   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.
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Of course a former vender would know this stuff.
I almost said something of ‘only suckers buy anything before Sunday’… but on the other hand, I’ve missed out on a lot of cool stuff because there weren’t any left by the time I tried to get one.
I have mixed views on this. I often will buy over the weekend but only for stuff I really want because of Vendor apathy.
When I used to be a vendor I would make a big deal on Sundays about how I was slashing my prices so much.
…yeah, I was totally lying. They were the same prices I was offering all weekend. But people like to feel like they’re getting a deal. 😛
Do you do that as an artist alley vender/artist?
No – It isn’t really something you can pull off when a preprinted price list is in front of you. 🙂
Print up a second list. Same list, but with ‘SUNDAY REDUCTION PRICES!’ in big letters at the top. Or laminate the list so can scribble over the top with easy wipe markers.
In some parts of the world this is considered false advertisement, and thus illegal.
Grin – When my daughter was small, she went for a last walk through the dealer’s room and came back with a stuffed toy almost as big as she was from a vendor who had to fly back… 🙂
For me, I only had that work once. I collect figures of magicians. While at RI Comiccon, I found someone selling plushies at a major discount and got a Hinkle the Great plushie at a great price. The wife says; “What are you going to do with that?” I looked over at HER dresser which is covered in Mickey Mouse and Pikachu plushies and just sighed.
Last con i went to was only on sunday this year next year ill be thinking of this