drainedOmegacon was a good break from the routine, and it was a good get-away-for-a-few-days diversion from life. Being able to hang out with friends, meet new friends, and find out that an amazing number of people there are LJ folks was a good experience.
Friday:
Took the dog to dog camp, where she became a neurotic scared pup at being left alone. Our dog has separation anxiety, and she doesn't like being separated from us for any length of time. I feel bad, but we can't take her with us on a lot of outings, and Bed & Bone does a wonderful job in taking care of her.
Back home to pack and finish all the last-minute stuff like replacing windows and taking out the air conditioner... yeah, I'm a procrastinator. I'd tell you why, but I don't have time right now.
I think we finally managed to leave a little before 5:00, which got us up to 'Sconsin at around 7. Found
windelina immediately in the hot tub, and got a key to the room. The room was big. Not ornate, but it had plenty of room for doing the sewing stuff and for romping. And Barb and I headed over to the Adjacent Restaurant (I don't remember the real name, but it fits admirably) for a sit-down meal. Followed by some fun carousing, with yours truly throwing caution to the winds and indulging in the frivolities of alcohol and some rather delicious brownies, topped off with a bit of decongestant-induced lethargy. I was in an altered state, which was actually quite a pleasant change from the normal drudgery of life.
Hot tub time-- okay, I've been a little spoiled with the hot tub time I've had in the relatively recent past. There is a way to do a hot tub right, and that requires a couple of things: the right temperature (between 100°F and 105°F), and regular maintenance (i.e. cleaning, not just dumping in more chlorine). It was nice, but not in my top ten list of hot tub experiences.
There wasn't anything super-specific that happened, which I suppose is the point of the convention. Consuite was handled admirably by the Roadkills, with Dim Sum and other appetizer-y things about, as well as a rather well-stocked bar and a rather creative Roadkill bartending. Souse up a bit, I did. And cold pear cider on tap, complete with a CO2 pressurizer makes me wish I had brought a mug. Other than the one I did bring, which is surgically attached.
Eventually I wound down enough to go to bed. Five of us in the room, with
windelina and the Monte, ez2beve, babs and myself. And you know, these are folks that I really like a lot. Sharing a room with them was quite good. The bed. Another issue for me. I am not exactly a tiny person, and with Babs and I trying to sleep in the same sub-queen bed, there were a couple of times that I fell out during the night. Partly I think due to the mattress being older and kind of squashed down along the edges, so it had a kind of slope away from the center. Or maybe I'm just a whiny bitch who likes my own bed. Either way, not a great night's sleep.
Saturday:
The morning was the continental breakfast bar and some short cartoons, and me with a craving for something other than carbohydrates. Meat. Want meat. And maybe just a touch of a hangover. And as the day progressed, I felt a tad unstructured and disconnected from everything. I bounced between consuite and the big room a lot, being amused and entertained by the folks playing Dance Dance Revolution (in a good way, mind you-- the game rocks) and getting involved in a couple of conversations, and eventually showing off a few episodes of Horror Incorporated to a test audience of a few polite folks. And a few who were captivated by a gorilla with a nipple ring doing the riverdance ("that's just wrong"). Which also turned out to be my introduction to Scott, who turns out to be a rather accomplished musician/composer, and who I think is on Livejournal.
Then there was arts & crafts, this time featuring Twinkies as the craft focus. I shall post links to pictures when they are finally published-- Barb did the shower scene from Psycho which was hilarious, and I did a recently-staked vampire in a coffin which got quite a few comments. And very few people actually ate the twinkies.
Dinner. Delivered. Broasted chicken, and I took a chance on a gyro which turned out to be rather yummy. (finally, meat!)
And yet more cavorting and sousing, and being tempted by Roadkill's grasshopper experiment which was really easy to drink, and the lure of attractive women, and the strange desire for physical human contact, and I ended up becoming Mister Massage. Most particularly at Pretty Pretty Playtime, where I managed to force
redbird23 into receiving a massage against her better judgement. She says she liked it, and she did lapse into moments of eyes-closed little moans, so it seems like it was good. windelina was doing a masterful job of Seussing-up hairstyles, which was great fun, but her masterpiece was one girl (I only met her once before, but I think she's als on LJ) with some beautiful dreads that became a towering sculpture, and whose eyes I became rather enamored with after watching birdfigment do her makeup. I mean she has these really pretty dark eyes with long natural lashes, and... well, you know, it was all just good. And Babs and Eve took pity on the fact that nobody was paying any pretty-pretty time with me, so they did my hair. Turned it into something like a cross between a birthday cake and Buckwheat (from the Little Rascals).
And since it was LHGB's birthday, I became his birthday cake, and there are pictures of him blowing out my candles. And it's not as dirty as it sounds, so don't go there.
lucyruthe has pictures. It wasn't dirty, was it?Second try at tubbing, nearly aborted when I saw the condition of the water. Murky would be accurate. Still, I had to try, and it was a touch warmer than before, but you really couldn't see more than about 18 inches deep, and eventually I started noticing a kind of yeasty smell, like the tub was fermenting. That was enough.
More drinking, more conversations, more watching DDR. Eventually a game with
weaselking and [Bad username: moneygod,] where it became obvious that I was close to unconscious (like not being able to remember John Wayne), and off to bed once again. Ugh, the bed. Sporadic sleep.
Sunday:
The sleeping-in part was just necessary. Babs got up earlier to get some breakfasty food, so I was able to climb to the middle of the bed and perch there like Snoopy on his doghouse and nap for a bit while everyone else went to breakfast and tubbing.
Windy, Monte and Eve came back. There was much good conversation, and the observation that Windy & Monte in their natural habitat are cute as hell. Unfortunately I woke up with a headache that was demanding a lot of my attention, which I will chalk up to the evil bed as it was much more of a neck and shoulder thing, so I was a bit slower and more lethargic than usual. I did manage to finally get showered and dressed and make my way to consuite where I cooked a couple of scrambly-omlettes for people before chowing down myself. Follwed by some good conversation with
cajones and michaellee and stark0228 and others, and a slight lull in the headache before it came back with all of its relatives to start a dance competition.And then it was packing and hanging out. And finally deciding that the near-nausea was too much to bear and heading out to the car to dig out the ibuprofen and just hide away for a while, which I ended up doing in a room full of people.
My apologies to anyone and everyone who was trying to interact with me on Sunday. I was most definitely not in top form.
Checking out was amusing. There was some screw-ups, and we got out later than anticipated, so we missed being able to pick up the dog. Headache was bad, and I almost made Babs drive home, but I made it back in time for the Simpsons before crashing like a burning dirigible.
Only to wake a few hours later for a quick (ha!) e-mail and LJ update. Over 1000 e-mails to go through, with most of 'em being crap.