Dragon*Con recap

[rm]

Somehow, I got everything done.

Okay, I didn't get to any of Tom Felton's panels and I didn't run into everyone I wanted to, or spend the time with some folks I wanted to, or do as much A/V stuff as I wanted to, or network as much as I wanted to, BUT... I'm a little over ambitious much, you know? And with eight (eight!) program items, a stubborn insistence on getting up in the mornings for GDL's panels, my girlfriend having some sort of flu and myself having a cold, I did pretty damn well, I think: especially considering the number of curve balls that kept coming at me (like the Snape paper going from something on a panel to being just me for an hour; or one or two panel moments where the personality mix was just not making the right type of chemistry -- panels should be a dinner party, and dinner parties should be mutual exchanges).

There were also a few moments that took me aback in ways I didn't necessarily know how to deal with (it's weird when you use an icon of yourself on LJ, because it means people you don't know will recognize you on the street. Um, sometimes a lot. And ask for pictures with you. When they are not even on your friends list, so you don't know who they are. That was seriously odd, but sorta neat, and if you're reading this, please point me to them!).

I also discovered what wearing a corset (thanks to the fashion show) does to one's social profile at the con (including dudes hitting on me badly until they discovered I was a guest and then turned into human beings; me literally running into a media guest and then tipping over such that I had to be set back on my feet; and being accosted by a Scottish man who with someone I believe was his son blocked my way and refused to allow me to pass until I posed for a picture with him -- this after first asking for the picture as I gave Patty a peck before she went off to a panel to which I replied I was not a lesbian for entertainment purposes. The situation was extremely ugly and disempowering and I handled it with some grace, although I regret now not getting his name and getting him thrown out, because I was there working and no one is entitled to anything from me. I don't wear men's clothes to avoid some of the hassles of having a female body, but man, this made me consider it. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but I NEVER want to be treated that way again).

Additionally, I'm not a Ianto cosplayer, but I apparently play one on a bunch of people's Flickr streams.

For the arbitrary record of people who know what I'm talking about, my sleepy DragonCon musings were written before I became aware of some of the gossip that erupted out of the con, so yeah, it really was about nothing in particular, although I did have a bit of a laugh over it when that bit of "news" crossed my radar the next morning.

Patty and I also managed to see some of Atlanta, going to the aquarium (not with the con), eating at Legal Seafoods and seeing my friend Susan for a fabulous meal somewhere local and shopping for exquisite chocolates.

Now, my summer con season is more or less over, although Gallifrey One is already on the radar as is next year's DragonCon, while I'm trying to decide if I'll bother with Lunacon and the 2010 HP con. Of course, I'm also hoping (and I've started the abstract) I'll be in Bristol in July. Meanwhile, we'll know if we're doing the cruise or planning a different holiday vacation in the next 48 hours, and of course, we'll be in London, Cardiff and possibly Ireland in April. Next trip: New Haven in October. We don't really sit down around here.

Comments

[1-mad-squirrel.livejournal.com]

I've been to one con, and it was pretty small: AggieCon back in '99. I think I'll keep that as my only experience.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed all your D*C reports. I really wanted to be there this year and your reports gave me glimpses of things I wanted to attend but couldn't.

Thanks!

[travellight.livejournal.com]

It was a joy to see both of you, and a delight to show you some of my city. I'm glad we were able to work that out.

[guitargltz.livejournal.com]

It was so great to meet you after the Women as Warriors panel. In which you were awesome by the way! I wish I could have caught more of your stuff but thank you for providing the most stimulating panel of the weekend.

[guitargltz.livejournal.com]

P.S. Gossip Girl...REALLY!?!?

[rm.livejournal.com]

I was really frustrated by that discussion. I did think it was extremely good that someone pointed out that not all warriors fight with weapons, but I personally believe that while warriors can and do fight over status prizes (like, you know, kingdoms), the idea of women fighting over supposedly scarce resources (i.e., men) does not make them warriors -- it's too inside the paradigm, and other than in some sort of post-apocalyptic setting, I don't buy it.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

Additionally, I'm not a Ianto cosplayer, but I apparently play one on a bunch of people's Flickr streams.

This is what you get for wearing your badass suit! You should have just gone for it. Carry around a cup of Starbucks. That'sll scandalise the janto girls!

[rm.livejournal.com]

It actually felt sorta creepy, not people making that mistake, but just because of how I live in my own head and my own body language, I was like CREEPY FANFIC IDEA.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

See, you were playing the part so unconsciously that they just ASSUMED.

Man, I don't know why, but I have been DERAILED by multiple creepy fanfic ideas this week.

