LTUE Part 2: The gun on the Mantelpiece

The next day the entire parking lot I used before was full, so I had to find a new one a block away from the previous spot I parked. The area was packed, and full of folks who were eager to become the next big thing.

I checked the artist alley for artists, and found a few that cought my eye. In fact one of them was perfect for my needs, and at a great price no less. I didn’t ask her about prices for what I needed, but I knew I could afford it. That made me so happy.

The art display area was also really cool. I found a few artists I liked, and grabbed their cards quickly. The big thing I was worried about was eyes. I needed simple eyes, and that is way more difficult than it sounds. We know what an eye looks like, because we look at them so often.

My first panel was in the big parks area, and had the usual big names in it. The discussion was on tunnel vision, and how it affects what the person, and even the reader sees. They don’t see all the details in the room, they see their opponent, and any way to win. Details should not be flowery, and only describe the event itself, not the surroundings. Oddly enough, an action scene could be an emotional moment without cool gun scenes. The person is dealing with someone, and doesn’t know how to get out.

There is also implied violence. The gun on the mantle is important, because it implies it will be used sometime in the story. The favorites were from Terry Pratchett who would have a big fighter walk into a bar, and talk his way out of a battle. One of the writers would bring a duffel bag full of guns to teach other writers about the guns in the battles they intend to do.

The author was Larry Correia, and I suddenly wanted to hang out with him a lot.

I think the big statement was “Bore me and die, Confuse me and lose me.”

As I left, I got a text from my sister to help her get a ride to the train terminal. She was headed out to see a ballet in Salt Lake City. So the next panel would be cut short quickly.

The next panel was somewhat awkward. One of the presenters was an artist I was looking at. This was not the awkward part, but it did add to it. It was about how to draw cloth. I was looking forward to designs, and ideas on how to draw cloth on figures.

It turned into a bash on Manga. The style is different from what they knew, so it must be wrong. The person controlling the panel seemed to zero in on that. Don’t get me wrong, the artists knew their stuff for their own styles. It also became awkward because they said pen was the best thing to use for art. I use adobe illustrator. I have absolutely no need for a hand drawn item, when I need it on my illustrator, then photoshop, and then InDesign tabs.

The points were still good, look for stress points, think about the thickness and make of the cloth and how it works. Look at points you know will fold, and parts that will stretch. Move the cloth around the body so you know where those marks will be.

I left a little early to drive my sister over to the train station. It was an interesting panel, but I am not certain it was for me so it didn’t bother me too much to leave.

While driving back to the show I realized my portfolio website had three major sections. Stories, Studies, and Art, or ASS backwards. I think there is some symbolic message there.

When I got back, there wasn’t a lot for me to do, so I went to go eat. The food was at Taste of India. I found out they would charge me after being served. That was an amazing selection at the all you can eat buffet. They had roti, several types of curry, and some tasty snacks. I ate several plates worth, and enjoyed the Dr. Pepper they were quick to serve. If you get the chance, go to this restaurant.

The guy charged me afterwards, and knew the price of everything quickly.

After that I was between panels, and didn’t want to go in just yet. So I went off to the gaming area for some hopeful design ideas. On the way up, I found out a dance competition was on the second floor. It had underage girls in all sorts of state of dress, in some cases they were undressing and dressing for their next part, and just walking around chatting. I liked to look at the floor as best I could at this point. Then it turned out there was a large group of them at the third floor as well.

It was actually kind of cool. I saw a five year old and a three year old try to mimic their big sisters dance abilities. That was incredibly cute.

After this, I began to charge my phone again. I met with some of the same editors, and joked with them about things. Also one of the authors showed up again, and we chatted. He was amazed I could talk to anyone. I didn’t tell him how long it took me to learn how to do this.

I come from a very quiet family. I am talkative compared to them, but it takes a lot of effort to just walk over to someone and say hello. Some of my first conventions I was so scared, my arms ached from me tensing them the entire time. I still get that from time to time, but not as much. So now you know the truth.

