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sereneI suppose I can stop saying I'm new to science-fiction cons now. I've been to three FOGcons, and now a Baycon. I wasn't planning to go; I had planned to go to Wiscon and see many awesome people, but plane fares ended up being prohibitive for me, and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hitchhiker asked if I was up for doing Baycon on shortish notice, so I said sure, and we went. hitchhiker and I make pretty good con buddies—similar pace and desire to follow the music, to name a couple of things. It was fun.
Essentially, the whole weekend can be summed up as "hitchhiker and I followed each other around to panels and concerts, drove somewhere to get brunch and dinner every day, and got slightly lost several times a day." When we'd done FOGcon together last time, we found we both liked book panels, author interviews, and anything music-related. This time, we went for broke on all counts, and it worked out great.
That's the short con report. The longer one (or, rather, the rest of a longer one) is below, under the magical courtesy cuts.
Friday evening, I picked uphitchhiker at work and we drove to the hotel, where there was free parking, yay! The hotel is nice in that way that makes it a non-issue (that is, it's nice enough, and run well enough, that I have no memory of any real glitches, which is as it should be). We registered, put our stuff away, and then I think we just turned right around and went and got dinner, which was going to be an Armenian place that turned out to be closed on weekends (!), so we had some perfectly fine Mexican food in the same little strip-mall. (Saying "perfectly fine Mexican food" in the Bay Area is a big compliment from a San Diego girl.)
After dinner, we experimented with my theory that I am probably not the room-party type. I lasted five minutes. Theory supported. I lefthitchhiker at the very crowded room full of mostly strangers (hi, the_ogre) and went somewhere, probably my room, probably to read. I LOVE having my own room at cons. I'm good at sharing, but having my own room means I can just completely retreat from the world when I want to, and that's a treasure. This time, I was feeling more social than usual, so I didn't really need the room much, but it was still great to have the option.
Next, we went to the late-night open filk, which was wonderful, and which closed down around, what, 2am or something? My only previous filk experiences had been at FOGcon, wheregramina does a yeoman's job in creating a welcoming filkspace, but where the attendance is sparse, probably because of a combination of the small size of FOGcon and the smaller overlap between that con and the filking community (not to mention that a big Bay Area filkcon, Consonance, is on the previous weekend, so probably lots of filkers do the one and not the other).
How should I describe filk in my filk-virgin perception? I think the closest I come is to that time at the end of a good party when most of the guests have left, and who's left is a group of friends who are comfortable with each other. The group of friends sits around laughing and talking comfortably, maybe drinking, gently teasing each other, and singing together, mostly off-key, for the sheer joy of being with other humans who want to sing.
The "off-key" part is an important part of how I relate to filking. Some filkers are skilled singers (and musicians) in a technical sense, but lots of them are not, based on my small sample size, and the fact that that doesn't hinder my love of this new thing is actually kind of significant in my life.
In the mists of time, I sang for a living. I was that steady backup singer who could range from tenor to second soprano, and always knew her note, but wasn't anything very impressive when it came to solos. In addition, I was a snob about musicality. I think it's a given that I would have hated filk circles back then, because what I now see as an unpolished expression of genuine joy, I would have just seen as a bunch of mostly bad singers conspiring to make me cringe.
Back then, I couldn't handle karaoke or most open mics, and I had crippling stagefright that ended my solo career before it started. I connect that stagefright with the snobbishness -- I valued "getting it right" at that time more than I valued music as an expression of joy, so I was unable to let myself risk being "wrong" in public about something so deeply important to me as music and my singing voice.
Then one day, and I remember this vividly, my mother, who is not, shall we say, a tuneful singer, was singing around the house, and she got distracted by something and stopped. I asked her to continue, and she said something self-deprecating about not being able to carry a tune in a bucket. "Yeah," I said, "but I'm never not going to want to hear my mommy sing. It's not about hitting the right notes." That was when I started looking past the notes and into the joy, and became the Serene who loves listening to people sing enthusiastically, even if some of them are singing "badly."
