I spent last weekend at Foolscap, a science fiction convention, the first one for which I've stayed in the hotel and been immersed in programming and socializing. I had a minor volunteer role, which provided some structure to the weekend. Otherwise I simply went around and chatted with folks -- including an SF dignitary who has the same name as I do (which had led to confusion at a previous con, until the late Anita Rowland came up with the idea of prefacing my name with "The Other" on my badge).
One of the distinctive elements of Foolscap is that it's a highly participative con. Many attendees signed up in advance to be on panels. I was on two, including a late-night exploration of vampire romances. That was particularly weird because, to everyone's surprise, Foolscap was sharing the Marriott with...a vampire convention.
The vampire contingent pretty much kept to themselves, though I did get a few looks as I was going down in the elevator to the vampire panel wearing a long black silk skirt, black high heels, and a black velvet blouse.
Not sure what the vampires were doing, but our programming included late-night story telling, a radio play, a round-robin writing collaboration using manual typewriters, an art show, and an auction (at which I won a celadon green wool scarf knitted by a local author).
On the way back from the con, I went to a "naked ladies" clothing exchange organized by women in the Seattle contradance community. I brought two dozen tops to exchange, and came away with some interesting items for the steampunk costumes I'm working up for Orycon in November. These included a long wool walking skirt that appears to be a reproduction of an Edwardian skirt.
In contrast to the playful weekend, the week has been a relentless schedule of writing, editing, and meetings, along with interviews with new clients and prospective clients. I've been starting at 7 a.m., and still editing at 11 p.m. My new TV, a 32" LCD, arrived Wednesday and I haven't even tried to take it out of the box yet.
Watched the Palin-Biden "debate" tonight with friends at the Red Door. It wasn't much of a debate; mostly the candidates seem to pretend the other one isn't there. Palin didn't even answer the interviewer's questions. I think it was disgraceful.
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