Back from Worldcon pt 2
Oops at me for leaving off for so long that certain details are sure to get fuzzy. At least I have some more handy pictures to try and help me piece along what I wanted to recap.
I also have to note that on Friday the smoke situation was horrendous. The air alert was at red, we were advised to stay indoors, and those who did go outside were advised to cover their noses and mouths. Like a dumbass, I went trekking outside trying to find the Pub Crawl meetup and never found it because I couldn't figure out where the Breezeway was even after asking two employees. Of course, I found out where it was on Saturday.
So on Saturday, I continued my tradition of eating in the con suite. The guy running it did such a great job. I loved it. I also had a headache because of a hangover that I stupidly forgot to drink water for before going to sleep.
The only activity I was determined to do before my Exhibitions shift was to get my copy of A Dance with Dragons signed by George R. R. Martin. And I did it! The wait took awhile, but I had some great little conversations with another woman waiting in line with me. She was very sweet, and I was pretty envious of the awesome poster she got signed. We got sped through the line so my interaction with GRRM was short, but he did make a comment about my Thor t-shirt which made me happy and was the very reason I wore it. And thankfully there was a helper so I got my picture taken with him. Too bad I didn't suck it in though.
So now I've got a book with two signatures in it (Kit Harington signed it at the SF premiere for the show), and I'm still reading through it for the first time so I'm constantly paranoid about leaving it behind on the train.
So after this, I basically went to my shift in the Exhibits office. After that I recuperated a bit and then I took my cousin to sit through some more horror films at the film festival. I wish I could've gotten another bag of popcorn at that point, but I was feeling a bit low on funds at that point. It was still fun though, and I definitely accidentally punched myself in the nose because I got scared. That was fun.
We had to cut out at a certain time because I wanted to make it to the Hugos ceremony. In retrospect, I wish I had dressed up a little since I brought so many dresses just for the event, but I wore a nice sweater so i like think that was fine. It was assigned seating, and I actually lucked out and got seats very close to the stage! It was an endearing experience, and I think David Gerrold seems like such an earnest and sweet man. To the people calling it embarrassing, they can go sit on a cactus. Maybe it's because of the atmosphere and actually being there, but I enjoyed myself.
As for the drama surrounding the awards and the Puppy slate, it was pretty damn crazy to hear just HOW ROWDY the crowd got when No Award was announced five times that night. After the first one, I heard someone say, "It's happening!" And after the third one, I saw a heavyset gentleman get out of his seat in a huff and mutter, "This is bullshit!" quite loudly before he left and never came back. It was a pretty damn historic night though, and it was cool that it was my first one.
Afterwards, my cousin and I hit up some parties. I got to be a cockblocker/wingman since several men just cannot tell when my cousin is clearly disinterested in them. I guess it's also my duty as the eldest and her fahu. I'm already trying to save up for Helsinki 2017, and I wish I'd stayed in that party all night since that cheese was so damn good. Kansas also had an awesome little shindig, and I was eating those tomatoes up like crazy. Though that was probably a Friday night party. I'm not sure. Poor DC though sure did throw a nice blowout bash. Though uh, in their rush to get everyone punch drunk, they weren't carding like they were supposed to. That's another party I wish I'd stayed longer at. We ended the night at Montreal which was actually pretty meh. Next time I'll just work my way up rather than down since it seems like the best parties really are at the top.
Sunday was a nice winding down type of day. I didn't do much. Went to a reading held by the lovely Laura J. Mixon and afterwards I congratulated her on her Hugo win. Her speech was one of the best ones of the previous night.
Then I basically helped tear down and load up. I had the worst outfit on in terms of shoes since my boots had no traction on the floor, but I managed to get some stuff done. I also ended up waiting for one of the dealers for awhile due to a miscommunication issue, but in retrospect I'm glad I was there to help. They needed the muscle power and thanks to Levi's dumbass floor layout, I've got plenty of that.
And now one of my biggest irritations of the week. It was on this final day that my uncle FINALLY remembered to give me some food vouchers. I COULD HAVE BEEN GETTING MY SNACK ON! POPCORN FOR HOURS! GAHHHH!!! He made excuses, but they were very poor. Oh well.
The dead dog was great! I had quite a few Stellas and stacked up on eggs though unfortunately I never got around to eating any of those.
And then Monday afternoon, I said goodbye to the state of Washington and hello to California. My first ever Worldcon was finished, and I'm happy I did it. I'm actually planning on going to next year's since I still qualify for a Youth Pass, and those are only 90 bucks which I can afford before the prices go up. Now I've just gotta play the game with airfare.
