geoviki | Azkatraz!

Azkatraz!

The Azkatraz Post (at last)

First, though, I owe a bunch of thanks to everyone who sent along their sympathies for my post-Az events of – well, if not actual doom, then Serious Unpleasantness. The tree spent the week sprawled across the yard, but we are very grateful that the house was spared. We'll miss it but we'd have missed our roof a whole lot more. The annuals are history, but the perennials, including the daylilies (*sniff*) will bounce back next year. Our part of town resembles a weird mashup of spring and fall, with shredded leaves drying all over the ground and those tough leaves that managed to hang on through wind and hail making the greenery look a lot less green that last week.

My son is also managing to bounce back from the flu. For a few days it was like he'd been replaced by someone else – he was actually 1) home, and 2) reading books (Harry Potter, to be exact). I'm pretty sure it was swine flu because he's had flu shots every year so should have some immunity built up to the run-of-the-mill types. The CDC states that those under 18 have no resistance whatsoever to swine flu. Another of his co-workers/friends came down with it as well. He's back to his wandering, TV-watching self now, though.

I've been to SF about a half-dozen times, including a family trip just 2 years ago, so I'm kinda familiar with at least the touristy parts of the city. I was really looking forward to having the con here this year. It's an easy city to get around in, and there's lots to do.

Because Azkatraz is my 5th HP con, I know a lot of fandom people who I adore to bits and who tolerate hanging with me. My homies include

bethbethbeth,

femmequixotic,

ze_dragon,

amanuensis,

pir8fancier,

titti, and

sabershadowkat. Some new peeps I met through these folks:

perverse_idyll,

noeon,

leela_cat, and

nuclearsugars. *waves*

There are some special women who've been to all (or most) of the cons I've been to that really make it special, including

dementordelta,

novembersnow,

furiosity,

kerryblaze,

gatewaygirl,

snottygrrl,

mijan,

djin7,

coffeejunkii, and

themostepotente. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone; forgive me! Then there are newer friends who I always love to see again, like

joanwilder,

potteresque_ire,

dracofiend,

anathema91,

dbassassin,

alaana_fair,

fiona_fawkes,

romaine24,

sesheta_66,

leni_jess,

sassy_cissa,

alisanne,

ravenna_c_tan,

chibitoaster,

dacro,

reddwarfer, and

acromantular and her little spider. Then I met some women for the first time at this con, including

rickey_a,

melusinahp,

red_rahl,

bryoneybrynn, [Bad username or site: lizardspots (who's been on my flist since the beginning of time), <lj user=slashpervert @ livejournal.com], and

meredyth_13. Sadly, there are just not enough hours in a day to really spend the time with you that I'd like to, which makes the baby Jesus cry. So if all I managed to do was give you an enthusiastic hug in passing, please know that I wanted to do so much more to around you.

My flight on Thursday was uneventful and can I just say that I love any city that has such great mass transportation from airport to city. Easy-peasy to get to the Parc55. I checked in before my darling roommates,

meri_oddities and

cordelia_v. We had this city view from the 28th floor:

Thursday night, of course, was HBP. Because it was no longer an Imax showing, some of us had decided to buy online tickets for an earlier show rather than stay up until the (east-coast) wee hours and probably fall asleep in the theater. (First, though, we celebrated

ze_dragon's birthday at El Sotano, a nearby Mexican restaurant.) I've read a lot of your reviews of HBP and you are all probably right and certainly more articulate, but I'm easily pleased. I'll just say I enjoyed the hell out of it. Especially Draaaaco! Poor woobie.

People know I'm the kind of person who likes to plan out stuff ahead of time, but the online abstracts stopped at "R" if you read it using IE. Did the rest of you find the official program very artsy but nearly impossible to find actual information in? I mean, basic stuff like "where is the Welcoming Feast?" I hadn't realized that there were no official talks/panels on Friday, which I found odd, but it worked out for the best because it gave us an extra day to just hang out. A bunch of us went out to Pir8's house for brunch (and learned about microclimates 'cuz it was probably 30 degrees hotter out there, but beautiful!). For dinner, we wandered off to the dim sum restaurant right by the hotel, a good choice for a big, diverse group like ours.

