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geovikiThe Obligatory post-Lumos post:
I think all cons need to come in pairs. At the Witching Hour, I was a con newbie and even with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isiscolo nurturing me (and did we ever miss you, sweetie, but we talked about you so that your ears must be burning -- no! It was all good things!), it took me a bit of time to meet folks and settle in and get with the program. I was all o_O that weekend.
This time around, I felt part of the action from the minute I hit the airport and ran intocordelia_v heading for the Night Bus. We never stopped talking for an hour! She mocked me for my primitive cell phone skills, but I eventually forgave her.
I was lucky enough to snagmeri_oddities as a roommate for most of the time, and we were very compatible and good for each other, I think. Her mileage may vary, of course, but she is too gracious to tell me that I probably snore like a rock drill. On Wednesday night, though, emmagrant01 shared her digs (thanks, sweetie!) and I met jedirita, who was engaging and fun, too.
I enjoyed the resort. The rooms were comfy, the bathroom to die for. I froze in a few of the meeting rooms and kicked myself for forgetting a jacket. All paths led through the casino (aka the Mouth of Hell), and the normal clientele were older (by which I mean older than me). Even with a steady stream of folks in full Wizard regalia, they never even looked up but kept a 10-yard stare at the slot machines. I never dropped a single coin in one, and I suspect that few of the rest of you did either, from what I saw. You know what they say: gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math. Too many Ravenclaws came to Lumos.
I practically lived in the Irish pub for the first 24 hours. There were 2 H/D meetups and a Snarry one that I went to because all my friends are Snarrinistas. I never got the mojito I was craving the whole weekend. I suppose Irish pubs are not known for trendy drinks. I did imbibe an Avada Colada, which was made using rum, creme de menthe, and citrus-something, which tasted more like mouthwash and reminded me that I really, really wanted that mojito.
I'm glad I showed up on Wednesday, because that gave me nearly 2 days to just meet and greet. When the programming started on Friday, I was ready for content in a more formal setting. But first, I watchedamanuensis1 play Water Quidditch. We, and some surprised non-con resort guests, were treated to an amazing display of skill. After that, the slash and het panel kicked off my morning with a bang. bethbethbeth read and categorized 400 (!) fics for the discussion. That's devotion to the cause.
I especially enjoyed the panel on Religion in the WW byjedirita, femmequixotic, ellid, and.... one more, and I don't have my program handy. They introduced the current status of Muggle religion in Britain and extrapolated how the students might carry their home perspectives to Hogwarts - from evangelical Christianity to neopaganism.
The H/D roundtable met at the bar by the pool, where we were reminded that, yes, it really was about 110 degrees in Las Vegas. *waves to everyone I met or re-met*
That evening, a group of us dined at the Japanese restaurant and drove into Las Vegas proper to the Star Trek Experience. We saved all of our sorry selves from Borg assimilation and Klingon kidnapping, so phew for that.
I was Imperio'd to fill in for several panels on Saturday. I started the morning discussing Draco/Snape (yeah, I could hear you all muttering under your breath about my admittedly meager qualifications for this, but I excel at bullshitting. Longtime readers of this LJ already are aware of this).femmequixotic, titti, and goseaward did the heavy lifting, really. Thank you so much, Goosey, for sitting on the end near the Olduvai Gorge that was the stage edge. Otherwise I'd have been sitting on your lap.
In the afternoon, I served on the Crackfic! Panel.emmagrant01 was the moderator and question-asker, and scarah2 covered the art while furiosity and I did the fic. I read part of Never Mind the Bollocks, It's Harry/Draco - and there's the link so you can read the rest, if you dare. Luck of the draw had us in the smallest room and people were turned away after the room filled. Sorry, everyone! I think the dynamic of the panelists was absolutely wonderful, and after my initial nervousness faded, I had a ball playing off Furiosity (a BNF Deathmatch was proposed for the hot tub, if you're wondering about those icons showing up). She managed to look beyond my faults, including that I've 1) written non-crack mpreg, 2) use Boyd icons liek whoa, and 3) have written model!Draco. Meanwhile, scarah2 was drawing funny cartoons and text. The audience was warm and open, which fed the fun.
I cooled off at the poolside Ron meetup thatthrihyrne organized, then got ready to brave the Strip. We took a large bus without air conditioning, so we were all nice and baked by the time we arrived. I'd been to LV a few times in 1976 and 1977, and again in 1993. The changes between visits were enormous. This time, I felt as though the scale of everything had moved beyond what the human brain was prepared to accept. I had a constant feeling that I could never get there from here. The group of 20 we began with fragmented into different interests, which helped our ability to walk through the crowds, although I wanted to be three places at once. gilded_kage, jamoche, and I took the monorail as far south as it goes, and spent 20 minutes trying to find the front door of the MGM Grand. We nearly missed the bus home, but gilded_kage determinedly flagged it down in the street. And jamoche? That was a true Twilight Zone moment, because I thought you were right behind me when I got on the bus, but when I finally turned around you had disappeared—and I never saw you again after that! If you tell me now that you never went to the Strip at all, I will be forever freaked out.
Waah, had to leave on Sunday, but we hung around the lobby and had a great final henfest. Well, except forpauraque who was our token dude and a delightful one at that.
Feel free to post pictures of me with my username if you like. My own camera uses film, so it'll be a bit for me to develop and scan them in, by which time you'll all be bored with Lumos talk.
