Today is National Science Fiction Day. Wait…National SF Day? Since no nation officially recognizes it, I suggest we rename it Galactic Science Fiction Day. After all, the Milky Way Galaxy has officially recognized it. Don’t believe me? Prove me wrong.
January 2 is an apt date for SF Day. It’s Isaac Asimov’s birthday. Maybe. I seem to recall reading that Isaac wasn’t 100% sure of his birthdate. That ambiguity makes the date even more fitting.
Also, January 2 is so close to the beginning of the year that it seems to retain a connection to the recent past while also causing us to think about the promise of the year ahead. Rather a nice metaphor for SF.
If you’re wondering just how to celebrate SF Day, well, fellow Earthling, you’ve beamed to the right blog post. Here’s a list of 22 ways to celebrate. I hoped to list all 42 ways, but Heinlein’s Star Beast ate 20 of them.
- Read a SF short story or novel. If you need a suggestion for which to read, may I (ahem) recommend any of my stories? Click the Stories tab. Or you could read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a classic that’s 200 years old this year.
- Watch a SF movie or TV show. Luckily, there are plenty of quality choices these days.
That takes care of the two obvious ways to celebrate. Now on to the more unconventional ways:
- Prepare and serve some SF-themed food and drink. You can get some great ideas for this in posts by Mike Brotherton, Meg Shields, Meredith Woerner and at a site called aliencuisine.com. There are, by the way, at least two mixed drink recipes called the Captain Nemo—this one, and this one.
- Listen to some SF-inspired music. You have plenty from which to choose, including movie and TV show sound tracks and various SF-inspired rock songs.
- Dress as your favorite SF character.
- Play a SF-themed video game.
- Write a fan email or letter to your favorite (living) SF author. (The Poseidon’s Scribe blog accepts comments. Just saying.)
- Write a review of a favorite SF story or novel.
- Build a model of your favorite SF vehicle.
- Grab a partner and play a game of 3-dimensional chess.
If your celebratory mood takes a creative twist, consider the following:
- Compose, or just hum, your very own SF song.
- Draw a picture of a musical instrument of the future.
- Write a SF-inspired poem.
- Imagine how life could be different for someone like you living 100 or 1000 years from now.
- Pick a current trend you’ve observed (social, governmental, or any type of trend), and extrapolate it in your mind, imagining the future implications.
- Make a list of possible future sports, or ways science may influence current sports.
- Draw or write a description of the most bizarre alien you can think of.
- Draw or write a description of your own SF vehicle. It can be any type of vehicle, traveling through (or within or athwart, or whateverwhichway) any medium.
- Draw or write a description of the house (or other building) of the future.
- Imagine what your current job will be like for workers 100 or 1000 years from now.
- Imagine your favorite super-power. What is it? What problems might occur if you had it? What scientific advances might have to happen for you to get that super-power?
- Write an outline for your own SF story or novel or screenplay. Or write the whole tale.
Happy Natio—er, I mean Galactic Science Fiction Day. Perhaps you can think of ways to celebrate that are beyond the imagination of—
Poseidon’s Scribe