So being the researcher I am, I checked out some night spots we might like to try. I was sad to miss Bootie night (where DJs play mashups, which practically originated in SF, but that are featured every other weekend, and this was not that weekend) and also to miss Vamps, the hot new J-Rock group featuring Hyde, who were in town the following week. I came up with Martuni's, which turned out to be the find of the trip, I think. Martuni's is a gay, sing-along piano bar that's very welcoming to everyone. Our group included Femme, Dragon, Beth, Cordelia, Noeon, and me. Within the first 30 seconds, we were new BFFs with a slightly drunk rock guitarist/teacher/transvestite named Marilyn. Can I mention that he was quite physically affectionate, even though I'm pretty sure I wasn't his preferred gender? The online info I'd found mentioned that gay bars do not stint on the potency of their drinks, and we managed to put that to the test – it's true! Mmmmm, sour apple martinis FTW! Cordelia make sure we ended up sitting round the piano, and we gave full voice to the group songs (I'm a Believer! Mack the Knife! All that Jazz!). Joseph, the piano player, invited Cordelia to perform "Over the Rainbow", and then she, Femme, Noe, and I sang an enthusiastic version of "Dancing Queen." (There are pictures. I don't have one. Yet.) People are wonderfully friendly there, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. This is the place I also discovered that Femme can tie a cherry stem into a knot with her tongue. This impressed me no end, and I have a sample as a souvenir right here on my desk.

Saturday brought actual programming, not that I managed to go to anything but the Welcoming Lunch. Instead,

meri_oddities and

cordelia_v,

bethbethbeth,

femmequixotic,

ze_dragon,

amanuensis,

pir8fancier,

djin7,

cluegirl, and I took a cruise around the bay. Gorgeous day and great company. We split up after that and I did a little shopping at Cost Plus (got some nice jewelry) and Trader Joe's.

Me - the only one who actually used sunscreen (I'm naturally that pink).

Then came meet-up night. First off was the H/D meet-up, with the lovely

winnett as hostess. There are so many of you I either knew or wanted to meet, and it took me the whole 2 hours to make it from the door to the back of the room, which goes to show how great it was. Still, there were some of you I specifically wanted to meet and never did, so I do regret that it wasn't hours longer.

rurounihime? You are one I missed and am sad about.

kaalee? I wanted more of you!

oldenuf2nb? I wanted to spend much more time getting to know you, too. Your daughter's gorgeous, BTW, and was so sweet to give me her H/D pin. Oh, but I didn't win any of the door prizes, so major failz. Hahaha!

Then I was off to the Snarry meet-up, always one of the highlights of any con. Why, yes, I am a huge Snarry shipper, didn't you know? *uncrosses fingers* Well, anyway, I really ship the Snarry shippers, and that's good enough for them to include me every year.

djin7 and

dracofiend and others did a great job organizing this – the hors d'oeuvres were excellent, mmmm (bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, and I'm going to try to make them at home).

Sunday was the day I got serious about panels and stuff. First up was the Snarry panel, slightly overlapping (why, oh why?) with the H/D panel, followed by Furiosity's panel on wank, and then another artist's panel.

The HD panelists

I have to confess that I'm one of those annoying people in the audience who says my name before I comment, not so that I can get applause (which kind of embarrasses me) but so people I'm hoping to connect with can tie my name to my face and hopefully track me down afterwards. Was it me or did those nametags have horrifically small font? I mean, I'm used to having to unobtrusively stare in the direction of women's boobs to pick up the name, but this time I felt like I was within suckling distance before I could read the buggers! So please forgive me for forgetting your name, and would the women I had a delightful conversation with about KAT-TUN please comment because I have drawn a blank on your name even though we've met before, and I know I know you. I blame advancing age.

The ball is always a highlight because I love to dance. I don't dress in costume, but I do try to tart up a bit.

femmequixotic did my makeup for me because I am hopeless at that. I did look nice until the sweat from dancing and the heat of the room melted it off, but thanks, sweetie! I thought the music was pretty good, but the dance floor was too small and it was so bloody hot that we lasted about an hour, tops. I went back to the room to blow-dry my hair, it was so wet.

Cordelia got us in gear to go back to Martuni's. Our group this time was Femme, Dragon, Perverse Idyll, Sinick (in full Snape regalia, which didn't even turn heads), Rex Luscus, Ac1d6urn, Pir8, Cordelia, and me. This time, the pianist, Katie, was a woman with terrific skill at both piano and vocals, but who wasn't as much of a crowd pleaser as Joseph. The singers in the crowd were more professional, too. And do not believe everything Cordelia tells you about how extroverted I am, because I can come over all shy quite often, but I thought the people there were so friendly that I couldn't help but respond. Oh, and I might have mentioned in passing to an adorable young guy who asked me if were we there for something special that we wrote gay porn. He was suitably intrigued and ran off to tell his friends that we were his favorite people he'd met there, ever. I suspect he was exaggerating, though.

Poor Pir8 never did make it home that night before having to give a talk Monday morning on writing, which she somehow thinks wasn't wonderful, but we know better. She has such a beautiful speaking voice that I could listen to her reading the phone book, but she instead talked about some fascinating and useful stuff about how to be a better writer.

People were staring to leave on Monday, but I stuck around until after the Leaving Brunch on Tuesday, trying to spend time with folks I'd missed earlier, including

novembersnow,

incapricious and

meredyth_13 among others.

