I promised myself I would try to do as many new things as I could at this con. In this spirit I spent time in the hospitality suite talking to strangers as I sipped my coffee. The fanzine fan lounge normally provides food and coffee (and tea and sympathy), but this year it was run by Arthur Aldridge who did a parsimonious job and refused to offer coffee because he didn't drink it. Apparently he also didn't feel like offering real food because it would have involved thinking ahead, but I am just guessing here. Anyway, the fan lounge was unusually devoid of those hospitable touchs that normally make it a home away from home so I didn't spend all my time there for a change. Instead, I visited the hospitality suite and gained an immersion experience in Orycon's particular blend of costumed freaks and hyperactive nerds. I enjoyed it immensely.

I went to the dealers room soon after checking in and bought the new Terry Pratchett (U.K. edition) from Paul Wrigley of Wrigley-Cross Books. This is my usual ritual, and constitutes the only book purchase from the convention I normally make. I looked at everything else but was not tempted. I'm not a collector, and I was saving my money for the art show. Also, I can't imagine where I would put a pewter dragon holding a crystal ball. No, no.

I had lunch in the hotel with Steve Boyd, Petrea Mitchell, Chris French, and Doug Hanke of ElderMOO, plus David Levine who was incredibly witty as always. We didn't talk about the MOO exclusively, but it was fun to be all together in person. Normally we only meet online, and if we could have added Vicki Rosenzweig, Sharon Sbarsky, and Tami Vining to the party it would have been ideal. Luckily, we saw them throughout the con at other times. Later that night Steve and I had dinner with Doug and his wife Kari, and enjoyed seeing what they'd done with their new house. It's so convenient that Doug fell in love with a Portland gal and now lives where my parents spend half the year and Orycon is held. I see him far more than I would if he'd stayed in Iowa.

I ran into Eric Lindsay in the hallway at one point. Ah, there's Eric, I thought, and then did a double take. Eric's Australian, you see, and not someone you would normally expect to find at a small west coast convention. We went off to the bar and he bought me a drink, rather good of him since the Australian dollar is worth about 52 US cents at the moment. He had photos of his new motor home, he said, and whipped them out. I fell off my seat laughing when I saw it. It's no puny Winnebago, mate, it's a ten ton 18 wheeler that's been converted to a motor home. The sucker has a cow catcher on the front! He and Jean Weber have been traveling all over Queensland in it, and had to get special licenses to operate it.

Saturday was the big day for my adventure. Tami, Vicki, and Steve all asked to come with me and I was glad of their company. The piercing studio was in an old office building and was quite clean and pleasant. Everyone said I was brave. Honestly, it wasn't bad. There was about 2 seconds of bearable if sharp pain, and 20 seconds of very uncomfortable pressure as the jewelry went in, and that was it. An hour later I had already forgotten I had a diamond in my nose. There was no throbbing or ickiness. I am far more wigged out psychologically than the actual experience calls for. But that's part of why I do it, anyway. I'm not into pain or extreme alterations.

Man, someone was, though. There was a young man at Orycon with total Darth Maul-style facial tattoos and all kinds of piercings, every bit of it real. I felt like a dilettante when I saw him. I felt positively grossed out when I saw the 6'5" fellow dressed as a babydoll in the hallway Saturday night. His enormous beer gut was bizarrely enhanced by the frilly dress he was wearing. This year's Annoying Hall Costume Accoutrement was fairy wings. They were everywhere. I nearly had my eye put out trying to get past someone wearing glittery material draped over plastic wing frames. They were an outright hazard at crowded parties. They were invariably worn by women, and some of the wings were pretty, but dang, were they annoying.

Lise Eisenberg took me to dinner at La Catalana Saturday night, bless her. Tami came along as well, and we feasted on fresh creamy chantarelle soup, potato pie with aioli, pork chops stuffed with spinach, crispy chicken, and a stew of clams, prawns, and chicken. It was unbelievably good. We did a bit of character assassination, but the food was a big distraction. Vicki sat at the table next to us dining with the ubiquitous and delightful Jon Singer (in fandom we have Six Degrees of Jon Singer because he knows an astounding and varied number of people). Everyone agreed this is a unique and wonderful Portland restaurant, and I urge you to visit next time you're in the city. I'm still dreaming of that soup.

So the con went on with conviviality and long conversations with good friends and serendipitous meetings in hallways. I bought my first piece of artwork from a convention art show, a cheerful and colorful painting of hot peppers in which a ... well, I'll show you. Can you see why this was in a science fiction art show?

I had a terrible time deciding between this piece and a gorgeous pen and ink drawing of bears. It was a "shield" of four bears including Pacific Northwest Indian style bear pawprints. I've always kind of considered the bear to be my totem animal, and I love Tlingit and Haida art. I longingly admired it, but I went with the colored art instead. To my surprise and delight, Tami and Doug went in on it and presented it to me on Sunday. What good friends I have! Both pieces are now on my mantel and I'll get them properly framed as a memento of a wonderful convention.

I'm still enjoying the afterglow a really good con leaves behind. I love seeing so many friends from so many different parts of the world in a pleasantly small setting like Orycon. I am glad I made myself try new con-going experiences like buying artwork and talking to anyone that looked friendly in the consuite. And I think maybe I'll volunteer to help run the fan lounge next year. It's the least I can do.

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