furtech | AC 2003 pt.1

I had a fantastic time at AC for a change! Fortunately Steve had to deal with the dealers' room schenanigans (what a weird bureaucracy), leaving me free to camp or go as I pleased.

This con didn't start out well: I arrived with the early stages of a sinus infection...which blossomed into nastiness by Friday. Fortunately, staying mostly bedridden all day Thursday and much of Friday (along with doses of colustrum and msm and "C") had the bugger under control most of that time and I felt well enough Saturday to actually suit up in Talbain.

martes asked for con reports (and I'm late as usual), but

skorzy had a good point: a con is like an elephant-- different for everyone. For me, a good convention is one where I get a chance to talk at length with people I only see once or twice a year. Last year was a bad con: everyone was in huge groups: I didn't get to see anyone for more than a passing "Hey~!"

This year was a lotto winner! First off was dinner with Crocutta and his interesting posse. The discussions were lively and ranged from hyena biology to how useful a non-staining fake blood would be for the special effects industry.

Next up was a biggie: I *finally* got to meet

spunkywulf in the flesh! I've admired her art for years and she's one of a few artists whose style dovetails with the type of costumes I like to make. In a way it was an opportunity to give something back and show her what I could do, as well as to let her see first hand some of the costumes/puppets I'd made based on her designs. Pics and mayhem will follow in a subsequent post...

Dinner with Spunkywulf was fun and lively. As mentioned before, she's a whirlwind of activity and motion and is great fun to talk with. Great conversations about art, characters and what-we-do, Boston and her first-time-con impressions.

Sunday was lunch with Carey and Erin, which consisted mostly of catching up on gossip, our respective work/projects and learning more about Erin (my first time meeting her-- Carey's lucky to have found her: she's cool and easy-going).

Dinner Sunday was an unexpected delight: Skorzy,

beerhorse, her friend (whose name I'll remember someday..."Fred" for now), Skorzy's friend (Will? Damn this spongiform brain of mine!), Cara, and

bluewyrm (who I got to meet for the first time again...and again...[hits brain]).

I had really hoped to have a meal* with Beerhorse and Skorzy: I'd known of them mostly through Martes and her friend list. Since Redstorm couldn't make it out, I was looking forward to hearing Beerhorse educate me about LARP'ing (live role playing). What I learned is that I'm likely to get my arse smushed in... maybe I can play an omega Gnoll and stay back from the battle and clean the potties or something.

Skorzy is a hardcore birder (at least with respect to Martes and I) and I enjoyed hearing about his experiences. If he ever makes it out to the north part of L.A. we can show him our sad hiking areas (they're beautiful, but kind of short...).

Bluewyrm and Cara were a huge bonus: Cara because I gave up hope of talking to her (popular artist+great piles of sketchbooks+tons of people wanting to meet her=no chance!) and Bluewyrm because I didn't even know she was at the con (I keep not-recognizing her new hair... and it's usually halfway through a conversation that she takes pity on me and tells me who she is).

The-person-I-think-is-named-Will and Fred (Beerhorses' proto-fannish friend) just added to the fun. Fred isn't a fan, but has all the trappings of one (no, she doesn't wear cat ears...): very much the artist-type in dress and wildly eclectic interests. Will was one of those conversationalists who can pretty much fit in anywhere, adding interesting/knowledgable commentary.

What a great group! And the dinner at a brewhouse was *excellent*. Conversation ranged from LARP'ing to birding hikes to the Mutter Museum (*squirms*) to beer-making and beyond. What a great group! No one wearing fox ears or yerfing... just a terrific meal and non-stop conversations.

Add to that the running conversations with the likes of

diadexxus and

frysco and a bunch of other costumers and the weekend was pretty excellent!

*When most of your friends and such are artists or dealers (or both), it's nigh-on impossible to talk during the day: customers, table-manning, fans, etc. Meals are an escape to quieter fields...