They had a lady that escorted each author over to the editor, so I didn’t get a chance to chat with as many folks. She told me to try to grab the attention of the editor when I could. I chatted with her every now and then, but was pretty much alone with my internet. The panelists still showed up, and I chatted with them when I got a chance.

The panel after that was on innovation, and how to think of new devices in a fantasy or sci fi set up. It had people who studied technology as an academic thing, and others who knew how to describe such things. It was an interesting idea, and the push as how technology would change the world.

In the minds of the authors, monogamy helped men find wives, while polygamy helped women find status. They didn’t marry for love, it was for better status. So, if one man with a lot of status could marry as many women as he could afford, it would be a boon to the women. However, the men without status would remain unmarried.

This creates a need to compete for men. Many innovations come from competitions. The entire Apollo Moon mission was to compete with the USSR who had sent the first man into space. This race created tons of new technology and ideas for people even today. When the competition ended, NASA became pretty useless.

You could try to stop innovation, but it would lead to your doom. Japan outlawed guns. It had 400 years of rule by Shoguns until Commodore Perry arrived, and demanded they make trade with him.

The problem with any of this is how untrue these descriptions are. It wasn’t the space race that pushed us, it was the German scientists we had traded before the space race began. The Shogun had gone broke by the time Perry arrived. These simplistic answers were difficult for me to take, since I have a degree in history and studied many of these subjects.

If Perry was so amazing, why did Japan decide to mimic England over the US?

On the other hand, there were some interesting ideas. Parts of what we call the Middle East were mostly impoverished, and then the countries decided to improve using the new Oil exports they had. Abu Dhabi and others went from literally nothing to a giant city that blows minds today. Cities all over are doing this with increasing measures and pushing the countries into new ideas.

It also is what pushed terrorists into ideas on how to do things.

The questions were a lot better than the history. Ideas on how old the people were, and how the technology would be introduced. If they had never dealt with it before, they may simply ignore it to continue their lives. There may be political reasons to misuse the technology. To give you a good example, the election had people specifically trying to promote memes. Many of the left’s memes came from the same group, which had a hard time keeping up.

After the panel, I went to pick up my sister from her trip. She said a lot of the Disney songs from Sleeping Beauty and others were there. The placement was different though. A big song with dangerous music in the movie, was a funny little story in the ballet. By the way, the ballet was first, and Disney based their work off of that.

I am having to be sort of dodgy on this subject, but I got an interview with a criminal psychologist. I was going to see him after his last patient, and took my sister with me. We watched Zootopia while waiting. Officer Hops was leaving the service and heading back to the farm when the final session ended.

The discussion was on who to look up when it came to studying people like terrorists, gang members, rapists, and active shooters. I have been using the term assholes to describe them. Oddly enough, not a single professional has laughed, or thought it was weird. So we used the term to refer to the different groups. He told me about some books, and folks to look up. It was a great study, and I look forward to bringing what I learned into another book.

To give the blunt answer, the person who helped arrange the interview was one of his patients. He runs a practice in Provo, and a personal friend told me about him when this person found out what I was studying. So, I had to give a high five to a buddy, right after talking with a psych. My sister wanted to continue watching Officer Hops so I let her do that during the interview. My friend left while I was chatting, so I couldn’t offer to drive them home.

After this, my sister said she was hungry, so I took her to a nearby Wendy’s. I was honestly not that hungry, but I did have a soda to keep me going. We chatted, and talked about things. I told her about the interview and how it worked. She promised to not tell how I arranged it, or to talk about who had arranged it.

The cool thing was on the same block. My sister had told me about an international candy store, and we were right next to it. So, yeah, I went and saw Kinder Chocolates, and a giant root beer aisle.

We grabbed some jammy dodgers and other candies, and headed to her house. It was a lively conversation about all that I saw and heard so far at LTUE. I also heard stories about her life, and how she was doing.

I posted the pictures of the store, and was told to try the Brigham Young Root Beer.

