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Chicon 8/Chicago trip
Sep. 9th, 2022 07:46 pmStill recovering, but less groggy that I was at first. It was our first big trip together that involved transportation, a big con, caregiving and such, and I went into it after a year of working 50-70 hours or so nearly every week, so it was a lot. I decided that we were taking the train, which turned out to be a sensible idea, overall.
- Taking the train in. Mostly mellow trip, other than Jana attempting to take out luggage and get off in Winona because we must be "there" by now.
- Shared a cab to the hotel with friends from Minneapolis fandom and got settled in without incident.
- Had breakfast in the hotel restaurant where, unbeknownst to me, Jana's wallet fell out of her pocket in the booth. The staff retrieved it and returned it while I was off getting my registration stuff and meeting the utterly delightful Bitter Karella of Midnight Pals as I cruised through the lobby wearing my Mary Shelley t-shirt from same, but there was much additional excitement until then.
- Spent the afternoon on an architecture boat tour, something I've been wanting to do for years now, and had a delightful time.
- Did the LGBTQ+ Elders Meetup and caught part of the opening ceremonies with Heather Rose Jones.
- Ran into LaShawn Wanak, editor of GigaNotoSaurus among other claims to fame, on my way past the bar and we hung out and chatted for a bit, which was terrific and a nice way to wrap up the day.
- Friday: did a reading from the new Queer Weird West anthology attended by nice people that I know from various places, had lunch with Jana, then did the Queer Eye for the Sci-fi panel which was fun. After that, we met Heather, Caroline Stevermer and her friend Charlotte at the wonderful Russian Tea Time for afternoon tea. I fully intended to go to things after Jana turned in, but ended up hanging out in the room drinking tea and reading submissions and watching virtual panels until I fell asleep.
- Saturday: had breakfast out with Heather and Jana, checked out the American Writers Museum, which is well- thought out but oddly bland, and got back in time to listen to Jennie Goloboy read with Bitter Karella, which was great. Checked out Nando's for lunch with Jennie and Jana, did some other things, then went solo to the Donald Maass Agency happy hour, to which I was invited as Jennie's publisher. Had a fine time, met some folks, did the obligatory exchange of business cards and got fed well - 10/10, would do again. Ended up watching a Mummy movie marathon with Jana until she fell asleep and the Masquerade started, then watched that online, with tea and chocolate, in comfort.
- Sunday dawned bright and early and I thought it would be a fine idea to stroll in Millennium Park and perhaps hit the Art Institute before my 1:30 Table Talk. It was, after all, just a little rain. Spoiler alert: it was not just a little rain and we got drenched and ended up hanging out with the other wet tourists under the Bean, then slogging back to the hotel, getting still wetter along the way. Frenzied attempts at drying things off ensued until I went to go to my table. Which was included a pleasant conversation with an old friend and a new acquaintance.
- I did a tour through the Dealer's Room and the Art Show, took Jana to dinner, put her to bed and went off to go meet Alex, which turned into hanging out with a portion of the Skiffy and Fanty crew in their room watching the Hugos. Vigorous commentary ensued about how finalists and winners were selected, seeing the same names over and over again, who got passed over again and perhaps shouldn't have been and other such things. I posted my own take on all of this on Twitter here, for those interested. At any rate, so lovely to get to hang out in fannish spaces and discuss things we care about with people who are smart and articulate.
- Monday dawned with wet shoes and breakfast and the aftereffects of J waking me up around midnight because of a dream she had. Did more scrambling to dry things, ate meals, ran into friends in the lobby, went to the train station. Minor hijinks ensued, but ran into local author Abra Staffin-Wiebe and family, which was nice. Train ride was uneventful, apart from wi-fi issues and one weird train conductor, and we got in pretty close to on time. I had called and scheduled a cab two hours before arrival so I thought we were set. Spoiler alert: we were not "set." Taxi company couldn't "find" a driver and failed to articulate that until I began yelling, by which point we had lost the available cab options. I called another company, but it wasn't clear that they would turn up either. The train station was deserted by then, so I called a friend, who's a night owl. He drove over from Minneapolis to get us just as the folks at the side of the station lit up a crack pipe. We were not in immediate peril or anything from those particular folks, but the kind of folks drawn to a lit crack pipe after midnight in an urban center are not people I want to meet, especially not while hauling a vulnerable adult around. At any rate, we landed at home around 1:30 and had to to get up early on Tuesday for an appointment so I have spent the last few days trying to bounce back.
- Tuesday through Friday - odds and ends, an informational job interview, going to "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" (charming, fluffy) with my cache of Riverview gift certificates, getting Jana's consignment stuff to MCBA, checking on people, yard work, stuff and more stuff. And tomorrow, I go table at Pagan Pride with friends! And now to wrap things up and go sleep.
