"Dude! You have a Hugo!"

Thanks to everyone who has expressed congratulations on the SFFY Hugo. I'm still on cloud nine.

I've heard this year's statue called butt-ugly, but I think it is utterly spiffing, as vicarage would have us say. My niece has it right: "And that is a kick-ass statue! I love it!" The Ultraman figure looks like something out of an old pulp magazine. Very cool.

My niece also saw right to the heart of the matter: "How awesome to get recognition for doing what you are passionate about." Smart kid, my niece, even if she should have said "spiffing" rather than "awesome." My family really doesn't understand the whole fandom thing, but I was able to point them to web pages about the Hugos and about Lee Hoffman. I showed them the zine last year, too, and even sent a copy to my sister in China. My dad wasn't sure what to make of the fact that we had paid to print and mail the zine ourselves (with some welcome help from NESFA on the printing costs) and were giving it away for free. I don't think he'd ever thought of it before when I'd shown him other zines. I made the potlatch comparison, which seemed to help.

Yesterday I joined daveon and vicarage at the Elysian for a few celebratory pints and the usual fun conversation about what a backward hellhole America is. "Well, you've pretty much accomplished everything possible in fandom now," Dave told me, "so you might as well retire."

"Yes," I agreed. "Stick a fork in me. I'm done."

But when I talked to gerisullivan earlier, she seemed to think there was more yet to come. I looked through a copy of SFFY 12 last night, and there it was on the last page: Pub Your Ish! Well, okay then. Let's do.