Well, I guess this entry is my worldcon report. Hmmm...

It had its highs and it had its lows. I think much of the "lows" were caused by the fact that I was pretty damn exhausted, so overall it was a good con. I got to meet up with some old friends, as well as some of my Clarion buddies. The hotel was far too far away from the convention center, and parties were spread out way too much, but there was some fun dancing in the evenings. Kent Brewster is an awesome dancer, and we jammed down to some cool swing Friday night. On Saturday Tamela, Susan, Chiara and I had breakfast with Greg Bear, then lunch with Gardner Dozois. That was a lot of fun, and quite fortuitous since the hotel managed to mkae it so that I could not use my bank card to access any of my money. I'd made the mistake of using a Visa Check card to reserve the room, not realizing that they would put a hold on my money until the end of my stay. So, when I went to an ATM I discovered that I only showed -$33 as my balance. I was fairly unhappy about that.

But, I did discover that there are a lot of really terrific people out there, because well over half a dozen people offered to loan me money so I could manage. Luckily I got it straightened out (I hope) and did not have to take anyone up on their offer, but it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling all the same. That was sort of a high and a low all rolled into one.

I got a bit antisocial a few times. Probably because I was tired, and still in post-Clarion stress-mess. But, I don't think I alienated anyone, and if I did, I sincerely apologize.

I got to meet a whole bunch of people. Lots of writers, editors, agents and fans. I did my share of trying to get that absurdly sought-after Name Recognition in the eyes of the People with Checkbooks. But, in the end, none of it really makes any difference. None of that shmoozing or pressing-of-flesh means a damn thing if you can't back it up with a saleable manuscript.

To be honest, much of Worldcon is a hazy blur for me. I know I did lots of stuff, and met lots of people, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of it, and really pretty sick of the whole thing. I had some delightful encounters, some fortuitous occasions, some aggravating annoyances and some deep insults. I was flattered, I was offended, I was amazed and I was disappointed.

Yep, it was a Worldcon.

* * * * *

Flying home was yet another adventure. When I got to the airport (thankfully early) I found out that my flight was running late--which would cause me to miss my connection. Therefore I ended up being bumped to an entirely different airline, and arrived in New Orleans almost two hours later than originally planned. This was a bit annoying to me, since my parents were returning from their trip to China that same day, and we'd agreed that we would meet at the airport and I would get a ride back with them. Luckily, Northwest managed to page them during their layover in Memphis and get the word of my change in itinerary to them, so all worked out in the end.

Then I spent the night at their house, and slept about ten hours. I think maybe if I get about a week of sleep like that I might actually survive.

This morning I went to my hairdresser and had a goodly hunk of my hair cut off. Plus dyed part of the front of it blonde. So far I'm incredibly pleased with the effect.

* * * * *

I drove home after that--the first time I'd driven a car in two months. This was made more interesting because of the incredibly torrential thunderstorm that I ended up driving through. About halfway home, while driving through this minimal-visibility pouring rain, the windshield wiper on the driver's side decided that it was going to slide off its track. So, I took the next exit, found a gas station with a covered area, and slid the blade back into its brackets. Well, I got back onto the highway, and the blade started working itself loose again. So, I took the next exit, found a little gas station, went inside and asked the attendant (and I swear to god, even in the middle of south Mississippi, the attendant of this convenience store/gas station was Indian or Pakistani) if he had a pair of pliers I could borrow. He told me that he had no pliers, but if I waited until it stopped raining I could get some from his flea market in the back. I then had to patiently explain to him that if I waited until it stopped raining (which, for the record, did not look like it would be any time soon), I wouldn't need my windshield wipers anymore.

Well, anyway, I finally made it home. My room is as small as I remember it. Kinda strange to think that I had almost twice as much room at Clarion.

I didn't feel like unpacking, so I went to see Ever After. It was pleasant escapism, full of romance and adventure. Pretty enjoyable overall.