Brainwaves of Sken

ConFusion was a blast this year, but my Friday didn’t start out that way. My boss insisted I stay until he and the other guy were finished, even though I’d finished my obligations. I finally ran out the door at 8pm, and let Karin know that she, Nancy, Alex and Amy had some cheering-up to do.

As it turned out, though, they saw me in the lobby and I had to drop all my stuff, because they were clearly running up to meet me with a great big group hug. That was the last of my bad mood. :)

Friday evening was low-key, as we cruised about each of the floors looking for room parties, visited with people as we came into them, and snacked on whatever was available in the Con Suite. This year’s Con Suite grub was substantial – we’re talking sandwiches of various sorts, not just chips and fingerfoods. I spent very little time in there, though, because most of the people I knew were out and about this year; I kind of missed sitting in CS until 4 am with someone I hadn’t seen in 3 years.

Heather Alexander played music for us, and I was often conflicted about it. In person, I quite enjoyed her presence. It seems to me her tour manager is her partner, which has to be awfully nice on those long road trips. Musically… I sometimes have to hold back from rolling my eyes. I wish I could explain it a little better, but I wanted something more from the words she was using. All of that said, I still had a wonderful time listening and joining in on the huge chorus shout, “HOW MANY OF THEM CAN WE MAKE DIE!”

I totally got lei’d, which preceded the various island beverages, and meanwhile ran into Sydney (even if we only talk briefly, she’s always a highlight of my Con experience), Ann, Erik, and many other old hands. We had dessert (which was mostly destroyed by the time we got there) and danced our little T-Rex hearts out on the dance floor. That really did us in for the night, so we went back up to the room (conveniently located right next to Con Suite) and chit-chatted until we passed out. Usually, I like to make my nights at Con go later than 2 am, but I’d been up all night the previous night, working on my masterpiece, and I wanted to be ready for Saturday.

Saturday morning was carnage. We all wandered off our own ways, foraging for breakfast, meeting up with people we missed the night before, and getting cleaned up for the day. We met together so we could play the 3d version of Settlers of Catan, and I called up my co-conspirators for the day’s festivities, settling everything that could be settled.

I was on a desperate search for a working printer, because I’d double-printed a page in the list of 10 things. Fortunately, my Mission Impossible skills converged with my Tech Geek skills, and i was able to circumvent A) not having wireless access B) a printer without USB, C) a printer with USB, but without a driver, and C) a computer with a non-functioning mouse in order to Get It Done. As the afternoon begins looming, I find my nervousness reaches a peak, and for a brief time, Things Were Not Good. I settled that quickly and prepared for what was, to me, the big event of this year’s Con – Chuck’s roast.

Now, the MC for Chuck’s roast is the talented netmouse, and we’d been calling each other for about a week, planning and plotting. I don’t know how the idea of dressing up as the Chuck of Yesteryear came to me, but once it did, it had to be done. There was no question. I successfully acquired a wheelchair (thank you, tawneypup), fishnets (thank you, tawneypup), a wig (thanks much, storyweaverone!), a slinky dress (thanks yet again, tawneypup), a thong (th— er… nuthin’), and of course a hand-built leg cage, designed by yours truly, initially labored over by blue_lucy, and completed by myself in the wee hours of the morning. I also created the Top Ten Warning Signs You Might Know Chuck.

I laughed for a good solid hour as Chuck experienced the first half of his roasting. The musical number by Anne, Rennie, et al was priceless, and I’m sure that boy was happy to have something to cover himself on the way back to his seat. What’s a guy gotta do to get roasted in this town, anyway? This dear, sweet woman I’ve never met before set up Chuck’s Rocky Horror days, set up him playing Dr. Scott, his long hair, and even set up a detailed description of his leg cage for me. I could have made out with her in gratitude (okay, the fishnets were making me a little frisky), because I knew my entrance was set up, and everyone would know about each of the components of my costume.

Except sticky the bondage bear, but we covered that later.

For my entrance, I was wheeled in while women came screaming after me, “chuck! chuck, let me comb your hair! I love you, chuck!” It was…. priceless.

I did my bit, which I won’t really go into. Suffice to say, I’ve known him awhile, and I pulled out all of the reasonably clean stops to remind him. ;) I gave him my tinfoil leg cage as a souvenir.

At dinner, we ate like T-Rex’s. That’s all I’ve gotta say about that.

Karin and I dressed in our halloween costumes for the masquerade – I could have gone as Chuck, but I wanted to keep that kind of special. We didn’t win anything, but we got to parade about the dance floor, and had pretty good seats for the Causing A Scene group. I more-or-less enjoyed them, despite their constant spamming of my inbox – I was really amused and impressed by their little Star Wars spoof – I didn’t know they had such versatility.

Speakinf of versatility, we danced and danced and danced. I actually went into the bathroom to soak my head, which is usually a pretty good sign that I don’t want to stop. Sometimes we were dancing on the dance floor, sometimes on the carpeting; sometimes we were humans, sometimes T-Rex’s.

Afterwards, I chilled out on a bench across the hall, to be joined by Anne, Erica, and a number of other people. It was pretty neat, actually – just kind of a random chill mob. I found myself providing my digital services to all comers, particularly the exhausted Anne… and really, although this wasn’t unlike other experiences in other years, I’d say this part of my evening was (outside of the Chuck Roast) one of my favorites for the event. It was all so comfortable and easy-going, and of course I love making people feel good, so… there you go.

I met up with my Home Crew, and we cruised every. single. floor, in search of the perfect room party. *grin* On the way, we found a roving pirate ship, from which I extracted Rum without having to walk the plank. In exchange, I told them my favorite pirate joke, which they actually hadn’t heard before — and laughed at! YARR!

We met up with Wil, and the 6 of us spent a number of hours relaxing in our hotel room in various states of undress, talking about old times and older times. This was another one of my favorite moments in the con.

By 4 am, we were looking for a swim, so we made it down to the pool, where we frolicked with whoever was still up, and eventually got around to skinny-dipping, as per tradition. We crashed at 5:30 am, which is a more proper time to end an evening at Con.

Sunday involved a little Polarity and a lot of wandering. I ran into a score of people I met or re-met the previous evening, and so I really just kind of went with the flow until it came time to pack up and leave for the D.S.O. I kept being dragged back into conversation with the roving gang around Chuck, and I was having a hard time pulling myself away. I kind of wish I could have stayed there for another day, just talking away the afternoon. On the other hand, I had a wondeful time at the D.S.O., so I don’t regret a moment. I just wish there were more of me. ;)

There you have it, folks, in 2 pages or more. Feel free to look back to my photo gallery (Nancy’s camera, photographer: everyone) for visuals on this rather unforgettable weekend.

~ by Skennedy on January 26, 2006.

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Tags: creative, events, links, photos, pirates/ninjas/vikings, priority, remember me