| ACEN fuzzy report. |
[May. 18th, 2005|04:50 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Barbara - Du Bout Des Lèvres | ] |
Well, it was certainly an adventure. After seventeen hours of driving, my poor wolf was ready to crash. We arrived at the hotel on Friday Night without a lot of complications... inside, however, it would be different. The hotel lobby was swamped by fanboys and fangirls of all colors, sizes and fashion senses. It was like falling down the rabbit hole and finding out that Fierruci's waiting for you at the end, it was that surreal.
Our first thought was to register for the con, of course, and so we headed to the convention center. But considering we were sleep deprived and all we wanted to do was crash... and that the line for registration was three hours, Asher and I said 'fuck it' and we headed back to the hotel.
We were some six hours behind schedule, so we didn't really expect Neiako to be waiting for us. A little sleuthing around had us arrive at a certain room with the easily-recognizeable Napping Cat on the door. I introduced Asher to everyone, and I met some dreamers for the first time. Namely Scythe, Silverfox, Bar Gamer, Timothy Pine, Mischa, Cherry, Quinch, Vis, Neiako and her fiance, Arc Nova, Doctor K, Sesah and Almerane. Icefox and Gal'ish I had met before on separate occasions. Some chatting ensued, and the ordering of pizza- a dish which we welcomed with open arms.
A while later who would make her appearance but Karol herself, followed by a very lively Pitchfox (through the virtue, I understand, of apple martinis), and later Oni and Andrea and Dat. The Pitchfox needed to crash and thus the gathering was moved over to Neiako's room. The rest of the night is somewhat of a blur, which means we must have defintely gone to bed a few hours later after a bit more of conversation. Karol remained behind, so we made arrangements for breakfast after registration- which we optimistically placed at around 9:30AM. Before we headed to Neiako's room, Cherry sent a message with... someone (tired brain, memory gone), that Karaoke was starting up. However, since I did not register, I could not go down there and thoroughly humilliate my competition. Ah, well, there is always next year.
The very next morning , Saturday, Asher and I had intended to wake up at 7:30 AM... but of course, we managed to get up at 8:20 instead. We did the whole registration thing... and let me tell you, ACEN's registration line absolutely sucks. I don't know who designed the system, but they could take a few hints from Anthrocon and Mephit Furmeet. It was an excercise on how NOT to run a registration line.
I wonder if they had a civil engineer design the whole thing ;)
Anyways, we were through with the bloody thing at 11:20AM, and we went off to fetch Karol, Gal'Ish, Neiako and her fiance for a delicious breafkast at the local IHOP. Picking them up, I got to meet Noelle, who manages to make anything she wears look absolutely fetching.
Breakfast was followed by shopping at the Target next door, for Karol was looking for a knee brace and Asher needed to buy stuff to shave with. After that, we returned to the hotel.
At this time Asher and I headed over to the conference center with two CDs in hand: the CDs I had promised Andrea and Denise a long time ago, but that several inconvenient contratemps prevented from being mailed. I perused their prints but didn't spend much time there, as Andrea, Oni and Denise were swamped with commissions and striking up a conversation while they worked stuck me as rude, since it would be an unwelcomed distraction. Nezumi was nowhere to be seen, however.. Andrea did welcome Asher "into the fold", hehe, when I mentioned I had introduced him to the Dream.
Time was running quite short, and it was almost time for the 5 O'clock meeting to go to Chinatown. We assembled in the lobby and Asher and I took a cab with Neiako and John. We arrived at the restaurant quite early---- which allowed us to nibble on the spicy cabbage before the subsequent horde could devour it ;) Half an hour later, the top floor of the restaurant was crawling with Dreamers. Thirty-seven or so dreamers crammed into four tables. The Pitchfox and Oni arrived after everyone else, and so everyone sat down and The Ordering and the Devouring began.
Much has been said of the Fish Incident, so I need not add more... except, perhaps, that there was great overreacting over the consequences of the ill-thought offering. Quite frankly, the Triads have better things to do than to enact revenge on people offering fishes to them, no matter how insulting the gesture. And also, not every well-dressed chinese family is connected to the Chinese mafia, you know? Later in the hotel, people were basically putting together a Quentin Tarantino script about what "they" would do... over fish, no less.
After a positively delicious dinner, we set to explore the streets of chinatown in two or three groups, and SHOP! SHOP! SHOP! Many goodies were acquired, including an unholy bag of chocolate fortune cookies. Mmmmmmmm.
