Yaay! The blog is still here and hentai free. The cat is alive, if shunning me, and nothing appears to have died in the newly emerging garden while I was away.
Fab year, great time, met many folks, and my Owly doll turned out to be a total Swag Magnet. People walked up and gave the doll stuff! Nobody ever gives ME stuff, but the doll they'll give stuff. He got a Beowulf pin, a scarf, bobble ears, several T-shirts, an electronic fan, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre key chain (which I confiscated as that's entirely too violent a thing to hand to an innocent, vegetarian owl), and a bunch of other crap. The Owly doll brought love and joy to everyone who saw him, and he even diffused tension! Except for the little girl who broke out in tears on Sunday when informed that she couldn't get one because they sold out, Owly was a great tool. He was so good that by the end of the first day he had his own badge and staff ribbon. I'm thinking of bringing him back next year.
As for me, my major scores were an advance reader's copy of World War Z (shocker to see it there and being passed out for free!!!), a copy of the new Peter S. Beagle short story collection, a beautiful sketch by Eddie Campbell, new Lark Pien minis, gushing at Linda Medley while she sketched my fave character in my Castle Waiting collection, managing to partially gush at a Los Bros without bursting into tears (partial gush because I felt the tears coming on, and so fled), meeting the fantabulous Mary Fleener, a sketch of the chicken-head guy by Eric Larsen (while watching him draw with two upside down fingers, left-handed...amazing), discovering on Wednesday that Patty Jeres is back, baby, and our industry had not lost her institutional knowledge, wisdom and good humor after all, and a delightful meal where I was fed dreamy pasta stuffed with duck and spices. Also, there were many alcohol and/or meal incidents with friends, something that doesn't happen often.
This year I had a trainee who was absolutely wonderful. I only slightly hazed him by telling him he had to check on each of our three assigned guests at least once an hour, just to see if he would do it. Also I would make the occasional random Voice of God call over the cell at odd hours sending him on various errands. How well did my trainee do? Take a look!
Rock out! My trainee, who is now officially a GRT, will definitely survive what's going to happen to him next year, which was the whole point of the minor hazing. He's funny, calm, unflappable, and willing to do the work. We are now the Wondertwins, and we are ready for 2007. Woo!
Show was so much fun this year that the Glow was able to sustain me through the horror of Monday, when the hotel staff informed me at checkout that my car had broken down in the parking garage and they hadn't been able to move it for two days. Thank goodness for friends, let me tell you.
The only thing I really want to rage about is what happened at The Black Panel when a 47-year-old black woman stepped to the microphone to share thoughts, and the response of some of the men on that stage had my jaw on the floor and my lungs working at top faire volume from where I was standing against the wall being restrained by a programming staffer. UnFUCKINGbelieveable. It's four days later, and I'm still pissed. More on this, later.
(Yes, I managed to take in three whole panels this year, and part of a fourth! A record.)
Okay! Off to sleep for 18 hours. Posting will continue to be light this week.
