Arisia

[magid]

My Arisia started on Thursday, helping with load-in. I helped carry things from trucks into the hotel, then helped set up the art show scaffolding, which was in a different space than previous years due to the hotel adding a comedy club. I hadn't done either of these before, and it was interesting getting to see more of the behind-the-scenes stuff (both in time and space, being in some of the staff-only areas of the hotel). And it was good to be useful, and meet some new people. The other plus was being able to register and get my badge, so I'd have it before Shabbat.

Shabbat day, I walked to Arisia to have lunch with T&L and their Little. Without those plans, I might have bailed on the walk: it was raining when I started, which changed over to wet snow en route (much prettier, but still very wet on my already-drenched winter coat). I was pretty much a drowned rat when I walked into the lobby.... which is when I realized I'd left my Arisia badge at hom. ::sigh::

I was able to let my coat drip a while in my hosts' bathroom, along with a lot of other clothes. I was glad they'd taken a bag of things for me along with my lunch contributions! The meal was low-key, as expected, given hotel room limitations, including lack of fridge or food heating, plus the addition of a toddler who desperately needed a nap, but wasn't able to settle down to one. Poor kid.

Since I didn't have a badge with me, I hung out in common spaces, chatting with friends as they came by. (At least I hadn't walked in earlier for a panel!) It was great to see so many people, many of whom I haven't seen in a while, despite being local. I got my volunteer T-shirt when I turned in my volunteer sheet (and the Thursday hours were enough for next year's membership). I was getting tired and planning to leave when I finally ran into H&D, friends from college who now live in NJ. It's always good to catch up with them, though I probably stayed later than I should have doing that... And it was snowing again when I finally started walking home again, again in rainboots, which bit me this time: I got a blood blister by the time I was home. At least the vigorous walking finally got the inside of my still-damp coat dry. Yay?

I set an alarm so I'd be up and out in time to make it to an early panel on food chemistry Sunday morning, and put my badge by the door so I wouldn't forget it again!. It was still snowing in the morning, and I was moving slower than I'd hoped, so I wimped and took the T to the hotel. I went to a bit more programming, including a panel on writing horror and the 'trailer park' for the year's SF movies (which utterly failed, having no trailers for new movies at all, though it was nostalgic to see trailers for movies that were as much as 20 years old). Other programming I'd planned to get to, the contra dance and other food chemistry talk, I missed entirely, but on the plus side, this year I got to check out the art show and the dealers room, as well as lots more social time. Plus I went to a party with fabulous lighting at night.

So many friends had great costumes: people on sproingy stilts, with lit-up coats, or EL wire wings, period costumes of diverse sorts, leather costumes I'd seen being made just last week. But the one that stuck with me most was E'beth as the 10th Doctor; she totally rocked the whole look!

Other randomness:
I hung out in the volunteer lounge some this year, and it was really nice, a quiet-enough respite from the lobby, with good snacks, plus some interesting conversation (most notably, the one on spinning where I was completely outnerded, not knowing which kind of sheep my wool was from).

It's always interesting to introduce friends from different parts of my life (college, gaming, Jews, Asylum, etc.).

Reminder to self: do not bring yarn you haven't worked with before as the stuff to make things with. The yarn I grabbed at the last minute turned out to be a bust, breaking every time I tried to work it. Boo.

Despite not having hot food from Friday morning to Monday night, I didn't succumb too badly to sweets. Not perfect by any means, but far better than it could have been, especially considering I didn't plan food all that well.

Commuting is good for the wallet, and for my health (the walk in the cold always feels salutatory), but means I don't do nearly as much with costuming or naps (or late-night programming; I don't assume I can sleep late). I'm guessing it's sort of like the drawbacks to living off campus in college, in miniature.

Most annoying typo: a reprinted short story where the dragon had a "horde" (and no, it wasn't a posse, but the traditional gold and other treasure).