I slept in on Saturday (I don't know, 10am or so?) and then we got brunch at Panera (my first time; it was good, better than I expected) and went back to the interview with Lois McMaster Bujold. It's not the first time I've thoroughly enjoyed an author talk by an author I've never read. She was fun to listen to; the interviewers were good; and the things I think she got "wrong" were interesting enough to natter about afterwards, so hey, yay.hitchhiker's recommended a place to start reading her (Shards of Honor, I think), but if you have suggestions, that's cool, too.
After that, we went to the demo/sales pitch for Krypton Radio, which was both adorably amateurish (really, I mean that as a compliment, honest) and humorously interactive. Also, I really want the microphones he was using! (blue snowball | tascam)
Next was dinner at a remarkably good Persian place called Chelokababi. Everything was delicious, and my new favorite beverage is sekanjebin.
By this time, we had agreed that we mostly wanted to follow the music, so we decided to just go to the concerts, followed by the late-night filk.
Really. Good. Idea.
I only caught the last song of Unwoman (warning: if loud graphics and harsh design give you seizures, skip Unwoman's website), but I instantly knew I needed to buy her CD. Then some more fine musical acts, including Sooj, whose music I also felt a need to buy. (In case you're wondering, no I didn't exactly stick to my budget this con, but I didn't do tooooooo badly, in the end. :-) And then the late-night filking, which this time lasted until 3-ish in the morning, and during which I bravely sang badly, for the joy of it, which is, after all, the point.
Was way too awake after the singing and stuff (plus, my heart was doing that thing it does, and I didn't want to go to sleep all alone until it calmed down), so I headed to the internet lounge and goofed off until 4 or so, and then went to bed.
Sunday was great. I was simultaneously thrilled to be heading home, and sorry I hadn't chosen to stay for the whole con. I regretted missing the concerts and filking. I regretted not being there for the end of the con. Ends of parties are my favorite bits. From now on, I will add "must stay to the end" to my list of things I must do in order to fully enjoy a con.
We had brunch at a creperie that was good but not great, except for its name, which sounds like the name of a strip joint (Whispers), and brought me much amused joy. Then hmm, what did we do? Ah, yes, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney interview, which was lovely. (They're two thirds of Tricky Pixie, of whom I hadn't heard before, but they're also best friends, and they played together a lot this weekend, and clearly enjoy and admire each other greatly.)
Next, we went to the game room and learned a new game called Wayword, which I liked, and then we went to sushi withinflectionpoint. Lovely to catch up with her. We used to be next-door neighbors, and I really miss having someone awesome living so close.
Once we got back to the hotel, it took great restraint not to let myself be talked into staying for more music. However, I was getting loopytired, so I grabbed some caffeine in the most bizarre consuite I've ever seen (I can talk about it in comments if you're interested), hugged my awesome con buddy good-bye, and hit the road.
In case I haven't said it enough, I had a wonderful, wonderful time. Nearly a perfect weekend, even though I was surrounded by hundreds of strangers for hours at a time. I really think I've finally found a meatspace social setting I can thrive in. This is big for me. Potentially expensive, but big. :-)
A few more random thoughts about this con, and how it compares with FOGcon:
Things I like better about FOGcon than Baycon, in no special order:
Things I liked better about Baycon, in no special order:
And then I think the size thing was a wash. I like small social environments, but I also love big crowds (though the noise can get to me after a while) because I can people-watch in relative anonymity, and I can withdraw to my room without anyone (except those I'm traveling with) noticing.
Similarly, the hotel and the location were equally fine with me.
Oh! My swag. Can't find my camera cable, so I can't show you a pic of my fun con badge. Besides that, though, I brought home two pairs of earrings, two CDs, a magazine, and several books, including a collection of Nancy Kress's short stories and a piece of classic science fiction thathitchhiker bought me.
hitchhiker asked if I was up for doing Baycon on shortish notice, so I said sure, and we went. hitchhiker and I make pretty good con buddies—similar pace and desire to follow the music, to name a couple of things. It was fun.Essentially, the whole weekend can be summed up as "
hitchhiker and I followed each other around to panels and concerts, drove somewhere to get brunch and dinner every day, and got slightly lost several times a day." When we'd done FOGcon together last time, we found we both liked book panels, author interviews, and anything music-related. This time, we went for broke on all counts, and it worked out great.That's the short con report. The longer one (or, rather, the rest of a longer one) is below, under the magical courtesy cuts.
