G2003 Con Report - part 1

[mandolin]

Called in sick today, for the following reasons:

1) Didn't get back from BWI and taking Plague back to OC til 7 pm, and the apartment was a mess;
2) I *am* sick, having picked up a bit of a head cold in Chicago;
3) I was going to go in today, but said cold decided to keep me up half the night.

So I'm using today to rest, clean, and get caught up. Starting with the G2003 con report I promised people. It's a little fuzzy on some details, since I've had another weekend in Chicago in between, but I'll put together what I can remember. (Corrections are welcome.)

Without further ado, here we go.

Thursday, June 26

SOMEHOW got out of work at 1 pm, after spreading the word that I'd be MIA most of the week and getting some co-workers to cover for me. Ran home, packed, violated Resolution #9 (forgot the figures again), decided not to bring the costume since it wasn't done and I wasn't wearing a rushed, crappy costume just for the sake of having one. Drove up to my folks, rode to Aberdeen with my stepmom (yes, my stepmom, it still feels weird being able to say that now), and waited outside for the train, which was half an hour late. Marsha waited out there with me for 40+ minutes in the heat determined to make sure I got on the train safely. She didn't have to, but I really appreciated it.

Train ride to NYC was pretty nice and fairly comfortable, despite some boredom - I brought my CD player, but managed to leave ALL my CDs at Dad's - and I got into Penn Station around 7 pm. Went up to the main level, looked around at the rush, and laughed out loud at myself. I had to set a scene in Penn Station in "Murphy's Law" despite never having been there and completely pulling the scene out of my ass, so I was highly amused to see that I had actually guessed right about the crowds rushing everywhere. Grabbed my bags and hoofed it to the Hotel Pennsylvania; I came out the wrong side and had to ask a cop if I was going the right direction. I was, so I got to the hotel, got my key at the front desk, gave Kathy a cellphone call and crashed in the room for a bit.

Hung out with Kathy a bit when she got out of con staff panic briefly and got to hear one of the looniest examples of mailing address silliness I've ever heard. She had to leave me to my own designs that evening, which was pretty boring. Despite the fact that there were a lot of non-staff attendees there on Thursday night, I only encountered ONE other con attendee who I didn't know all that well. I wandered around the hotel, got hit on by this strange guy, and just killed time for a few hours. Yeah, I was in the middle of downtown Manhattan, but So I ate at Lindy's for the first and last time, got bored and crashed around 11. (Any restaurant that screws up chicken fingers is not worth trying again.)

Friday, June 27 - Morning

Got up with Kathy's phone alarm, let her shower first, and discovered the reason for the paint mold spots in the bathroom - the shower tended to hose down the WHOLE BATHROOM, blowing out the shower curtains completely. Hey, at least there was plenty of water pressure.

Went down and got breakfast at the 24-hour coffee shop - better than Lindy's - and hung out in the lobby. Good move, it seems, as attendees were gathering (no pun intended) there in hopes that registration would appear. Ran into Shaun (BrooklynX) as well as Stephen, Seri Wavelength, Kellie Fay, Gside, Lanny, Duncan, A Fan, Orion, Spacebabie, and Archangel. Spacebabie offered her suggestion for my costume dilemma, which was a lot more creative than anything I'd have come up with, but it was a moot point since the wig was at home (and it was way too long and thick to spike with hair gel - I'd have HATED to wash that sucker afterwards!) Got lots of comments on my Sluggy "Fear the Bunny" T-shirt. Got lots of weird looks from the regular patrons of the hotel, too. Heh.

Registration finally opened up a bit late - they had to set the desk off to the side since the concierge was really annoyed that we were blocking the elevators. The staff rushed down and hurried to make up for lost time - I paid for the banquet up front for the hell of it. Couldn't get a T-shirt because I hadn't pre-ordered one. Oh well.

After a good deal of people waffling indecisively, I joined the group led by Fan to a kosher deli a few blocks away. We needed food, and I wanted to actually leave the hotel for a bit and actually remind myself I was in New York for the first time in 3 years. The deli was nice, but the service was slow, which made us have to rush back to the hotel to get to Thom's Mug-A-Guest panel at 1:30.

The next part is forthcoming. I took notes at this point, and must go find my notebook.

Comments

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

Actually, so far, it sounds great! It sounds like you know a lot of people there already, so you're bound to have someone to talk to. I never would have forgotten my CDs though. Those would be practically glued to my body! LOL. And I hear you about getting hit on by a strange guy. I got hit on at one of the last cons I went to by this lady in the lobby. She was SO not winning that game. LOL! I had to laugh out loud about the part with the chicken fingers - YIKES!