To be honest, I wanted some New Zealand candies. While studying History at University, we would have movie nights. The history majors gathered, and watched films about dogs saving small Mongolian children, or bratty Korean Kids. My personal favorite was called the Devil’s Palm, and it was about the Samurai near the end of their tenure. While watching, my friend’s Leigh and Summer would share candies with us. I began to really like what they brought, which meant having the munchies for the food every now and then. Sadly, the store didn’t have them.

We munched on the candies I did get -that was really hard to decide- and chatted until I realized I should give Max a ride home. So, I drove out, and picked Max up from the show. I didn’t watch any more panels, and chatted with friends.

I took Max home partially because I couldn’t remember how to get back exactly. So it made sense. We chatted about videogames and other things.

Back at his place he offered to make some extra macaroni, and I declined. The food smelled nice, but I was honestly not hungry. That’s a real thing at conventions, I only need one meal a day, and it works out great. So while he made his own food, and then ate it, we chatted.

This gets into a really difficult part of my notes. Max set the gun on the mantelpiece, which would start into a lot of big thoughts. I honestly stalled for a few days at this very moment, because its about a friend, and it goes into an unhappy discussion. I was scared away from writing about culture after experiencing the Hugos, and honestly wondered how the right was doing.

Where I live and work, it is a very left leaning idea. The newspapers promote this idea, the college areas are full of this idea, and I honestly got sick of Facebook during the election. It went from wonderful friends to people thinking they were at a football match, and needed to scream as loud as they could for their team for months on end.

During this time, the traffic reports included places where people were protesting, because it would block traffic. There were constant parties promoting the idea that they were not afraid of Donald Trump. I don’t think my friends realized how bad they got, because everyone else was doing it. Which makes it that much scarier. I study intercultural history, I know where this can lead.

So, I brought up some of the weirdness of the left. What I discovered was that for the most part, my estimates of how the right were responding was pretty accurate. There wasn’t a traffic blocking protest at BYU Provo, nor was there anything like what I had just seen. So everyone in Utah has pretty much moved on.

Max was setting the gun at the mantle for this conversation. Pretty much what he said, I heard others say as well.

As just a reference for those interestested, you won’t know there is an active shooter until they begin shooting at you. Having a gun won’t matter because the shooter will likely have planned things out, while you haven’t. Trying to restrict access to guns will not stop this violence, and you being armed will not stop it either. You are imagining a scenario that for the most part doesn’t exist. Criminals use stolen guns, and live in places the police refuse to go into. There have been armed and well trained people at shootings at several of them since the 1980’s, and they were not a major factor in stopping the situation. The most effective method turns out to be pinning the shooter so they can’t use their gun. You aren’t rambo, but neither are they.

Sorry, you can imagine my feelings on the matter. I am writing a freaking book on the subject, and most everything everyone talks about turns out to be false. It sort of blows my mind on the subject. When you get into a study, you first write down what you think is going on, and then check those ideas. It ends up being a really great way to learn and recognize where the national push is placed.

Max proceeded to tell me I didn’t know how the optical world worked. The one I pay my bills with. A TV show and other sites are going on about how they know things you don’t. The accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. One of them said all opticals and eyeglass companies are the same company. This isn’t true, though there is a company that owns a lot. The reason why is many of these companies aren’t making enough, and the industry for glasses and eye care has slowly been replaced by Apps and 3D printers. That is the big conversation at Opticals, not some idiots who bought the dying brands.

When I pointed this out, he told me I was somehow in the dark.

Did he load the gun at the mantle as well? No, I still think of him as a friend. But the next part is going to show up, and man it kind of ruined some experiences.

