DragonCon the Aftermath

Travel home was quick and efficient. We got up and ready and made it down stairs about 10:10. We ran into Richard Hatch who we had a very pleasant conversation with about Battlestar Galactica and live in general. We were taken to the airport in plenty of time, checked our bags, went through security quickly, and ate lunch without time pressures. Caroline played at the indoor playground until we were allowed on the plane. Flight was pretty much on time and we were home late afternoon allowing us to get some stuff done that we thought we were going to have to deal with today.

I am still brain fuzzy this morning. It was Ariel's first day at school. She has to get up at 6 to catch the bus now and is learning how not to make tons of noise that wakes other up. Peter was up with her to see her off. Between that and my back making noises that it is not happy with me, I think today is going to be a fun one. I have to be back in shape by tomorrow because I have a puppetry audition which may go most of the day. More about that on Friday.

My birthday is Friday and I received an early birthday present from my husband. He told me that he had found something that I wanted which I didn't know existed. He was right. Cirque Du Soliel is, as you may know, a passion of mine. He found a messenger bag that is made out of a piece of one of the Big Tops. It is a bit scuffed but that is to be expected considering how long it was on tour. It looks soooo cool. I'm packing it up and taking it with me to my audition tomorrow for luck.

A few stray thoughts in no particular order about DragonCon and some Fan Faux Pas that cropped up over the weekend.

I know there is a half an hour between panels and I think this is a good thing. It allows you to get from one panel to another even if they are in two separate hotels. I wish some of the fans would remember that the panelists have to be able to get to where they need to go including that precious time to eat something. Peter was signing at his table for long periods of time but at the end of each panel at least 5 people would come up to get things signed. I saw it happen to a number of other authors who had set autograph times each day. Unless you have a staff badge, you can make the time to go stand in line and get those autographs. The sad thing is that I know this is a minority because the same people pull the same stunt at the end of more than one panel.

I know that if it is popular you have to stand in line for it. Just deal with it. I can't tell you the number of time I passed lines with people kvetching about standing in lines. Also if you have seen (insert big star here) why not try something else so that those poor people who haven't heard them speak get a chance. Yes movie studios that have actors on call can pull them after they have arrived at the convention. Complaining to the poor people who have to tell you that the event was cancelled is not very nice since it is not their fault. Yelling at them is a big No-No. Yelling also will not get you into a panel and will probably just irritate the staff who is not getting paid with anything except a T-Shirt and if they are lucky maybe a little food.

I am glad you are a fan of (insert fandom or person here). Could you please not hover while we are eating or if we are talking off to the side trying to make the conversation between us for just a little bit. Yes I know we could go to our rooms or to the hall where you can't go because Guido the security guard will stop you but then you totally lose your chance to interact with the person(s) I am talking to if we do that. Give a little personal space to the guests and they think you rawk as fans and go tell the reluctant actors that they should try these conventions because the fans are so wonderful and polite which might convince them to come to the convention so you can meet them.

I am glad you are proud of the (insert name of fan group here) and are a member in good standing. I can understand that you are proud of owning an exclusive t-shirt that says that you are among the elite of this fan group but please think of others and don't wear the same shirt 3 or 4 days in a row unless you wash it every night. The tomato sauce stain you had on your shirt Friday was there Saturday and Sunday too. This goes for costumers also. If you need to wear the same costume every day then remember to let it dry out at night and a combination of 1/2 water and 1/2 vodka in the spray bottle sprayed on the smelly parts really helps. Spray it before you go to bed and spread it out to dry.

I created a drunk test while I was down there. I had a set of puppet eyeballs in my pocket. I would pull them out and talk to people. At one point I would have my puppet say, "If you are still talking to the hand then put down the drink and go to your room to sleep it off." There were a number of people who continued to talk to the hand with eyeballs. If you are that wasted it might be time to put down the (insert cute name drink) and call it a night. You might want to remember what you did the next day. I heard more conversation about hangovers and cures the next morning than I can remember hearing before. Also underage drinking CAN get your badge yanked. It is on the back of your badge. You signed an agreement to a code of conduct when you came into the convention.

I had people who enjoyed Peter's work apologize to me that they were telling me that they so liked his work. Don't worry about it. I think he is pretty darn cool and do enjoy hearing from other people that they think so too. I am more than willing to discuss his work with you as long as you understand that there are certain subjects I can't talk about due to various non-disclosure agreements and there are some things in our personal life that are off limits.

Understand that the above was a minority of fans. Over all the fans were great and I had a lot of fun meeting them. DragonCon is a unique experience even among science fiction conventions and I am glad that I am part of it.

I am grateful that I have become (as one fan put it) part of the DragonCon experience.