Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
So I'm just going to come out and say it: My favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is "Conundrum." It's episode fourteen of season five, and I just deeply love it.
I don't know if it's because I literally just assumed Erich Anderson's Commander McDuff was a random Enterprise officer of the week (which we saw quite often during the show) when I watched it as a kid during the original run, so the twist actually worked on eleven year old me. I don't know if it's because I just like a good "everyone has amnesia" story. I don't even know if it's just because it's a good Ro Laren episode. I don't know if it's just because we learn that Starfleet doesn't give a crap about lasers.
I just like it. It's neat.
And I rewatched it last night, and feel that it holds up -- which is why I found it deeply weird that the folks who wrote the episode actually think it's not that good. My favorite episode of the entire seven season run of the show was a failure according to the folks who wrote it.
And maybe, as a writer and creator, I should remember that.
Like the hardest part of releasing creative works to the public is that often, after a while, I'll start to judge those things far more harshly than when I first made them. Or I'll compare it to the potential I thought an idea had in my head. And if I don't reach that potential, I'll think of it as "bad" -- when it might just be slightly different than that idea. I have one hundred percent published stories that I thought were just sort of okay and later had someone tell me how much it meant to them to read it.
*cough*I Hate November*cough*
So I should make sure I remember Conundrum. That one of my favorite things to rewatch is considered one of those failures by its creators. That the things I make might have value, just not in the way I originally thought they should.
It's just sort of how things work out.
Remember that on April 5th at 11AM Eastern/10AM Central you can join me for the Critical Thinking Witches' Collective's April Brew virtual event! Attendance is free, and you can register here!
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You know that old saying: “Don’t shit where you work.” With the advent of social media, it’s more relevant than ever.
Calling up Jim to taunt him is one option. Another is for Maggie to call up her VGR friend at Unagi with “Hey, just a heads up, your boss is insulting Bork Con online and associating with a dude who stalked some of our staff. I don’t think I’ll be able to get our board to renew our equipment sharing agreement this year.” Let Unagi learn about it from someone other than Jim so he can’t spin it, and let him stew for a week before you actually bring the hammer down.
I got the impression that she’s going to enjoy telling him that Bork Con will no longer work with them under the circumstances, but not necessarily taunt him. Heck, calling someone up to tell them, “Hey, I know what you’re doing and as a result, I’m no longer interested in doing business with you. Goodbye,” is gratifying on its own.
That said, I’m pretty sure Ruth and Sarah say that Jim and Terrence didn’t do anything to hide who they are the Facebook page and are obvious admins, meaning that there isn’t much Jim can do to spin it. The evidence to the contrary is already out there and even if he deletes the page, the Internet never forgets. Someone’s definitely taking screenshots and documenting the whole thing, especially since information about con drama spreads quickly among conventions.
Which is funny, because the creator’s Nerd & Tie has a section for reporting on public con news and incidents. And it’s hard to argue with a site that seems to have a pretty good reputation for honesty and thorough research.
Bork con had every reason to cancel any agreements with Unagi Con after Jim’s attitude at Wakame Con. There’d be no way I’d want to trust him or his con with Bork Con stuff.
Jim has a year to come up with other arrangements, however, which means a lot of out-of-pocket expenses for Unagi con in addition to replacing Lynn and Garner. It doesn’t bode well for Jim that he has willingly gotten sucked into moderating a FB group dedicated to hating on Bork Con. He has a crap ton more work to do this year than probably in the previous 5 years to get Unagi con ready for next year. If the Unagi con is a disaster because Jim spent his time trying to get even with Lynn, his long reign at Unagi con is likely to be over.