No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on August 7, 2013

So Dragon Con is 23 days away.

I have been going to this convention since it was all contained in one hotel rather than the behemoth it has become.

A few tips for making Dragon Con easier/fun from me to you from my years of experience.

1) Comfortable shoes are a must. If your costume calls for uncomfortable shoes, I suggest that you limit your time in them. If you are wearing new boots with a costume, now is the time to start breaking them in. I break in a new pair of boots by wearing them for an hour and work my way up to a day. An hour will tell you where you are going to have any blisters or redness. From there you both work up and break down the boots until they are comfortable. I have been working on mine for a while now.

2) Hydrate! I am not kidding. It is amazing how much better you feel when you are hydrated and the hotels have water stations all over the place. Take advantage of it.

3) Queue-ing up. Yes there are lines for the big panels, not as bad as SDCC to get into the one panel that you want to get into but there are lines. Pick your queues carefully and know that you are probably going to have to line up about an hour or so before the panel if not a little more. Now a favor please, do listen to the line staff that are trying to make it possible for you to get into the room safely and allow the rest of the convention to move to their next activity. They aren’t there to make your life miserable but to facilitate the flow of the whole.

4) Elevators. A touchy subject I know. They are hard to get and it seems like forever. Again I am going to ask a favor, if you see someone who can’t stand for a long time or can’t use the stairs to go up even one floor, can we defer to them on the elevators? I was about to kidney punch some able-bodies folks that pushed in front of those who were not as able and grabbing the elevators. Also regards the Hyatt, the stairs are a good way to get to the 2nd and 3rd floor in that hotel from the ground floor.

5) Extension of oneself. I am talking not only wings and costume props but backpacks, children packs, rolling items, and anything else that makes one wider than usual. Turning suddenly in a packing area when you are wearing a backpack can be very painful for others. Check your surroundings before turning. Also be careful about the little ones, they have badges too and have as much right to space on the convention floor. But I do ask that the SUV strollers be left at home or in the hotel room.

6) Go with the flow. Don’t stop in the middle of traffic and take a picture, check a text message, or anything else that causes things to halt. The sides are good for all these activities.

7) The 3-2-1 rule which is just common sense at something this big. At least 3 hours sleep. At least 2 meals. At least 1 shower. Per day. Your body will thank you as will your fellow congoers. If not a shower, at least freshen up once a day.

8) No means No. We have had a lot of discussion this past year about how we treat people of various genders at conventions. If you see something say something. I have been the person who had stepped in and checked to make sure everything is OK a number of times. I have never had a problem with that. I know we have some really winners in our tribe that think they are being cute or funny and don’t understand how what they are doing is offensive. I don’t care. No one should feel uncomfortable at the convention because of their gender or what they are wearing. So No fracking means NO! End of any discussion. This myth of fake geek girlz fleecing the poor fan boy needs to stop as well.

9) Have fun! This is Dragon Con! It is fun.

10) Feel free to talk to me. I am very approachable and happy to talk to anyone. Tell me that you read my blog. Don’t worry about apologizing about not commenting. I really don’t worry about comments. I do find it very interesting of who reads this.

So there are some of my suggestions for making your Dragon Con a great one.

I am grateful for all the fun I have had over the years at D’Con.

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on August 6, 2013

For me it is 22 days to get everything done since we have travel time as well and they aren’t counting Thursday, which they should.

Today is all about working with materials I have here. My goal is to have most of the puppet bodies done and work on the dolls during the evening when sewing machines can interrupt activities. I do have bowling tonight if my back holds up. Might see if Peter wants to pre-bowl this afternoon where it tends to feel better.

The list is long but not impossible. I do think that the two iffy projects are down on the bottom of the list at this time. If I have time then I will but I am not starting them until I have cleared the other decks.

Starting tomorrow there will be pictures for progress updates except once the secret project gets to the point that it can be recognized, it goes under wraps.

I was sorry to hear that the amazing doll maker Akira Blount has passed away. She was one of my inspirations. You can see her amazing work at her website here. She was very giving of information and I regret I did not get to take one of her classes. A class act all the way.

Off to create foam structures and bodies for the start of this marathon.

I am grateful for things that allow me to just go off and create.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on August 5, 2013

Short version: That was a lot of fun.

