|
|
|
|
|
It is possible to believe that all the past is but the beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn. It is possible to believe that all the human mind has ever accomplished is but the dream before the awakening. |
|
Friday, January 16, 1998
After breakfast by myself in the hotel coffeeshop, I decided to go into San Francisco and visit Chinatown. SF is such a huge area; I need a nice long visit to really explore it, but this trip I decided to just concentrate on one area. So I trotted across the street to the Barnes and Noble and looked for a map. I selected one of those cool ones that folds up with a sturdy cover.
I took the BART over and started walking. The retail core of the city really has some luxurious stores, more so than Seattle. Where do the people get the money? As I approached Chinatown, I remembered that there is something I actually wanted to purchase, and that this neighborhood would be a possible place to look for it. The flat (non-folding) bamboo fan I carry in my black bag has given up the ghost (but I think I got my dollar fifty's worth of use out of it), and I really need one for dancing.
So I started looking in the various stores for a fan, but a nice one, meant for use, not the nasty ones that are for souvenirs. Unfortunately, that is all I found, the nasty ones. I did see a black lace one that would have been possible, except for the cheap-looking gold stamped on the sticks.
It was amazing to see the complete uniformity that existed between every store. They all had identical racks of inexpensive merchandise for the tourist trade. I did enjoy looking at the neck mannequins in the windows of the jewelry stores. Each one had a raft of necklaces, with an amazing rainbow of stones, peals, and amber. The very abundance lent each item a glamour that probably wouldn't persist if you took just one home with you. I've noticed the same phenomenon with artificial flowers.
I amused myself when I felt reluctance to take out the map I bought and use it. I didn't want to look like a tourist!
* * * * * * * *
When I got off the train at the Oakland downtown stop, I saw Kate Schaefer, Glenn Hackney, Luke McGuff, Tami Vining and Randy Byers, just coming in to the station. I was quickly persuaded to join them on their expedition to Berkley. Kate needed to look at fabric, and the others wanted to look at CDs. When we got off the train, we met up with Tom Whitmore, co-owner of the Other Change of Hobbit, walking up the street. (Tom lives in Seattle now, but is down to mind the bookstore very often.) He gave us local-guide type advice about where would be a good place to meet up after accomplishing our various missions.
Kate, Glenn, and I set off for Kazuri Dyeworks. I have heard of this store, but had never seen their stuff. Wow! They import Japanese textiles. The owner showed us around the store, explaining all the techniques and various rarities that he has. Kate was in awe! Double-woven silks, hand-dyed in luxurious, subtle jewel tones. I actually saw one that fulfilled a dream of mine, to find fabric that looks like the inside of an abalone shell. It was difficult for Kate to decide what to get; the fabrics are expensive, but worth every bit of the price.
We met with the others for a tasty beverage, then split up again. Glenn went with the others, while Kate and I retraced our steps to the Goodwill thrift store we had passed. I wanted to look for random props for the game show I was supposed to emcee on Saturday evening. I did find some, and Kate helped carry them.
I filled Kate in on some general gossip during the train ride. We went to Kinko's to pick up my printed zines, since the station and the shop are in the same plaza. I was so excited to get them! While we were waiting for a bus to take us back to the hotel, I said to her, "You haven't asked me about my blind dates!" (I know Kate reads this journal from time to time.) So I told her how placing a personal ad on yahoo had been a good thing for me. Thanks, Kate, for helping me schlep!
* * * * * * * *
I first was handing people my zine directly, then realized that the best thing to do was to put it on the freebie table, after I saw Cheryl Morgan do so. It was difficult to not watch out of the corner of my eye to see who picked it up.
The freebie table and the badge decorating table were in a room that was the entrance to the main function room, along with registration. I got my badge and chatted with all the people who were arriving. My friend Freddie Baer arrived, along with a nice new outfit for me! After she was settled, we went to dinner along with her friend Cynthia, a con virgin! (This term doesn't mean that Cynthia was to be sacrificed, just that this was her first con.) Freddie knows Cynthia from a Babylon 5 mailing list, but since I'm not a fan, they kindly kept that discussion to a minimum. We ate at the Overland House Grill, which is in a very old building, again across the street from the hotel. I asked the waitress, "Is the mozzarella in this tomato and mozzarella salad fresh mozzarella?" She said it was, but it wasn't. Fresh mozzarella is soft and creamy, and kept in liquid. It was good enough, though, so I ate the salad anyway, along with grilled polenta.
I went back and attended the first programming item of the convention; a discussion on the book of honor for the con, H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. This book is celebrating its centenary year. This was a good panel, with each panel member discussing the book from the viewpoint of one of the characters. Howard Hendrix rocked as the Artilleryman! This was the first time I recall the program starting on Friday night at Potlatch, but I could be wrong. We followed this by an ice-cream social in the Atrium. My first time tasting taro-root flavor ice cream!
* * * * * * * *
The consuite (the hospitality area for all con members) was set up and decorated very nicely. I was "hyp-mo-tized" by the swirling-glitter, blinking-light rocketship that was sitting on the coffee table. There was a general theme of metallic pinwheels and beachball-sized inflatable eyeballs all over the room.
While I was sitting and chatting in the consuite annex, a very buff young man came in and started changing his pants. I was startled! but this man (Fred, a tenant of Debbie Notkin and Alan Bostick) wore only jockey shorts on his lower half for most of the convention. I don't know if that is his regular attire.
|