Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Our fearless leader, Hellbunny, gets stuck

On Saturday, we attended what Otakon staffers call the Panic Meeting, or the last organizational meeting before the big event.

Since neither The Gryphon nor I have huge responsibilities this year, so neither of us were really panicking. We did, however, check in with our department heads, and The Gryphon, who's a member at large of the board, attended the board meeting beforehand.

The meeting was held in Baltimore, and we carpooled down with The Dormouse (who drove) and Batman.

It was a warm day but not obnoxiously so, though I was sweating on the way down despite air conditioning. Of course, the AC in our meeting room was sufficient that I was happy I'd brought an extra layer.

You never know at these meetings, so I'd also brought an extra tank top in case I'd sweated through the shirt I was wearing! Sometimes when these rooms get packed, it's like a sauna in there. Minus the towels.

One of the nicer aspects of the bigger meetings, such as the Panic Meeting, is seeing some people you don't see all the time, including two sisters I always love talking to. The younger I met through The Invisible Man while I was dating him, and her tough talking older sister I simply adore. We had a good time, chatting, the younger sister and me, about how we're both trying to tone up our abs. I suggested she try belly dancing, which is fun and tones just about every muscle you've got.

I'm already laying plans for how I'm going to be careful to maintain my weight over Otakon this year. I've had varying experiences at Otakon, sometimes losing and sometimes gaining over the extended weekend. Last year, I gained a couple pounds, so if the trend proves true, hopefully, I'll at least stay the same this time.

We were in the elevator heading downstairs for a lunch break when I told the people there that I had plans to bring healthy snacks. But I misspoke, and instead of Kashi bars, said I'd be bringing some Kashi bears. This made everyone laugh.

The Bhoo, a.k.a. Otaklause, thought this was hilarious. He took on the persona of the Kashi Bear, bending his knees and sticking his arms out like an overstuffed teddy bear as he said, "Hello! Would you like some honey!"

Hey, if I could find a Kashi Bear, I'd bring him along. He could carry my Kashi bars for me.

Another fun moment happened between some members of the publications department, primarily female. They had brought some of this year's Otakon merchandise along, in case any staffers wanted to buy some ahead of time. One of the staffers, The Doctor, had bought a passport holder which she'll use to hold her work ID. She joked that maybe this would keep her supervisor from staring at her chest.

This got us all talking about how irritating it is when guys don't even look up at your eyes but just stare at your chest the whole time. The head of publications, The Cosplayer, imitated this behavior, staring at my chest while talking to me: "Hey, that's a nice shirt." That got us all laughing. It was great to see her in good spirits; the last meeting I attended, she seemed tired and a bit frazzled.

But by this point in the year, most of the pre-con publications work has been completed. Plus, it helps that a lot of people in that department have a healthy sense of humor and tend to boost each other's spirits. I wish I could have done more for them this year, but they were very understanding about the fact that I had a wedding to plan.

About halfway through the meeting we had an ice cream break, a reward for our attendance, I suppose. A cooler of ice cream bars was set up in the hallway for us all to have some. I chose a chocolate popsicle, which was actually as low in calories and fat as many low-fat popsicle brands, even though it wasn't advertised as such.

Of course, our fearless leader, Hellbunny, who is this year's con chair, got a little silly with it, deliberately sticking it to his bottom lip and then asking me to take a photo. (See the top of the page). Remember, folks, this is BEFORE Otakon. Imagine how crazy he'll be after he gets stressed!

We also got a heads up on important informational items, and The Gryphon worked out some logistical details with his higher-ups in the Guest Relations department. He'll be working with industry representatives, many of whom will have booths in a special display room adjoining the Dealers' Room. I will be working with Press Relations, facilitating coverage for the more than 130 representatives of the media who will be attending.

Afterwards, with The Dormouse and Batman, along with The White Rabbit, The Big Kahuna and the March Hare, we walked to a Chinese restaurant we like, Uncle Lee's, where they seated us at a big, round table. I joked it was "our table," since they sit us there whenever we have a large group.

As we placed our orders, I asked the waitress what the place had been before it was a restaurant. It has very ornate high ceilings and walls, which seem to be a hold over from another time. She said, "Twenty-five years ago, it was what? You get three guesses."

First, I guessed it was a hotel, but she said, "No, two more guesses" and left to get our drink order.

When she returned, I guessed, at the March Hare's suggestion, that it had been a bank. That was correct! She said before that it was used by the Coca-Cola Company. Wow. I never would have guessed.

We were the only customers in the restaurant, since it was still early, and the service was understandably quick. We had a great time talking and enjoying our meals. I had the scallops, which were served in a brown sauce with snow peas and bamboo shoots. Delicious and guilt free, since scallops are a low-fat fish, and brown sauce is soy based and therefore also relatively low in fat, if a bit salty.

Afterwards, we walked our separate ways to our cars. On the way back north, the conversation amongst The Dormouse, Batman and I ranged from politics to pop culture, such as debating which movie remakes were sacrilege. The Gryphon slept most of the way, which is just as well. He hates discussing politics even more than some people hate remakes.

On Sunday, The Gryphon and I spent a quiet day. The Gryphon wasn't feeling well, so after we went out for breakfast and to the grocery store, we stayed home. I did a tape I'd bought on Kripali Yoga, which I'd been meaning to try but hadn't had a chance yet. I discovered it's very similar to the class I used to take before I moved to Philadelphia, and it was very relaxing. I'll have to work it in once a week or so; I could feel the positive effects on my body from the toning and stretching.

I cooked us a dinner of vegetarian pasta puttanesta, from a book called Vegetarian Express, all designed to take 30 minutes or less to prepare. It's one of my favorite cookbooks. Despite the lack of anchovies, the sauce was tasty but could have used some extra punch. I made a note that next time I'll try adding crushed red pepper.

The most important thing I did all day was call The White Rabbit to coordinate a combined Independence Day/The Gryphon's 40th Birthday Party, for the weekend following July 4. The White Rabbit has graciously agreed to host the event at his house, sparing us the expense of renting a community hall, restaurant or other location. Instead, I'll take that money and put it into an ice cream cake (The Gryphon's request), some turkey burgers and some good microbrewed bear or maybe a bottle of wine. The event will be potluck, with everyone bringing some sort of food and entertainment. Should be fun!

Then I went through Wild Violet submissions and looked over some books to review for Wild Violet while The Gryphon played his newest video game obsession, an online game called Eve, a role-playing space game where you command space ships, join companies and compete to accomplish tasks.

It has a beautiful graphic interface, and in my days of MUSH-ing, I would have been truly amazed at something like this. How much has changed in just 10 years! We're almost living in a William Gibson novel, except without all the angsty bits.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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