alt.polycon 9 report - part I

curiousangel and I arrived at the apc9 hotel around 10:30, after a mostly-smooth trip punctuated by minor traumas such as a 4:50am wake-up call and a stiletto-heeled, hot-pantsed taxi driver who ran out of gas just outside the Westin. ("It's okay, I got fuel injection. I know it's bad for the cah, but I got enough to get you folks to the door." Well, maybe to the mouth of the parking lot.) The hotel found us a vacant room so that we could check in right away, which curiousangel took immediate advantage of by settling in for a nap. I was too excited to sleep, so instead I went off to prowl the hotel.
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alt.polycon 9 report - part II.

The first panel Friday night was "Coming Out, Staying In." A lot of people showed up (which, unfortunately, did not include one of the panelists). I knew that the panel would interest me and irritate me, and it did. The irritation is pretty much all self-directed. I'm not as out as I'd like to be. I can't really justify not being out to my family, but I don't want to come out to them, either. Being at the panel put pressure on me to examine my reasons and assumptions. One useful bit to hold on to: coming out doesn't necessarily mean sitting them down and giving a dramatic speech. I think that's how it's always looked in my head.

Next was the first non-panel programming item, "Beyond ASCII Art" - otherwise known as the 3D relationship model-building exercise. It was my idea and I was really excited about it, so I was a bit disappointed that only eight or nine people showed up. Tal showed up for a while, but seemed uncomfortable and barely spoke to anyone. (It was the closest contact I had with him all weekend. I feel a bit embarrassed that, as a member of the concom, I didn't do more to make him feel welcome... but he freaks me out.) The rest of us had a great time building models and telling each other about them. lilairen posted a picture of hers here. The models spent the rest of the con on the windowsill of one of the programming rooms, and a lot of people had positive things to say about them. So I guess it was a good program item even though not many people actually attended.

I wandered up to the consuite, which was huuuuge and had an enormous window overlooking the scenic suburban region. I had some of lilairen's cider mead, which was lovely enough to overcome my natural dislike of sweet drinks, and wound up in the bedroom, where some nice mellow cuddling and talking was going on. It was all very low-key and friendly and peaceful.
( mild BDSMish content below )