MediaWest*Con Report 2

 Friday, the con officially opened and as I'd mentioned last time dinner was the RRG (Rowdy Restaurant Gang -- there are 6 of us) Party at The Outback.We exchange gifts, celebrating all our birthdays at once, and generally have a fun, loud time. The waitress was great, really getting into the spirit of things, as the Outback wait staff usually does for these "meetings."

Saturday, we went to Grumpy's for breakfast again. Friday, I had the yummy cinnamon French toast, and this time, I had eggs and toast. I spent part of the afternoon shopping at the room dealers, of which there were few this year. I also took pics of the door decorations, which were rather sparse. So we didn't do the Saturday night "hall crawl" as a group because there wasn't enough to warrant it as an activity. Instead, we ate dinner and relaxed.

Sunday, I slept in and played online until the afternoon. I joined J for dinner, then we went to the art auction. The usual fun and hilarity ensued, and rather risque, at that, as usual. Let's just say that some of the art is not rated G or PG, and few (or none) of us are prudes. I won 2 of the little clay critters I'd bid on during the art show (pics later, because they're securely packed for the trip home). After, J, 4 other friends, and I went to a place called Steak and Shake for snacks. I had a Frisco slider (burger with Thousand Island dressing) and a chocolate shake (that could have had been more chocolate-y). But fun was had, which is what really matters.



Monday, I spent time with J at her table in the Dealers' Room, then we said our goodbyes, had lunch with another friend at Boston Market, and hit the road. We stayed over in Pennsylvania for the night and got back to J's late afternoon. To make up for the "not a cloud in the sky the entire trip" going out, we had rain all the way back today.

We're already thinking about next year's con.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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MediaWest*Con Report 1

We made great time on Wednesday and arrived at 8 pm to find: no pool, no outdoor courtyard, and the restaurant manager, Richard, no longer working there. This means no sitting outside taking pictures, no Saturday night pool party, and a decided decrease in food quality at the hotel's restaurant.

We did find a nice park on Thursday and spent a couple of hours there walking around. We found the diner where Richard is now employed and have had breakfast there twice so far. Last night was our annual dinner at the Outback (6 of us) and I tried the terryaki steak which was excellent. A group of us went to see Star Trek on Thursday, which was awesome.



Feeling: chipper

~~~o0o~~~
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Home Again Home Again

And back to real life. So to speak. Also came home to 1500 unread posts in Bloglines. Yikes. And until Monday, I'd been mostly keeping up. Then I had a scare with the laptop. Seems to have been a problem with the outlet I'd plugged into because it's now working fine at home. Whew.

Saturday, I saw Iron Man. Wonderful. Robert Downey Jr. was excellent. And very sexy. Then dinner with friends, then what we call the Hall Crawl, which means walking through the entire hotel, taking photos of the decorated doors. Then a romp in the pool. We had rubber duckies and other rubber toys, and big water pistols this year. Fun times ensued. There's a nice hot tub there, too. So relaxing.

Sunday, I got in another session in the exercise room, then we had dinner and went to the art show auction. Great fun as always, and I got a YouTube worthy video out of the hijinks. I just need to put the thing together.

We headed out Monday after lunch, staying overnight in Pennsylvania. Today, we did some shopping, then I caught an Amtrak train back to NYC. And I don't have to go back to work til next Tuesday! Which means maybe I'll catch up with some of the stuff that's piled up in my absence. And maybe my sudden allergy attack will subside by then.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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Con Report Day 3

A bit belated, but here goes.

Sunday was the end of the Art Show and the art auction. During the day, E, V, and I went to Dairy Dan for an ice cream (soft serve) lunch. I had a cream puff with vanilla ice cream, a cream puff, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.

Then E, V, J, and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant, then we got dressed up for the auction which was the usual fun time, if a bit subdued versus past years. Mike, one of the auctioneers and an artist/cartoonist in his own right, wore plush, stuffed fabric antlers during most of the auction to everyone's amusement, and I ended up with a nice piece of art. More than half my crafted boxes were sold and 2 went to auction.

Monday, I stayed in the dealers' room with J after we picked up our art and we sold most of what was left at her dealers' room table. Then it was goodbyes and a last lunch for this year at the hotel restaurant with Mike. And finally, we were on our way home.

Driving was great. No construction, no traffic, nice weather and we were in Pennsylvania before we stopped for the night. For the first time, the drive each way was so fast and smooth that we didn't stay overnight in Ohio.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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Con Report Day 2

Slept late because I stayed up late posting pics on flickr last night. Checked the Art Show, have a couple of bids on my pieces, but not as many as I usually get by this time. Shared a club sandwich with J in the Dealers' Room, then walked through the halls, visiting room dealers. Picked up a batch of filk tapes which J and I will listen to on the drive back to her place in NJ. Filk, for those who don't know, is a music genre that grew out of folk, typically taking known music and writing new lyrics. Filkers are a tradition at science fiction cons and even have their own cons.

I got in a half hour in the exercise room, using the stationary bike and the treadmill. Then took some pics of one of the rubber ducks I'd brought in the exercise room and at the pool, plus outside in the little garden area which was wet from rain.

J and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant, Hummingbirds. I had two rubber ducks and Richard, the manager of the restaurant, helped out in the fun by bringing a couple of small bowls over with water for them to "swim" in. I love how the hotel staff gets into the whole con experience.


After dinner, J, J2, E, V, and I went "hall crawling," which involves walking through all 4 floors of rooms and taking photos of the door decorations. Then we all went swimming. The water was warm for once and I had 4 small rubber ducks, 2 bigger rubber ducks, 2 rubber fish, and the one-use waterproof camera J gave me. I hope the pics come out because we all had a blast with the toys, especially after we discovered they had itty holes and could suck up water and then with a squeeze, spit out the water in lovely arcs. Much hilarity, lots of fun and laughter ensued. It's the start of a new tradition!

A turn in the hot tub, then back to one of our rooms for chocolate and a Tarot reading, by J2, for us and some of the characters we write. A truly good, fun day.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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Con Report Day 1

Didn't do all that much today. Set up crafts in Art Show, then shopped a bit in the Dealers' Room. Early dinner at the Outback with 5 friends -- we're the RRG (Rowdy Restaurant Gang). Colin, our cute waiter, got into the fun of serving 6 middle-aged, rowdy, raunchy, and definitely young-at-heart women. Desserts included a Chocolate Tower.


After dinner, I walked around the hotel and ended up visiting with a friend, C, I haven't had much chance to talk to over the last few years. It was nice to be able to catch up on each other's lives and to reminisce about the con in previous years.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
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We're Arrived!

We're at the hotel for MediaWest*Con, a fan-run con for fans of probably every tv show, move, or book series you can think of. Well, maybe not all the book series, but there are plenty of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter fans here.

Registering at the con hotel. It's party time for Mal and Spike! Click on the photo to see more.


We dumped our stuff in the dealers' room and the art is in the art show room awaiting setup tomorrow. Then best bud J and I had dinner with our good friends E and V at the hotel restaurant, Hummingbirds. There's some new staff, but all seem up to the task of serving this gang of lunatics, all thousand or so of us. Richard, the restaurant manager and super good sport, got appropriate music to play during open hours. So I dined on my Chicken Alfredo to the tunes of The Flintstones, The Muppet Show, and the like.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: vacation

Con Report and a Savory Link

You can read about my vacation and see pictures here.

Time Passages Nostalgia Company carries old toys that warm this baby boomer's heart. Too bad the baking soda divers sold.