The one thing I've really learned from this is that I definitely need to get back on that SFF horse. And to never work a con. :P Too bad I've already agreed to help out at Baycon. -_-
I also have to note that on Friday the smoke situation was horrendous. The air alert was at red, we were advised to stay indoors, and those who did go outside were advised to cover their noses and mouths. Like a dumbass, I went trekking outside trying to find the Pub Crawl meetup and never found it because I couldn't figure out where the Breezeway was even after asking two employees. Of course, I found out where it was on Saturday.
So on Saturday, I continued my tradition of eating in the con suite. The guy running it did such a great job. I loved it. I also had a headache because of a hangover that I stupidly forgot to drink water for before going to sleep.
The only activity I was determined to do before my Exhibitions shift was to get my copy of A Dance with Dragons signed by George R. R. Martin. And I did it! The wait took awhile, but I had some great little conversations with another woman waiting in line with me. She was very sweet, and I was pretty envious of the awesome poster she got signed. We got sped through the line so my interaction with GRRM was short, but he did make a comment about my Thor t-shirt which made me happy and was the very reason I wore it. And thankfully there was a helper so I got my picture taken with him. Too bad I didn't suck it in though.
So now I've got a book with two signatures in it (Kit Harington signed it at the SF premiere for the show), and I'm still reading through it for the first time so I'm constantly paranoid about leaving it behind on the train.
So after this, I basically went to my shift in the Exhibits office. After that I recuperated a bit and then I took my cousin to sit through some more horror films at the film festival. I wish I could've gotten another bag of popcorn at that point, but I was feeling a bit low on funds at that point. It was still fun though, and I definitely accidentally punched myself in the nose because I got scared. That was fun.
We had to cut out at a certain time because I wanted to make it to the Hugos ceremony. In retrospect, I wish I had dressed up a little since I brought so many dresses just for the event, but I wore a nice sweater so i like think that was fine. It was assigned seating, and I actually lucked out and got seats very close to the stage! It was an endearing experience, and I think David Gerrold seems like such an earnest and sweet man. To the people calling it embarrassing, they can go sit on a cactus. Maybe it's because of the atmosphere and actually being there, but I enjoyed myself.
As for the drama surrounding the awards and the Puppy slate, it was pretty damn crazy to hear just HOW ROWDY the crowd got when No Award was announced five times that night. After the first one, I heard someone say, "It's happening!" And after the third one, I saw a heavyset gentleman get out of his seat in a huff and mutter, "This is bullshit!" quite loudly before he left and never came back. It was a pretty damn historic night though, and it was cool that it was my first one.
Afterwards, my cousin and I hit up some parties. I got to be a cockblocker/wingman since several men just cannot tell when my cousin is clearly disinterested in them. I guess it's also my duty as the eldest and her fahu. I'm already trying to save up for Helsinki 2017, and I wish I'd stayed in that party all night since that cheese was so damn good. Kansas also had an awesome little shindig, and I was eating those tomatoes up like crazy. Though that was probably a Friday night party. I'm not sure. Poor DC though sure did throw a nice blowout bash. Though uh, in their rush to get everyone punch drunk, they weren't carding like they were supposed to. That's another party I wish I'd stayed longer at. We ended the night at Montreal which was actually pretty meh. Next time I'll just work my way up rather than down since it seems like the best parties really are at the top.
Sunday was a nice winding down type of day. I didn't do much. Went to a reading held by the lovely Laura J. Mixon and afterwards I congratulated her on her Hugo win. Her speech was one of the best ones of the previous night.
Then I basically helped tear down and load up. I had the worst outfit on in terms of shoes since my boots had no traction on the floor, but I managed to get some stuff done. I also ended up waiting for one of the dealers for awhile due to a miscommunication issue, but in retrospect I'm glad I was there to help. They needed the muscle power and thanks to Levi's dumbass floor layout, I've got plenty of that.
And now one of my biggest irritations of the week. It was on this final day that my uncle FINALLY remembered to give me some food vouchers. I COULD HAVE BEEN GETTING MY SNACK ON! POPCORN FOR HOURS! GAHHHH!!! He made excuses, but they were very poor. Oh well.
The dead dog was great! I had quite a few Stellas and stacked up on eggs though unfortunately I never got around to eating any of those.
And then Monday afternoon, I said goodbye to the state of Washington and hello to California. My first ever Worldcon was finished, and I'm happy I did it. I'm actually planning on going to next year's since I still qualify for a Youth Pass, and those are only 90 bucks which I can afford before the prices go up. Now I've just gotta play the game with airfare.
The one thing I've really learned from this is that I definitely need to get back on that SFF horse. And to never work a con. :P Too bad I've already agreed to help out at Baycon. -_-