Before we go on, let me say that you should probably be vaccinated. If you are worried about them, there are tests to take to find out if you are at risk. In general its a good idea, but there are times or a chance it can do something unfun. For example, I once got a really bad flu from a flu vaccine. That is considered a side effect. The flu vaccine is the standard that everyone who studies these things uses. I got bored and looked up statistics one night. It’s fascinating to read, because immunologists and others have to judge things based on bad responses to a vaccine, and bad responses to those who don’t. It gets insane seeing how they compare these things, the worry that 25 people might die if the vaccine isn’t given as opposed to maybe 27 who will have an adverse reaction to it. Adverse btw means possibly die. BTW BTW, they do the same with the freaking flu vaccine. Yeah, I know right!!

So imagine my disappointment when Max believed I was trying to kill people by talking about it this way with him. It was bad. In fact, every time I tried to change the subject, or explain what I was talking about, he continued to think I was some kind of killer. He was eyeing the mantlepiece, and noticing the placement of the gun.

In fact, he wouldn’t change the subject, or let me drop it. I specifically said we should several times. At the end he demanded I listed to him because he was going to save someone’s life by doing this, and looked it up on google. He then told me Rubella was eradicated. Go ahead, click the link. It says about 10 people get rubella every year, no one knows why. But I pretended that he won some imaginary contest, and let him tell me about all the studies he did using NEWS sites. He never mentioned a clinical journal.

So the gun is placed, and yes, it does hurt writing about this. Max is a great guy, and a good friend. The problem is, the folks at the Hugos were actually pretty nice, and they scared me off from writing. If I were to try to dodge around this subject, it would be the same as the other.

Keep in mind, I was at this event because he suggested it. He let me stay at his place, and even offered food. He honestly believed he was helping.

To go a little further, his book Colony is one of the best books I have read in a while. So go read his book.

I went to bed, pretty tired, and honestly I had been feeling it the entire vaccine discussion.

Anyway, the next day he headed out a little earlier than me. This was fine, I decided to have a nice easy day anyway. The parking had gotten so bad, I was in a Smith’s parking lot. I bought a almond crunch snickers and a Dr Pepper. I also tried some nice recipes a guy was handing out. He spoke with a soft Idahoan, and it was nice to hear. This was so I could prove I was a customer at the place, and wouldn’t have my car towed.

At the show, I walked into a panel on technology and it’s problems. This one was fascinating, because the speakers were not trying to talk about the coolness of technology, but how it could destroy. Compare that to the previous conversation, where technology was happening no matter what someone did, it created an interesting thing.

They talked about unforseen consequences. Silly Putty is an unforseen consequence, not just nuclear war. We were told to think about the tertiary uses for the object. Many people imagine their tool to be used in a specific manner, and are surprised when it is used for something else.

Imagine a culture having the item introduced, and how the people would respond to it. The old people with no knowledge wanting to keep what they had. The young people exploring it, and making a mess. How it slowly moved over the years into common use. The views of it will change based on who introduced it, and why.

An interesting point someone made, was that Japan was leading in robots and AI, because in their culture things have life anyway. In European culture, we believe they have a false spirit, and thus are evil. The robot uprising is big to us, and the Japanese don’t see why.

I got another message from my sister that asked me to do the same thing. She had was going to the ballet… again. Seriously, the life she lives.

There was another two panels, but I had time for 1.5. The next one was on Time Travel. It was supposed to describe what it was like to Travel, what you would encounter, and how to imagine cultures. Instead it turned into a giant Nerd Fest on the scientific principles of time travel. The moderator told me afterwards it was really frustrating, because none of the things they had planned to talk about was really there.

We started with Novikov Self Contained theory, and went from there. The problem with time travel is there are a lot of possibilities of it being possible, but no scientific guarantees. The work gets even worse when you realize paradoxes can happen. If you kill an ancestor, it means you don’t live, which means you never killed him. Which world do you live on? What if a single butterfly you stepped on changes the world’s politics when you get back?

This gets into actual physics, since we know its possible that some particles travel in time different from how we travel through it. If that’s possible, aren’t they screwing with us right now?

Novikov said in his theory that what you are doing, has already happened. You can’t kill your ancestor, because the time loop won’t allow it. Every time you try, you end up with two possibilities. The impossible one ceases to exist, the one where you miss continues on.

