Furfright 2013
So this weekend, I was in Connecticut at the Cromwell Crowne Plaza for Furfright. Although for the most part, a problem-free con, this year's Furfright was so-so for me. To figure out why and to get some perspective, I had to look back on the last two Furfrights. Furfright 2011 was pretty bad, or at least bad enough to write a complaint about. In 2012, they either corrected the problems I brought up or I just didn't notice those as much. But that was the year we had the 4am fire alarm and the hurricane evacuation. Those were not the fault of the con but things were kind of on a down note. This year, nothing bad happened. In fact, people who caused trouble in previous years weren't even at the con this year. So why wasn't I having a great time? It was probably my problem all this time! When that realization hit me on Saturday night, I had to stop what I was doing right away and go back to my room to get out of fursuit and think about it.
Could it be that all those things I got annoyed at in previous Furfrights merely masked the underlying problem, which is that I didn't find the con all that interesting any more? Looking back at what I did at the con, it was mostly hanging out. The events I went to were pretty much the same as in previous years. The parades were the same. Even the games in the fursuit games seemed the same to me. Plus, it didn't help that I appear to have grown pretty distant from most New England furries. Maybe it is time to skip a year, perhaps to try a different con or use the weekend for something else. In any case, I have until next year to ponder this.
That aside, there were some things I did enjoy. Dale's party was a nice little gathering. Trivia hour was good too, even if I were there mostly for cookies and ice cream. And I was glad to catch part of Alflor's reading. (I won a copy of his book at the end of that panel, so I'll see what goes on in the rest of the story.) Also, it was good to go out hiking and geocaching in nearby Berlin with JBadger and Scribbles.
Thursday:
Queenie Eye French Fry #5 Cherry Hill, NJ (New Jersey)
69 (New Jersey)
70 (New Jersey)
72 (New Jersey)
71 (New Jersey)
73 (New Jersey)
74 (New Jersey)
Eye Spy: Land, Air, and Sea! (New Jersey)
A Creative Container (New Jersey)
Larchmont TB Hotel (New York)
Ship It Home (New York)
The Wrath of Food (Connecticut)
Marbletown: West Stamford (Connecticut)
95 North :) (Connecticut)
Sign & Drive...Can You Hear Me Now? (Connecticut)
Gybing Jimmy’s Kraken Drachma (Connecticut)
A Cache Called Wanda (Connecticut)
History, will it repeat itself? (Connecticut)
Pfefferminz World Headquarters (Connecticut)
Real Brew #2 (Connecticut)
Nano at Long Wharf Pier (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #24 G Carl Veith (Connecticut)
Another P.A.R.C. (Connecticut)
Exit 62 P&G (Connecticut)
RT 40 @ 10 P&G (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #7 - By the river (Connecticut)
There's Only One Kind of Peanut Butter!(Redux) (Connecticut)
CLT - Fresh Meadows 1 (Connecticut)
CLT - Fresh Meadows 3 (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #27 - Boulder Knoll (Connecticut)
Merry Chachemas (Connecticut)
Exit 64 P&G (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 9 (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 6 (Connecticut)
31 Days of Caching P&G (Connecticut)
This ain't no joke P&G (Connecticut)
Gracie's Cache 6 (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #3 - Exit 20 (Connecticut)
Day 31 Quick Grab (Connecticut)
Stuck Between a Rock and a Hot Place (Connecticut)
US 91 Exit 15 P&G 2 (Connecticut)
Just a Quickie (Connecticut)
US 91 Exit 15 P&G 1 (Connecticut)
Meeting House Hill Burying Ground (Connecticut)
Hidden Gravestone (Connecticut)
Oh When the Saints ... (Connecticut)
This sucks. (Connecticut)
Friday:
Expect the Unexpected: Expect Me (Connecticut)
Haylie's Creepy Cache (Connecticut)
Haylie's Watching (Connecticut)
All the rage at Sage (Connecticut)
BILL'S BOX (Connecticut)
The Stigmatist (Connecticut)
Bill's BAG (Connecticut)
BILL'S BIG TREE (Connecticut)
Saturday:
Stonebridge (Connecticut)
Sunday:
Sweeping Hills at Pistol Creek (Connecticut)
Decisions: Which way to go? (Connecticut)
Hall Cemetery (Connecticut)
Monday:
Heffernan Park (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #15 Ferguson Woods (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 1 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 2 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 3 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 4 (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 7 (Connecticut)
STL Friendship Box (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #25 WLT - 3 meadows (Connecticut)
TMMRRA P&G (Connecticut)
TMMRRA Old Road (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #26 Wharton Brook (Connecticut)
Water Logged (Connecticut)
Quinnipiac meets Wilbur (Connecticut)
Quinnipiac River State Park 1 (Connecticut)
Ellie's Birthday Cache (The Ellie Cache #2) (Connecticut)
Racebrook Random (Connecticut)
95 South :) (Connecticut)
Queenie Eye French Fry #4 Bellmawr, NJ (New Jersey)
Could it be that all those things I got annoyed at in previous Furfrights merely masked the underlying problem, which is that I didn't find the con all that interesting any more? Looking back at what I did at the con, it was mostly hanging out. The events I went to were pretty much the same as in previous years. The parades were the same. Even the games in the fursuit games seemed the same to me. Plus, it didn't help that I appear to have grown pretty distant from most New England furries. Maybe it is time to skip a year, perhaps to try a different con or use the weekend for something else. In any case, I have until next year to ponder this.
