The Diary of A Simple Man

 So Arisia was apparently protecting rapists, or covering up accusations of rape. And yet I was kicked out because the head of security went berserk over my cosplay.

I'm tempted to say "If I'd only known, I'd have skipped the cosplay and just raped someone."

But that would be tasteless. Still, it's nice to know that Arisia kept the con safe from atheist events. I'm sure that was a good use of their time!

He was a big hit.

It's funny, but ever since Arisia I just don't feel like playing World of Warcraft much.

We had a nice breakfast (buffet) with my parents this morning. Then we left Sebastian to play at Fast Track while Teri and I looked around Dealer's Row.

The "LOTR: Movies Vs. Books" panel was quite loud and contentious, but fun and interesting; as always, I was able to get some good laughs out of the audience, which is always satisfying.

The "Avatar: The Last Airbender" panel was also good. We only talked about the movie for the first twenty minutes; most people hated it, some (including me) were lukewarm. So we moved on to the series. Again, I was able to get some good laughs, and as a bonus found out that a sequel series of twelve episodes is coming out! Sebastian will be thrilled.

I went upstairs to check on Teri and Sebastian after that panel. One of the audience members who was wearing a pretty cool Kiss costume with 8-inch heels got on the elevator too, along with several other fen. Lastly, a drunk blonde woman got on; I instantly knew that she was Not One Of Us, not a fan. What would you call the science fiction equivalent of gaydar? Mine is nearly infallible.

She was clearly bemused by the costumes.

"Who are you supposed to be?" she asked in a friendly but condescending manner. The Arisian explained that he was dressed as one of the members of Kiss.

"What does that have to do with science fiction?" she asked. In an ensuing conversation, several of us explained that there had been a movie and comic book about Kiss, and that they'd fought Doctor Doom in the comic. We got to her floor, and she got off.

The rest of us eyed each other. After a long, long pause, I couldn't resist speaking.

"Mundanes..."

Everyone laughed. "Just what I was thinking!" someone said.

"And they're worse when they're drunk." I added, as I got off the elevator to more laughter.

Sebastian was asleep and Teri was in bed, so I went back downstairs and saw the last two-thirds of Terry Pratchett's Going Postal with Klyfix and Stairflight. It was pretty riveting, so I'll doubtless look it up on Netflix.

Tomorrow is the end. I'm not looking forward to my last two panels tomorrow; neither topic really appeals to me, and neither was high up on my list of choices. I'll try to be a good panelist nonetheless, but perhaps I won't be one of the loudest and most vociferous panelists.

I wish I didn't have to wait a whole year to have fun among my own people again!

You want to know what torture is?

The Arisia panel software required me to put a number from 1-5 next to each panel that I was interested in, indicated how badly I wanted to be on it. There were 32 panels that I was interested in, but I can only be on a maximum of 10, total (I suggested more than ten of the panels they're running!). Not only that, but you can only have four panels ranked #1, 2, 3, or 4 each. Fives are unlimited.

After my initial run I had eight panels ranked number one alone. So I just spent quite a while reassigning numbers to the panels I want to be on. Torture!

Apparently it may take a while before videos of the panels that I was on are posted, but here's a link to an mp3 recording. You may find it interesting...or not, of course.

It's a recording of the "We Want It On DVD!" panel.

http://n1jdu.org/Fandom/mp3/We_want_it_on_DVD_64k.mp3

- Sebastian loves crafts. We should do them at home. But we don't. Probably because there are no other children for him to do them with; it's much more fun with other children. What should we do?

- A lot of the panels were pretty redundant. I should suggest (or log, if Arisia isn't accepting suggestions now) ideas now, while I remember what people were interested in. One panel idea: "I Married A Mundane". Another: a panel for non-fans who are attending Arisia in the company of a fan SO. That way they could commiserate about the geeks. :D

- Heinlein is an endless topic of debate.

We're home from Arisia. The ride home was smooth; the roads had been cleared. Once we got home we had to park on the street, because the driveway had been totally blocked by snow. But the new snowblower was able to clear everything out in about ten minutes.

The con went really well, I'd say. Teri didn't have as much fun as I did, unfortunately. While I was doing some of my panels, she was stuck over in Fast Track, keeping an eye on Sebastian (he was a kid-in-tow). She was bored. Next year Sebastian will be a full Fast Track participant, and she'll be able to leave him there on his own; that should be better for her (and him, for that matter!).

