Packing for Wiscon
I had a list. I checked it a lot more than twice. But making a list of the clothes I wanted to wear kept the suitcase to 'comfortable'. I am sad and sulky that it is not going to be warm enough for all my little bit o' nothing clothes, but I will make do. As always when I pack, there are things missing. Where, for instance, are my bikini bottoms? And there were decisions to be made. My pirate hat hides my awesome hair and takes up two shirts worth of room. Where is that great badge-holder I got? Do I need a safety pin for my costume? Maybe I should pack something to lounge around my room in, other than my skin. On the bright side, it's MY room. I can be naked all I want!
I'm so excited! I have (most) of my reading done. I am planning on scrounging books while I'm there, so all the books I've packed are for my panel. I still have all of Amber Sypglass left, so I will probably not DIE of BOOK DEPRIVATION. I also decided not to pack my Elizabeth Bear books to get them signed. I do wish Ink&Steel was going to be out, though. Well, I haven't bought Dust, or New Amsterdam.
I have packed my chargers, two pairs of shoes, clothes that make me feel happy and pretty, and high hopes.
My schedule is as follows:
Today: Fly out. LT picks me up at the airport and feeds me pancakes. I like pancakes.
Thursday: We lope across Wisconsin, stopping for PIE and quilt store and whenever the mood strikes us to take pictures.
Friday: 10ish -- yarn expedition, then lunch. Then LT goes off to hang out with her Madison-area friends, and I go do my Wiscon thing.
Saturday afternoon: Sparkly boys and Tough Girls panel
Sunday morning: Phillip Pullman panel
I haven't planned out any of my other panels or activities yet. We'll see how I feel when I get there. I hope to get the $1 books at the Gathering. Maybe the bpal people could find me something like my cologne. Maybe I will go to the stinky bath shop on State Street. I will go to panels as they appeal to me. I will not feel obligated. If you are on a panel and I don't go to it, it is not a judgement on you.
This is my first paid vacation, um, since Kay was born. The first time in a long time I have not felt quite so obligated to have A Good Time, because every hour off is an hour I am not earning money to support my family.
I hope to have hallway conversations and party exchanges and panel passion. I hope for spontaneity.
I love Wiscon. I love the unabashed intellectual heat. I love how it's an interestingly nuanced place to perform femininity. I love seeing my tribe. I like the atmosphere, and the accessories. It has that same thing every good con does -- the hum and buzz of people who care enough to pay to make it work. Not just in money, but in time, in energy, in the precious ingot of attention that is so rare today.
Last year, I was one of the ones attending 'Bittercon' or 'Misscon', and it did not kill me, but I did not like it.. I am sad that because it is so geographically diverse, travel expenses make it almost impossible to do on the cheap, and this year, that means a lot of people are finding out at the last minute they just can't do it. Suck.
One of the most valuable parts of Wiscon for me is making connections with people. I keep up with them in lj, and once a year or so, I see them in person. This is not a fake friendship. It is real, and it is what I have. All through the year, I chat with people, and we trade comments, and emails. And then when I see them, they move in a cloud of things I know about them, and it is as if each piece of data is an ember of light, until I can see their faces, smiling.
Um, oh dear. Poetical outbreak.
Anyway, whee!!!
I'm so excited! I have (most) of my reading done. I am planning on scrounging books while I'm there, so all the books I've packed are for my panel. I still have all of Amber Sypglass left, so I will probably not DIE of BOOK DEPRIVATION. I also decided not to pack my Elizabeth Bear books to get them signed. I do wish Ink&Steel was going to be out, though. Well, I haven't bought Dust, or New Amsterdam.
I have packed my chargers, two pairs of shoes, clothes that make me feel happy and pretty, and high hopes.
My schedule is as follows:
Today: Fly out. LT picks me up at the airport and feeds me pancakes. I like pancakes.
Thursday: We lope across Wisconsin, stopping for PIE and quilt store and whenever the mood strikes us to take pictures.
Friday: 10ish -- yarn expedition, then lunch. Then LT goes off to hang out with her Madison-area friends, and I go do my Wiscon thing.
Saturday afternoon: Sparkly boys and Tough Girls panel
Sunday morning: Phillip Pullman panel
I haven't planned out any of my other panels or activities yet. We'll see how I feel when I get there. I hope to get the $1 books at the Gathering. Maybe the bpal people could find me something like my cologne. Maybe I will go to the stinky bath shop on State Street. I will go to panels as they appeal to me. I will not feel obligated. If you are on a panel and I don't go to it, it is not a judgement on you.
This is my first paid vacation, um, since Kay was born. The first time in a long time I have not felt quite so obligated to have A Good Time, because every hour off is an hour I am not earning money to support my family.
I hope to have hallway conversations and party exchanges and panel passion. I hope for spontaneity.
I love Wiscon. I love the unabashed intellectual heat. I love how it's an interestingly nuanced place to perform femininity. I love seeing my tribe. I like the atmosphere, and the accessories. It has that same thing every good con does -- the hum and buzz of people who care enough to pay to make it work. Not just in money, but in time, in energy, in the precious ingot of attention that is so rare today.
Last year, I was one of the ones attending 'Bittercon' or 'Misscon', and it did not kill me, but I did not like it.. I am sad that because it is so geographically diverse, travel expenses make it almost impossible to do on the cheap, and this year, that means a lot of people are finding out at the last minute they just can't do it. Suck.
One of the most valuable parts of Wiscon for me is making connections with people. I keep up with them in lj, and once a year or so, I see them in person. This is not a fake friendship. It is real, and it is what I have. All through the year, I chat with people, and we trade comments, and emails. And then when I see them, they move in a cloud of things I know about them, and it is as if each piece of data is an ember of light, until I can see their faces, smiling.
Um, oh dear. Poetical outbreak.
Anyway, whee!!!