Here's a picture of some lucky fans who were heading off for more sightseeing as I headed back to the airport and home:

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Yay! I was thrilled to meet you and thank you in person for you nudge towards fandom. The con was so much fun but it's definitely hard to spend the time with people you want to - there's just so many of us fannish folk! No matter how you spend your time, you're missing out on something or someone. But it was so much fun! :)

I definitely needed another two or three days to even begin to be as sociable as I'd wanted. Still, I enjoyed the hell out of the panels you were in and watching you in action. *\o/*

It was wonderful, sweetie. And wow, did you help make the whole thing even better. I wish you lived near me, that's for sure.

And maybe someday, if I practice, I can learn to be as gracefully extroverted as you are. :-)

Oh, I wished we lived closer, too. But you do live in one of my favorite sports to visit, so I'm hoping to see you there more.

I had such a terrific time! Yay for appletinis!

wow, you had a really great view from your room! ours was on the 6th floor and we were looking at the hilton across the street. excitement >.>

i know what you mean re: having gone to so many cons before that you know lots of people by now, which is so wonderful. like a big fannish family reunion once a year ♥

oh, and i wish you'd mentioned to me that you wanted to meet ru--she was my roommate! i could have introduced you :(

We did have a terrific view, but I saw photos from another room where they actually could see the ocean. Still, I can't complain.

I think a lot of us aren't even that active in writing/reading/drawing as maybe we once were but we still love to see our peeps at the con. I know I'd miss it like crazy if I stopped.

I was certain that I'd get a chance to see everyone I wanted to but woe, that didn't happen. It never does. And then when I got home I saw a post or two of someone I didn't even realize was there, and that happens every year as well.

It was fabulous to see you again! That piano bar sounds wonderful! We went to a similar bar in NY when I was there and it was so, so much fun! You're so right about not being able to spend time with everyone. We'd need a month to do it properly. *hugs*

I think we should all buy into a retirement home for slashy women so we can be old farts together. Whaddaya think?

I think that would be an awesome idea!!! :-D

It was great to see you! I wish we'd had the chance to actually talk. Sounds like you had a great time, though I can't imagine anyone not loving San Fran.

I know, I kept seeing you in these large groups and never got the chance to even say much beyond 'hi.' Next time, though...

glad things are getting better. It was great to meet you, but a shame we couldn't hang out for an afternoon by the pool drinking margaritas together :) One of these days...

I just saw those pictures of the tequila and I rue the day I was so slow at getting to the back of that room....

I wholeheartedly agree about the poolside afternoon, though.

(reply from suspended user)

No kidding, I swear they were about 7 pt font! A lot of us took magic markers and wrote our names real big.

I'm so glad I got to spend some time with you before the end of the con. Hanging out with you is always one of the highlights of these things. ♥

Oh, me too. I was wise and didn't get a second plate of food, though, when we moved into the other room. I enjoyed your HD panel muchly, too, and thought the balance of speakers was great.

It was great to see you again, even if it wasn't for remotely long enough. *pout* That piano bar sounds like a blast. Perhaps if I make another visit to SF?

*hugs*

You should definitely go if you get the chance - it's easy to find, right on Market Street just past Van Ness. We just hopped on the Muni streetcar.

I wish we'd had more time as well. It's over too quickly.

It was so much fun. I missed the bacon at the Snarry meetup, since I was manning the door the whole time, but

dracofiend bought me a drink, so everything was awesome.

Waah, I forgot to mention you, but I've rectified that. You were someone I was especially thinking of when I talked about hugs in passing, because I got you twice!

It might have been good for me to do someting like work the door, that way I'd have learned everyone's names legitimately rather than by trying to sneak looks at nametags.

Oh, how fun! It sounds like y'all had such a good time!

You were definitely missed, and not just by me.

great pics! so glad to see them (especially since i didn't have a camera of my own).

it was a great con and it is lovely to see folk who've shared bits of so many cons previously. wish we could have talked more but time is finite and so we catch what we can. ♥

glad to hear your son is on the mend [*cuddles him*]

You definitely are an integral part of cons for me - I don't know what it would be like without you. At least you're closer now, but that never seemed to stop you before. ;-)

....OMFG...you were there and I missed you?!?!?!! *weeps in utter misery and then swears up a blue cloud or two*

T_T Tell me you are going to Infinitus!!!

Aaugh, another person I learn was there after the fact!

Yes, I plan to go to Infinitus, even though it'll be a zillion hot and humid degrees in July.

It was great seeing you again, though we barely had a chance to yammer. *sad* Boat cruise was awesome, though~~even if I suck and forgot sunscreen, ow~~

Edited 2009-07-28 08:23 (UTC)

And I was going to pump you all about music, too, and ask how you like mossip and stuff. Yanno, I don't think the hotel was arranged like some of the others we've been at, where there's space to just hang out or traipse past and see folks hanging out.