CS Lewis said time has already happened. If you stood back in history, the grass wouldn’t move from your feet, and it would be like standing on hardened knives. A wind would be liking pressing against a wall. A sheet of paper could be used as a step, if your shoe was able to get grip.

This brought up the idea of observable history. The concept that Tachyons and other particles could travel through time meant we could look back, like a camera aimed at somewhere else. The only problem is, it isn’t real time travel.

Then they talked about uploading your brain, and observing all of history through that. Or perhaps we are in a simulation, and we simply need to check the recordings somehow. The simulation would make sense, just look at the last election. Obviously it wasn’t the voters who decided, and just someone asking a what if.

The brane idea brought up brane theory. It’s from the quantum theorem called String Theory, and then M Theory. Going into it, the idea is that we are on a brane of time, like the membrane on a bubble. The other branes around us are right there, and we can enter into them. They could have all sorts of different laws of physics, so we pop in there for a moment, and pop back. The problem is, where or When?

The earth is constantly moving. Our planet and solar system are not in the same place they were a year ago, let alone thousands. So it’s possible you went back in time, and ended up in space with nothing. So you have to aim first, have a connection of some kind to the place.

Then the panelists said that if time travel was real, someone should burst through the door any minute now. When no one did, someone pointed out this was a really boring spot to show up.

We had a great comment about why not kill Hitler? The moderator mentioned a great story called Wikihistory, about time travelers fixing the newbies mistakes. The big one being killing Hitler and causing all sorts of historical anomalies. No one considered the idea that maybe time travelers chose Hitler out as the best candidate for the job. They were specifically protecting him from assassinations and other things. There were several attempts on his life, and other things that nearly killed him. He survived World War I for crying out loud. The other guys were just as messed up, but more than willing to kill anyone. Hitler held back a lot more. I know that sounds a bit insane, but Himmler tried to bring back the knights of the round table, and had greek statues blown up.

One of the guys questioning went a little too Geek. He claimed to be a time traveler, and honestly I stopped listening past that point. Next year, I should pretend to be a time traveler or something, but have clothes from the 90’s, and talk about netscape.

Then we got into the idea that time may not be as linear as we think. We only view it that way because thats what it seems like to us. It could have several dimensions, and even a wave pattern. Thus, if we go sideways in time, we can travel backwards and forwards as needed. Since particles may be able to do it, there must be openings in these side pockets. Of course, there may be sharks in the waves… Couldn’t help myself, sorry.

But where is time coming from? Some believe we are constantly being hit by it, and time in the past no longer exists. We are riding the wave of time, and trying to move forward is impossible, because it doesn’t exist. Time in the past has decayed but is possible to see. On the other hand, we may be looking at it through a telescope and not realizing it.

We could be watching several galaxies being made, and destroyed, and we only notice the redshift possibility. Time would be a part of it, and thus, we are being hit by several forms of time. If we could somehow be able to surf this, or use it, time travel could be possible.

Needless to say, no one mentioned the Doctor.

The next panel would be shortened for me, but I still really enjoyed it. One of the people talking did a Velociraptor impression, and then talked about paper sculptures.

I actually had to ask if I had permission to take a picture of this sculpture. It really is amazing, and you should see it in real life. You can see the dinosaur in the artist easily.

The subject was on Steampunk design, and I felt bad for not being able to stay. The first thing they jumped into was how to view your character. Unlike other forms of cosplay, you are not dressing as a character you like. You are dressing as an alternative form of yourself. It is a vast world of alternate reality, where steam continued on, and victorian values were never rebelled against. So there are bowlers, and large machines designed for simple things like transporting your cup to your mouth.

Goggles and rings, and gears and other stuff should seem functional. A famous song says don’t just put gears on it, and call it steampunk. There needs to be a purpose. The gears may be used as a decorative piece, so long as they feel natural in the spot. So a hat with gears makes no sense. A hat with gears that raise and lower your goggles does.

