Worldcon: Monday
Up and off to the Hynes for the last day of the con. A quick pass through the ConCourse, then off to the Con Suite for the Michael Burstein kaffeeklatsch. It was lots of fun, especially since all five non-MAB folks at the table knew him (and were known to him) in one way or another (including his wife Nomi, of course); this meant that he got to introduce each of us to the group, explain how he knew us and/or tell a funny story about how he knew us, and then onward with the discussion. Michael and Nomi are great folks, and it was nice to meet other folks they knew–all of them interesting.
After that, I headed to the “Obsolete High Technology” panel, with Charlie Stross, Jordin Kare, Bob Metzger, and Bill Higgins. More fun, particularly Charlie’s comments about traditional British product design (like the ICL “One-Per-Desk” computer). Afterwards, Bill and I went for lunch and time to meet in person (since we’ve been USENET correspondents for years and years).
Another dealers’ room swing, then off to “TV Storytelling: From Arcs to Episodes”. I actually don’t watch that much SF TV (having managed not to get interested in anything since ST:DS9, and dropping that before it ended) but I still enjoyed the discussion, even if the examples were mostly missing me.
Off to the closing ceremonies, which began with fife & drum and ended with bagpipes. Lots of bagpipes, or at least lots of bagpipe volume. As they led us out into the ConCourse, I met up with someone I hadn’t talked to in 15 years (since, er, Noreascon 3) and then off to meet the LMB listies as they got ready to go to Toscanini’s.
We headed out to catch the #1 bus, and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited…as a bunch of four buses headed the other direction! Eventually I had to leave to make it to the airport to meet an incoming flight, so I made my goodbyes and headed for the T to go to the airport.
As I got to the platform, I noticed a fellow con attendee and old acquaintance trying to deal with a suitcase and backpack, both full of books (imagine that!). I provided some minor assistance getting her and her acquisitions to the airport, and thus extended my con-related activity by an additional half-hour or so.
I didn’t make it back for Dead Dog or any of the other later activities. Home, exhausted, and with work the next morning….
