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More on the OTW + Book log!
Oct. 8th, 2014 08:16 pmMy post about the OTW got some weird (to me) reactions. (In fact, I got a bunch of emails from staffers I had worked closely with, all apologizing if they had "made" me quit. NO NO NO, my darlings, no.)
So I realized I need to clarify a couple of things.
I didn't step down because of any staff or volunteers. The staff and volunteers of the OTW are pretty much all amazing. Even the ones with whom I never saw eye to eye about anything. I didn't step down because of the amount of "executive staff" type of work I was doing. I didn't step down because of the amount of work -- as I mentioned in my other post, I would have joyfully gone on giving the OTW 40 - 50 hours every week of my time if needed or wanted.
I didn't step down for any reason other than I found trying to work with the rest of the Board like pushing a boulder uphill and having it roll down on top of me and flatten me over and over. Even with two really incredible staffers who I deeply respect joining Board for the 2015 term, I couldn't countenance another two years of it. I just couldn't.
I do feel horrible and guilty and like I've abandoned the staff and volunteers, but those who had close contact with the other current Board members know what it was like and hopefully empathize and understand my decision.
I have a huge amount of respect for the staff and volunteers who keep on keeping on.
So. Right after that, bright and early Monday morning before the sun was even up, I left for #bbcon (lol) -- the Blackbaud convention for nonprofits that centers around their products nonprofits use, like Raisers Edge and The Financial Edge and... whatnot. My day job uses Raisers Edge for stuff, so I got sent off to Nashville to experience this convention. Its equivalent in SF/F is apparently SDCC because there were thousands of people there, and the convention center was about a mile long and at one point I just collapsed onto a bench and laid down on it because I simply could not keep walking. (Yes, that is what I imagine SDCC to be like, but... with comics.)
On my way there, at a client's request, I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I actually have owned it since it came out, since I loved Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I just never got around to reading it, so reading it as homework for a client was a perfect opportunity. And, unsurprisingly, I really loved it. I actually have a lot to say about it, but I'm not settled on what I want to say in my head because I'm still distracted by how much I loved it. I predicted almost the whole plot -- up to a point, and I'm not sure how I feel about that point.
(I'm told there is a movie? This is what I get for getting all my news of the world through Tumblr. ha ha.)
Once at the convention, I read Alan Cumming's Not My Father's Son, which was divine and great and full of wit and charm, exactly what you'd expect from him. Recommended. However, it's not really an autobiography so much as it is a memoir about a specific piece of his life around his father dying. I really wanted more autobiographical details. Because I'm nosy. How did he meet his partner and how did he figure out he was bisexual and tell me more about filming Spy Kids and how handsome is Antonio Banderas in person for real and so on. But the book itself is really compelling and wonderful. Two thumbs up, five stars, etc.
On my way home, I read Gillian Anderson's A Vision of Fire, co-written by Jeff Rovin. I hadn't realized there was a co-writer or I would have been giving him credit this whole time. My apologies.
It was very charming. There was what I am calling "accidental racism" (having an Indian girl be possessed by the spirit of dead Vikings, basically? More complicated than that, but basically); and there is some sloppiness in the "action" sequences since they are done in first-person POV. But ultimately it was greatly enjoyable. It was actually way better than I thought it would be. I had girded myself to read it the whole way through even if it were terrible, but it wasn't! I liked it! I kind of want a sequel! I really liked the way it ended! I liked the mythos! I was sad it was so short! A++++ effort.
So I realized I need to clarify a couple of things.
I didn't step down because of any staff or volunteers. The staff and volunteers of the OTW are pretty much all amazing. Even the ones with whom I never saw eye to eye about anything. I didn't step down because of the amount of "executive staff" type of work I was doing. I didn't step down because of the amount of work -- as I mentioned in my other post, I would have joyfully gone on giving the OTW 40 - 50 hours every week of my time if needed or wanted.
I didn't step down for any reason other than I found trying to work with the rest of the Board like pushing a boulder uphill and having it roll down on top of me and flatten me over and over. Even with two really incredible staffers who I deeply respect joining Board for the 2015 term, I couldn't countenance another two years of it. I just couldn't.
I do feel horrible and guilty and like I've abandoned the staff and volunteers, but those who had close contact with the other current Board members know what it was like and hopefully empathize and understand my decision.
I have a huge amount of respect for the staff and volunteers who keep on keeping on.
So. Right after that, bright and early Monday morning before the sun was even up, I left for #bbcon (lol) -- the Blackbaud convention for nonprofits that centers around their products nonprofits use, like Raisers Edge and The Financial Edge and... whatnot. My day job uses Raisers Edge for stuff, so I got sent off to Nashville to experience this convention. Its equivalent in SF/F is apparently SDCC because there were thousands of people there, and the convention center was about a mile long and at one point I just collapsed onto a bench and laid down on it because I simply could not keep walking. (Yes, that is what I imagine SDCC to be like, but... with comics.)
On my way there, at a client's request, I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I actually have owned it since it came out, since I loved Sharp Objects and Dark Places. I just never got around to reading it, so reading it as homework for a client was a perfect opportunity. And, unsurprisingly, I really loved it. I actually have a lot to say about it, but I'm not settled on what I want to say in my head because I'm still distracted by how much I loved it. I predicted almost the whole plot -- up to a point, and I'm not sure how I feel about that point.
(I'm told there is a movie? This is what I get for getting all my news of the world through Tumblr. ha ha.)
Once at the convention, I read Alan Cumming's Not My Father's Son, which was divine and great and full of wit and charm, exactly what you'd expect from him. Recommended. However, it's not really an autobiography so much as it is a memoir about a specific piece of his life around his father dying. I really wanted more autobiographical details. Because I'm nosy. How did he meet his partner and how did he figure out he was bisexual and tell me more about filming Spy Kids and how handsome is Antonio Banderas in person for real and so on. But the book itself is really compelling and wonderful. Two thumbs up, five stars, etc.
On my way home, I read Gillian Anderson's A Vision of Fire, co-written by Jeff Rovin. I hadn't realized there was a co-writer or I would have been giving him credit this whole time. My apologies.
It was very charming. There was what I am calling "accidental racism" (having an Indian girl be possessed by the spirit of dead Vikings, basically? More complicated than that, but basically); and there is some sloppiness in the "action" sequences since they are done in first-person POV. But ultimately it was greatly enjoyable. It was actually way better than I thought it would be. I had girded myself to read it the whole way through even if it were terrible, but it wasn't! I liked it! I kind of want a sequel! I really liked the way it ended! I liked the mythos! I was sad it was so short! A++++ effort.
