I think I'm starting to see why it's best to have conventions in spring, summer and early fall. We had a Doctor Who convention this weekend for the 50th anniversary, and we had the threat of weather hanging over our heads the entire time, with a winter storm warning starting at 6 a.m. Sunday. It turned out to be much ado about nothing, as it didn't get below freezing and it didn't even rain all that much. I'm taking some credit for that, since after seeing the forecast Saturday morning, I told the con chair I probably wouldn't be there Sunday so he could make contingency plans, and then they'd be covered in case I couldn't make it, but then it could be a pleasant surprise if I did. Because there were contingency plans, nothing happened. But there were still a lot of people who didn't come or who left early because of the weather threat.
I also have a bit of a problem with cold-weather conventions because it forces me out of my hibernation instinct. All I want to do is curl up under a blanket, and yet I'm having to be out and about and friendly and articulate and all that. I know I wasn't my normal convention self, and that steadily waned over the weekend. Then I was left more drained than normal, even though I wasn't staying up late or having to get up early. I got about nine hours of sleep last night and could easily go back to bed and take a long nap now. I guess I'd better let myself recharge because in a couple of days I'll have to be around family for Thanksgiving.
In spite of the energy drain, I did have fun at the convention. It was great watching the anniversary episode on a big screen in a big room with hundreds of enthusiastic people, though I'll have to rewatch to catch all the dialogue. I haven't really tried analyzing the episode, but there was nothing about it that triggered my "but wait a second …" reflex. I'm generally happy with just about any non-linear storytelling that plays with time.
There were some great costumes, including some eerily accurate renditions of the various Doctors. One guy made a very good, slightly more age-appropriate to me Eleventh Doctor. But the danger of that sort of thing is that you never know if you find someone appealing because he looks like the Doctor or if you would actually find him at all appealing in his everyday appearance. I suppose the point is moot because my one attempt at mild flirtation fell utterly flat. I got more response from the Daleks.
Meanwhile, I came away from the weekend with a massive yarn stash. One of my friends is a big crocheter, and she'd inherited a huge yarn stash from a friend whose aunt, an avid knitter, died. She'd picked out the stuff she wanted, but there was a lot left in lace-weight yarn, which she gave to me. The trick is that I don't know if there's enough in any one yarn to make much of anything, but it's still something to play with. Then another friend had some yarn for a project she'd given up on. It's hand-spun yarn that she spun herself on her antique spinning wheel, so I think it needs something special. There's not a lot, so it will have to be something small like a hat or a collar.
It may not have iced, but it's a cold, rainy day, and I think I'm going to declare this my "weekend." I may spend the rest of the day on the sofa under a blanket with a book.
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