A gear can represent a circle in a design, and thus adds to some side things. They actually pointed out the wide berth of things that are considered steampunk. There are also versions of diesel powered times.

Sadly, I had to go grab my sister, and take her to the bus station.

On the way back, I took an alternative route, because I felt pretty confident in my skills to find stuff now. Not only that, the buildings I was heading to were taller than the rest. Easy to spot, and correct my path as needed.

I was back in the grocery store parking lot, and chose out an almond snickers, and some Brigham Young Root Beer. The snickers was tasty, with the same feel of the regular bar, but changed flavor with the almonds. The Root Beer was tasty, and I enjoyed the after taste.

On the way in, I found the guy I had chatted with at the VR station. He told me about his work, and how it helped him do his hobbies. This was his big chance to try to get editors and stuff for his writing. He showed me some great pictures, and talked about how he worked in HDR for this, or that. Also, he showed some piping from his bill paying job.

Another guy joined in, and I chatted with him as well. I was between panels, and just wanted to hang out a bit. The entire trip had taken its toll, and I was feeling it. He was a computer scientist, but I couldn’t tell you much further from that.

It felt weird, but I was sort of tired of panels. I joked with Mari that I understood why her Dad scowled all the time. He was my history professor, and could send fear into your heart with some of his scowls. It was his disappointment at how badly you screwed up history.

I did some walking around, and met with one of the history panelists. I have a picture of her, and even know her name, but don’t think it would be proper to reveal it. She was from the Boise Idaho area, as was her brother. It also turned out she was an archaeology major. I gave her my condolences. It is completely different from the way they portray it in movies. Imagine going through rocks, and bones trying to see if there is anything of note in them, while also documenting as much of it as you can. Each bone has this process. The excitement of one being slightly burnt, or perhaps used as a tool. They might actually welcome a mummy's curse or two.

She recommended I try being a panelist for next year. It would mean a free ticket in, and I get to respond to other panelists. Also, I got to talk about stuff I studied. Woot!

Another author came along, and they chatted. I found out something really interesting. Most people did not know the given names of any of the authors. They admitted to meeting in some other place, and not knowing what to call each other. Or meet someone at work, at the office has no idea who the person is. It is a double life.

My sister actually pointed out that it was awkward for her when I introduce myself as someone else. I am her big brother, and have had my name her entire life. To other people though, I am someone else. It is really weird.

I did some touring of the building. Well ok, I did some touring the day before. This was a more thorough toure. I chatted with folks who represented a cool living RPG idea. It is a spaceship, and away mission rolled into one. Each person represents members of the crew. If it is a big enough group, they can work their part while the away mission is doing other things. Check out the Discovery Space Center for some sci fi fun.

The selling zone was packed full. There were excellent pens, a few resorts, and a cool Co Op Idea for authors. I took a picture of an artist because I liked her eye make up.

One of the editors was there, and I talked with her. I joked about needing to offer a goat to get published. She pointed out she was a smaller label, so it wouldn’t be the first born child at the alter, but maybe a 3rd child no one liked. She may even be willing to accept a candy bar. Writing this out, I suddenly realized I should have offered her one.

There was a lot to see in there, and I don’t think I covered it all. I ended up chatting with a guy who programs for a living. He just enjoyed shooting the crap. I didn’t mind it too much, but I wanted to charge my phone.

While charging, I was told by a panelist walking to the green room I should check out his panel. I told him I would, and he gave me a thumbs up. It was a nice charging time, but I didn’t chat with a lot of people.

At the panel I was told to go see, I found out it would be really interesting. The panelist turned out to be Paul H Smith who was a remote viewer for the army. He was part of project Star Gate. Go ahead, take a moment to think about what I just wrote.

They basically go into an empty room and think about nothing. Someone away from the room has an assigned place they need to see. If the person was told, it might screw up the description. Drawings, papercraft, clay, and other things are used to show what is being seen. It is a type of psychic look at something no one else can look at.

