CONvergence 2003
Jul. 9th, 2003 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magentaWe went out first thing Friday morning, or at least as early as we could get going. We got out there around 11 something, and found almost no line at registration. Even more wonderful, we were able to get our room around noon. Which was excellent, because I was on a panel at 12:30. The first panel - More to Fantasy Than Swords and Spells - went well, though the discussion wandered all over the place.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the con, going to the dealer's room, running into friends, etc. Went to a panel that was supposed to be a reading by Katherine Kurtz, but was mostly her answering questions. Her voice was very bad from an infection. She had to have someone else actually do the reading for her, but I discovered I was not very interested in the book. I am way behind on the Deryni books, and couldn't follow what was going on.
We went to T.G.I.Friday’s for dinner, partly because we usually do. I went to Opening Ceremonies for a while, but I wasn't into sitting still, so I started wandering the pool area, looking for parties. Some were open, so I had fun. I spent a lot of Friday evening by myself; Martin found the Delvian Seek party and watched Farscape videos much of the evening. Katy made it out on Friday, so I got to hang out with her. I sat and talked with Naomi Kritzer and her sister, and Harry LeBlanc.
Saturday was my second panel - British Children's Fantasy Literature. That was very good, and I even found out about a couple of authors I was not familiar with. We talked a fair amount about Pullman (Golden Compass etc.) vs. Rowling. Rowling is fun, but her magic is simple, and the fundies who object to her are the sort who also object to the Wizard of Oz. Pullman, on the other hand, is quite heretical, even blasphemous, by Church of England standards. Much deeper, more complex novels. And we talked about many other books as well.
The afternoon was more wandering and a much needed nap. I was going to go to panels, but the nap was more pressing. So of course I woke up all crabby and disoriented. I was tempted to just go home. Martin persuaded me to go to dinner instead.
We decided to try Chez Colette at the Sofitel, and I am VERY glad we did. We had a lovely dinner, the best meal out I've had in a long time, accompanied by excellent piano music. I had salmon, Martin had duck, and we split a triple chocolate mousse for dessert. Listening to the piano makes me realize how much I miss playing, and I am considering buying an electric. I would love a real one, but I don't have the room, or the money for tuning, let alone the money to buy one. (I was offered one a couple of years ago, but even the cost of moving it in was too much.)
Saturday night was excellent – lively parties and conversation. Too many, too jumbled to remember. Yes, I got rather more drunk than usual. Ended the evening listening to Lojo and Lorraine and several other people, playing among other things, covers of Flash Girls songs – "Girl Needs a Knife" is still going through my mind.
Sunday morning was my last panel, and I was a little intimidated – Practical Magic, with Naomi Kritzer, Katherine Kurtz and Eric Flint. Fortunately, three nicer pros you could not have found. We had an excellent discussion of how to design a magic system for your novel, all of it very thoughtful. Nothing on magic as I practice it, but I rather thought that would be the case. I informally moderated, as best I could. One problem with CONvergence panels this year was that they did not designate moderators, and sometimes moderation is needed ;-)
Martin spent a while in the dealers room, and I wandered a bit more. We left soon after one o'clock. A good con, but I was exhausted the rest of Sunday. And it’s all blurred in my mind already. I know I saw other people, and did other things, but I cannot remember them clearly. All cons merge in my mind after a while. It was quite a con. It must have been even more intense for some people, because today Martin saw a message on a list that began “Now that I'm mostly recovered from the blood wine,”
P.S. I heard, after the fact, that X-2 was shown at CONvergence, as a surprise. Just as well I didn't try to see it, too many other things to do. We saw it tonight at the Riverview, and it was fantastic. (It will be there one more night.)
We spent the afternoon wandering around the con, going to the dealer's room, running into friends, etc. Went to a panel that was supposed to be a reading by Katherine Kurtz, but was mostly her answering questions. Her voice was very bad from an infection. She had to have someone else actually do the reading for her, but I discovered I was not very interested in the book. I am way behind on the Deryni books, and couldn't follow what was going on.
We went to T.G.I.Friday’s for dinner, partly because we usually do. I went to Opening Ceremonies for a while, but I wasn't into sitting still, so I started wandering the pool area, looking for parties. Some were open, so I had fun. I spent a lot of Friday evening by myself; Martin found the Delvian Seek party and watched Farscape videos much of the evening. Katy made it out on Friday, so I got to hang out with her. I sat and talked with Naomi Kritzer and her sister, and Harry LeBlanc.
Saturday was my second panel - British Children's Fantasy Literature. That was very good, and I even found out about a couple of authors I was not familiar with. We talked a fair amount about Pullman (Golden Compass etc.) vs. Rowling. Rowling is fun, but her magic is simple, and the fundies who object to her are the sort who also object to the Wizard of Oz. Pullman, on the other hand, is quite heretical, even blasphemous, by Church of England standards. Much deeper, more complex novels. And we talked about many other books as well.
The afternoon was more wandering and a much needed nap. I was going to go to panels, but the nap was more pressing. So of course I woke up all crabby and disoriented. I was tempted to just go home. Martin persuaded me to go to dinner instead.
We decided to try Chez Colette at the Sofitel, and I am VERY glad we did. We had a lovely dinner, the best meal out I've had in a long time, accompanied by excellent piano music. I had salmon, Martin had duck, and we split a triple chocolate mousse for dessert. Listening to the piano makes me realize how much I miss playing, and I am considering buying an electric. I would love a real one, but I don't have the room, or the money for tuning, let alone the money to buy one. (I was offered one a couple of years ago, but even the cost of moving it in was too much.)
Saturday night was excellent – lively parties and conversation. Too many, too jumbled to remember. Yes, I got rather more drunk than usual. Ended the evening listening to Lojo and Lorraine and several other people, playing among other things, covers of Flash Girls songs – "Girl Needs a Knife" is still going through my mind.
Sunday morning was my last panel, and I was a little intimidated – Practical Magic, with Naomi Kritzer, Katherine Kurtz and Eric Flint. Fortunately, three nicer pros you could not have found. We had an excellent discussion of how to design a magic system for your novel, all of it very thoughtful. Nothing on magic as I practice it, but I rather thought that would be the case. I informally moderated, as best I could. One problem with CONvergence panels this year was that they did not designate moderators, and sometimes moderation is needed ;-)
Martin spent a while in the dealers room, and I wandered a bit more. We left soon after one o'clock. A good con, but I was exhausted the rest of Sunday. And it’s all blurred in my mind already. I know I saw other people, and did other things, but I cannot remember them clearly. All cons merge in my mind after a while. It was quite a con. It must have been even more intense for some people, because today Martin saw a message on a list that began “Now that I'm mostly recovered from the blood wine,”
P.S. I heard, after the fact, that X-2 was shown at CONvergence, as a surprise. Just as well I didn't try to see it, too many other things to do. We saw it tonight at the Riverview, and it was fantastic. (It will be there one more night.)