Afterwards we took the metro back to the Hotel. At one point Asher and I were sitting on a hallway with Silverfox, Scythe, Vis and Gal'Ish just being totally silly. Andrea and the Pitchfox joined briefly before going back on their way. Eventually our little gathering was broken up by the Con staff who told us that we couldn't be in the hallways because we were a Fire Hazard. Silverfox pointedly mentioned that, while they were looking out for fire hazards, they should do something about the con attendees who were chain smoking in the lobby -the main reason why we weren't down there. The staff members washed their hands off and said that it was the hotel's responsibility, not theirs.
So let me get this straight... it is their responsibility to enforce fire code in the hallways, but it's the hotel's to enforce it in the lobby? Can you tell I wasn't very impressed with Con Staff?
Well, we gravitated towards Neiako's room again, where there was much conversation, as well as coming in-and-out of people... and eventually fading into the world of sleep once more.
Sunday Morning dawned... and we were sleeping. We eventually woke up at around 11AM or so, and headed over to the artist's alley. Our logic was that dreamers would eventually gravitate there. Of course, we didn't go there right away, we took the scenic route through the con. Arriving at the table, I finally met Nezumi face to face... and a few seconds later the Dreamer magnet worked, because Karol showed up and Sesah's brother also showed up... and then Sesah , Icefox and Almerane. It was at this point that Karol told me about the origin of the fluffy ruff around her hat. Nezumi, it seems, had sacrificed a white plushie horse ("It was sick" she said) to make the ruff. And, in a stroke of italian genius, apparently left the severed horsie head right next to Karol's pillow as she slept. This heinous crime happened last year... so let it be known the price some pay to adorn Karol's headgear.
Around this point, the general hunger of those in our vicinity was made manifest. Karol is an enthusiastic connoisseur of Chipotle, and pines for it since they have no such delicatessen in Canada. So, we arranged for a little Chipotle-escapade... but, just as we were heading in its general direction, the Pitchfox appeared with Dat and Oni and Mischa in tow. They were heading to Chili's, and asked if we would like to join them. Why not? The more the merrier--- The Karol was appeased after we promised that she would partake of the food of the aztec gods on Monday.
Dinner was very entertaining (I really should go into more detail... but I'm too exhausted and there's bound to be more than enough detail floating around), and then we headed back to the hotel. Asher found where they had hidden the piano, and we seized the chance to play some mozart.. and sing some, too. Afterwards we joined the ongoing conversation (I learned that the Pitchfox likes Stephen Sondheim, and that we share the same predilection for "Into the Woods"). We eventually moved to the Con suite where we took advantage of the free food and veberages, and after a little while we headed our own ways-- the Pitchfox to sleep (5am plane, ouch!), and the rest of us wherever--- though we did end up relaxing at Neiako's room and watching DVDs: Gal'Ish brought "Great Teacher Onizuka" with him, and I am a fan of it now. (Though Karol spent that time snoring on our cot. She has a very slight snore, unlike Gal'ish's "Telluric Movement of the Apocalypse" snore ;) ). After the mouse went to bed (again, early plane), Icefox, Arc, Asher, yours truly, Neiako and John settled down to watch "Robin Williams: Live On Broadway".
I remember passing out somewhere around the viagra skit.
Monday Morning came in a most unusual way. I opened my eyes and Karol's face was there, trying to wake me up, which ended up startling me. After a bit of waking up and organizing, those five of us that remained went out into the windy city itself for a bit of a shopping spree. The Karol did feed upon the food of the aztec gods, and saw it was good. Afterwards, through much mis-navigation and mis-direction, we arrived at Borders...and what Borders. Three floors.
I found a Barbara CD therein, as well as "The Mammoth Book of King Arthur", which compiles all the historical material and analyses how the myth emerged as an amalgam of fix or six different historical "Arthurs".
After our brief shopping heaven, we had to head back to the hotel so that Karol could catch her plane. After hugs, we sent the Karol on her way -and Asher and I had to go back to the parking garage in Chicago, because my wolf had forgotten the books there. Fortunately, they were still there...
We came back to the hotel and crashed in Neiako's room. I adviced Asher to take a nap before driving back, and we both did so. And then, at 11PM on Sunday night, we started the long and arduous trek back to Colorado. Which concluded a few hours ago.
Exhaustion.
Conclusion
The trip was worth it, Oh so definitely worth it. It was great meeting everybody, and I hope I'll get to spend more time with more dreamers next time around. It was great fun... although the con itself needs a lot of work (I can just see Tyger Cowboy putting things in order there, hehe). Of course, now I miss seeing everybody ^_^ Well, here's to next year.
And, meanwhile, here's to the bed, which is calling me. |
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