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01/07/2004 Entry: "EveCon XXI - What a Long Strange Trip It's Been, Part 1: Through sick and tired eyes..."
Pbbbthth... I think about 50 people said that "strange trip" quote all weekend. But it's TRUE! When the cons started in 1983, sci-fi was still pretty rare in the popular media. The Internet was only used by a few huge mainframes around the US, cable TV was still pretty new, and Michael Jackson still had most of his original face.
Of course, FanTek is not dead, but I am sure all those people who said the cons would die will claim otherwise, and they suck, because I have never been to a con where several hundred people poured out their hearts to two people who really changed a lot of people's lives. Sure, Bruce and Cheryl are not perfect, they are human, and like the rest of us, prone to make mistakes. But at closing ceremonies, I was very happy to hear I was not the only one to have these feelings of gratitude and appreciation towards what the cons meant to them.
I wasn't as sad at this con as I thought I'd be. Sure, I was a little bummed, but it's not like Bruce and Cheryl went down in some flaming wreck of politics and infighting. It was kind of like ... like the last episode of your favorite show. You know, the kind where the cast KNOWS it's the last show, and has a tribute to everyone. Very touching.
Sadly, I was sick through half of it. I was battling out some cold or flu or something, and it took every once of raw energy to battle it. I took a strange combo of echinacea (thanks to my cousin Sven, who turned me onto this), elderberry, vitamin C, cough drops, aspirin, and coffee (more to warm me and give me some adrenaline). When I wasn't doing something, I sat up in my room with a heating pad, meditating and praying, that some strength would come to me and I could tip the scales from sick to healthy. I mean, I feel I never actually got sick, but I was teetering on the edge of going one way or the other, and I knew "sick" would mean "very sick." I kept smelling things, my feet were freezing, and I sometimes would get shaky and felt feverish. So, sadly, Friday I spent a lot of time in my hotel room, and Opening Ceremonies wore me right out. I didn't get all sappy (although I had a small moment of silence for Hal), because I felt I might pass out if I didn't focus. I feel bad that my last EveCon Opening Ceremonies ever was done on a combination of autopilot and relentless self-checking. After it was over, I went right to bed. I woke up to a groggy stuffed head on Saturday Morning.
I felt Saturday would KILL me. I mean, it was partly my fault, and part miscommunication. I told Kory (head of programming) that I preferred my programming "in clumps," meaning I didn't want an hour here and there, scattered everywhere, so I didn't have enough time in between them for lunch or socializing. He took this to mean "one big clump" and thus, I had a programming block for five. solid. hours. From 1pm to 6pm, I had all my panels. Scattered all over the hotel.
The first panel was my reading, which had the usual attendees, whom I love dearly. Then I had to run to the computer room at the other end of the hotel (which is really just a big ring), and give a Windows vs. Linux panel, which had a huge turnout (like usual), and I might do something similar for Balticon (if they let me). Then I had to run to another room across the hotel, and give an hour discussion on Harry Potter, which only had a few people, but those who attended were very insightful (thank you, BJ). Then I had to run back to the computer room to talk about online security, harassment, and how you're not really anonymous (even anonymous remailers? Yes...) on the net. Then it was back to the other end of the hotel again to discuss how to make the world a better place using the chaos theory and how to influence people in your little sphere of existence. I want to especially thank Ida, April A, and Maug for their valuable input. Maug, as a former street musician, had some valuable insight and experience to share.
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