That aside, there were some things I did enjoy. Dale's party was a nice little gathering. Trivia hour was good too, even if I were there mostly for cookies and ice cream. And I was glad to catch part of Alflor's reading. (I won a copy of his book at the end of that panel, so I'll see what goes on in the rest of the story.) Also, it was good to go out hiking and geocaching in nearby Berlin with JBadger and Scribbles.
Thursday:
Queenie Eye French Fry #5 Cherry Hill, NJ (New Jersey)
69 (New Jersey)
70 (New Jersey)
72 (New Jersey)
71 (New Jersey)
73 (New Jersey)
74 (New Jersey)
Eye Spy: Land, Air, and Sea! (New Jersey)
A Creative Container (New Jersey)
Larchmont TB Hotel (New York)
Ship It Home (New York)
The Wrath of Food (Connecticut)
Marbletown: West Stamford (Connecticut)
95 North :) (Connecticut)
Sign & Drive...Can You Hear Me Now? (Connecticut)
Gybing Jimmy’s Kraken Drachma (Connecticut)
A Cache Called Wanda (Connecticut)
History, will it repeat itself? (Connecticut)
Pfefferminz World Headquarters (Connecticut)
Real Brew #2 (Connecticut)
Nano at Long Wharf Pier (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #24 G Carl Veith (Connecticut)
Another P.A.R.C. (Connecticut)
Exit 62 P&G (Connecticut)
RT 40 @ 10 P&G (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #7 - By the river (Connecticut)
There's Only One Kind of Peanut Butter!(Redux) (Connecticut)
CLT - Fresh Meadows 1 (Connecticut)
CLT - Fresh Meadows 3 (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #27 - Boulder Knoll (Connecticut)
Merry Chachemas (Connecticut)
Exit 64 P&G (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 9 (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 6 (Connecticut)
31 Days of Caching P&G (Connecticut)
This ain't no joke P&G (Connecticut)
Gracie's Cache 6 (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #3 - Exit 20 (Connecticut)
Day 31 Quick Grab (Connecticut)
Stuck Between a Rock and a Hot Place (Connecticut)
US 91 Exit 15 P&G 2 (Connecticut)
Just a Quickie (Connecticut)
US 91 Exit 15 P&G 1 (Connecticut)
Meeting House Hill Burying Ground (Connecticut)
Hidden Gravestone (Connecticut)
Oh When the Saints ... (Connecticut)
This sucks. (Connecticut)
Friday:
Expect the Unexpected: Expect Me (Connecticut)
Haylie's Creepy Cache (Connecticut)
Haylie's Watching (Connecticut)
All the rage at Sage (Connecticut)
BILL'S BOX (Connecticut)
The Stigmatist (Connecticut)
Bill's BAG (Connecticut)
BILL'S BIG TREE (Connecticut)
Saturday:
Stonebridge (Connecticut)
Sunday:
Sweeping Hills at Pistol Creek (Connecticut)
Decisions: Which way to go? (Connecticut)
Hall Cemetery (Connecticut)
Monday:
Heffernan Park (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #15 Ferguson Woods (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 1 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 2 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 3 (Connecticut)
WLT - Ferguson Woods 4 (Connecticut)
Emily's Cache 7 (Connecticut)
STL Friendship Box (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #25 WLT - 3 meadows (Connecticut)
TMMRRA P&G (Connecticut)
TMMRRA Old Road (Connecticut)
31 days of Geocaching - P&G #26 Wharton Brook (Connecticut)
Water Logged (Connecticut)
Quinnipiac meets Wilbur (Connecticut)
Quinnipiac River State Park 1 (Connecticut)
Ellie's Birthday Cache (The Ellie Cache #2) (Connecticut)
Racebrook Random (Connecticut)
95 South :) (Connecticut)
Queenie Eye French Fry #4 Bellmawr, NJ (New Jersey)