Further Assimilations

Started off the weekend with a fever on Friday, caused probably by having to run around in the cold cold rain on Thursday. But I medicated the heck out of myself, and was well enough to travel with Starr to Williamsburg on Friday for MarsCon.

Most conventions are, for me, opportunities to socialize with friends I don't often get to see. southernsinger, kittykatya, impink, geckoman, and stori_lundi were all there, as well as folks I get to see a little more often such as ptownhiker, fixitup, and torn757. Got to spend some quality time with Jesse and Dwight too!

Convention loot: a Devil's Panties graphic novel (Jennie Breeden remembered me from Dragon*Con), character sketches from an artist in the dealer's room, a Carcassonne expansion and an book of Paranoia XP modules, two White Plectrum CDs and a Coyote Run CD, some erotica from Helen Madden's table, and a couple of buttons. After spending the weekend avoiding the purchase of T-shirts, Starr and I were handed free ones by a local game store - now I have to get rid of more old ones to make space!

Next year, the con is supposed to move to a bigger location, and it really needs the space. MarsCon completely overflowed its host hotel, which is a shame, as I think it's a nice place to hold the weekend. I got to hear some other VA con politics I didn't want to hear about, but that's the down side of having friends who are so heavily involved in things.

Speaking of being involved, this was the first time I can recall having my con badge paid for as a "Guest" presenter. I have to say I found it very cool, though somehow I had always imagined it would be for my Great American Science Fiction Novel. Still, the panels (which I talk a bit more about in the Lifestyle filter) were great fun, and I can't wait to do them again next year.

We'd really intended to stay longer on Sunday, but despite finally getting the MarsCon Charity Chair Massage I'd been wanting to try for years, we had a bad case of burnout. Excitement, dancing, endorphins, and little sleep all hit at once, and Starr and I headed home around 1:30 to veg for the rest of the day. Still haven't quite come down though. How long 'till T-Con?

Oh, by the way, for people who didn't go see Cloverfield, or restrained themselves from visiting YouTube this weekend, here's the new Trek movie trailer. Total geekgasm.

I slept quite late Sunday morning; I'd not had enough rest in the last week, and a five-hour drive is still draining even when it's pleasant.

shrewlet fixed a big breakfast for us. I was starving, I honestly ate too much. I spent a few minutes checking e-mail and trying to log onto WoW - I'm trying to earn enough quest tickets to win a prize in-game - but I couldn't get a good connection. It wasn't long before I had to give up and get dressed for yubbie and colleenk's wedding.

Wile dressing, I amused myself by considering the far greater number of times I've worn a Starfleet uniform than a suit, but it's not as if I'd forgotten how to put it on. Dwight and I left the Arthur digs early, for we had stops to make - I picked up a cute card for the happy couple - and we arrived pretty much on time.

Listing the LJ and fan folk who were there would be quite tedious, so I shan't try. The wedding was wonderful. Colleen was gorgeous and Ron looked great. I saw people there I hadn't laid eyes on in years!

That sad part was that I couldn't stay for the reception - we had a 5-hour drive back (6, really) and Dwight had to be home in time for an early work day. So I didn't get to pass on my congratulations in person. But the pictures prove I was there!

Home now... I had a great time, and wish I could have spent more time at that end of the state. The Roanoke and New River valleys need to be brought at least 2/3 closer to Hampton Roads (or vice versa).

I got Guitar Hero 80s last week. First-ever five-star ratings - on "Radar Love" and "Turning Japanese", naturally. This has an excellent song list as far as I'm concerned!

The weather down here lately has been incredible. Clear blue skies, sharp edges on all the polygons - err, objects nearby, and temperatures in the high 60s to mid 70s. On the other hand, It's really dark when I get out of bed now, and the sunset is happening sooner and sooner. I don't like this at all, no sir.

Still trying to figure out if I've got the money to do all the traveling I'd like to do in October. The pirate wedding was a reminder of how much I miss old friends.

I wish I was doing more interesting stuff to talk about. If I can do the traveling, that'll help a bit :)

Got back last night from Salem / Roanoke. rhaps and shrewlet let us stay overnight at their place with no notice, and Rhaps even came down to the service on Friday. I'm really glad, too because it was one more familiar face for raininva, and I think that meant much to her.

Dad thought highly of both Rain and Starr, and I felt they should both be there. The family proved their great class by welcoming and supporting them both; I don't know if I've even been prouder to be an O'Brien. Beth, Cathy, Benny and Jamie (old-guard Batron Starfleeters) showed up for the public reception on Thursday too. Interestingly, time_shark's name came up a few times, as it turns out that my dad and my dad's dad knew Nelson Bond's family pretty well, and I got to reminiscing with some of the Bonds and their friends about the Showtimers and the southwest Virginian fiction community.

My father was involved in fascinating stuff I never even heard about, stuff I can't even talk about here. There was a long stretch of my life where I wasn't close to the man, but I thought I had a pretty good idea who he was and what he got up to. I was right in some ways, and completely wrong in others. I wonder what else I missed?

My sister Whitney, of whom you've heard me talk almost nothing here because we too have been somewhat out-of-touch, asked me to be a pallbearer. I was honored, and I'm not sure I could have been talked out of at least trying... but this may have been the stupidest testosterone-induced promise I've ever made. I'm not supposed to lift over 25 pounds since the hip surgery; to be fair, I violate this on occasion, but usually with discretion. I strained several muscles, and nearly fell over once. Thank goodness no one said anything. At least I did no actual damage to myself.

Whitney's one-year-old daughter Kennedy was with her for the two Thursday receptions. Baby singing and the throw-the-toy-on-the-floor game was exactly what I needed that day. Everytime the walls started to close in, I'd just look at Kennedy's innocently quizzical expression, and things got a tiny bit better.

Friday on the way home, I stopped by my Mom's, and she and Starr and I grabbed some lunch. While trying to dig up some Tintin comics I wanted to re-read, I found my old I.P.M.S. award for the Ether Flyer Thunderchild model, as well as some Pathfinder group shots and another portion of my dice collection. I can't believe how much of my life is still at Kentland. I despair of fully sorting through it.

This too, is a bit rambly, but I'm getting closer to my center again. Tried to do a little fiction today, but the headspace isn't there, and I'm determined to write something. I don't have the luxury that a Conan Doyle character would of six months of "brain fever". Bills gotta be paid, chores gotta be done, and life goes on.

And on a crass note, Dad was going to take care of my Dragon*Con travel for me. This isn't an entitlement whine, but a note that I don't have a Plan B yet. We'll have to see what I can work out.

Taking a nice, quiet weekend this week. There are bunches of really cool people to hang out with down here, which is great... but on the other hand, one can get a little over-socialized. So last night, we watched Deadliest Catch and Good Eats, while today we shopped for scrubs for Starr, made a short trip to Barnes and Noble, and took a leisurely walk around the playgrounds and swimming pools near the apartment. The rest of the day will probably be WoW, or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or something else as quiet.

Did you know that there are officially-licensed M*A*S*H and Grey's Anatomy scrubs available to nurses? Now I want to dig for patterns and fabric to duplicate the ones Dr. McCoy would wear during surgery.

Getting two people to DragonCon and finding them places to stay is turning into an expensive proposition. :( I haven't given up yet!

Still having one Hades of a time finishing Terran Mission 9 in Starcraft. The cheat codes are calling my name, but I have stood firm this long!!

Just came back from a very nice dinner with raininva at Red Robin. She gave me some loot from Vegas' Star Trek: The Experience - a Starfleet emblem and an isolinear chip keychain.

Rain just got promoted, and is apparently being groomed for bigger things in the future. I'd be jealous, if it weren't for the fact that I'm quite pleased with my new job :)

This morning, I stared into the shaving mirror while performing my daily skin irritation ritual, and remembered someone at Technicon referring to me as one of the con's "elder statesmen". I enjoyed the compliment... but it's still a little weird trying to think of myself that way.

Didn't get to stay in bed any later than 9:30 or so this weekend - too much to do! Happy weekend, though. We were celebrating Starr's graduation from nursing school at the top of her class! I think that excellent things are ahead for her.

My Dad drove up to see me yesterday, and I'm planning to go see my Mom and my sister before long this summer. There's been a bit of distance, because of how wrapped-up I've been in myself lately, and I'm really looking forward to re-connecting with them all this year.

The living-room TV's flipped its power supply, and we're down to watching Good Eats on a 12" portable we had in the bedroom. I was looking at getting an AppleTV in a few weeks, but I suspect I'll be putting that off a bit. One of the reasons I'm so far behind on my TV watching is that a lot of it's on the computer, and I just don't think of my desktop Mac as a media center - more of a creativity, communications, and gaming support device. TV programs are for relaxing in the living room - so, really, that makes me a perfect AppleTV customer. (Another reason I'm behind is that I usually have much better things to do than television. Even really good television. I'm almost to the point of cutting things I like from the DVR schedule that I know I just won't get around to watching. People keep saying things like "you should start watching Heroes!" and I look at my backlog and think "yeah... next year maybe!")

Dave S. will be running his Marvel Super Heroes game tonight. I haven't been able to attend since March, and I can't wait to catch up with everyone. For the last sessions, I'd had to finish at work and fly right over to arrive fashionably late; with my new schedule I can take it a little easier.

My outlook's not too bad for a Monday morning.

I have arrived in Blacksburg for Technicon.

At 7:00 pm last night, I left Little Creek Station in the care of Security Officer KayLee (who's going to be pretty durn cheesed at raininva and me when we return). Norfolk to Blacksburg is a 5-hour trip, or thereabouts... I got in at 4:30 am. Long story.

I should be throughly loopy by tonight. This may make my panel presentations quite interesting.

Monday, 9/5

We got packed quickly on Monday morning. Experienced con-goers all, none of the three of us had packed much or strewn it about. and we were checked out by 10:30 or 11. The Hyatt had started handing out custom Dragon*Con room keys on Friday, and we'd missed those by checking in on Thursday; but they were giving away blank ones Monday morning, so I snagged a couple for Rain and myself.

Final con wandering occurred. On one of her few breaks, Rain dragged me into the Exhibitor's Hall where she bought my anniversary present (she jokes that WizKids bought it, since the money came from the sale of a bit of her terrifyingly vast Limited Edition figure collection).

The con forced valet parking on us Thursday, so we were glad to be able to fit all our stuff on a single luggage cart for when they brought the car back around. We made it out by 1, grabbed lunch, and hit the road. Thanks to good planning, we were back in the land of less painful gas prices by the time we needed to fill up. (We stopped for gas at Fuel Club. I'd say more, but we all know you do not talk about Fuel Club.)

We listened to all 12 half-hour episodes of the original two Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series in the car on the way back :) I got home at around 11:30pm, was greeted by a loudly indignant cat, and just as in the days before, had not trouble at all dropping swiftly to sleep.

Thus endeth my first Dragon*Con experience. I wanna go again next year.

Saturday, 9/3

It's been over a week, so lots of stuff about the con are fading. But I still remember a bunch, like the Lisa Hayes costumer in the elevator in a nice SDF-Macross dress uniform (original TV series). I think she was pleased someone recognized it. There were 3 or 4 uniforms from the old V miniseries, and even a large group of Stonecutters from the Simpsons. While Neos and Trinities and Agents weren't hard to find, I was pleased to see a well-done Morpheus who looked the part.

The only panel I managed to attend all day was a panel on casting makeup appliances from liquid latex. It was very informative, and there's no doubt that it makes a lot more sense to buy unless you absolutely need a custom piece. Sadly, the first thing one needs for the process is some sculpting ability, which I'm short on; I took it better, though, than the one fan who got very angry that the panel wasn't going to teach her to sculpt.

I was pleasantly surprised by one attribute of the con. Crowded it was, and rhaps' head probably would have gone all 'splody by mid-Friday. But it wasn't the packed mosh pit I'd expected - I rarely had much trouble getting to where I needed to go, and never felt dangerously short on elbow room or oxygen.

When dinner rolled around, we tried to eat at a nearby Steak and Ale, but it was a 90 minute wait, so we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta (my first time in a Hard Rock!) instead. Still lots of congoers there, and some even in costume. I felt sorry for the half-dressed catgirl in a tearful argument with two males outside another restaurant on the way back.

When I got back to the con, I hooked up with a hot gamer chick, headed up to her room, and slept with her. (Translation: Rain's roommate let her know she'd be out all night, so I got to cuddle my sweetie for the first time all weekend. Too bad sleep was all we could manage *smirk*)