I Went To SHareCon And All I Got Was Everything I Ever Wanted And A Slinky
You know that feeling when you walk into a room of "strangers" and they're talking about the importance Black Bean Soup as a love song? Pure joy.
SHareCon was one of the happiest weekends of my life. Just plain joy, intermixed with exhaustion and That Thing Where You Involuntarily Scream During A Vid That Contains Exactly Five Frames (I'm pretty sure that's a version of joy.)
The History of Vidding panel was a dream come true. I was awed and inspired to see some of the earliest fanvids ever made. I got to see The Laughing Torino, the first SH crack vid. That floored me. And I felt my initiation into the fandom was complete after seeing That Was A River. On the other end of technology, we watched one vid made entirely from SH tumblr gifs. Walking into my room after the vid party one night, I made it zero steps across the carpet before sinking against the door and staring blankly in sheer exhausted happiness. Vids were my introduction to SH and remain my favorite type of fanwork. It was priceless to be able to see so many on a big screen with other fans - the best possible reason to stay up until 4am.
At the auction, I won bids for an original of Murder on San Carmelitas and Graven Images, along with the TV guide program that contains the first listing for Starsky & Hutch. I was so excited to flip through these that I found a low-traffic corner of BWI airport in which to do so while waiting for my flight home. I also bought a couple of Enednoviel prints, and two gorgeous Starsky portraits by Anachron.
One of my favorite things to do was walk by the art wall for the nth time in a day. It seemed like there was usually someone doing that. There were some pieces I'd seen online, and it was thrilling to stand right in front of them and see the texture of the ink, all the work that went into it. It was also great to look at an explicit piece with another fan, commenting on its appeal with absolutely no sheepishness.
Speaking of absolutely no sheepishness, SH Baaad Theater was worth the trip alone. I couldn't even begin to relate that hayride. You'll just have to come to the next con and be prepared to get wet if you're in the first three rows.
And then there were the goodies. One woe of smaller fandoms is the lack of stuff available. My first fandom was Star Trek. You want Spock oven mitts? Presto, and we'll throw in these LLAP cookie cutters. Not so with Starsky & Hutch. So, I was thrilled to find things like Starsky & Hutch bookmarks, keychains, stickers, etc. All the more so because, out of necessity, they were made by fans for fans. But keychains were not the height of the trinkets by any means - the welcome bags for newbies included such treasures as the coins and moon for Starsky and Hutch's respective necklaces and a wind-up Torino and LTD - complete with the "COPS NEED LOVE TOO" bumper sticker. Like Christmas morning! And yes, I did get a slinky from the free basket. You never know when you'll be stuck in the car on a Sunday waiting for Hutch to finish a phone call.
It was wonderful meeting so many people I'd only run into online. taass64 and hardboiledbaby gave me an LJ tutorial, so I have no excuse not to show my face around here anymore, especially now that I've been reminded of how much I love Pickles & Onions.
If you're considering going to the next (knock on wood) SHareCon, do it, do it, do it. I didn't bring a laptop or a camera. I barely brought myself; my hotel reservations weren't made until the day before the con because that's when I decided to go. It's been a wild year for me, and not really in a good way. I wasn't sure if I was up for SHareCon, but it turned out to be just what I needed - a reminder that it's worth it to reach out for human connection, that the things you make can be enjoyed, that what means so much to you can mean as much to others.
The people who made it possible can only be considered lunatic angels who I'd like to grovel before, who I hope are sleeping 18 out of 24 hours for the next month to recover. THANK YOU.