I think all cons need to come in pairs. At the Witching Hour, I was a con newbie and even with
isiscolo nurturing me (and did we ever miss you, sweetie, but we talked about you so that your ears must be burning -- no! It was all good things!), it took me a bit of time to meet folks and settle in and get with the program. I was all o_O that weekend.This time around, I felt part of the action from the minute I hit the airport and ran into
cordelia_v heading for the Night Bus. We never stopped talking for an hour! She mocked me for my primitive cell phone skills, but I eventually forgave her.I was lucky enough to snag
meri_oddities as a roommate for most of the time, and we were very compatible and good for each other, I think. Her mileage may vary, of course, but she is too gracious to tell me that I probably snore like a rock drill. On Wednesday night, though, emmagrant01 shared her digs (thanks, sweetie!) and I met jedirita, who was engaging and fun, too.I enjoyed the resort. The rooms were comfy, the bathroom to die for. I froze in a few of the meeting rooms and kicked myself for forgetting a jacket. All paths led through the casino (aka the Mouth of Hell), and the normal clientele were older (by which I mean older than me). Even with a steady stream of folks in full Wizard regalia, they never even looked up but kept a 10-yard stare at the slot machines. I never dropped a single coin in one, and I suspect that few of the rest of you did either, from what I saw. You know what they say: gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math. Too many Ravenclaws came to Lumos.
I practically lived in the Irish pub for the first 24 hours. There were 2 H/D meetups and a Snarry one that I went to because all my friends are Snarrinistas. I never got the mojito I was craving the whole weekend. I suppose Irish pubs are not known for trendy drinks. I did imbibe an Avada Colada, which was made using rum, creme de menthe, and citrus-something, which tasted more like mouthwash and reminded me that I really, really wanted that mojito.
I'm glad I showed up on Wednesday, because that gave me nearly 2 days to just meet and greet. When the programming started on Friday, I was ready for content in a more formal setting. But first, I watched
amanuensis1 play Water Quidditch. We, and some surprised non-con resort guests, were treated to an amazing display of skill. After that, the slash and het panel kicked off my morning with a bang. bethbethbeth read and categorized 400 (!) fics for the discussion. That's devotion to the cause.I especially enjoyed the panel on Religion in the WW by
jedirita, femmequixotic, ellid, and.... one more, and I don't have my program handy. They introduced the current status of Muggle religion in Britain and extrapolated how the students might carry their home perspectives to Hogwarts - from evangelical Christianity to neopaganism.The H/D roundtable met at the bar by the pool, where we were reminded that, yes, it really was about 110 degrees in Las Vegas. *waves to everyone I met or re-met*
That evening, a group of us dined at the Japanese restaurant and drove into Las Vegas proper to the Star Trek Experience. We saved all of our sorry selves from Borg assimilation and Klingon kidnapping, so phew for that.
I was Imperio'd to fill in for several panels on Saturday. I started the morning discussing Draco/Snape (yeah, I could hear you all muttering under your breath about my admittedly meager qualifications for this, but I excel at bullshitting. Longtime readers of this LJ already are aware of this).
femmequixotic, titti, and goseaward did the heavy lifting, really. Thank you so much, Goosey, for sitting on the end near the Olduvai Gorge that was the stage edge. Otherwise I'd have been sitting on your lap.In the afternoon, I served on the Crackfic! Panel.
emmagrant01 was the moderator and question-asker, and scarah2 covered the art while furiosity and I did the fic. I read part of Never Mind the Bollocks, It's Harry/Draco - and there's the link so you can read the rest, if you dare. Luck of the draw had us in the smallest room and people were turned away after the room filled. Sorry, everyone! I think the dynamic of the panelists was absolutely wonderful, and after my initial nervousness faded, I had a ball playing off Furiosity (a BNF Deathmatch was proposed for the hot tub, if you're wondering about those icons showing up). She managed to look beyond my faults, including that I've 1) written non-crack mpreg, 2) use Boyd icons liek whoa, and 3) have written model!Draco. Meanwhile, scarah2 was drawing funny cartoons and text. The audience was warm and open, which fed the fun.I cooled off at the poolside Ron meetup that
thrihyrne organized, then got ready to brave the Strip. We took a large bus without air conditioning, so we were all nice and baked by the time we arrived. I'd been to LV a few times in 1976 and 1977, and again in 1993. The changes between visits were enormous. This time, I felt as though the scale of everything had moved beyond what the human brain was prepared to accept. I had a constant feeling that I could never get there from here. The group of 20 we began with fragmented into different interests, which helped our ability to walk through the crowds, although I wanted to be three places at once. gilded_kage, jamoche, and I took the monorail as far south as it goes, and spent 20 minutes trying to find the front door of the MGM Grand. We nearly missed the bus home, but gilded_kage determinedly flagged it down in the street. And jamoche? That was a true Twilight Zone moment, because I thought you were right behind me when I got on the bus, but when I finally turned around you had disappeared—and I never saw you again after that! If you tell me now that you never went to the Strip at all, I will be forever freaked out.Waah, had to leave on Sunday, but we hung around the lobby and had a great final henfest. Well, except for
pauraque who was our token dude and a delightful one at that.Feel free to post pictures of me with my username if you like. My own camera uses film, so it'll be a bit for me to develop and scan them in, by which time you'll all be bored with Lumos talk.
