Back from Readercon

Still alive, not eaten by cannibals on my way home.

Readercon was wonderful. I quite enjoyed meeting everyone! I would like to be able to converse in a more fluid way with people. Livejournal is wonderful and all, but it creates conversations in weird bursts. I liked being able to interact in person with everyone, even if I was rather quiet at first.

More on Readercon to come, I think. Right now it is bed time.

Readercon!

Here is my giant readercon post!

Wednesday and Thursday

I left Wednesday morning at three seven AM on a bus headed to where I would find Patty, csecooney, and brendandetzner. After a bit of wandering around Chicago with brendandetzner, we were off! We drove through many states and finally, after sleeping (sort of) in the car, ended up in Massachusetts. The highways there were really pretty as we were taking small ones in order to avoid toll roads. I saw someone's high school on my way through! That was exciting. We also found a burnt out hotel, which was rather neat looking. The architecture along the highway was all rather pretty. Thursday at Readercon was mostly a blur of meeting people, either people utterly new to me or people I'd known from the internet. britmandelo was nice enough to lend me a spot in her room as my room didn't open up until the next day. Most of Thursday wasn't too clear or specific and there was less programming, but I did go to csecooney's reading!

Friday

In the morning I went to the panel on Howl's Moving Castle. I found it interesting that only one panelist had read it as a child, as that is my experience with all of Diana Wynne Jones' books. On the other hand, I am lucky in that by the time I was a kid (well, once I was ten, so a bit later than might've been ideal but still) Diana Wynne Jones' books had mostly come back into print. There was a lot of talk of how Diana Wynne Jones makes everything shift and sort of come into a new kind of focus, which is one of my favorite parts of reading her books.

I went to the Mythic Delirium/Goblin Fruit reading and read Song of the Bogs. It was my first time reading anything at any sort of convention, though I've read at MITY (for those who don't know, that is a camp I used to go to). I was rather nervous but I think I'm now a bit more used to this whole reading-at-conventions concept and a couple people said they liked it. I do enjoy reading in general, but I get rather shy and quiet at conventions and reading makes me more shy. Likely, when I go back to Readercon I'll be less quiet around everyone next time. (I'd love to go back but have no idea when I'll be able to. Readercon is rather across the country for me).

After the Steam Powered reading, and dinner, and going to a bit of the launch party, aamcnamara texted me saying that she and Kate were there! I got to meet Kate! We all polkaed! It was excellent. She had to go rather soon, sadly, but I will see her again in August.

The Interstitial Arts party was next and that was really neat! I liked exchanging passports. I somehow ended up drawing little eerie people who steal other people's teeth with the help of some smile stickers in just about everyone's passport that I was given.

Then I went to Meet the Pros(e) for a bit but it was rather too big and I don't know too many people at Readercon so I didn't really have too many people to talk to. ellen_kushner had an excellent jacket there, though, and introduced me to the person it had been commissioned from.

Saturday!

I went to a panel in the early afternoon but most of the day's panels were not too exciting to me. Soon, though, it was the Rhysling Award Poetry Slam(Slan)! I liked reading there too and was less nervous about it that time. I really liked what shadesong read at the reading. Watching csecooney read The Sea King's Second Bride was excellent and even more excellent once the winners were announced. She'd won! First place! For long form! For the Sea King's Second Bride! Hooray!

I went to a panel then, the one on gender and sexuality in fantasy, and enjoyed it. time_shark didn't quite win the Kirk somebodyIforgot memorial bad prose competition as we did! (The audience, that is). I apparently recognize the lyrics to the Star Trek theme song.

Got to hang out with people that night and spend some time talking to ckd. That afternoon I'd spent a good amount of time talking with asakiyume. I liked getting to know people I know on the internet a bit more in person. I also liked meeting new people in person, like skogkatt. You all are quite excellent! (You all = most everyone I hung out with at Readercon. I'd like to hang out with you more!)

Sunday

Ginger day! vcmw was there! I got to see her and she went to a panel (asakiyume's!) with aamcnamara and I. Right after the panel I was saying goodbye to various people when I turn my head to the left and there is a surprise!Neil Gaiman there. I'd always wanted to see him in person but right then I was saying goodbye and he was walking towards the panel area so I turned back and kept saying goodbye.

Surrounded by goodbyes was shadesong's reading. Right after it we were headed off to the road.

The way back was a bit less pretty than the way there as our directions directed us to larger highways but we had cucumberseed's mixes to listen to. We also stopped for a polka break at a gas station.

Monday was spent on a bus reading All Clear and now I am home.

I would like to keep in touch with the people I hung out with at Readercon! I'm pretty good at connecting names to LJ names but if you know of connections I might not have made that you think I should, tell me! I had a most excellent time! It was weird having the opportunity to read a couple poems while there as the last time I was at conventions that was not the case. I had to adjust my mindset a bit for that. Maybe more thoughts on that later.

For now know that Readercon is awesome and I'd like to go back someday. I'd also like to see more of Massachusetts than I was able to.