la_marquise (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
la_marquise) wrote2010-11-08 06:40 pm
la_marquise) wrote2010-11-08 06:40 pm
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What I did in America, part 3
One of the odd things (to me, anyway) about WFC is that it's a four day con that's really a 2 and a half day con, with almost everything packed into Friday and Saturday. That's an artefact f the different employment laws in the US, I imagine, but it makes it in some ways feel more like a smaller con (Novacon, say) than the large gathering it really is. There were very many people there, but I never found it hard to find the people I knew, and there was always a sense that the bar was the hub. That's a vibe I like a lot -- it feels much more accessible than the vast space-and-swarm that is worldcon. It also, I think, makes it easier to negotiate as a neo-type with fewish contacts.
Friday was mostly about beer, as we set off on Jetse de Vries's splendid brewery tour. Columbus gets 4 stars on the beer front -- no bad beer in sight anywhere and much good choice. We started with the Columbus Brewing Company, where I had an excellent red beer and the marquis drank stout (I think) and there was normal sized food. We didn't know many of the other tourers, but Mr Grimwood came along, and Michelle and Tom, and we talked politics and the alarms of negotiating US restaurant portions. Relocating to the next brewery, the marquis drank more stout (which I tasted and did not like at all) and I had pomegranate wheat beer, which was surprisingly sharp. And Jon advised me on the huge array of things I can, in theory, claim for against writing earning. (He's astonishing.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mevennen had told be this, but I hadn't really grasped it. Books can be claimed for. Who would have though it? I used to have to fight revenue about that when I was teaching, even though it was an established practice [I got unlucky and struck a new-broom new officer, who thought he knew everything]). ms_cataclysm will definitely approve of the Jon C-G approach: very professional and very organised. We headed back to the con after the second brewery, as we felt enough drink had been taken, and ran into fjm and made dinner plans, then went and chatted with swan_tower. And I met with The Agent, which was unnerving, as he had been talking to Nice Editor earlier. (About politics, I gather. They seem to have got on fine.) There may be news arising from this later.
Dinner withfjm took us to a third brewery, where we met the beer tour again (it was on its fourth brewery by then). More good beer and slightly overwhelming food. After that, I did the unthinkable and went to a programme item. I'd been missing ones I wanted to see all day due to jet-lag brain, and then ended up in the high-powered intellectual one on theory. It was fascinating, however, and very enjoyable, and I was introduced to some very interesting people. I now want to go to Readercon, for more like this, as it was very thought-provoking.
Saturday was Scary Day officially, and much of it is currently sub judice. I had a good breakfast meeting with Nice Editor, then another talk with The Agent, failed to play D & D in the bar due to tiredness and then went out with all the Dawthors for the DAW dinner, which was lovely, if a little high-powered. We ended up sitting with S Andrew Swann, aka Steve, who is a lovely bloke and very knowledgeable about the Teutonic Knights.
Sunday was mostly spent hanging out withstinabat who is faabulous. We talked RPGs and writing and weird stuff and generally had fun. There was lunch and silliness and she gave me an ARC of her forthcoming novel Of Blood and Honey, about which I will write more later (it rocks).In the evening we had a lovely quiet dinner with freda_writes and Mike, and Esther Friesner, and other fine people. And then on Monday we came home, which worked fine until Heathrow, where there was taxi malfunction, leading to having to deal with crossing London in the rush hour and trains. But we lived and overall, the expedition is declared to have been a success.
Friday was mostly about beer, as we set off on Jetse de Vries's splendid brewery tour. Columbus gets 4 stars on the beer front -- no bad beer in sight anywhere and much good choice. We started with the Columbus Brewing Company, where I had an excellent red beer and the marquis drank stout (I think) and there was normal sized food. We didn't know many of the other tourers, but Mr Grimwood came along, and Michelle and Tom, and we talked politics and the alarms of negotiating US restaurant portions. Relocating to the next brewery, the marquis drank more stout (which I tasted and did not like at all) and I had pomegranate wheat beer, which was surprisingly sharp. And Jon advised me on the huge array of things I can, in theory, claim for against writing earning. (He's astonishing.
mevennen had told be this, but I hadn't really grasped it. Books can be claimed for. Who would have though it? I used to have to fight revenue about that when I was teaching, even though it was an established practice [I got unlucky and struck a new-broom new officer, who thought he knew everything]). ms_cataclysm will definitely approve of the Jon C-G approach: very professional and very organised. We headed back to the con after the second brewery, as we felt enough drink had been taken, and ran into fjm and made dinner plans, then went and chatted with swan_tower. And I met with The Agent, which was unnerving, as he had been talking to Nice Editor earlier. (About politics, I gather. They seem to have got on fine.) There may be news arising from this later.Dinner with
fjm took us to a third brewery, where we met the beer tour again (it was on its fourth brewery by then). More good beer and slightly overwhelming food. After that, I did the unthinkable and went to a programme item. I'd been missing ones I wanted to see all day due to jet-lag brain, and then ended up in the high-powered intellectual one on theory. It was fascinating, however, and very enjoyable, and I was introduced to some very interesting people. I now want to go to Readercon, for more like this, as it was very thought-provoking.Saturday was Scary Day officially, and much of it is currently sub judice. I had a good breakfast meeting with Nice Editor, then another talk with The Agent, failed to play D & D in the bar due to tiredness and then went out with all the Dawthors for the DAW dinner, which was lovely, if a little high-powered. We ended up sitting with S Andrew Swann, aka Steve, who is a lovely bloke and very knowledgeable about the Teutonic Knights.
Sunday was mostly spent hanging out with
stinabat who is faabulous. We talked RPGs and writing and weird stuff and generally had fun. There was lunch and silliness and she gave me an ARC of her forthcoming novel Of Blood and Honey, about which I will write more later (it rocks).In the evening we had a lovely quiet dinner with freda_writes and Mike, and Esther Friesner, and other fine people. And then on Monday we came home, which worked fine until Heathrow, where there was taxi malfunction, leading to having to deal with crossing London in the rush hour and trains. But we lived and overall, the expedition is declared to have been a success.
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