Wiscon Day 1 - Report 2

In the end, the only Wiscon-related thing I did Thursday night was pick up my registration packet and browse the free tables. Free book! Gotta love cons with free books. They don't all have them, you know. And picked up various assorted bookmarks, postcards, flyers, etc.

Then I returned to my room, where I waited around for 8pm and Ugly Betty to be on. Only to eventually realize that even though I was in an earlier timezone, the shows didn't start any later! Doh. I knew that, really I did! Successfully watched the 2-hour Grey's Anatomy season finale before falling asleep though.

Wiscon Day 2 - Report 3

On Friday morning, I woke up earlier than I really needed to. I wandered around a bit, then decided to volunteer to help with the Tiptree auction display setup at The Gathering. I helped move stuff from one room to another, then had to come back as the official Tiptree-auction-display-at-The-Gathering people weren't there yet.

Meanwhile there were writing workshops going on, which seems a great way to start the con off. I was thinking about doing it, but I hadn't gotten something submitted to be workshopped on time. No sense workshopping something either a) workshopped to death already or b) unfinished.

I worked on the display setup for awhile -- probably about 3 hours total. There were things in the auction that I don't think would've occurred to me would be included. Signed copies of books and ARCs (advanced reader copies), naturally, but also jewelry and scarves and other handmade items. There was a pretty awesome tray with an inlaid mosaic. There were also two of James Tiptree's mother's books, which sort of star Alice (James) herself. I had only just started reading Julie Phillips' biography of Tiptree, so at least I knew what they were.

That morning, I believe I saw all four of my Clarion instructors who were at Wiscon, if only from a distance. There was still no sign of any of my classmates!
( Read on for The Gathering! )

It was different. Sort of a mix of dealer's room and various workshops all rolled into one.

In the end, I only acquired 3 stamps, so I was well short of the 10 I needed for the prize. Alas, as I think one of the prizes was a bag that I could've later used on the trip home.

Wiscon Day 2 - Report 4

Ack! They took the schedule down off the Wiscon page. Now I'll have to resort to my pocket programming book, which is all kinds of awesome, by the way. Perhaps not strictly pocket-sized, but still of a small size, and it's the spiral-ring binding that makes it of the most use. Two thumbs up.

After I left the Gathering, I had to stop by my room to drop off those heavy ARCs I'd just not-purchased. So I was a bit late arriving to listen to my first ever Wiscon panel!

( Follow the cut for Panel talk! )

After that panel, I went to dinner! If you're not aware, Wiscon has scheduled lunch and dinner breaks, which are awesome. And there's so many local restaurants within 5-10 minutes of the hotel, that the entire 1000 attendees can find somewhere to eat without unduly overburdening any one restaurant.

Dinner involved two of my classmates, three other people from San Diego that you might call Clarion-groupies, as they helped out during our Clarion, one person who attended a prior Clarion taught by Maureen McHugh, one of our instructors, Greg Frost, and the aforementioned Maureen McHugh, who was also a Guest of Honor. Also one other person who was at the other end of the table from me, so I never caught his name, sorry!

You'd think it'd be hard for a group of ten to find a table for dinner, but it was quickly managed. We ate at.. Chauwara(?), which was this mix of Nepali and Indian and something else. The other vegetarian, S (hereafter referred to as S), and I split a couple of things. My brain is not good at remembering the names of what we ordered, but it was a veggie dumpling, some dal, and tofu something or other. It was all very good. S said dal isn't usually soup, but it was here, and it tasted remarkably like stew I've made before. Perhaps it was the mix of kidney beans, onion, and possibly pepper. I've never put lentils in my stew, so it wasn't them. :)

( Opening Ceremonies )

The con was only just getting started, but these entries are getting longer and longer! Time for a break.