood, it is hot and eerily quiet. No sounds of baseball games over at the one nearby school, or the Sunday morning cricket practice in the field behind the other one. The only signs of regular summer activities are the occasional smell of charcoal smoke and the sounds of kids splashing and arguing in a wading pool in some nearby backyard.
