w00t w00t booyah

Hotel booked on priceline for four nights in San Jose: +/- $200.00 (And I got an extended stay, so it has a kitchen!)
Rental car to haul four adults and a kid up: +/- $300.00
Grocery store trips: $150.00

Um.

Gas every time we stopped (which was about 7 times): $36.00 /each
Food every time we opened our mouths outside the hotel room (about three times, yikes!): $40.00 + / each

Parking - even at the nice park we took the kid to play at: $6.00 minimum / $16 for less than five hours. That was more than once.

Turned in the big car for something smaller at the first opportunity - that was one yelling match on the phone. Being handed the phone in the middle of a screaming kid/frying pancakes/no food myself yet was another - and trying like heck to make a midway point between San Jose and Napa meetup work? That was simply despair in the making. (The phone call? Something that could have waited and couldn't be resolved until this morning regardless. Thanks for nothing, caller. At least you let me off the phone without keeping me there tap dancing for another half and hour while I told you - once again - EVERYONE IS CLOSED, SO AM I.)

Our hotel room initially was missing most of the cooking utensils, the hood light was burned out, the back burner didn't work, the sink was clogged and the plug in the tub didn't work. Oh - and there is nothing that will make me appreciate Nickleodeon and Disney Channels more than a weekend of having only Cartoon Network to work with on television. Oh my ghad, that was foul. It was insulting, mean and ugly. I mean. NO. NOT AGAIN. NEVER. I may ask to have the channel(s) removed from my own satellite service at home. That bad.

The bed was big enough for all of us - if one does not have a space-invading four year old. Unfortunately, I do. I may have slept a grand total of ten hours across the entire weekend, the last three on the floor Sunday morning. On a towel covering the floor where all the food the kid dropped during the entire weekend was. See, this is an extended stay facility. There was no maid service.

Monday morning after we packed up the car (we had been rousted at 5:30 AM, same as always, by the call of nature - ie, BOY IN MOTION), and me without four hours in the last 24 - I threw in the towel when I figured out the only money I had left was on my Starbucks card.

We went home. Got there about two-thirty in the afternoon and just started closing up the weekend, starting with turning the car in. Hey, turn it in early, save a buck or two, right?

Since I turned the car in early, I got charged double - the system changes the rate on you. That was another tromp up to customer service to beg for mercy (I got it, but) - and then home again.

To the good, I finally got up to Borderlands in San Francisco (I'd saved some bucks for this pupose in particular) where I got books, Jim got books and the boy got a picture book to read before sleeping (instead of us trying to find something other than Chowder, Adventure Time or Flapjack to endure). Lunch? Another forty dollars - and WTF $7 hot dog? Yay San Francisco.

Yes, we managed to pop in on both Fanime and Baycon (Baycon, we visited briefly - Fanime, we worked karaoke) and Fanime is still as cranked out as ever and Baycon just as full of corsets (both well-fitted and OMG SHE'S GONNA BLOW) and chill as I remembered.

Neither one was as well-attended as I recall, though. Not nearly enough time to visit with the locals - and outside of the two stints working karaoke - we went everywhere as a package deal. So no - no spare time. It's either eat, play, sleep or be in some transition period towards one of those states. We found some awesome places to play - finding some gaffers flying their RC airplanes one morning a real plus.

The weather was perfect.

And I'm back at work where I can get some rest.

I'm bopping back and forth between Fanime and Baycon, but it would appear that if you're attempting convention bingo, your free space is Fanime (if you're looking for us).

Same old, same old - karaoke always knows where I stash the brownies and will know how to find me.

Right now, I get clean.

Drove up last night. Long drive was long.

I'm bopping back and forth between Fanime and Baycon, but it would appear that if you're attempting convention bingo, your free space is Fanime (if you're looking for us).

Same old, same old - karaoke always knows where I stash the brownies and will know how to find me.

Right now, I get clean.

Drove up last night. Long drive was long.

Kid did not nap yesterday. Kid was a wreck until he went to sleep at 6:30 PM. We managed to feed and change clothes - but I felt terrible for him getting him dressed for bed.

He wanted to go to the market and buy toys. Inconsolable. Under normal circumstances, it's not an issue and it's dinner, bath and so forth.

I had to hide the pants.

So, no - I did not get to watch State of the Union, engage in any drinking games or the like.

Tonight, I pack for the weekend! Fear.

