I missed the first ten minutes of that Saturday paper (I went for a walk after lunch, then when I found myself partway up the ridge behind campus, couldn't bear to turn back before I crested the top) but my general impression was no impression, because I couldn't understand him: he read quickly in a mumbling monotone with his paper pressed close to his face.narya wrote:At dinner, sat at the same table with the guy who gave the incredibly bad dragon paper yesterday, and successfully stumbled around to find some positive things to say about it, much to his delight. Turns out he's a teacher, so I suppose he does this all the time. Nothing I might say would change his style, so why not add to the pleasantries of the evening and be complimentary? I said things like "you certainly covered a lot!"
My favorite, too. That was Hostetter, again. Speaking of which, I certainly defer to solicitr's opinions on the motivations of comments by Hostetter and the rest of the ELF contingent (that's "Elvish Linguistic Fellowship", by the way), as he knows much more about pretty much everything. I have only the slightest knowledge of their work, though I bought four volumes of Parma Eldalamberon to learn more.Food art is evidently a tradition at Mythopoeic conferences, and is usually a pun on the works of the guest of honor, in this case Ellen Kutchner. My favorite was two string beans arranged like the hands of a clock on a large square ravioli, entitled "Rhombus the Timer" to spoof the author's "Thomas the Rhymer".
Excellent!I quickly read Kutchner's bio in a book of hers I'd just bought, to see what other titles to spoof. Cutting out pairs of holes in several raviolis I presented her with food art to match her recent performance art: "A Feast of Masks", and received first a puzzled look, a query "ravioli with eye holes???" followed by a "Woo hoo! Twenty points for Laurie!" when she got it.
It was very nice meeting you.