Friday evening, I picked up
hitchhiker at work and we drove to the hotel, where there was free parking, yay! The hotel is nice in that way that makes it a non-issue (that is, it's nice enough, and run well enough, that I have no memory of any real glitches, which is as it should be). We registered, put our stuff away, and then I think we just turned right around and went and got dinner, which was going to be an Armenian place that turned out to be closed on weekends (!), so we had some perfectly fine Mexican food in the same little strip-mall. (Saying "perfectly fine Mexican food" in the Bay Area is a big compliment from a San Diego girl.)After dinner, we experimented with my theory that I am probably not the room-party type. I lasted five minutes. Theory supported. I left
hitchhiker at the very crowded room full of mostly strangers (hi, the_ogre) and went somewhere, probably my room, probably to read. I LOVE having my own room at cons. I'm good at sharing, but having my own room means I can just completely retreat from the world when I want to, and that's a treasure. This time, I was feeling more social than usual, so I didn't really need the room much, but it was still great to have the option.Next, we went to the late-night open filk, which was wonderful, and which closed down around, what, 2am or something? My only previous filk experiences had been at FOGcon, where
gramina does a yeoman's job in creating a welcoming filkspace, but where the attendance is sparse, probably because of a combination of the small size of FOGcon and the smaller overlap between that con and the filking community (not to mention that a big Bay Area filkcon, Consonance, is on the previous weekend, so probably lots of filkers do the one and not the other). How should I describe filk in my filk-virgin perception? I think the closest I come is to that time at the end of a good party when most of the guests have left, and who's left is a group of friends who are comfortable with each other. The group of friends sits around laughing and talking comfortably, maybe drinking, gently teasing each other, and singing together, mostly off-key, for the sheer joy of being with other humans who want to sing.
The "off-key" part is an important part of how I relate to filking. Some filkers are skilled singers (and musicians) in a technical sense, but lots of them are not, based on my small sample size, and the fact that that doesn't hinder my love of this new thing is actually kind of significant in my life.
In the mists of time, I sang for a living. I was that steady backup singer who could range from tenor to second soprano, and always knew her note, but wasn't anything very impressive when it came to solos. In addition, I was a snob about musicality. I think it's a given that I would have hated filk circles back then, because what I now see as an unpolished expression of genuine joy, I would have just seen as a bunch of mostly bad singers conspiring to make me cringe.
Back then, I couldn't handle karaoke or most open mics, and I had crippling stagefright that ended my solo career before it started. I connect that stagefright with the snobbishness -- I valued "getting it right" at that time more than I valued music as an expression of joy, so I was unable to let myself risk being "wrong" in public about something so deeply important to me as music and my singing voice.
Then one day, and I remember this vividly, my mother, who is not, shall we say, a tuneful singer, was singing around the house, and she got distracted by something and stopped. I asked her to continue, and she said something self-deprecating about not being able to carry a tune in a bucket. "Yeah," I said, "but I'm never not going to want to hear my mommy sing. It's not about hitting the right notes." That was when I started looking past the notes and into the joy, and became the Serene who loves listening to people sing enthusiastically, even if some of them are singing "badly."
I slept in on Saturday (I don't know, 10am or so?) and then we got brunch at Panera (my first time; it was good, better than I expected) and went back to the interview with Lois McMaster Bujold. It's not the first time I've thoroughly enjoyed an author talk by an author I've never read. She was fun to listen to; the interviewers were good; and the things I think she got "wrong" were interesting enough to natter about afterwards, so hey, yay.
hitchhiker's recommended a place to start reading her (Shards of Honor, I think), but if you have suggestions, that's cool, too.After that, we went to the demo/sales pitch for Krypton Radio, which was both adorably amateurish (really, I mean that as a compliment, honest) and humorously interactive. Also, I really want the microphones he was using! (blue snowball | tascam)
Next was dinner at a remarkably good Persian place called Chelokababi. Everything was delicious, and my new favorite beverage is sekanjebin.
