Serene of the Oakland Serenes

Just determined I won't be going to Fogcon, so I'm feeling sad today. We had to pay taxes this year (when previously we always had a big refund), so the money was not going to work out. My sweetheart stonebender and his sweetheart loracs offered to pay a big chunk of the expenses, but there were other problems with going, so I'm not, and I'm sad, but it's not, on the whole, a bad thing. Now I have to decide whether to keep my upcoming vacation time or cancel it and use it for something I want to do later. On the other hand, my co-worker is going out on a long maternity leave in April, so maybe it would be good to take it while I can. Anyway. Don't have to decide today.

Reading

Have I read anything this week besides work papers and Twitter? I don't actually think I have!

Listening

Literally every previously quiet moment in my brain is taken up by snippets of Hamilton. Over. And over. And over. Still obsessed. I bought myself the soundtrack and pre-ordered the book, and it's SUPER tempting to spend way more money than I have to get tickets to the San Francisco run.

I used to listen to Here & Now on the way to work, and Marketplace on the way home from work, but now I take the kid to school in the morning and drive my student worker to the trolley after work, so I don't. I miss it, but not enough to ask the kids to listen to NPR with me.

Playing

Mostly Two Dots. I keep hearing that The Witness is wonderful, but my download failed and I didn't try a second time.

Watching

James and I re-watched the Blade series and all the monster movies we own, and now we're re-watching Austin Powers. Before I met him, I had only two or three movies I ever re-watched. Now we watch the same ones over and over. It leaves my mind free for other stuff, and he likes sharing the chill time.

No Jessica Jones this week. The kid just started school and work got busy for me, so we're both too tired to bother.

In addition to the panels I posted about in my previous FOGcon post, I'll be doing the following consuite shifts, so stop by if you feel like saying hi:

Friday 4:30-5:45 pm
Sunday 8:30 - 9:30 am

I don't generally write long con reports, but I do like reading them, so please, those of you who went, let this serve as encouragement for you to post a better roundup than I'm about to post.

1) Seeing people I rarely see was lovely, even though I was too fragmented to do much about it. Also, for other people who don't consider yourselves fans and/or con-goers, I recommend FOGcon. I am neither a fan nor a con-goer, besides which I'm an introvert: still, I felt welcomed, interested, and part of the group the whole time I was there.

2) Outside of the con, the weekend began badly* (with a tsunami evacuation -- we live in a basement by the bay), and never really improved after that, so I think it's pretty awesome that I enjoyed the con as much as I did

3) Every panel I attended was filled with smart, articulate people who can disagree without being disagreeable. I loved the panels a lot.

4)( in which I whine for a minute, but passive-aggressively put it behind a cut tag instead of politely keeping it to myself )

5) Next con, I don't just pay for my own room: I GET my own room.

6) Best consuite food ever, but still, I should really not try to live for two days on mostly consuite food.

7) However, because I did live for two days on mostly consuite food, in addition to two meals out with generous people, I spent $20 at the con, besides my room. That's pretty amazing, if you ask me. (That doesn't count my outlay for the kid's booth and prints and stuff; that's a loan, not an actual expense.)

8) My mom and I would have had a lot of fun doing this con together, if we hadn't been babysitting a couple other family members. Lesson learned.

9) BATHTUB!! I took hot baths two mornings in a row. Being submerged in water is my happy place. My next apartment MUST have a bathtub.



* For James: And inside of a con, it's too dark to read

From my recent alt.poly post ( and only really of interest to alt.polyites who may be in/near San Francisco on March 11, for FOGcon or otherwise. )

Okay, who's going to FOGcon? In my family, attendees will be, I think:

stonebender, who's on the concom
Me
loracs, probably
wtfpotatoes, who will be selling her art in the dealers' room, how exciting is THAT?
My mom (mommaduck)
My mom's fiance

I've never actually attended a con that wasn't an alt.polycon, except an afternoon at Potlatch, so I will be a total overwhelmed newb. I'm hoping to see my dear friends who live far away. I'm hoping to attend a lot of panels. I'm hoping to help the kid at her dealer's table. I'm hoping to get plenty of downtime. I'm not sure all these hopes are compatible, but I'm gonna give it a try.