Getting out of Dayton took awhile, what with all the construction and my forgetting a map, so I ended up at the convention around ten-thirty. I didn't mind the drive, though, since there were some good NPR stations and even a good Christian music station coming from the area (which is very rare--most Christian music stations don't put much emphasis on quality, unfortunately). I picked up a name badge and program and, deciding not to walk in half-way through a panel, I headed straight to the dealer room, finding a few gems at great prices, a few gems at awful prices, and a bunch of stuff I can't imagine ever buying. I ended up buying two novels by Chip Delany (I had just started reading The Einstein Intersection and one by Mike Resnick (I've only read his short stories) for all of four bucks. I picked up other books, but set them back down when I saw the prices.

I went into the art show, too. Mostly semi-pro artists, but I almost bid on a few pieces. The overall quality was incredible.

I found it very difficult walking around. It was a tiny convention, which was even obvious to me as a newbie, but the convention center itself just wasn't big enough (or perhaps appropriate enough) for a convention of this type. The real problem though, was people not paying attention to what other people were doing. I could be walking down the hall behind someone and that person will stop for a second and stand in such a way that no-one could get around him or her. There was nothing to be done. In some places, display tables took up half a hallway and people decided to sit on the floor across from them. I don't mind bumping into people, but when it's physically impossible to squeeze by, I get kinda claustrophobic. And I almost got pumped into an art display a few times which would've been a no-no.

Seeing no interesting panels on the schedule until around one, I headed out for lunch. A man was changing into Klingon garb in the parking lot as I walked out.

I picked up a sandwich and some dried fruit at a nearby Kroger's. The shortest line got me out of the store in twenty minutes, but it was worth it not to eat at McDonald's. I then went to a Harley Davidson store right next to the convention center. Really cool stuff. Not my style, but really cool stuff. The store displayed only a few beautiful bikes, but the accessories and replacement parts made great eye candy for any browser. Almost bought some sunglasses, but I can't justify paying more than ten or fifteen bucks for them since I lose them so much (or they break, or I forget where I leave them, etc.).

So finally I got back to the con (since that was the focus of the trip), called a friend (another med-student, this one in Cincinatti) to see if we could meet (we couldn't) and my fiance to let her know about what time I'd pick her up on Sunday. And then I attended my first panel: Forbidden Subjects.

I sat in the back and just as the panelists were entering and sitting, a bearded gentleman walked up to me, looked at my name tag (which read "Alexander Wilson") and said, "Kartania?" And that's how I met Garry Garrett. Gary is an organic chemist and up-and-coming writer from the Cincinatti area, who first heard my name on the Mike Resnick discussion list. Nice guy (and he's been to a lot more cons than I have).

The panel itself was all right. Panelists Jack Nimersheim, Tom Sadler, and William Levy tried to come up with something that was indeed taboo. Someone mentioned getting pigeon-holed because she wrote science fiction porn, so that started a somewhat mundane debate which lasted about half an hour, and finally the panelists came up with something possibly "forbidden:" intolerance. Which is an interesting idea in itself, that intolerance is not tolerated, but it's probably true. You can't paint Hitler as a hero unless you change the character or change the conditions of history. But overall, I thought it was a waste of everybody's time. It was pretty clear that the panelists were intelligent, but the topic wasn't worth their talent.

Toby Buckell entered the room right after the panel and I introduced him to Garry. It was Toby (who Mike Resnick's taken under his wing) who first got me interested in Resnick (even though I'd been reading his Ask Bwana column in Speculations for years and I actually joined Resnick's discussion group before Toby did) and encouraged me to get out there to my first convention (though it wasn't Millennicon he stressed), so I'm glad he decided to come (nothing to add; I just love parentheses) and share a room with me. Splitting the room rate was nice; having someone with me who knew what he was doing was better.

He said the best of the two o'clock panels was probably the Worldcon one, so we both stayed in the same room for that. I'd already read most of Resnick's stories (he, Mark Evans, Jim Overmyer, and Steve Silver were the panelists) at the discussion list, so hearing them didn't enlighten me much, though I was and am almost convinced I should probably try to attend Worldcon this year. My fiance and I have friends in Philly, so it might even work out as our first mini-vacation after our honeymoon. But we'll see.

Toby took off to spend some quality time with Resnick, so I went to a tea party in a hotel room with the people of Context (another convention, writer-heavy, and within driving distance of Cleveland). It was probably one of my favorite parts of the cons, since a bunch of us just talked about books. I became popular with few flippant remarks about Heinlein; it seems many people have the urge to defend him and want to recommend something else of his to me. It was nice to be around other people with a love of literature, even though I'd probably rather be talking about Tim O'Brien and Toni Morrison. Steven Silver and Garry were both very informative and fun to talk with, as were most everyone else whose names I don't remember (usually because their nametags only revealed their first names).

I looked at the schedule and didn't see anything interesting, so after the tea party, I thought I'd take in a movie in the video/anime room where a bunch of Doctor Who fans drooled over a parody ("Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death") of the series starring Rowan Atkinson, Julia Sawalha, Jonathon Pryce, Richard E. Grant, and Hugh Grant (among others). Funny stuff, but even more amusing was the crowd reaction. These were clearly fans of Doctor Who, and watching them react to the video was almost as funny as Pryce's cackle. And it was a damn good cackle.

I left half-way through the next video (a "making of" the above parody) to see a panel or program called "What's My Character" which to mee looked more intriguing than the Guest of Honor speech. When I got there, some costumed attendees were finishing up their meeting (I believe they were called "Furries"), and Toby walked in. We sat and talked while waiting for "What's My Character" to begin and before we knew it, it was half an hour later and we were about the only ones left.

So we went to dinner at Perkins where Toby almost sold me on a PDA (meaning Personal Digital Assistant, like the Palm or Handspring Visor--not Public Display of Affection, you high-schoolers). We talked about Tangent Online, books, writing, the business--you name it. It's unfortunate, but I don't have too many friends who take writing as seriously as I do. So I get a lot out of our talks.

More later.

Filed under Con Reports, Journal, Vanity Smurf

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