It’s been almost two weeks since DragonCon, and I realized I haven’t actually sat down and done either a Con rundown, or posted a #WriteFridays exercise. Sheesh. C’mon, self, get with the program.
I somehow turned into the Infamous Scribble …
First, the DragonCon short rundown. I attended Con with my sister and brother-in-law and their two kids, as well as my 9-month-old. We had to get a hotel room at a place farther away from downtown, but easily reachable with a shuttle and a MARTA card. Lessons learned – NEVER GO ANYWHERE AGAIN WITHOUT A PACK AND PLAY. Also, a stroller that is tall enough so that I’m not unintentionally cosplaying the Hunchback of Notre Dame. And a babysitter. BYOB(abysitter).
The first night was a mixture of both excitement and some really bitter news. Excitement because it was fun introducing my geeky family to DragonCon, and getting a chance to introduce Ladybug to the nerd life at an early age. (She was fascinated by all the people milling around … my daughter, the extrovert. She gets it from her Dad.) Bitter because I received a text from a friend that one of my Army buddies had passed unexpectedly. Even with the fun of the weekend, I kept thinking of him, and what a loss it was to lose him.
Even with Ladybug in tow, I still managed to make it to a few panels, although I exited pretty much all of them early, to the musical sounds of her velociraptor squeals. Still, there was some fun stuff, and I got a chance to meet people and even do some networking. I picked up a few books at the vendor tables (but was still mostly good and only bought four. And one of them was for zombie novel research.) I also wandered around to McFarland Publishing’s pop culture nonfiction stall and pitched them a proposal I’ve been working on. So that was cool. (Also, loved that Tea & Absinthe had a stall – yay for yummy tea and geeky tea stuff!)
Ladybug and I hanging out in the hall after she decided to phrase her question to the panel in the form of an indignant bellowing…
Con isn’t all admiring cosplayers and attending panels. It’s also meeting old friends, and making new ones. One of the things I love about Con is that pretty much everyone you talk to, is going to be able to have a meaningful conversation about something you mutually enjoy. Because we’re geeky like that. Whether it’s the anticipated developments in the next season of Supernatural, or what we thought about last season of Doctor Who, or how we picture our own apocalyptic dystopia, chances are that Con is one of the few places you can sit down with a stranger, have a really intense conversation, and then move on, and nobody thinks anything of it. And I love that. I also love meeting in person all the old friends who I don’t get to see on a regular basis except on social media.
And here we cosplay a baby getting eaten by a really short shark. I think we’re going to need a bigger stroller…
There were a few bitter notes from this year, but overall I am feeling much better about attending, and plan to do so next year. Hopefully next year, I’ll be there with Ladybug AND dad AND possibly babysitter, and will have some time to pause and sit down and actually blog in depth. Possibly even have another book or two out, as well. We’ll see. And now, since said Ladybug just went down for a nap, I’m going to take a break and read a little more of this book I bought at the Wordfire Press stall.
Peace!