By this time, we had agreed that we mostly wanted to follow the music, so we decided to just go to the concerts, followed by the late-night filk.
Really. Good. Idea.
I only caught the last song of Unwoman (warning: if loud graphics and harsh design give you seizures, skip Unwoman's website), but I instantly knew I needed to buy her CD. Then some more fine musical acts, including Sooj, whose music I also felt a need to buy. (In case you're wondering, no I didn't exactly stick to my budget this con, but I didn't do tooooooo badly, in the end. :-) And then the late-night filking, which this time lasted until 3-ish in the morning, and during which I bravely sang badly, for the joy of it, which is, after all, the point.
Was way too awake after the singing and stuff (plus, my heart was doing that thing it does, and I didn't want to go to sleep all alone until it calmed down), so I headed to the internet lounge and goofed off until 4 or so, and then went to bed.
Sunday was great. I was simultaneously thrilled to be heading home, and sorry I hadn't chosen to stay for the whole con. I regretted missing the concerts and filking. I regretted not being there for the end of the con. Ends of parties are my favorite bits. From now on, I will add "must stay to the end" to my list of things I must do in order to fully enjoy a con.
We had brunch at a creperie that was good but not great, except for its name, which sounds like the name of a strip joint (Whispers), and brought me much amused joy. Then hmm, what did we do? Ah, yes, S.J. Tucker and Betsy Tinney interview, which was lovely. (They're two thirds of Tricky Pixie, of whom I hadn't heard before, but they're also best friends, and they played together a lot this weekend, and clearly enjoy and admire each other greatly.)
Next, we went to the game room and learned a new game called Wayword, which I liked, and then we went to sushi with
inflectionpoint. Lovely to catch up with her. We used to be next-door neighbors, and I really miss having someone awesome living so close.Once we got back to the hotel, it took great restraint not to let myself be talked into staying for more music. However, I was getting loopytired, so I grabbed some caffeine in the most bizarre consuite I've ever seen (I can talk about it in comments if you're interested), hugged my awesome con buddy good-bye, and hit the road.
In case I haven't said it enough, I had a wonderful, wonderful time. Nearly a perfect weekend, even though I was surrounded by hundreds of strangers for hours at a time. I really think I've finally found a meatspace social setting I can thrive in. This is big for me. Potentially expensive, but big. :-)
A few more random thoughts about this con, and how it compares with FOGcon:
Things I like better about FOGcon than Baycon, in no special order:
- More people I know there
- More panels I'm interested in (because more panels on feminism, sociopolitical issues, etc.). This is not a criticism of Baycon; I don't think all cons need to have the panels I like.
- Consuite
- It's not on Wiscon weekend, so it will never conflict
- It's more bookish and less media-ish, which is also not a criticism, just noticing compatibility-with-Serene issues
Things I liked better about Baycon, in no special order:
- Round-the-clock (wired) internet lounge
- Lots lots lots more music (as above, this is not a criticism of FOGcon)
- Silly badge ribbons -- I may take some to FOGcon next time just for fun
- It gave me something to do rather than pine over missing Wiscon
- The hotel has a pool. I didn't end up swimming this time, but I took my suit and probably will next chance I get.
And then I think the size thing was a wash. I like small social environments, but I also love big crowds (though the noise can get to me after a while) because I can people-watch in relative anonymity, and I can withdraw to my room without anyone (except those I'm traveling with) noticing.
Similarly, the hotel and the location were equally fine with me.
Oh! My swag. Can't find my camera cable, so I can't show you a pic of my fun con badge. Besides that, though, I brought home two pairs of earrings, two CDs, a magazine, and several books, including a collection of Nancy Kress's short stories and a piece of classic science fiction that
hitchhiker bought me.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 12:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 01:36 pm (UTC)I think I need to take a break from it myself. Loud, crowded, constant interruptions. I like seeing friends, but I'd rather climb or swim or calculate my net worth honestly.
Maybe I will be back in the space for it in another time.
It was great to see you again! I am also happy to see you found a good con buddy! Makes the experience even better.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-28 01:36 pm (UTC)-J