rivka

curiousangel and I spent the weekend in Minneapolis, our first trip to Minicon. It definitely won't be our last. From the beginning of the weekend to the end, everything was marvelous.

gwynyth picked us up at the airport (yay, Gwynyth!) and we had an early lunch with her before drifting back to the hotel around noon. Considering that we barely had a chance to talk during alt.polycon 7, it was great to hang out with her before the con madness started. We checked in (and here I pause for a moment of Hilton staff appreciation - they went out of their way to be courteous and helpful, such a difference from the Chattacon experience), did a cursory job of unpacking, and wandered down to the con space.

I really liked the con layout. Just about everything that happened during the day was on the third floor, and a large open space with tables and chairs separated the consuite and dealer's room from the function space. We barely entered the consuite all weekend - the tables in the middle were too convenient. Friday afternoon we hung out with

redbird, Cally Soukup, and Jo Walton (who I was meeting for the first time). They promptly invited us to tea in Jo's room later that afternoon, and Cally and I went off to help

elisem set up her table. Not enough time for actual conversation with Elise, unfortunately, because of the demands of setup and the people coming by to say hello, but we got plenty of hugs in, and lots of happy jewelry-fondling time. I bought a gorgeous, joyous necklace called "Interpretation of the Blues." Then it was up to Jo and Vicki's room for curious jasmine tea and dark chocolate. Jon Singer announced that he was going to kidnap me sometime and take me for Burmese food, which I suppose means that I have officially arrived in fandom.

The recent unpleasantness in rasseff over the Milgram experiments and my alleged Jewish survivor's guilt turned out, in retrospect, to be highly advantageous as far as Minicon was concerned. The twit (who had gone so far as to accuse me of being "deceitful" for using a name not on my birth certificate) gave me an instant subject of conversation with all the rasseff people at the con. I think a lot of people recognized me who wouldn't otherwise have. And Jo signed my copy of The King's Name with "To Rivka, if that really is your name."

So: wandering back and forth happened. I met a lot of people, some of whom I'd previously seen at ap7, more of whom I knew from online, some of whom were strangers. (And I talked to them! Me!) We went to McCormick & Schmick's for dinner - noisy but delicious. In the evening came the alt.poly party, which was hosted by

kalmn and

elise and was loads of fun. To my surprise and delight, Pamela Dean seemed to be excited to meet me, and we had a lovely conversation. (I'd somehow gotten the impression that she was shy enough to be a near-hermit.) To my delight but not especial surprise,

elisem and

curiousangel got along swimmingly. And I met a guy from Portland who turned out to know many of my friends and favorite places there. We had a long pleasant talk. Oh: also,

kalmn promised to have my love children.

Later on, we wandered through the upstairs consuite (on the party floor, which was very convenient), drank cider and whisky, met an absolutely charming woman from Michigan, and attempted to take advantage of the combination of tiny alien paratrooper toys and our location on the 21st floor. Unfortunately, the stairwell was tight enough to leave only a couple inches of space in the center, so our paratrooper could only go a floor or so. You'd almost think they didn't want people throwing things down 21 floors, for some reason.

Saturday started with the Scandinavian Bakery on Nicolette Mall, as all mornings should (but won't, I fear) from now on. We went to a panel on "Elves on Motorcycles," in which Emma Bull and Will Shetterly deconstructed the urban fantasy genre, and then to a Lois McMaster Bujold reading. She read the first half of a new novella, to be published next February, featuring Miles' wedding and Sargeant Taura's attendance thereupon, and told from the viewpoint of Armsman Roic. And afterward! I was in the central conversation well when Lois came up to me and asked me to lunch. Words completely fail to express my excitement. I called Misha (who'd gone off to run errands) and suggested he return immediately to the hotel lobby restaurant, and the three of us had a lovely relaxed lunch and conversation. Interesting personal tidbit: Lois said she can't usually read fiction when she's working on a book, because it messes up her voice.

More time with Elise in the afternoon, sitting at her dealer's room table. I got to sell some earrings for her. *grin* And then the "Alternative Relationships in Fandom" panel, which started out all-poly and later featured the addition of a monogamous gay couple, for diversity's sake. Many interesting things about cross-membership in groups and default assumptions. Afterward the charming young woman from the previous evening swooped down on us and we arranged to have dinner, in a group that quickly and mysteriously accreted eight people. Including

kalikanzeros, much to my pleasure, given that we'd not had even any newsgroup contact since ap7.

baratron should know that no one has forgotten the "Love Is Blind" panel story, which was rolled out at dinner for an appreciative audience. *grin*

Saturday night: "Ask Dr. Mike," with Elise's partner John M. Ford, turned out to essentially be a science-based stand-up comedy routine. Unfortunately, it was scheduled against the Flash Girls concert, of which we therefore saw very little. Even struggling with a bad cold, Dr. Mike was hilarious. We then made our way through various parties and consuites, in the steady company of our Michigan friend, who cuddles well and was wearing a remarkably pettable velvet dress. Played some dreadful games in the LA in '06 party suite, picked up a temporary tattoo of a rocket ship against a vivid red starburst, drank cider and wine, cuddled some more all 'round, and finally fell asleep at around five.

As a result, Sunday morning didn't involve much. I tried to slip in late to a Joel Rosenberg reading, only to discover that the author was so much later than me that the room was empty. Back to the Scandinavian bakery. Back to the central well for conversation. Once around the dealer's room, failing to find a birthday present for Ben. More hugs from Elise, who by now was wearing a pirate hat and a black velvet jacket. Back to the central well for a game of Apples to Apples. Hugs and innuendo all 'round. And finally, into a taxi for the trip back to the airport, too soon. Too soon.

Previously, my only regular non-newsgroup convention has been Chattacon. I hate to say it, but much as I enjoy seeing

saoba and

ororo and my other friends in Tennessee fandom, between the two conventions there's no comparison at all. Minicon had programming I actually wanted to attend, and a hotel in which it was a pleasure to stay. And Minicon had no hordes of drunk obnoxious non-fans there for the free beer. It was... *sigh* it was lovely. If I continue to do just one con per year, Minicon will win hands-down.

curiousangel and I can always make a separate trip to Tennessee.