Penguicon 5.0
As I expected I worked very very hard during Penguicon. I sat diligently at my volunteer table through most of the convention. On Friday I managed to arrive early about 2:30 or so. There was a mad rush to prepare my prize table and volunteer table and somehow check in eventually as well. My poor hamster. I hope he is not too traumatized by my taking him to the hotel...maybe he liked it. I didn't want to leave him with Matt's mom where he would never be taken out of his cage all weekend. I'm diligently working on keeping him socialized from a young baby forward.

Around 5ish I finally had all my stuff in a hotel room and was starting to sit down to my table for my Penguin Wrangling duties. The flow of volunteers recruited was not hideous but could have been much better. I gave it my best though. The schedule I made and printed out was much better this year and having a cell phone is an absolute must for trying to do an organized job. Howard Tayler drew a very amusing picture of me. He was sitting across the floor from me selling his wares. I sat there until about 8 or 9 and then wandered about room parties with Matt. Got a tad tipsy and had some amusing experiences that blew Matt's mind I think. Always fun to astonish him, especially since we have known each other so long. Went to bed around 2:00 a.m.




Next morning woke up at 8. Had to help with the coffee ritual at 10. Took the hamster out for some socializing which I also did the night before. He was so cute the night before. He crawled up into my hair and went to sleep. That morning....he was not quite so sedentary. I let him explore the bed....boy was he fast. He jumped off the end of the bed within a matter of seconds. No matter how fast I scrambled I could not catch the rascal. I had to call Matt back to the room to help me. Finally we cornered him and I picked him up. The rascal JUMPED OFF MY ARM while I was standing. I'm so glad he didn't hurt himself. Matt caught him and we put him back in his cage. I kept thinking of the horrified face of a cleaning person coming upon him unexpectedly.

On Saturday I sat at my table from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a break aroun 1:30 to go buy a necklace and rose quartz ball in the dealers room. I must mention Anna. She was a great help to me sitting with me and attracting volunteers. She kept the job from being too horribly tedious. She sat with me a little on Friday too. She will be taking over the volunteer wrangling possibly next year. I'm so glad about that. Narf sat with me for a bit too as did Brendan. Actually Brendan sat for a several hours. Got a nice back rub from Joe and food and concern from Steve. It was so good to have the company when you feel trapped and watch the covention flow past you.

I had an interesting perspective of the con. The majority of the people were very happy and pleased with everything. I did hear a few complaints about some of the technical panels but only a few. And I heard a conversation about the possiblity of us losing some tech geeks that year while gaining other people. Most everyone was having a pleasant relaxed yet rushed time if that makes any sense. I saw A LOT of new faces. And oddly enough there was so many children this year. It was amazing to me how many young kids I saw. Can people not afford a babysitter for that long perhaps? I figured some people just wanted to show off their kids to their friends....

There was a bit more room party hopping on Saturday but I was mostly looking for someone to nab as a volunteer in consuite to help Jer. My rose colored saree was a big hit. Someone asked me if I was going for the escort look and I didn't get the reference. Silly me. Nope I'm just an eccentric woman that likes pretty cloth draped over me. After I batted my eyes at Narf and got him to say yes it wasn't much longer until I was in bed. I didn't get up until almost 10 on Sunday. Matt had to cancel the coffee ritual which was sad. Giving refunds was chaotic and handing out prizes was not as smooth as I had hoped. I felt so uncomfortable during some moments at the closing ceremony. I just feel like falling in a hole when there is any kind of conflict going on but it all was worked out smoothly afterwards. It felt worse that both the people involved with the public conflict were people I loved. I don't know why but I always feel responsible when something like that happens. Probably a flash back response to when my sister used to preach at our fellow students.

Then there was the mad rush to check out but finally I was able to relax at the dead dog party and at dinner. Got a lovely backrub from Skennedy and I needed it too. Boy was I tired and frazzled! Spent some time listening to Randy Millholand have a conversation at the dead dog. Very amusing fellow. Went home at 10:00 p.m. finally after making sure Charlie Stross had actually received his reimbursment.

I'm very proud of how well the convention went. I know I supported two of the pillars that held up that year extensively and felt personally responsible for a large part it's success. I think I'm going to take a break now. I haven't actually just had fun at Penguicon in years.