On The Funway

It's 27 years later. Twenty-seven years since Steve Sullivan found the all-night music party at Minicon 17, and told me it would be happening again the next night.

That Saturday night -- April 18th well into the dawn of April 19th, 1981, was a defining moment in my journey toward and into fandom. fredcritter played "All Along the Watchtower" and "Mississippi Half-step Uptown Toodeloo." I knew nothing of the Grateful Dead and found the lyrics impossible to decode, but in a friendly, inviting way. And, oh, the music. Oh, yes, the music.

markiv1111 broke a string and left the room to replace it. When he returned, he announced he'd written a song while he was gone, and promptly proceeded to sing it. It was smooth, complete, and very finished-sounding. An hour or so later, the same thing happened again. I didn't believe it at the time -- I thought it was a standing joke among the group, among those in the know.*

Then Reed Waller sang "Spoon River," and I knew I was home. Until that point, I'd only ever heard Josh White, Jr., sing the Michael Smith song at his concerts. Here I was, 600+ miles away from East Lansing, Michigan, the only place I'd seen Josh perform. Here, too, was a treasured piece of my life, a piece of my heart, entwined as it was to begin with.... And, as I have since come to understand, here was my very own Spoon River -- fandom, science fiction fandom.

Thanks to Applecon, I was able to spend this past weekend savoring and celebrating the music that brought me to fandom in the first place.I met new people, caught up with old friends, and just plain had a wonderful, soul-nourishing time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you mizzlaurajean,lsanderson, ybmcu, and everyone at Applecon. This was good, so very good.

I didn't hear "Spoon River" this weekend. chasophonic may well have played it when I was out of the room. I never requested the song, or any other song, for that fact. The music endures, the music changes. The same is true of the musicians as well as all of us in the audience. I was happy to wait and discover what came next, with no needs to hear a special song, a particular song. For a song that wasn't even on my mind until we started sharing stories at the Music and SF panel I was on Sunday morning, it's interesting to discover just how much I identify it with all that went so well this weekend. I think it's that sense of homecoming, that sense of belonging, and especially that sense of discovering and helping create something new.

None of the examples I can find online come close enough to either Josh White, Jr.'s or Reed Waller's interpretations of the song, so a link to the Spoon River lyrics will have to suffice. For now, anyway.

May we all experience and savor the hope and everyday comfort of riding through the morning....

* Historical footnote: Anyone who knows him will not be surprised to hear that Nate indeed did write two songs that night. And many more in the 27 years since.

Everyone in the Twin Cities, and especially those here at Applecon, can thank me for the sight of brown and green grass, wet but clear pavement, and the delightfully small number of tiny piles of lumpy snow leavings that can be occasionally seen scattered about.

I brought my boots, thereby ensuring I wouldn't need them, which means nobody else needs theirs, either.

Yay! I'm at Applecon and the snow isn't!

Bring Warm Clothes is a book about Minnesota history by Peg Meier that was published in 1981, two years after I moved to Minneapolis. It's not supposed to be packing advice for a brief, Spring weekend trip four years after I moved away.

I was concerned earlier today when I read pegkerr's LJ post and saw that 2-4 inches of snow were predicted by Friday, the day I'm flying in. I've been gifted with a trip to Applecon and I'm really looking forward to a weekend of music, a weekend of fun times with Gavi and dozens of other friends and loved ones.

I am not looking forward to a weekend of snow. Okay, 3-4 inches wouldn't be that bad. I'd have to pack mittens, sure, and take my winter jacket, but I can slog through 3-4 inches of snow in my walking shoes.

Only now the forecast calls for 9.2 inches of heavy, dreaded white stuff between Thursday and Saturday. Nine. Point. Two. Inches.

It would be fair play if I'd moved somewhere tropical, somewhere it never snows. But I didn't. I moved to Massachusetts. Here in Massachusetts, we know plenty damned well what 9.2 inches of snow looks and feels like. Minnesota does not need to remind me. Not. Not. Not.

I've taken my boots back out of the closet. They spend the winter in the mudroom entrance, where they're at hand and easy to put on. I put them in the closet a week or two ago, when it was clear I wouldn't be wearing them here until November, or perhaps even later.

The boots are confused, and grouchy from having been woken from their long 3-season snooze. I don't blame them.

I'm still looking forward to Applecon!