Longer version:

Shatner has become more amusing as he has gotten older. He also can now explain, or is willing to explain, his acting technique to others. He and Peter got to shake hands again and he remembered Peter from Dragon Con and the Julie Award. He has, as they put it, mellowed with age. Not that he can’t get excited and wound up about a topic. And he does still rail against the world at times. Funniest moment for me was when he had Bob Greenberger explain progressive rock and its connection to Science Fiction in about 4 sentences. Bob did a really good job. His uncle should be proud of him.

Caroline had a blast and a half. She got two sleepovers and has created her own little posse like her sister Ariel did at her age. She had more “freedom” this convention and she did not abuse it in the least. She signed the proof copies of Fearless that we brought with us much to her amusement. Yes, at the age of 10 my daughter is a published author.

I did workmanship judging for the Masquerade and we have a system down between us. Saw a lot of good costumes and people brought their A game even if it was the first costume. Judging was hard but we muddled through.

After that was the piece of the convention that I had been dreading but knew I needed to go. It was the memorial for Marty Gear. I think just about everyone stared with “I don’t know when I met Marty but..” I honestly kept thinking I would see him around the corner or run into him at the bar. It was nice to share my memories of Marty with others who knew him. I have a feeling that if I lived in this area, I would have spent a lot of time at his and Bobbie’s house. The general feeling was that we loved him, he loved us, and we missed the every loving out if him not being there.

Sunday was my panel day. I had the Masquerade critique, Tolkien (which Allyn Gibson joined me for), and Elementary Sherlock. All panels went well and were very well attended.

We wrapped it up with Mystery Trekkie which was And the Children Shall Lead (Think rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock). Had dinner with Bob and Katie Greenberger and Katie’s fiancée Mike. Went to the dead dog party for a bit. Came back to the hotel room and collapsed.

In between all that I talked to people. I had people ask my advise on all sorts of subjects. I was running down a list of things that I would watch out for when doing a full body costume with one young man and realized that somewhere a long the way I seem to have become a fandom elder. I would like to thank all the elders that helped me see how to deal with it including Marty.

I am grateful that I went to Marty’s memorial.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on August 3, 2013

We got here after some of the nastiest traffic I have ever seen in Delaware. Peter drove so we tagged teamed and I substituted in for him on “Humor in Science Fiction”. Did “Meet the Pros” but for me it was more get hugs from friends and some catching up.

Caroline, since she is in double digits, has her first room key. We have laid very carefully out where she can go and when she has to check in. This convention staff knows her from the time she was just a couple months old and we have all kinds of adults that are keeping an eye out as she wanders around. But mostly she had been enjoying the children’s programming.

I received my first pass of my Dragon Con schedule. Not too packed. I did have some questions about some other panels I had talked to people about being on but am not on. I guess I’ll get an update at some point.

Tomorrow is my busy day here. Today I am taking it easy and just being.

At 4:00pm I get to hear Shatner talk which is always fun. I am doing some form of judging for the Masquerade. I am guessing Workmanship. Which is fine by me. Mystery Trekkie is tomorrow.

The only thing which is kind of gnawing at the back of my head is that there are a couple of people missing from the mix. I keep going around a corner expecting to see them there or into the Art Show or at a panel but they have passed on and they are missed by me and many others. I am still debating in my head whether I am going to Marty’s Memorial get together or not. I am leaning towards yes but I will have to see how late things are going and how my back feels. Limitations suck but I am realizing that I have only so many spoons these days and I need to pick and choose how I use them.

I am grateful for the time I got to spend with those who aren’t with us this weekend and are leaving holes in the convention where they once stood.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on July 31, 2013

Fuzzy brain feels fuzzy.

Also whoever has the voodoo doll of me that they are sticking pins in my back, please stop. I don’t have time for either spine pain or a muscle pull.

Shoreleave in two days. Need to start the usual drill to make sure we have what we need for it.

Going to get outdoor stuff done today because the threat of rain will make is hard to do certain things that I need to do for building puppets. Nasty toxic fume are toxic and nasty.

Looking forward to seeing my friends this weekend.

Enjoyed seeing my friends at SDCC and LA.

Brain still feeling fuzzy after first cup of coffee, off to get a second one since the first one didn’t kick in.

Caroline is happy to be home. She had a great time and has asked if she can do it again next year. I told her that we would discuss it at a later date.

Fig keeps making sure that Caroline is around by meeping for her. It’s not a meow but more of a combination of a meow and a beep sound. She missed her human.

Off to work on puppet skeletons and try to figure out where my copy of the foam book is for Dragon Con.

I am grateful for friends.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: