Where did Sunday Go?

Insulin reaction at about 4 am, Hgl = 60. Fixed with bananas and whipped cream, and the last of the low-sugar mint chocolate chip ice cream. But it set me back an hour or two. Wanted to sleep in and go straight to the theater, but remembered I had a stack of theater flyers which needed to be spread around Baycon first, so I did. Got to the con at about 10:30, did a quick tour of the flyer tables around the hotel, hit the art show to see if there were any bids on my work (nope) then the dealer's room to see if Cargo Cult still had the book I wqas looking at (Dave wasn't there, neither was the book) so decided to do my good deed for the day and buy something from kalanasse to give to scendan. It is so nice to be able to make two friends happy. Didn't find the goblin, so I tossed the item into my car and drove to the theater.

Excellent show, the audience was once again amazing. Standing O again from all those who could stand, applause, whistles, catcalls. I can see the whole cast getting better and better at playing to the audience, getting the comic timing down, learning to not step on applause after songs. After the show we had to strike the set, which was delayed significantly because all of us had friends in the audience. Four of my theater friends were there, including one who was in the Sunnyvale production with me. Had a nice chat with a woman who is a Spanish professor, who said she read Don Quixote in the original, but that's not the same thing because this is as much about the author as it is about his book. She also claims to have seen it on Broadway with Howard Keel, but I know Richard Kiley was the only one who played Cervantes in the three original runs. Keel was mostly a movie star, he didn't do any significant Broadway work in that time frame.

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After the show I went to Baycon, got there in time for Trailer Park, which with holographic substitute MC johnnyeponymous doing his usual fine job of entertaining the sometimes hostile crowd. There were lots of trailers for video games, not much in the way of new movie trailers, and some seriously boring short movies.

Needed food, but the hallway "grab and go" setup had packed it in for the day, the buffet had no seating available and was closing in 30 minutes, and the lounge was also packed. Went upstairs to see what filk was doing, but it was all acts I have seen as much of in the past as I want to. Downstairs, checked out the dance, the music was okay, but the place was almost empty and even rackstraw was unable to find a partner. I had a $2 Pepsi and then went up to the party floor.

Where the horrible tininess of the rooms really showed. Not just small, but the layout minimized available space. The only party I found which I was able to comfortably get inside the room and find anything worth eating was the Seattle 2011 Worldcon bid. There was cheese, salmon and some bread-like substance which had jalapeños inside. Ick. Nice people, some good conversation, sitting opposite a woman with a pair of the finest legs on the planet.

Found scendan in the whiskey party room, in her gender bender costume, and wanted to "get a room" right then and there. Gave her the item I'd bought that morning, instead. I'd "gift wrapped" it earlier with help & duct tape from farmount and bagelfather, so it was something of a chore for her to unwrap it. Worth the effort, though.

Hit a few more parties, tried the Fanzine Lounge but it was packed, decided to go home. On the way I ran into Great America traffic, so pulled into IHOP thinking of getting fed there, but they were in "ignore anyone who comes in the door" mode, even though there were plenty of seats, and two staff member hanging around in the first booth. Continued home.

Tomorrow I'll spend at Baycon till closing (have to collect my stuff from the art show around 1:30-2-ish, I think). May go to the Dead Dog session - it sounds like this will be the con hotel for the next few years, they really need to improve things if that's the case. 

Baycon Survivor

Spent most of the day at Baycon, went to a panel at 10 on comfort reading, and was roundly slam-dunked by panelist caprine when I suggested the Alvin Maker series as a non-genocidal alternative to panelist Valerie Frankel's fave Ender's Game. It was several hours before the WTF cluebyfour hit me that whatever horrible genocidal event she countered with was well past the first two books in the series at which I'd stopped reading. 'Twas good to see her alive and well, and at a Baycon, though. Also attended the Alien Plagues panel, which somehow got bogged down early with the misconception that  a plague is defined as a disease, with many audience members further pinning it down to self-replicating diseases. I was able to bring the talk a little out of the mire by reminding the Biblical scholars therein about the 10 plagues Moses had God rain down on Egypt, none of which were diseases. Locusts was the first (a plague also co-opted by the LDS church).

Had more than an hour to kill after that panel and before art show pickup time, and was happy to schmooze a lot with the incredibly sexy wolfen_dancer, and her newfound Spike-alike friend and then while munching on a sandwich out in the courtyard, spending some time with rackstraw.

Very disappointed at my art show results. Only one small photo sold, no bids at all on any of the others, including the ones of iamradar and scendan. It took maybe 5 minutes to pack up the pictures after the show closed. They apparently did not jury the show, so no awards for best of anything. Not that I ever win any awards, but it would have been a nice touch.

Saw dave_gallaher and dinogrl several times, and was very surprised that with the hugely expanded dealer's room the con couldn't find a spot for Springtime Creations. There was plenty of room in the artists' alley hallway for something to have been worked out. The candle makers, for instance, needed dealer room space like a mine shaft needs a solar panel. And the con table, which could easily have been in the hallway, took up more space than any two dealers. This needs to be fixed. On the whole, though, the quality of goods was up from previous years.

I didn't take many pictures. In fact, I left the camera in the car for most of Monday. Since I was unable to attend masquerade, my photoid instincts were blunted, I guess.  I did get one good photo Saturday:


Bought a membership for next year, then went to closing ceremonies which were almost as short and sweet as opening was. Did not stay for Hiss'n'Purr, there were enough others that I figured any and all comments I might have would be well covered.

Not such a good con for me, except for being able to spend some time with some wunnerful people. I wish La Mancha had not overlapped Baycon, but them's the breaks.

Spring Has Sprung

Or rather, springs have sprung, and now I need to buy a new recliner. The one I've been using for the past several years which I bought for not very many pennies at Goodwill, broke. Sitting in it is like sitting on the john with the seat missing. Tomorrow after work I'll do some shopping.

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Have an errand to run at lunchtime - need to go to the AAA on Saratoga which has a DMV booth and hand in the title for my car, so they can send it in and get Toyota Finance removed as lien holder. It's signed off, but I need the clear title to be totally legal. Also need to fax the info to my insurance company.