He showed us pictures of things drawn or molded, and then what it actually was. There were descriptions of mining fields, or a building in Saudi Arabia. This is really surprising because the person isn’t be told anything about the building, and even has doubters at times. They go through a lot of rigour to make sure it is accurate.

There is also some history. The CIA found out the USSR was doing it, so they hired folks to get into it. They were trying out drugs and other stuff just to check. Doctor Strange was based on some of these tests and ideas. Then the Air Force took it over, and then the Army a few years later. So yes, Stargate was a real thing. They even tried to picture stuff on other planets.

The building they worked in was not a highly sophisticated building with all sorts of stuff keeping them safe. It was a bought out neighborhood that looked like a poor part of town. Very few people realized it was going on. Generals and others walking in expected it to be some kind of trap or joke.

After decades of work, the project was dropped and deemed too expensive.

I think the coolest one shown was how a guy described a submarine in a based. The military didn’t know what it was, they just had a picture of a large building next to some water. It turned out to be one of the largest submarines ever made. He got some things wrong, but even the torpedo bays were placed correctly. They only found out about the accuracy a decade after the viewing.

It was a cool idea, and sci fi as all get out. I told Mr. Smith that I really enjoyed it. He said it was a home run to him because I said that.

The panel after that was myths of science. As an anthropologist who has hung out with scientists from all sorts of spectrums, I was looking forward to them debunking some myths. Mari and her husband Scott sat next to me. It should have been a great show.

This is why I made sure to talk about Max’s response. Like I said, its not a thing for anyone I know in the North West. In Utah, it is apparently huge.

The first panelist started into vaccinations. The people went on and on about how people suffered from these diseases. The vaccine has saved so many lives. How would you not take it? And then he began to shout. Other panelists pushed the idea that anyone with any other thought was obviously evil. About half the time of the panel was them talking about this.

Then they went into a chemist who helped design the nuclear bomb. He discovered a connection between vitamin C and fighting cancer. So he promoted the idea. It turned out to be wrong, but he argued for it. The panelists called him an idiot, and stupid, and off his rocker.

Then global warming was obviously real, because they said so.

A big problem with science is the nationalism that goes with it at times. There is no panel of judges who decide how science works. Instead, it’s a long conversation between people who check as many statistics as they can. They will recheck gravity if they have to just to make sure. There is even a device designed just to do that. It’s called the IUD or Intern Usefulness Device.

Nationalism of science is the idea that there are judges, and that society must do as they say. If we don’t, then the world will lead to chaos. Two days beforehand I was at a panel on propaganda, and I was being treated ot it at a panel on scientific myths.

There was a few comments about actual scientific myths. The alpha male from wolves turned out to only happen to wolves in captivity. Otherwise they acted as a family unit, and made sure everyone was taken care of. Pack members who were slower were taken care of. If the leads got too far ahead, they would come back for their elders.

After the thing, I looked over the Mari and Scott, and told them the thing about vaccines. Then I said I was likely going to skip the next panel on colonialism. It turned out to be the right move, because my sister was back from the ballet.

I drover her around looking for a place to eat. I had two candy bars and some soday for a meal that day, and was really feeling it. After a few bad turns, I found a Sonic. I hadn’t eaten at one for over a decade, so it was a treat for me. We chatted, and ordered chocolate shakes, soda, and I got an avocado burger. It’s fun to get fry sauce as an item you can order.

While eating, I got a text from Max that he had walked home. So, I drove back. Honestly I took some wrong turns near his street and ended up a mile away. That’s an interesting problem with grid system streets. When the street isn’t following the grid because of a non grid like river, it screws you up completely. I went from 800th street to 1100th street on the same street. It just skipped everything.

I chatted with Max and his roommates a bit, and then went to bed.

It was a weird thing, and I have to admit feeling odd about it. Imagine helping set up for conventions at just about every single one you have been to, and then not having to set up or take down. Not only that, there was no Sunday part of the LTUE. That’s usually the take down day at all the other shows. No arcades, no setup, no take down, and I was mostly going to panels. I felt sort of lost on the entire thing.