[rm.livejournal.com]

All I have to say is: Jack wearing dead!Ianto's clothes. They're about the same size. Also, Jack's a con artist, and he's stolen names from the dead before.... I feel like crue should write this.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I'm writing one in which John steals dead!Ianto's suit, wears it to seduce drunk!Jack, who then beats the ever loving snot out of him.

Then they have sex.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

OMG! You so should!

It would be so effing brilliant. Jack commencing on a brand new life away from Torchwood after he lost it all and keeping a piece of Ianto with him.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It's about the only way he can be sure to remember him for 1,000 years. Hello, Jack's Narcissism!

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

Hey! It was fun bumping into you at the airport! I know that the possibility of flying on the same plane was pretty high, but still. Small world! (PS. How about that fail of a free Wi-Fi card but no actual Internet on the plane?) I meant to ask you something in line, but I completely forgot what it was (and I still do!).

Anyway, hope you don't mind that I friend you. Your entries are always fascinating to read.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes, welcome! And hah, I mention to post about the airport run-ins (since there was you, the other random DragonCon'ers and Voltaire, who was on a later flight I think).

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this and the recaps over the weekend, it was great and so much fun.

Living vicariously through awesome people :)

[graene.livejournal.com]

Pictures! You stopped the video posts at "Catwalk!" and I really want pictures of you on it! Without badly manner Scots, however.

Glad you had a successful, fun experience.

Btw, Miss M is now a Dr Who fan, just from a few tracks on the end of season 1 disc. I'm debating the scary dreams issue on letting her actually watch the show, but I thought you'd appreciate.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

I have just realized that when you say 'Bristol' you mean the same conference that I think I have been staring at the CFP for for the past 24 hours, and trying to put together a decent abstract on the crazy which is 'transformative work == useful lens for reading Byzantine letter-writing'.

It would be very cool to see you there, if everything works out for you and for me both.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes, that Bristol. Yes yes yes. And yes. Man... would so good to have a friendly face there if this happens for us.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

It really would.

I have just gotten in touch with one of the conference organizers, (she's toft_froggy on LJ), and they seem like a very amazing crowd, so ... here is hoping?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yay. I'm like so obsessively pleased with my idea, I just have to find a way to boil it down into the abstract as there's a lot going on in it (it's about fannish use of death ritual to claim desired fictional bodies).

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds brilliant, and fascinating. And trust me, I understand about having to boil everything down, there's a fan studies side and a Byzantinist side to what I'm putting together, and interlacing the two in less than a page is ... daunting...

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I always get sort of crazy trying to figure this stuff out, because I always worry because I'm just an independent scholar and so don't always feel like I count.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

Academia is this strange hothouse environment. I'm a graduate student so I often don't feel like I count. ... and then add the whole 'Byzantinist' and 'Byzantinist + weird shit with mentality & propaganda & litcrit', and ...

In a sense we're all outside of where the bounds of academia seem to be. The whole fan studies thing -- coming at it from simultaneously a subject position (I live this) and an object position (and I can't help but analyze what I do and what narratives it makes) -- just that is enough to make this all very strange.

[chrisjbaker.livejournal.com]

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsatrap/3899028432/)

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsatrap/3898246563/)


Thanks for making my wife the happiest little girl in the world! I loved the panel and like she said, it was the most interesting and stimulating one we attended!

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Nick is always telling me about this and that post in your lj, so am taking a seat to watch for myself. Love the Dragon*Con posts--I went about ten years ago, during the LOTR craziness...fantastic time. It looks like it has tripled in size (at the very least).

Words fail re: that Scottish brute first for what he did to you, and second for showing his kid his behavior was acceptable. Not cool at all.

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

Just want to chime in on Creepy and Junior. I was at Bubonicon here in ABQ and the crowds were civil, but I will make a mental note for future cons to keep an eye out for the situation you described. I am only 5' tall, but have a great "Crazy bitch" glare.

The Bristol thing reminded me of my art history classes, and the story of how the painter Andrea Mantegna and his friends spent an afternoon at Lake Garda dressed up like ancient Romans in September 1464. There is some discussion of whether or not this actually happened (truth being a bit ropey in the artist's bios written in that period), but it is hard not to think "OMG! Cosplaying!"

It is more focused on the visual arts, but Joscelyn Goodwin's "The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance" is a good source for finding precedents of folks not just reading the classics, but wanting to immerse themselves in the ancient world and the world of ancient Greek and Roman myth.

[count-to-seven.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your detailed write-ups of the Torchwood panels. They really took the sting out of our unfashionably late arrival.

We'll have to get a drink at Gallifrey since we failed at doing so last weekend!