Monday, September 20, 2010

My Zombie Self Reports on FenCon

This is my zombie self, posting from beyond the grave. At least, that's what it kind of feels like. I have the usual post-convention crash after having yet another wonderful time at FenCon. And I would likely have had an even better time if I hadn't been smacked with the Allergy Attack From HELLLL. I'd had minor sniffles because it is September in Texas, but then when I was driving to the con Saturday morning, they were mowing the freeway median, which had a lot of tall grass and weeds, and a big cloud of mower dust was hovering over the freeway. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to switch my car AC to recirculate in time, and I got the full impact. I could smell both cut grass and serious pollen, and by the time I got to the convention, I was sneezing my head off. I spent Saturday with a tissue held up to my face, though I did manage to get through my reading without sneezing. Sunday was a little better because I'd taken some allergy medication, although the Benadryl wooziness hit mid-day, and by the end of the con I was feeling well enough to hang around and help with tear-down. But meanwhile, it seems the prevailing winds carried all that mower dust down into the valley where I live because walking from my garage to my house last night, I started sneezing all over again, and I could smell the same pollen. I think today will be a day for taking allergy drugs and lying on the sofa.

I do have to apologize to anyone who was there and wanted to attend my autograph session. There was kind of a mix-up. There was one posted in the program book as being on Saturday afternoon, and although that was changed on my personal schedule, that change didn't make it into the update sheet for that day. At that time, I was actually on a panel. Then when I discovered on Sunday morning that apparently I was the only one who knew I had an autographing because it wasn't in the program book, the update sheet/daily newsletter hadn't been distributed yet, and there was no signage, I decided that since I wasn't feeling very well and the Benadryl had really kicked in that it would be kind of pointless for me to sit there for an hour. I figured that I was easy enough to find if anyone wanted me to sign something, and since there were dealers selling my books, me sitting there wouldn't add to my sales. At that point, I'm not sure I could have managed to remember my own name to sign books.

Some highlights: For the Doctor Who panel, a couple of panelists wore fezzes and a couple of us had bow ties (bow ties are cool!). I found my red-and-white gingham bow tie that I was very fond of in high school and found it went very well with the Infamous Red Stilettos. Our guest of honor, Spider Robinson, wasn't up to travel, so he attended remotely via Skype, so it was a first for me being on a panel with a remote participant. At the end of the panel, Spider revealed that it was another first: the first time to be on a panel with a pantsless member (one of the benefits of doing a panel from your living room). I kind of like that remote idea. You could have AgoraphobiaCon. I spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the con suite drinking tea, and I have to thank the steampunk group that held a tea party for leaving all the lovely tea behind afterward. Without it, I wouldn't have survived. I spent some time chatting and enjoying companionable silence with Robert J. Sawyer, who declared that my celebrity twin is Kristen Wiig of Saturday Night Live.

We had the usual fun with our Sci Fi Channel Inferno panel, possibly because I was just starting to feel the Benadryl kicking in and my usual filters were off. When we were discussing the "reality" (and I use the term loosely) series on Sci Fi (I don't acknowledge the name change), I said that soon they'll be doing Ghost Hoarders. I haven't yet decided if people would be hoarding ghosts or if it's the ghosts doing the hoarding. If it's the latter, then I could really blame the state of my office on Stan, the 80s Bachelor Airline Pilot Ghost. Then there was some talk of the B movies on the channel, which was funny because that morning I'd been reading the TV listings in the newspaper, and because of the allergy grogginess, I'd misread the movie for the night as being "Megafruit" instead of "Megafault." Strangely, I spent the whole day thinking it would be nice to get home and watch Megafruit. I had zero interest in Megafault. Then when I got home, I guess I had that on the brain, and for a moment, I even mis-read the digital channel guide. I'm not that into natural disaster movies, but evil, giant fruit? I'm so there.

And now I really need to re-load on the allergy medication and maybe get some more sleep. I'm sure I'll think of something else brilliant and wonderful later.

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