Day: August 10, 2008

Being at a convention is a little bit like being sprayed with a fire hose. There is so much going on so fast that it is impossible to catch all of it. This experience is reflected in post-con blog entries which tend to be just a list of people met and events attended. The blog author is just trying to make notes of everything that happened before life moves on and pieces are forgotten. These entries serve as a Cliffs’ Notes for the person who attended the con. The entry is intended to serve as reminders for larger stories. I’ve written my fair share of Cliff’s Notes blog entries. I always intent to come back and fill in the gaps, but life moves on and I find myself blogging new things instead. For this Worldcon I decided that rather than try to capture all the people and events, I would try to capture my mind state or the feel of the day. This seemed to work well both for the blogging and for reducing my stress level. I did not feel compelled to try to collect every detail and keep it in my head. Instead I just let it all wash over me to see what would stick. it was an enjoyable way to experience a con.

I am not used to talking to hundreds of different people in a day. All these conversations cover many of the same topics and so I found myself re-using jokes and anecdotes. Some stories got used in almost every conversation. I do this because I it got a good reaction last time and I’m hoping to reap the same return energy. However, over the weekend, conversations begin to blur and I forget who I’ve already told a particular joke. So I find myself halfway through a story, wondering if this person already knows the ending.

At then end of three days of convention, I leave feeling like there is still fun to be had. Part of me is sad to go. After five days I’m pretty burned out. I’ve had a great time, but I’m ready to be back at home. It’ll be nice to be where all the days and all the conversations don’t blur into one long con-warp.

I talked to all of the kids last night. They were all glad to talk to me, except for Gleek. She was too busy watching Avatar on TV. I can tell that they are having fun, but they will be glad to be back at home. We’ll all be together again on Wednesday.

Closing down the booth and packing out went far more quickly than I expected. The dealer’s room closed at 2 pm and we were on the road by 4 pm. We stopped for a dinner at Johnson’s Corner on I-25. Wonderful place, I really recommend it if you are driving between Ft. Collins and Denver.

I never pictured myself attending the Hugo awards, but I was there last night. I got to see Mary Robinette Kowal win the Campbell. I got to see John Scalzi win for his Whatever blog. I got to be sad that Phil Foglio did not win for best artist. I got to laugh at Robert Silverberg’s comments, which are surely available on You Tube by now. I was delighted when “Blink” from Doctor Who, won for best short form dramatic presentation. Now I want to re-watch Doctor Who. After the event was over, we went down to the front to congratulate the winners. Howard got to hold John Scalzi’s rocket.

Phil and Kaja were charming and cheerful about their loss. We sat at a table with them and Alice and Mike, swapping funny stories. Howard related the tale of Gleek’s woeful phone call earlier in the day. Then Phil made me laugh until I cried by offering horrible ways I could have responded to my daughter. “I’m sorry you’re sad, but mommy loves science fiction more than you…” It went on from there. I wish I could remember more of it, but I was laughing too hard to retain any information. The words played right to all the back-brain guilt I felt about not being there when Gleek needed me. I needed that laugh. It was wonderful to have all my hidden guilt dragged out into the open and made funny. Both Phil and Kaja Foglio are wonderful people. If you’re not already reading Girl Genius, you should be.

We walked Phil and Kaja to their after party, then we went in search of the the Baen Books party. Howard had been invited to go by Toni Weiskopf. I finally got to meet her, but didn’t really get a chance to talk because the party was so loud and crowded. I can tell I’d love to talk with her at length. All the Worldcon parties I attended were crowded, hot, and noisy. It was a little frustrating because the room was full of interesting people, but it was hard to talk to anyone. Fortunately we found space to sit and the rooms cleared out after awhile. That was when we were able to relax and really talk to people. I have many people with whom I want to keep in touch. Thank goodness for business cards. Once I’m home I’ll go through my stack.