INORITE? Music!!

I like that comm, it moves so fast and they seem way too hip for me, but I really enjoy it. Next year, New York. Hope your boy is better! ♥

It was so good to see you! You have to come out for Con.txt next year, just so that I can see you again! And stay a couple of days after, too. *g*

I definitely have it on my dance card. I may even be a retired Fed by then, and won't that be nice?

I am so looking forward to the day -- for both of us. *g*

It was so great to see you! Next time we're have to get some actual visit time in! *hugs*

There's never enough time, is there? Well, plus every year we go, we know more and more people. We need a month, no kidding.

I've seen some great photos of you already, though, in other folk's LJs.

Con month - seriously! heh.

really? I think there are a bunch of me and Fiona at the ball. It think it was because I wasn't wearing pants! :D

"Did the rest of you find the official program very artsy but nearly impossible to find actual information in?" Lol, yes. I boggled.

It was so great meeting you! You are so warm and friendly and awesome. ♥

Hugging you in the middle of the street on my way to BART and home will stay in my mind for a long time. I'm so glad it worked out about your travels and that you could enjoy yourself, because I really loved meeting you too. And the photos of you and son of darkness at the ball that I've seen around are treasures!

Aw, I love reading reports like these. It makes me miss all my friends whose photos I'm seeing here! Maybe one day we will be together at a con again!

You should come next time, Isis! We're not the rabid HP fen we used to be and focus on each other more and more (and being tourists, as you can see.)

I didn't manage to meet you at Azkatraz! I was so sad about this - I looked right at you one time and was about to say hello when I got called away.

Did the rest of you find the official program very artsy but nearly impossible to find actual information in? I mean, basic stuff like "where is the Welcoming Feast?"

YES. TERRIBLY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. And I was going to the Claymation programming on Monday, and I finally just had to go to the registration desk to ask about the place and the time I had been registered for.

I looked right at you one time and was about to say hello when I got called away.

Awww! So close and yet so far... I'm sorry I missed you.

*giggles* I was at the H/D meet-up too and we all know what a big H/D shipper I am! That's one of the good things about meet-ups--they're fun whether you ship or not!

Great to see you and one day I will get close enough to the dance floor to see you in action!

Yeah, you were only there to win prizes, right? Hahaha! The Snarry folks are smarter - they make ya work for the goodies.

OMG, I was so sweaty and hot after our dance frenzy. Worth it, though.

What a wonderful trip report!! Man, I'm jealous I didn't go out to my club/bar type things--I'm not usually a club/bar type but I'm going to make an effort to go to at least one at the next con because it sounds so fun when you're with a bunch of slashy friends! Also, I laughed a lot while reading because you are so funny--the baby Jesus? Suckling?! *guffaws* The font really WAS quite small eh? That's actually why I keep a Sharpie in my bag at all times--because at one of the cons (Lumos?) I felt the need to bump up the size of the text and now I've discovered it's actually not a bad thing to have on hand...

I'm glad to hear about your son recovering and the tree situation being--well, not great but not as bad as it might've been. Also I'd love to hang out more next time, especially if you're not as much into attending every panel! I always want to spend more time with people but don't want to impose if they are interested in going to more programming things, because while I love the cons and manage to make it to one or two talks I always leave wishing I had got to know people better! ♥

Awww, at least we got to dance -- well if not exactly together, then in the same dancing circle. (Mr Dracofiend is a cutie, BTW. He reminds me of my husband in that quiet way of his.)

This time around I never felt like I had nearly enough time just to hang out, even though that's all I really did (well, besides the touristy things). I think some of the other hotels we've been to in past years had more open sitting areas where we'd see our friends when we were coming and going. This time, I never worked out where people were hanging. I never even found the artist's room or the vendor's room, or a bunch of other stuff because I couldn't read the damned program! Meh!

I forgot to list that I did actually make it to your beta panel on the first afternoon. I was wedged way in the back corner so you probably couldn't see me.

Hey there! Just wanted to thank you for joining

sexy_mood_music! I hope you enjoy the wide range of graphics and music we've offered so far!

Feel free to contribute links to our monthly music-sharing post! The link to the latest music post is on the top of our main page (not the profile).

BTW, do you happen to know where I can promote the comm with some banners by our makers? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Take care! :)

kim

P.S. If you'd like to help promote through your own journal or userinfo, please feel free to snag a banner at the link below. [Please do upload it to your own server though so the comm doesn't exceed its Photobucket bandwidth limit!]

http://community.livejournal.com/sexy_mood_music/1290.html

This is so late, but yeah ♥

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Azkatraz!

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