(no subject)

I'm sort of stuck here, and it's awkward. I have a new fandom which I've discovered, and it is shiny and wonderful and full of all sorts of marvellous things. It's also a very old fandom, and I'm trying to play catchup.

I'm watching all the episodes of Star Trek; this is not too difficult. The main issue is books. I've found Memory Alpha, which is the wiki, but I don't want to spoil any of the books for myself! There seem to be as many as there are Star Wars novels, and I've read almost all of those (definitely all of them set post-ANH), but the thing is with those that I started when I was TEN, and caught up relatively quickly, so could follow along with things reasonably as they came out in paperback.

I have no idea where even to start with Star Trek. No clue. I've read over a couple of recommendation lists that some existing fans put together for newbies like me, which is a very kind thing to do, but I can't seem to find any of those titles on the shelves at my local bookshop.

Help me, anyone who knows these things. Where do I go to find the books which don't presuppose that I've read all the others, and which will give me a good basic grounding in the underpinnings of the Star Trek expanded universe? Halp!

(no subject)

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of my country. As I write this, I’ve been reading the international news. Most of it’s about Iran, or Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the United States; most of it is bad. Plane crashes, political upheaval and tyranny, economic hemorrhaging.

Canada’s barely mentioned. I guess we’re not interesting enough for the global media.

What a privilege it is to live somewhere boring; what a privilege to know that the elections I vote in are real elections; what a privilege to be able to fearlessly walk outdoors at night - or during the day, for that matter - by myself; what a privilege that my friends Don and Patrick have all the same rights and legal standing as my friends Teresita and Joe; what a privilege that I, a woman, can join the military if I wish to; what a privilege that I also have the option not to join the military; what a privilege that our environmental failings are considered news rather than the general state of things; what a privilege to be host to the world science fiction convention AND the Olympics within a year’s period; what a privilege to be an immigrant and welcome; what a privilege to have the sea and the rocks and the sky; what a privilege to be able to write this in a blog which will not disappear.

I am so lucky.