pegkerr: (All was well)
[personal profile] pegkerr
Sending this out a little early.

Minion 59 was this past weekend. I stayed at the hotel, and to my joy, Delia joined me. I really appreciate it when a member of the family comes to Minicon with me.

Somewhat rashly, I had signed up for a glut of panels. I had a reading, too, which was relatively well attended, considering that it scheduled rather early in the con. I read from the latest chapter of my book in progress, and people seemed to enjoy it well enough.

I definitely had a good time, with excellent conversations, although I found myself getting tired in the evenings and was glad I had decided to get a hotel room. (I also ate way too much.) I made some nice acquisitions in the dealer's room, including a new sterling silver ring and my first set of gaming dice ("Baby's first gaming dice!" [personal profile] lydamorehouse exclaimed when I showed them off to her). I liked them because of the leaf motif on the sides of the dice.

gaming dice


I've done collages about Minicon in the past, because it's such an important event for me each year (I've been attending since, I think, 1988). It's getting increasingly challenging, however, to come up with something new. The flying saucer is an enormous blow-up thing that sits in the Garden Court each year. The picture of the various guests of honor and convention personnel was taken at Closing Ceremonies, where traditionally people in the audience bat around ballons. I always miss Rob during Closing Ceremonies--we would separate as we each enjoyed the con, but we always came to sit together at Closing Ceremonies.

One thing that was announced at the Closing Ceremony is that I will be one of the two Guests of Honor at Diversicon this year, which will take place July 24-26.

Image description: Bottom: a panel of speakers sit at a long table. Background: a view of deep space. Center: a flying saucer hovers over a field of flying ballons. Top: Peg's schedule at Minicon (a reading and six panels).

Minicon

14 Minicon

Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.
pegkerr: (Default)
[personal profile] pegkerr
I'm getting this out a little early because I'm heading to Minicon tomorrow.

I got together with a friend, Rebecca, for another Year of Adventure event: she spent a couple of pleasant hours teaching me some of the very basic principles of ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement (she has been studying the practice for a number of years). I recognized some of what she explained to me about the principles of Japanese design from what I know about bonsai, and from some articles I'd read about Japanese fashion.

These arrangements are meant to evoke tranquility. They emphasize asymmetry, minimalism, and negative space. Rebecca demonstrated how to a build the structure using a kenzan (a spiky metal pin frog) to secure stems in a shallow bowl.

Traditionally, ikebana focuses on three elements: Shin (heaven - the tallest line), Soe (earth - the supporting line), and Hikae (human - the balancing line). The stems you choose for each are set at specific angles in the most formal style. We played around with free form. I had no idea what I was doing, of course, but it was fun and absorbing, and I was genuinely proud of my first effort.

Since Japanese ikebana emphasizes minimalism, this collage is very simple: a picture of my arrangement displayed on a table top. The only other element I added is the enso symbol in the upper right, a circle which may be closed (perfection) or open (the beauty of imperfection).

The enso is the symbol of the Japanese aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi, which is about embracing the beauty found in imperfection, transience, and the natural cycle of growth and decay. Ikebana embodies this by celebrating the fleeting beauty of life.

Image description: An ikebana flower arrangement in a white vase with eucalyptus leaves, pussy willows, sea holly, and white tulips sits on a table. Upper right corner: an enso circle.

Ikebana

13 Ikebana

Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

My Minicon Schedule

Apr. 1st, 2026 08:25 am
pegkerr: (Enchanted quill 2)
[personal profile] pegkerr
For those unfamiliar, Minicon is a science fiction/fantasy convention held in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, specifically) on Easter weekend every year. I've been attending since, oh, 1988 or so?

Scheduled events where you can find me:

Thursday: Maybe I'll go to Opening Ceremonies, but not likely.

Friday:

READING: 12:00 Noon Peg Kerr. I will have a half hour time slot and I'll be reading from the work in progress. Bonus: in the scene I will be reading, I'll be bringing back a character from Emerald House Rising.

7 PM – Books We Cull, Books We Keep: Curating your personal library.

8:30 PM - Research and World-Building, or "Write the Story Already !"

Saturday:

10 AM – The Enduring Allure of Regency Romance

7 PM - On Writing Badly [heaven knows I know a lot about this]

8:30 PM - Reading Dystopia vs. Living Dystopia

Sunday:

11:30 AM – How to Create a Character

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