![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm back!
So, I'm back from Consonance and the rest of my Bay Area trip. I'm bogging down trying to write a proper con report (I think I'll have to listen to my recordings a few times through before writing about any of the concerts because it's all a blur to me right now), but I had a great time overall. I got to see and hear several performers that I'd previously only heard on some old, low-quality tapes, and that was pretty exciting for me. (I'd originally gotten into filk as something that one orders out of catalogs rather than someone one can actually participate in, and didn't actually get to a filk circle until years later.) This is also the first time I've gone to a fan convention of any genre all by myself and actually had a good time, and I'm glad that's something that worked out ok for me. (The only previous time I'd tried was the Kumoricon of Extreme Dramaz a few years back, and that wasn't intentional but rather a side effect of having pre-reg'd before the Dramaz and not wanting to waste my money.)
I also had a pretty good time wandering around on mass transit visiting friends for a few days afterward, although I didn't figure out that I wasn't in the most tourist-friendly part of San Francicso until the third day of me wandering around aimlessly when I decided to take the cable car and see if I could steal a menu from Ghiridhelli's to frame next to the one my mom stole in the 70s. Oh well, I had a pretty good time wandering around what was, in retrospect, probably not the nicest part of town for two days before I figured it out and I probably saved a lot of money on food and entertainment that way. I wish I'd had time to go to the aquarium I saw on the third day, though.
I also picked up some kind of stomach bug on the train ride back Thursday and I haven't shaken it off yet, so I've been kind of a lazy slug. I'll try to upload some pictures and expand on all this in a few days.
Now I need to see if I can somehow afford to go to Baycon and/or Westercon this year, as I have now decided that solo convention trips and train rides to California are something I can do.
I also had a pretty good time wandering around on mass transit visiting friends for a few days afterward, although I didn't figure out that I wasn't in the most tourist-friendly part of San Francicso until the third day of me wandering around aimlessly when I decided to take the cable car and see if I could steal a menu from Ghiridhelli's to frame next to the one my mom stole in the 70s. Oh well, I had a pretty good time wandering around what was, in retrospect, probably not the nicest part of town for two days before I figured it out and I probably saved a lot of money on food and entertainment that way. I wish I'd had time to go to the aquarium I saw on the third day, though.
I also picked up some kind of stomach bug on the train ride back Thursday and I haven't shaken it off yet, so I've been kind of a lazy slug. I'll try to upload some pictures and expand on all this in a few days.
Now I need to see if I can somehow afford to go to Baycon and/or Westercon this year, as I have now decided that solo convention trips and train rides to California are something I can do.
no subject
I enjoyed meeting you and talking about life and a' that.
I have since gone back to Ontario (Canada) and have had to deal with that annoying feature known as "Daylight Saving Time" (which started today). It took me a few days to get rid of jet lag, so I wasn't happy at having to do it a second time.
Right now, my roommate is away visiting relatives, so our pet cat is having fun saying hi and why don't you pet me. :-) We used to have another roommate, but he moved out after the cat joined us. He didn't like cats and (as he was a smoker) I was effectively allergic to him too. :-/
I definitely enjoyed Consonance, but the distance probably means I won't be going next year. However, I'm hoping to come to next year's Westercon (which is in San Jose).
no subject
Consonance was my first California con, and I don't know when I'll manage to get to another one (as much as I want to) because if I get a teaching job they're too far to travel to except during the summer (if I continue to not have a job, there are obvious economic issues making it difficult to travel regularly, and if I get a non-teaching job I suppose I won't have any vacation for the first year anyway). My usual con circuit is pretty much Orycon in Portland and Conflikt in Seattle, plus some ren faires and such that I go to in the summers.
no subject
I'm also thinking about going to the Worldcon in Reno (NV) next year, but other factors -- such as having to look for work again -- may torpedo that plan, along with any planned trip to Westercon.
I used to live in Vancouver (1999-2003) and still have friends there. Unless I move back, however, I will not be able to visit cons in Washington or Oregon for the next while.
I'd still like to come back and visit there in general. Powell's books was and is **amazing** -- AFAIK it's the biggest bookstore in North America. There are other things I'd like to see and do in Portland too.
Someday ...