The panels all went quite well, although I was worried about the next-to-last. For a while it looked as if it would die without a whimper, but we got enough people to make it worthwhile. The RuneQuest panel was the biggest disappointment. The audience was very small (although they did have a lot of interest in the subject). I'm afraid I won't be suggesting a RuneQuest panel ever again.

Two of my panels were actually videotaped by Malden Cable Access! They're going to be putting the videos up on their site as well as broadcasting them, and I'll certainly post links to them as soon as I can. I took copious notes at almost all my panels, and will look them over with an eye to posting them. I promised to make a post on the Arisia community for each of the panels I moderated, and made the same suggestion to the moderators of the panels that I didn't moderate.

I got several business cards and email addresses from people I need to write to. One person told me about a cohousing place out in Berlin (MA) that has a fair number of roleplayers and an actual gaming room as part of the facilities; I suppose we can't afford it. But I can dream, can't I?

We all did Kamikaze Kids Costuming again. Sebastian insisted on making a Spongebob Squarepants costume; I was dubious, but it came out looking pretty good. He got a very good reception at the Masquerade.

Some of the hall costumes were great. Here's a video I took in the main hotel lobby on Saturday afternoon:



The Masquerade entries were good, but there weren't any that really took my breath away.

Speaking of the Masquerade, I was stunned to see that only half of the ballroom was used for the show; we got seats because we were Kamikaze parents, but as far as I could tell virtually all of the seats were reserved (and used) by people who were involved with the Masquerade in one way or another. I heard that over 100 people were turned away at the doors, and inside the place people were desperate for seats. It was broadcast in-house, of course, but that's never the same. We tried to watch the rebroadcast of the Masquerade in our room, but there was no picture at all! Just sound.

The Green Room (not the Masquerade one) was once again a disappointment for me. They rarely had hot food when I came by, and when they did, it wasn't anything I was interested in. It was also...well, the old group that ran the Green Room until the year before last set it up as a lovely, relaxing oasis for program participants. It was a little isolated and quiet. Seats were spotted here and there; you could chat with other participants or not, as suited you. But the current team have the room set up as a vast dining hall, with a long table down the middle and everyone sitting face-to-face. It's like summer camp, or a cafeteria. They also printed the location in the pocket program, and then stationed people to make sure that no one without a program participant badge could come in. I didn't try to see if I could bring in Teri or Sebastian...but I do wonder if I could have.

We did get a shot at the swimming pool. It's over the parking garage, and some of the passageway there is unheated! It was horribly cold, in fact. But once we got in to the pool area it was warm enough. The floor of the pool was very strange, sort of rubbery. We swam for a while. In the locker room after, we couldn't resist trying the two steam rooms there: one was full of steam, so much so that you couldn't see, and the other was filled with dry heat. It had rocks under a metal mesh, though, I and think I could have poured water on the rocks to make steam - but I didn't.

Whew! What a great long weekend. more later, I think.

Can't find my formal shirt, cuff links, or studs - so fuck it, I'm not bringing the formal outfit.

Pity, since I only get to wear it once a year, but it's my own fault for not keeping better track of things. Funny, I would have sworn that I put that stuff exactly where I always do...but it's not there, and that's that.

Teri wouldn't dance with me anyway.

Okay. I've got handouts for my RQ, kid-lit, and Party Genesis panels - that's four. I'm thinking about golden age authors and will do some more research tomorrow (I'm bringing my SF Encyclopedia so I can read and take notes in the car) - that's another two panels (lots of overlap this year!). I think I'm ready for my other panels; I just did a lot of research for the We Want It On DVD! panel, and the Kroft and roleplaying ones should be no problem (I have to remember to tell that story about Raunchy Rabbit).

I've got my camera, dancing shoes, and business cards.

I'll almost certainly be able to make some voiceposts from the con, now that I have a working number of LJ. I'm thinking of doing some video blogging, too. If anyone has any tips, please share them! I've already figured out that doing a whole post from a hotel room (or stateroom on a ship) is lame, lame, lame. I'll try to walk around and do a bit of roving-reporter stuff, if possible.

So who else is going to be there?