(I'm going up to SFO for AOD - http://www.aodsf.org - you want?)

I didn't forget the awesome that is stormdragon's and muimi07's little girl - it just didn't seem right to wrap that up in the middle of a huge train geekfest.

She is wee, perfect and probably the prettiest baby girl I've seen in years. She also flirted with my husband. S'okay, they all do when they're that wee. As I am fond of saying, if you think I'm going to let that go to waste...ya gotta be kidding.

Now. To the bad.

Let's talk about con culture - or the lack of it, or the expectations One could legitimately have of it.

No convention is Safe Space. Drop that assumption right now.

Think about it a moment. Why would you ever consider a grouping of a large number of people, most of which you've never seen before, let alone had enough time to consider the content of their characters...safe?

Then add in that a convention has a theme, and if it has something to do with alternative thinking/lifestyles/fantasy/created cultures? WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING? Someone's going to take a jab at the established. Count on it.

Some, it might be argued, live for this. Plan. Plot, scheme...wallow like the pigs they are in it.

I think my guard is actually HIGHER at a convention, not lowered. I caught myself a couple of times sizing up crowds, revising exit strategies and where is the nearest source of '----' was more than once or twice.

Guess I'm showing my age at this point, but holy merde. My first con was when I was fifteen. I've got Super 8 of it. Somewhere.

And I still have the costume somewhere in a box. Can still wear it too. Nyah.

So.

Fanime, you had to give the crowd the benefit of the doubt - because of the median age, which was clearly below the legal age to vote, let alone drink. Seriously. After that?

I saw plenty of pretty encouraging stuff, to be honest. Keep in mind, I'm going through crowds getting from one location to another - I'm not seeing people in panels or events, just folks hanging out between them.

They had a "Black and White Ball" on Sunday night, as I recall. Checking out the lines to get in, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Neat, tidy and ready to party - as asked. Expectations were posted on the website - and the line was long and well-behaved.

Now - condiment tables were trashed, but which ones would not be after the press of that many people over a whole day? Some bright penny decided that decorating the tables with glass slugs was a great idea...the attendees took those, and the small, shallow bowls that were put under spigots to catch the drips...put them together, then filled them with water. Instant jeweled ponds. REALLY out of place, not at all sanitary...and damn if it wasn't clever.

Foodservice at Baycon was mainly restricted to the lounge/coffee bar downstairs and Tresca, the restaurant that really is better than it should be. (Da best anywhere? Your mileage may vary.) If there were condiment tables to trash, I didn't see them.

Could be from experience that they didn't exist in the first place, neh?

Baycon is older, both in longevity and median age. In all honesty, if you were in your mid thirties, you might find yourself on the younger side of things.

They know what they're dealing with.

And frankly, if you're surprised at the "out there" stunts, consider the source. You expect it from teenagers. I guess when the "teenagers" are in their forties, it gets a bit hard to swallow.

Trust me on this. They've been "out there" as long as you can remember, and proud of it. Consider the source.

Balance that out with the vast majority of folks who are just there to relax, soak it up and enjoy the company of friends and creative thought - and you have Baycon.

I've heard about the photoshop "WHEE I'M AN ASSHOLE" stunt from Wiscon.

Guys, people take pictures all the time. Again - you are at a convention where people are pushing boundaries on all sides of you. Do not expect to be in safe space. Safe space is your own home with people you know well enough to allow within your own boundaries. The amount of Really Stupid available is just out there, waiting for you.

I just don't care. That, in and of itself, really tends to make all that effort Less Than The Fun It Should Have Been. Blondie don't play those games.

I understand that some folks, staying in the hotel for the con, noted that they were sharing space with *horrors* charismatic Catholics!

And made a big point of putting the Gideon Bibles found in the rooms out for the trash pickup. OH YOU'RE SO CUTTING EDGE. *eyeroll* I don't think you were what they were interested in. And freaking out the mundanes?

I seriously doubt they restrain themselves the rest of year, guys. Really really.

Bad behavior is bad behavior - and a convention does not have to allow it. The fact Baycon is so laid back, comfortable (and this really does vary depending on what part of the con you're in, mind) has a lot to do with its longevity. The staffing comes and goes, but the con goes on forever.

Fanime was frenetic, like too much caffeine. Baycon - could be best described as too much rum. If one was concerned at all.

---

I also might add, I'm free from any con crud.

