A Tale of Two Cons
Aug. 23rd, 2013 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grammarwomanPart the First - Thursday
(Having typed this out - um, evidently I'm in a really wordy mood. Sorry! I think splitting this into parts is probably a good idea.)
WOW. I had no right or expectation for this past weekend to work out as well as it did, but it did, and it was AMAZING.
My advice for anyone else pondering attending two cons at once: DON'T. Unless you get the amazing confluence of events that I had: they're less than two miles apart (crucial); you have a car (very necessary for even small distances on hot summer days); you have both schedules in hand in advance so you can map out a strategy (barely, as Creation waited until practically the last minute, whereas the Vividcon one was posted months ahead of time, and for that, I thank them); you have friends on both sides who don't mind if you sidle up next to them in line, allowing you to bypass some waiting (please forgive me); you have dedicated seating and/or the con is small enough to not need it; you can prioritize what you want to see, heave a heavy sigh for what you'll have to skip, and best of all, the Can't-Miss Events on both sides don't conflict with each other but instead dovetail beautifully. I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I was that everything I really wanted to do on either side came together perfectly. I could not have asked for a better schedule to accommodate both.
To begin the tale of my weekend, I must confess that I suffer a love/hate relationship with travel. My devotion to list-making approaches Rimmer-esque levels of OCD (what to pack, where to go, maps for intended and alternate routes, schedules, contact information, and both paper and digital copies of all those documents). I get an unhealthy enjoyment of researching the crap out of all my options and planning for every contingency. But I have actual nightmares about packing and the transport of me and my stuff. (One of my recurring pressure dreams is that I'm going on vacation with my family to a beach, and I've somehow forgotten to pack my swimsuit and sunscreen, and I get lost on the way there.) So the days leading up to a convention weekend usually have me in a tizzy.
Between that and the epic battle of making my TARDIS dress (I removed my 1200 word account of said effort from this post, to be joined up with pictures and posted later, because 1200 words, really, self?), I postponed the actual job of packing until Thursday morning. Then I slept late, had errands to run, played several games of Uno with the Emperor who wields guilt like a champion ("Just one more game, Mom! I'm not going to see you for days! I'm going to miss you so much!"), and was reduced to frantically throwing stuff in a suitcase. (At least I was driving instead of flying, so I didn't have to Tetris my belongings into a carry-on. All hail the monster bag!) So instead of leaving at noon, as I planned, I wound up departing around 1:30, then I hit multiple construction zones. But my worst mistake was pondering the split in interstates, and choosing the route without tolls. Approaching Chicago at 3 PM on a Thursday - the roads should be fine, right? Which was totally ridiculous of me, considering that I lived in that area for years and should have known better. So my plans of picking up my roomiekass at the airport were shot to hell. But finally, with the tenth episode of "Welcome to Night Vale" wrapping up (OMG that podcast is entertaining! It brings all of my "Twin Peaks" love crashing back in), I finally roll into the hotel parking lot and stumble up to my roommates the_shoshanna and kass.
It's so satisfying and heartening to be immersed in a fannish space; I pulled out my TARDIS dress to hang up, and my roomies were quite impressed. That boded well for its reception at Club Vivid. We chatted for a bit, andkass regaled us with a disgruntled dS comment she'd just received. (I still can't get over that someone would leave that kind of negative feedback. Fic is free, after all, and the back button is RIGHT THERE.) kass split off for her dinner plans as the_shoshanna and I departed for Trader Joe's, one of the things I miss most about living in the suburbs. We acquired dinner and munchies for the room and headed back. Then we headed to registration and I donned my "Mobile Registration Helper" tiara, which I had constructed to be helpful. (I mean, every job should come with a tiara. They're pretty damned awesome.) My role turned out to be largely superfluous, as all the attendees seemed more than happy to belly up to the table and then hang around chatting. I think I was more useful fetching drinks for table-bound people than anything else. Maybe next year the position should be "Registration Runner"?
The noise and excitement level kept going up and up, as people were gathering without wanting to leave. This was my third year attending Vividcon, and this kind of reaction is why I keep coming back - I love this crowd so much. Everyone was hugging and laughing, and so happy to be there!
After a while I peeled off to go the Mystery Vid Party, which was hilarious. So many earnestly overwrought vids! So much talky face! One particularly egregious Smallville vid was even pushed up past 1.5 speed, and it was still drawn out and melodramatic.
After a while, though, I had to depart back to my own room owing to an overlong day. My roomies and I wound up the night with a nice chat and passed the hell out.
Next up: Friday!
(Having typed this out - um, evidently I'm in a really wordy mood. Sorry! I think splitting this into parts is probably a good idea.)
WOW. I had no right or expectation for this past weekend to work out as well as it did, but it did, and it was AMAZING.
My advice for anyone else pondering attending two cons at once: DON'T. Unless you get the amazing confluence of events that I had: they're less than two miles apart (crucial); you have a car (very necessary for even small distances on hot summer days); you have both schedules in hand in advance so you can map out a strategy (barely, as Creation waited until practically the last minute, whereas the Vividcon one was posted months ahead of time, and for that, I thank them); you have friends on both sides who don't mind if you sidle up next to them in line, allowing you to bypass some waiting (please forgive me); you have dedicated seating and/or the con is small enough to not need it; you can prioritize what you want to see, heave a heavy sigh for what you'll have to skip, and best of all, the Can't-Miss Events on both sides don't conflict with each other but instead dovetail beautifully. I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I was that everything I really wanted to do on either side came together perfectly. I could not have asked for a better schedule to accommodate both.
To begin the tale of my weekend, I must confess that I suffer a love/hate relationship with travel. My devotion to list-making approaches Rimmer-esque levels of OCD (what to pack, where to go, maps for intended and alternate routes, schedules, contact information, and both paper and digital copies of all those documents). I get an unhealthy enjoyment of researching the crap out of all my options and planning for every contingency. But I have actual nightmares about packing and the transport of me and my stuff. (One of my recurring pressure dreams is that I'm going on vacation with my family to a beach, and I've somehow forgotten to pack my swimsuit and sunscreen, and I get lost on the way there.) So the days leading up to a convention weekend usually have me in a tizzy.
Between that and the epic battle of making my TARDIS dress (I removed my 1200 word account of said effort from this post, to be joined up with pictures and posted later, because 1200 words, really, self?), I postponed the actual job of packing until Thursday morning. Then I slept late, had errands to run, played several games of Uno with the Emperor who wields guilt like a champion ("Just one more game, Mom! I'm not going to see you for days! I'm going to miss you so much!"), and was reduced to frantically throwing stuff in a suitcase. (At least I was driving instead of flying, so I didn't have to Tetris my belongings into a carry-on. All hail the monster bag!) So instead of leaving at noon, as I planned, I wound up departing around 1:30, then I hit multiple construction zones. But my worst mistake was pondering the split in interstates, and choosing the route without tolls. Approaching Chicago at 3 PM on a Thursday - the roads should be fine, right? Which was totally ridiculous of me, considering that I lived in that area for years and should have known better. So my plans of picking up my roomie
kass at the airport were shot to hell. But finally, with the tenth episode of "Welcome to Night Vale" wrapping up (OMG that podcast is entertaining! It brings all of my "Twin Peaks" love crashing back in), I finally roll into the hotel parking lot and stumble up to my roommates the_shoshanna and kass.It's so satisfying and heartening to be immersed in a fannish space; I pulled out my TARDIS dress to hang up, and my roomies were quite impressed. That boded well for its reception at Club Vivid. We chatted for a bit, and
kass regaled us with a disgruntled dS comment she'd just received. (I still can't get over that someone would leave that kind of negative feedback. Fic is free, after all, and the back button is RIGHT THERE.) kass split off for her dinner plans as the_shoshanna and I departed for Trader Joe's, one of the things I miss most about living in the suburbs. We acquired dinner and munchies for the room and headed back. Then we headed to registration and I donned my "Mobile Registration Helper" tiara, which I had constructed to be helpful. (I mean, every job should come with a tiara. They're pretty damned awesome.) My role turned out to be largely superfluous, as all the attendees seemed more than happy to belly up to the table and then hang around chatting. I think I was more useful fetching drinks for table-bound people than anything else. Maybe next year the position should be "Registration Runner"?The noise and excitement level kept going up and up, as people were gathering without wanting to leave. This was my third year attending Vividcon, and this kind of reaction is why I keep coming back - I love this crowd so much. Everyone was hugging and laughing, and so happy to be there!
After a while I peeled off to go the Mystery Vid Party, which was hilarious. So many earnestly overwrought vids! So much talky face! One particularly egregious Smallville vid was even pushed up past 1.5 speed, and it was still drawn out and melodramatic.
After a while, though, I had to depart back to my own room owing to an overlong day. My roomies and I wound up the night with a nice chat and passed the hell out.
Next up: Friday!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-24 12:23 am (UTC)This was my third year attending Vividcon, and this kind of reaction is why I keep coming back - I love this crowd so much. Everyone was hugging and laughing, and so happy to be there!
I know! It makes me so happy. I can't even. <3
(no subject)
Date: 2013-08-24 02:45 am (UTC)The VVC people are such cream-of-the-crop fans, creators and thoughtful consumers and multi-fandom with SO MUCH TO SAY.