Arisia '06

[magid]

It was a con, and it was good. *waves to everyone seen*

I was in a small room this year in the Shabbat block. This was excellent, being on the same hall as many friends, and conveniently on the same floor as dealer's row, which previous years had been on 7.

The only drawback was the lack of fridge. What I figured out was this: I brought my room reservation to the hotel with the fridge request written on it. I never got a confirmation from the hotel, so I went in to ask about my room. They assured me that I was in the system, and that my fridge request was in the system as well. However, this year Arisia had an on-line fridge request system. I hadn't used the online form, since I'd already confirmed my fridge request with the hotel. But this meant that the Arisia innkeeper had no knowledge of my desire for a fridge, and with fridges at a premium, I didn't get one. Next year... Many thanks to ZZBottom who went to Cambridge in search of a used cube fridge he'd seen advertised. Unfortunately, the seller had already left, so that didn't work out. In the end, I jury-rigged a plastic bag to sit on the outside window ledge, anchored by clipping it to a wooden hotel hanger (the kind without the curve at the top), which was itself clipped to the window cords. Not ideal, but it worked.

Most things were in the same places as always, but there were a number of things that moved. Dealer's row moved down to 5, only a floor above all the programming. The con suite moved to 4, which made a lot of sense to me; people are more likely in need of refreshment between panels than when shopping. The lower level Terrace Room became a movie space; Higgins Armory demos and filking were more integrated into the rest of the con's programming, which was another good decision. And gaming was moved from Stanbro (on the mezzanine) to a couple of rooms at the end of the fourth floor. While I can see why the decision was made (gaming doesn't need a large space for any one game, while Stanbro provides a good mid-size event space), I wish gaming had been in Stanbro again. No one was going to meander by the rooms at the end of the hallway for a pickup game , nor was there a lot of impetus to meet there for smaller games that could be played elsewhere just as easily. I wish there were another medium space along the mezzanine.

As always, I didn't make it to lots of panels that sounded very interesting (even some I'd said I'd go to, which I'm not happy about). On the plus side, I did get to a number of interesting panels and events. To wit:

• a panel on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which was fascinating (and completely outgrew the tiny Longfellow room); it made me want to learn more linguistics. It could have lasted twice as long...
  
• a reading by Cecilia Tan, who not only writes well, but reads well too.
  
• a panel of undeservedly unknown SF, for which I hope to get someone's list of suggestions. Lots of names and title, and me not writing, which was a frustrating combination.
  
• a panel on Firefly and Serenity, which felt like it had far too high a squee-to-content ratio
  
• a contact improv session, which was weird but fun
  
• a panel on "The Art of Wearing a Kimono," which was more about different styles of kimono than how to wear them. Though the kimonos shown were gorgeous, I was more interested in how to tie an obi and so on, so this was a bit of a disappointment.
  
• a panel on addicting kids to SF, during which I heard a couple of times that there's lots of fantasy that's appropriate for kids, but little hard science fiction. (In my currently child-free therefore obviously knowledgeable state, I tend to think that other than giving a child lots of encouragement to read (in reading together, reading alone, talking about books, and so on), one shouldn't dictate content, other than vetting for overly-adult themes, if necessary. Which is to say, my parents never monitored my reading at all, and I very much appreciate that.)
  
• a radio drama, Chicken Heart, which was an excellently silly 50s-style radio drama, complete with sound effects being made on stage and a ridiculous plot (the chicken heart, it grows....)

There were new strands in programming this year. In previous years, there might have been a panel on blogging and an LJ meet-up. This year there were at least four panels, one with the presentation of a scholarly paper, plus a meetup. And I saw a lot of people using their LJ name on their badges.

There were also a number of panels on webcomics, which I don't remember happening at all before. Plus more Higgins Armory demos as well.

I was disappointed that there weren't morning yoga sessions this year. In general, it would be great to have more movement panels, not just the belly-dancing which seems perennial.

So many people on my friends list were at the con (about 45%). And even though many of them are local, there's not always time during the workaday life to get together. I'm glad of the chance for reconnection with people who feel a bit more distant recently.

I spent money; I finally bought dice for gaming (2 years later...). There were a number of other things that appealed (boots, garb, tie-dyed clothes, a necklace), but nothing that I needed so much that buying was imperative.

I was thinking of getting a Utilikilt, but the women's ones were all miniskirts, so I'd have to fit a men's kilt to my hips, and have the waist be overlarge, which is not something I want. What I do want is a mid-calf skirt with pockets that are usable (usable = not only able to fit stuff in them, but look decent when there is stuff in them). I'm annoyed that they're only making tiny Utilikilts for women. Phooey.

The other nuisance of the weekend (other than the fridge): the new dress I'd planned to wear Saturday evening. I'd worn it a couple of times before without problems, but this time the zipper (a short one that runs on the side of the dress, not the back) got stuck midway. I tried to move it for a quarter of an hour, and it took the kind help (another quarter of an hour) of two other sewing-knowledgeable people to extricate me from the dress. Needless to say, I have a trip to a tailor in my future.

I didn't sleep well this year; there were too many loud drunks, fire engines, and backing-up trucks, which carefully spaced themselves out so I kept on being woken up. I could've closed the window, but it's too warm to sleep then. I shall have to hope for an inside room next year.

I didn't find any ducks this year.

I did recognize someone from my friendsfriends page because of her userpics. I felt too odd (bashful?) to say anything as I stood behind her at check-in, though.

Notes for next year (see also last year's notes):

• it's worth bringing my own hand cream
  
• it's imperative to be caught up on sleep before the con starts (you'd think I'd know this already.)
  
• if I'm at all sleep deprived, a trip to the gym down the street isn't going to happen; don't bother to bring the gym bag (but the yoga pants are useful)
  
• remember to bring crocheting to talk panels not on Shabbat (otherwise it's a waste of suitcase space)
  
• don't bring food in glass jars; it weighs too much
  
• do bring shelf-stable foods to work on the Thursday; it's much easier on the shoulders (assuming the same workplace next January, of course)
  
• sandals are good conwear, but it would also be good to have some ballet flats or something similar
  
• drink more water
  
• smaller shared meals are a good thing; it's easy to agree on what foods appeal to all

Comments

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I think REI might carry some skirts-with-pockets. I remember seeing a nice one there once while I was looking for other clothing. Hootenanny, too, though of course the skirts may be a little gothier than you want for regular wear :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll have to check out what REI has (I have yet to find anything at Hootenanny that I'm likely to wear on any regular basis...).

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Did you try soap on the zipper?

[magid.livejournal.com]

No. By the time we got the dress off me, the others said the zipper was coming through the fabric, which is part of the reason the zipper needs replacing.

[queue.livejournal.com]

If you send me an email asking about it, I'll try to remember to transcribe my notes.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Done.