And gerroff my lawn. Damn kids.

I didn't forget the awesome that is stormdragon's and muimi07's little girl - it just didn't seem right to wrap that up in the middle of a huge train geekfest.

She is wee, perfect and probably the prettiest baby girl I've seen in years. She also flirted with my husband. S'okay, they all do when they're that wee. As I am fond of saying, if you think I'm going to let that go to waste...ya gotta be kidding.

Now. To the bad.

Let's talk about con culture - or the lack of it, or the expectations One could legitimately have of it.

No convention is Safe Space. Drop that assumption right now.

Think about it a moment. Why would you ever consider a grouping of a large number of people, most of which you've never seen before, let alone had enough time to consider the content of their characters...safe?

Then add in that a convention has a theme, and if it has something to do with alternative thinking/lifestyles/fantasy/created cultures? WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING? Someone's going to take a jab at the established. Count on it.

Some, it might be argued, live for this. Plan. Plot, scheme...wallow like the pigs they are in it.

I think my guard is actually HIGHER at a convention, not lowered. I caught myself a couple of times sizing up crowds, revising exit strategies and where is the nearest source of '----' was more than once or twice.

Guess I'm showing my age at this point, but holy merde. My first con was when I was fifteen. I've got Super 8 of it. Somewhere.

And I still have the costume somewhere in a box. Can still wear it too. Nyah.

So.

Fanime, you had to give the crowd the benefit of the doubt - because of the median age, which was clearly below the legal age to vote, let alone drink. Seriously. After that?

I saw plenty of pretty encouraging stuff, to be honest. Keep in mind, I'm going through crowds getting from one location to another - I'm not seeing people in panels or events, just folks hanging out between them.

They had a "Black and White Ball" on Sunday night, as I recall. Checking out the lines to get in, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Neat, tidy and ready to party - as asked. Expectations were posted on the website - and the line was long and well-behaved.

Now - condiment tables were trashed, but which ones would not be after the press of that many people over a whole day? Some bright penny decided that decorating the tables with glass slugs was a great idea...the attendees took those, and the small, shallow bowls that were put under spigots to catch the drips...put them together, then filled them with water. Instant jeweled ponds. REALLY out of place, not at all sanitary...and damn if it wasn't clever.

Foodservice at Baycon was mainly restricted to the lounge/coffee bar downstairs and Tresca, the restaurant that really is better than it should be. (Da best anywhere? Your mileage may vary.) If there were condiment tables to trash, I didn't see them.

Could be from experience that they didn't exist in the first place, neh?

Baycon is older, both in longevity and median age. In all honesty, if you were in your mid thirties, you might find yourself on the younger side of things.

They know what they're dealing with.

And frankly, if you're surprised at the "out there" stunts, consider the source. You expect it from teenagers. I guess when the "teenagers" are in their forties, it gets a bit hard to swallow.

Trust me on this. They've been "out there" as long as you can remember, and proud of it. Consider the source.

Balance that out with the vast majority of folks who are just there to relax, soak it up and enjoy the company of friends and creative thought - and you have Baycon.

I've heard about the photoshop "WHEE I'M AN ASSHOLE" stunt from Wiscon.

Guys, people take pictures all the time. Again - you are at a convention where people are pushing boundaries on all sides of you. Do not expect to be in safe space. Safe space is your own home with people you know well enough to allow within your own boundaries. The amount of Really Stupid available is just out there, waiting for you.

I just don't care. That, in and of itself, really tends to make all that effort Less Than The Fun It Should Have Been. Blondie don't play those games.

I understand that some folks, staying in the hotel for the con, noted that they were sharing space with *horrors* charismatic Catholics!

And made a big point of putting the Gideon Bibles found in the rooms out for the trash pickup. OH YOU'RE SO CUTTING EDGE. *eyeroll* I don't think you were what they were interested in. And freaking out the mundanes?

I seriously doubt they restrain themselves the rest of year, guys. Really really.

Bad behavior is bad behavior - and a convention does not have to allow it. The fact Baycon is so laid back, comfortable (and this really does vary depending on what part of the con you're in, mind) has a lot to do with its longevity. The staffing comes and goes, but the con goes on forever.

Fanime was frenetic, like too much caffeine. Baycon - could be best described as too much rum. If one was concerned at all.

---

I also might add, I'm free from any con crud.

And gerroff my lawn. Damn kids.