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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Sorry, Lynn, you’re only allowed to complete that word if it’s scribbled on.
Lots of little purchases? An anime DVD generally runs in the $10 to $50 range…
“Transactions”, not necessarily “purchases”… Moving $100 to a Paypal account would be a transaction. The questions being “who”, “why?”, and how it all went unnoticed?
Ruth just took over as treasurer. Who was the previous one? Even if they didn’t embezzle, they fell down on the job not catching it sooner.
Agreed, whoever was previous treasurer needs to be contacted ASAP.
Maybe the previous treasurer was investing in many Nigerian Princes to try help Bork Con obtain a huge fortune so that way they can have the biggest convention in the Midwest plus money to afford lawyers in case a lawsuit ever broke out so that way the con isnt out if business.
Not necessarily a Nigerian prince, it could be a permanently broke friend the treasurer was loaning money to. “Dude, I’m a bit short this week, can you give me $50 until Friday?” “Dude, I just got fired, can you cover my rent until I get a new job?” “Dude, I promise I’ll pay you back, I just need $50 for work boots for the new job and I don’t get paid for 2 weeks.” Suddenly it’s 6 months and 5 grand later and the guy is no closer to paying you back than he was when you started.
Wait a minute…
Little transactions?
MICROpayments?
They’ve been robbed by Scott McCloud!
“Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.” Albany AnthroCon was almost scuttled after its first year when a bookkeeping error left it short of funds to pay artists for Art Show sales after other bills were paid first. (The chairman at the time thought he had more money than he did.) After that the Art Show funds were kept in a separate bank account. Staff and others lent the con money to finish paying the artists that year, and were repaid within two years.
Many conventions make errors, even the big ones. Maybe it is an error.