My Dragon*Con Highs and Lows

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I've been home for a few days and honestly, my brain still feels so fried that I can barely write complete sentences.  I'm sure that I can't just blame it on Dragon*Con, but also the come-down after leaving my job.  So, this may be the first of a couple posts about my Dragon*Con experience.

The best parts:

• Spending time with friends, and meeting new ones.  That is what will bring me back a second time.  Thanks to millari and grinninfoole .  It was wonderful to spend so much time with you!  And I certainly hope Paul, Laura and Esther find a way to get in touch.
• Such a spectacular roster of celebrity guests!  It really was a great year for Battlestar Galactica fans to attend.  I got to see all of the guests, and got to chat with some of them.   And it was very satisfying to the ego to find out how many of the actors knew about 13th Colony, but I had already heard that, just nice to get confirmation.  Hogan was the best!  What a charmer...
• The Babylon 5 panel was great, and it was so much fun to meet Peter Jurasik and have him pop into the voice of Londo Millari and write a rakish note on my photo.  Finding out that Tracy Scoggins is a total geek was a pleasant surprise, and discovering how funny Claudia Christian is was a real treat.
• Amazing line-up of authors.  Getting to listen to Chapter One of the next Miles Vorkosigan novel, as read by author Lois McMaster Bujold, is one of the memories I will cherish for a long time to come.  I admire her writing skill, and found her to be an excellent speaker and very forthright about the nature of the business.  Didn't see much of Charlaine Harris, but the one panel of hers I attended left me with the impression she is warm and genuine.
• Really enjoyed the "Science of BSG" panel on Sunday with Dr. Kevin Grazier.  Will be buying his book when it comes out in the Spring.
• The costumes were amazing.  But see note below, too.  It was fun to see an entirely sci-fi/fantasy parade.  Where else?   

What I could live without:

• Pedestrian gridlock.  I'm not usually claustrophobic, but this was an assault on the senses.
• Hotel room six floors up from outside bar
• So many nights without sleep thanks to above-noted location
• Drunk, abusive guests in the elevator.  Now know could have reported them.
• 3 hrs in badge pick-up line.
• So many young women dressed in skimpy costumes, who didn't seem to understand that they had gone so far beyond "sexy" and into "slutty."  And not appearing to understand that the people taking photos of them and getting them to pose certain ways were probably going to post them on porn sites.  More than a little disturbing.

If I do go again, the idea of getting a hotel off-site and renting a suite so we could have people over for games or discussions, sounds very good.  I know Dragon*Con is known as a party con, but that part doesn't really interest me so it would be nice to be able to get away from the madness and have some genuine interactions.  I would also put more effort into costumes, since it seems to be a good conversation starter.