Post Con Blues
The Post Con Blues
Definition
A sense of loss, sadness, malaise following a science fiction convention.
A condition not unsimilar to "Circus has just left town" syndrome.
Emotional Symptoms:-
A tendency to snap at the mundanes in your life who cannot possibly understand what you're going through.
Feeling bereft or unfulfilled, lonely or depressed.
Regrets (You may have slept with someone to save a night's hotel bill. It's alright. Just retire your badge name and never wear that hall costume again. You have plausible deniabilty as it'll be a year before you see that person again, probably.)
Physical Symptoms (Any or all are possible) :-
Hangover
Dicky tummy (Too much rich food and beer.)
A cold or the flu. (You've just been in a room with 1400 international people where the air-con keeps the circulating the air. You're bound to catch something.)
A cold sore. (Extremes of temperature can cause an out-break.)
Cramps (Lack of exercise.)
Tightness of clothing. (Over eating and drinking.)
Condition exacerbated by the following:-
Returning to a cold house, having been away for a long weekend.
Finding off-milk and rotten veg in the fridge.
Having no other food in the house and nothing to buy it with.
Plants dead due to forgetting to water them before you left in your excitement.
Dropping your new favourite badge in the bath and ruining it after it had been given to you by the artist herself. (It recovered when I put it on the radiator to dry out.)
Having to go back to work.
Having a massive washing to do.
Finding you've put on half a stone in four days and all your clothes are too tight.
Finding you have no money until the next pay day and for sometime after till your credit cards are paid off.
Condition can be relieved by:-
Go for a walk and eat a salad. (One of the reasons you feel so bad is that you've drunk too much, eaten too much and had no exercise for nearly a week. Give your brain some endorphins and work off the five cooked breakfasts you ate.)
Wear your con t-shirt. (You spent your hard earned money on it and you'll be paying for it for months so get some use out of it. It'll make you feel closer to your tribe. It also might drive the mundanes away for a bit. They're the last people you want to see right now.)
Put away all those books you bought. (The charity ones don't count towards feeding the bibliophilic addiction, do they?)
Get a washing on and give something in your house a bit of a clean. (So it's not a 5 star hotel, but it's all you've got. Besides you feel bad anyway, at least this way you won't feel any worse, but the house will be clean.)
Join another con. (If you didn't do it before you left, do it now. You've got all the forms somewhere in your bag. At least sign up for supporting membership of something. Give yourself something to look forward to.)
Re-read your comfort book. (In my case this is The Belgariad by David Eddings. It's like having a cuddle with your teddy bear.)
Watch some old SF film or TV show that you know it'll make you feel better.
Find a real life fan group or an LJ one. Join it. It'll help with the bereft feelings.
Have a cup of tea or two. (Your liver could probably do with a rest.)
If all this fails, then blog about it.
Definition
A sense of loss, sadness, malaise following a science fiction convention.
A condition not unsimilar to "Circus has just left town" syndrome.
Emotional Symptoms:-
A tendency to snap at the mundanes in your life who cannot possibly understand what you're going through.
Feeling bereft or unfulfilled, lonely or depressed.
Regrets (You may have slept with someone to save a night's hotel bill. It's alright. Just retire your badge name and never wear that hall costume again. You have plausible deniabilty as it'll be a year before you see that person again, probably.)
Physical Symptoms (Any or all are possible) :-
Hangover
Dicky tummy (Too much rich food and beer.)
A cold or the flu. (You've just been in a room with 1400 international people where the air-con keeps the circulating the air. You're bound to catch something.)
A cold sore. (Extremes of temperature can cause an out-break.)
Cramps (Lack of exercise.)
Tightness of clothing. (Over eating and drinking.)
Condition exacerbated by the following:-
Returning to a cold house, having been away for a long weekend.
Finding off-milk and rotten veg in the fridge.
Having no other food in the house and nothing to buy it with.
Plants dead due to forgetting to water them before you left in your excitement.
Dropping your new favourite badge in the bath and ruining it after it had been given to you by the artist herself. (It recovered when I put it on the radiator to dry out.)
Having to go back to work.
Having a massive washing to do.
Finding you've put on half a stone in four days and all your clothes are too tight.
Finding you have no money until the next pay day and for sometime after till your credit cards are paid off.
Condition can be relieved by:-
Go for a walk and eat a salad. (One of the reasons you feel so bad is that you've drunk too much, eaten too much and had no exercise for nearly a week. Give your brain some endorphins and work off the five cooked breakfasts you ate.)
Wear your con t-shirt. (You spent your hard earned money on it and you'll be paying for it for months so get some use out of it. It'll make you feel closer to your tribe. It also might drive the mundanes away for a bit. They're the last people you want to see right now.)
Put away all those books you bought. (The charity ones don't count towards feeding the bibliophilic addiction, do they?)
Get a washing on and give something in your house a bit of a clean. (So it's not a 5 star hotel, but it's all you've got. Besides you feel bad anyway, at least this way you won't feel any worse, but the house will be clean.)
Join another con. (If you didn't do it before you left, do it now. You've got all the forms somewhere in your bag. At least sign up for supporting membership of something. Give yourself something to look forward to.)
Re-read your comfort book. (In my case this is The Belgariad by David Eddings. It's like having a cuddle with your teddy bear.)
Watch some old SF film or TV show that you know it'll make you feel better.
Find a real life fan group or an LJ one. Join it. It'll help with the bereft feelings.
Have a cup of tea or two. (Your liver could probably do with a rest.)
If all this fails, then blog about it.