Thoughts on MarsCon
My favorite cons give me a chance to connect with my tribe, meet some old friends, have a nice dinner out, maybe do a little unwise spending in the dealer’s room.
Unfortunately, that didn’t work out for me this year as well as I’d like, primarily because I was exhausted. I’ve been overstressed to the point of illness lately, and sleeping poorly to boot. So when I got in around 9:30 Friday night, once we unpacked I conked out within minutes of setting up the CPAP.
Saturday morning as a result of all this, I suffered what I called my “hard drive crash”. I couldn’t bear the thought of being around anyone, I just wanted quiet and dark. With the help of my brain meds, I came out of it around noon, donned my Alice costume, and went out into the con. The Alice costume was a hit – it usually has been through all the variations I’ve owned. I posed for pictures and took a few, and bumped into some friends.
At a busy con, though, you can’t sit down and talk to anyone. You generally get about five minutes with them and one or both of you has to move on. So I didn’t really catch up with too many people; and while I did at least get hellos and hugs from many, there were several more people there I never saw.
After 8 hours of wandering the con and checking out a few panels, I had to head back to my room. My current Alice costume is of heavier PVC than my previous ones, and while I wasn’t suffering heat stroke I was extremely warm. Maya and Bert and I managed some dinner and played a card game Jesse Braxton got her for Christmas – Sushi Go, lots of fun – and then I decided to take a rest before the 10:00 and 11:45 shows I wanted to see,
I didn’t fall asleep like one might guess, but I realized I had no energy left. I couldn’t have walked another dozen steps. Rather than heading out to the con again, I had to fill the CPAP and shut down for the night.
Sunday morning was mostly packing and checking out, but I did hit the high point of the con when we attended the musician’s Round Robin. 11 musicians on stage, each in turn performing a song and usually being joined in by the other musicians, finishing with White Plectrum’s rousing rendition of “The Mulder”, a tune everyone on stage knew. It brought down the house.
So, MarsCon 2020: Not a weekend of unending misery, but I sure hope I’m in better shape next year.
