Potlatch IINothing spoils a romance so much as a sense of humour in the woman. Saturday, February 26, 2000
I was up early Saturday morning. Because our room was facing the inner courtyard, there were no operable windows, so the room was warm, and dry enough to bug my nose. Ah, well, I dragged myself into the shower. Marcia G---- and Lisa were already getting the consuite ready to open at nine am, so I decided to make an ice run, and buy some spreads to put on the copious amounts of free bread that had been donated to us. Jane had left most things set up when she went to bed (very late, I'm sure). Soon folks started drifting in to drink coffee and tea, and eat the pastries and wacky cereal that Jane had bought. Have you seen outmeal with hatching dino-eggs? Jack drove down to Olympia to fetch his younger daughter H----, who would be with us at the con. I ran down to the toy room periodically, to straighten out the rubber stamps and other toys. Glenn's K'nex were developing into a huge construction, with wheels, ramps, rubber-band trampolines, and much more.
At eleven thirty, it was time for my first appearance on a panel, ever! I hadn't volunteered for this, exactly, but when asked to participate a few months ago, I didn't say no. I was slightly apprehensive -- in fact, I'd had trouble relaxing the night before because of thinking about it! But I turned that energy into concentration on what the other panelists were saying. Nisi Shaw was the ringleader; Sabrina Chase, Holly Wade Matter, and Octavia Butler were the other panelists. Here's what was in the progress report about the panel topic:
When it was my turn to talk, I distinguished between "what makes me feel romantic?" vs. "what is romance writing?" It's a distinct genre with roots that go back to before straight novels. It's not meant to be a realistic slice of life, which is why it usually has a happy-ever-after ending. This isn't a flaw, in my opinion. We talked about the various reasons why people might read such books. I also pointed out that there are many distinct types of romance novels, just like in science fiction. I thought the talk went well, and I was glad the discussion didn't degenerate into a lot of put-downs, which I'd been concerned about ahead of time.
After my panel was done, I went back up to the consuite. Jack watched more of the panels, then took H---- for burgers at Dick's and brought me back some. He did an ice run at the same time. The lunch break was the main time scheduled for nano-programming. That's "small" programming -- anyone who wants to can sign up on a sheet, proposing a topic and a location. Bill Humphries of "More Like This" had proposed talking about weblogs (my weblog is Anita's LOL), and demonstrating the various tools that can be used to create them. I ended up being able to be around for most of this, because they did the discussion in the hospitality room across the hall. I darted in and out, while Bill talked to a few con members, with Jack chiming in. Jack Beslanowitch was there, a bit baffled by the weblog concept, and how it differed from the writers community site he already operates. It was interesting seeing people figuring out the weblog thing for the first time. "Links? updated often? and just why would I be doing this?" Jane had S---, a young boy she is a co-caregiver for, with her during the afternoon. He was amazingly persistent in trying to put ice down her shirt or pants. She found it very funny, more so than I would have! But I'd probably have been ok if it had been my nephew who was doing it. A broken bottle in with the drinks in the bathtub meant that all the beverages had to be removed and the ice had to be melted down. S-- was very helpful and cooperative during this task. Jack, H----, and I went to a nearby Taco del Mar for a quick dinner. We thought about trying Kabul, a near-by Afghan place ("I've never had Afghan food," said Jack) but the timing just wasn't right. We only had a short time for dinner, because Jack was sponsoring a nano-programming item -- a scotch tasting at Hopscotch, that place on Capitol Hill where single malts are a specialty. I was glad that a good number of folks had signed up for this! (It's like bringing food to a potluck dinner -- what if nobody likes it?)
In the evening, I changed into my patchwork dress (a picture of me in that dress, at Potlatch 7). I was able to take a break and go down to the dance with Jack and H----. Andy Hooper was DJing. Jack had promised H--- that he would teach her to dance "the white man's shuffle," as he calls his freestyle dancing, after he'd heard that she went to a school dance on Thursday, but didn't dance -- she said she didn't know how! The music was good, and there was a decent crowd, but the room was very hot and humid. What a shame there weren't any swing dancers there! I did lead Karrie Dunning for a while, but my leading skills are still very limited. The party in the consuite was still very busy. The smoking room was quieter. We collapsed into bed around midnight.
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