The next day I went to church like a perfectly ordinary person. I went to all three parts, and even noticed stuff.

The big thing I noticed was how the chapel had a dyed glass facade in the back. Even more interesting was that it had a cross on it. It was an artistic symbolic style cross if you thought of it from a 1980’s point of view, but the lines were obviously there. This doesn’t mean anything to you, but Mormons really don’t look at the cross as a central part of their religion. To us, it’s the rising from the grave, and suffering for our sins that is important. You don’t find crosses at Mormon churches at all. We reference it, and have all sorts of pictures of it, but it is not a central part of our religion. In other words, I saw something weird.

As I thought about it, I realized where I was, and how the culture around me was working. I had left the world of Seattle and Spokane to enter into another reality. This one was mostly Mormon, had right leaning beliefs, and feared you might destroy the world if you didn’t get your vaccine. It was a brane, just like the time travel panel was talking about.

We had been talking about time causing us to look at different realities, but in front of me was a small glimpse of a world from a different reality. The gun on the mantelpiece had been shot by a panelist, but now the ending showed that it wasn’t the central part of the story. The story wasn’t that someone was shot, it was that the two lovers came from separate worlds.

Everyone around me was trying to keep up the appearance of this reality. I saw it in church, and while driving around town or talking to random folks. To them, this was how things worked. People who had lived in other places had altered themselves and their points of view to fit within this new brane.

In older times, traveling to another city, or past a mountain meant entering a new world. The travelers knew this, while the people living in the town or city really didn’t. They believed culture was orbiting around them, and doing as they say. Instead, it was separate, and doing its own thing. To see this was to see the reality beyond our own.

All those years of talking about the world getting smaller, yet here I was, observing the branes as easily as a traveler of long ago. Not only that, I could also see how it was difficult to see for some. There were hispanics and other cultures in the congregation. The Bishop welcomed everyone in spanish. I met a guy from my island of Oahu, though not my part. It was all branes again. Which was shocking to observe.

For people in Provo, rain is a harsh thing that needs to be dodged. For me, it was just a thing. I had walked through it before. Even better, I wasn’t allergic to this rain like I am in Spokane. It was nice to be so wet, as strange as it may sound to others.

One of the guys walking with me told me how his part of Washington - a very snowy area called Snohomish- doesn’t have snow plows. There is a weird city and county problem, and so the county has to rent the plows from the next county over. That to me is mind blowing.

After church I slept a little, and then went to hang out with my sister. We talked, and I ate spaghetti with no sauce. I was still in the mode where I only needed one meal a day, so I was satisfied. Her roommate hung out for a little bit, and showed off how she could stand on her head.

The next day, I drove out, and headed back through several branes of reality. The one that scared me was near Idaho Falls. It was raining and foggy, but the average speed was 90 Miles Per Hour. The ice had melted, and the roads had way better traction than before. Not a joke, when I drove it in December, it was so icy, I missed stops because I wasn’t slowing down at all.

When I talked about it online, all of my friends in the area wanted me to come hang out. I was only getting gas, but they all missed me. It was really nice to know when I got into Butte, several hundred miles away.

The drive in Montana was diverse. The roads were straight, but the weather would change suddenly. I went from passing a guy, to needing to be in the right lane for better traction in a single second. That was not an easy moment, because there was no clear area except ahead of me. So I passed everyone like a hockey player who had been tackled too many times for safety. It really was 90 MPH to 20 MPH, and everything in between.

I made sure to eat two meals, and drank a lot of Dr. Pepper. That doesn’t sound important, but I knew my body would thank me for feeding it as the convention mode turned off. I had so little regular water my pee smelled of Dr. Pepper. It’s a gross thing, but a very accurate description of my trip.

When I got home, I hugged everyone, and uploaded what I could from my phone. I was still excited, but I knew the very next week as another big convention, and I had to be rested and ready for it. Also, I wasn’t going to get a break of a few days off. It would be work every day so I could afford the next trip.