Final Daze
Aug. 15th, 2005 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aWe're having very unseasonable weather in Berkeley these last few days. We haven't been getting out of the sixties and everything has been overcast and gloomy. This is doubtless just a lull before summer really hits us between the eyes again, but it still feels like winter has come.
I'm surprised to see that it's currently only ten degrees warmer in Indianapolis, but the weather report predicts it'll be the upper 80s by the end of the week. It also predicts Thunderstorms for Friday and Saturday, which is cool. I always adored the Thunderstorms when I visited Missouri in the summers of my youth, and I always miss them out here, where we might get one half-assed thunderstorm every year or two.
Between getting as many things in good shape as I can before I leave town, and the unseasonable weather, it feels like I'm putting all of my affairs into order before a long hibernation.
I remember, long ago, when conventions were sheer enjoyment. The dealers room, the auction, and the flea market were always the best aspects. I could pick up the brand newest items for my favorite games, and also revel in the discovery of a hard-to-get item. I had money then, and I also had the urge to collect. (I've said before that I'm not a collector any more, and that's largely true, but I wonder how much of that is because of life changes, and how much of it is simply eBay having totally spoiled the joy of discovery.) I also got to see old friends at conventions, people I saw just once or twice a year, who liked to talk about Ars Magica, Glorantha, their latest war game finds, etc.
As with many other things, conventions changed for me when I worked at Chaosium. I didn't work a lot of them, but I worked enough to learn that conventions were instead pure exhaustion. Two to four days of trying to sell your product can leave you with no energy, no legs, and no voice.
The conventions I've attended for Skotos have been even more tiring than the old Chaosium ones, and that's primarily been because they're out of town. With Chaosium I could get away with one day, maybe two. With Skotos I've in for four solid days of non-stop activity.
Nonetheless, the Skotos conventions are enjoyable, and this one will be too. I like the people who play the Skotos games, and those who create Skotos games, and it's good to get to see them in person. When so much of my work is solitaire nowadays, it reminds me of the real people I'm working with. And for.
I'm also going to do my best to make this GenCon not all work. I mean 96 hours of solid work, minus some brief sleep periods, that's just not doable. Or at least not sane. So I'm going to bring a couple of games with me. Small stuff, probably. I'm going to try and get into the KniziaThon, if I can figure out when that's happening at the con. I'm going to try and balance social time with some time for myself.
On the whole there's a lot about the convention that I'm looking forward to at this point.
What I'm *not* looking forward to is the travel.
A 5-hour trip to Atlanta followed by a 1.5-hour trip to Indianapolis.
That is uncomfortable, but doable. What always worries me more, and makes me really hate travel is the possibility of eating something the night before that makes me sick that morning, which unfortunately happens with too much regularity. I've been sick on planes a couple of times now, and it turns a normally bad experience into utter hell.
So I'll be looking forward to GenCon a lot more when I collapse into a hotel room Wednesday night then I am now.
There's still stuff to put in order, of course. I'm going to try and have all my Skotos piles the rest of the way ready today.
I need to do some laundry and otherwise pack. (What game or two can I bring that will be great fun, but small and light? Modern Art. Maybe a few others.)
Tonight I'm going to do one last playtest of my CCG with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kimberly_a, then print things onto Avery stickers and make two nice decks of cards. I also need to finish putting together a packet to really show the thought that's gone into this design.
It's all a manageable amount of stuff, however.
I'm surprised to see that it's currently only ten degrees warmer in Indianapolis, but the weather report predicts it'll be the upper 80s by the end of the week. It also predicts Thunderstorms for Friday and Saturday, which is cool. I always adored the Thunderstorms when I visited Missouri in the summers of my youth, and I always miss them out here, where we might get one half-assed thunderstorm every year or two.
Between getting as many things in good shape as I can before I leave town, and the unseasonable weather, it feels like I'm putting all of my affairs into order before a long hibernation.
I remember, long ago, when conventions were sheer enjoyment. The dealers room, the auction, and the flea market were always the best aspects. I could pick up the brand newest items for my favorite games, and also revel in the discovery of a hard-to-get item. I had money then, and I also had the urge to collect. (I've said before that I'm not a collector any more, and that's largely true, but I wonder how much of that is because of life changes, and how much of it is simply eBay having totally spoiled the joy of discovery.) I also got to see old friends at conventions, people I saw just once or twice a year, who liked to talk about Ars Magica, Glorantha, their latest war game finds, etc.
As with many other things, conventions changed for me when I worked at Chaosium. I didn't work a lot of them, but I worked enough to learn that conventions were instead pure exhaustion. Two to four days of trying to sell your product can leave you with no energy, no legs, and no voice.
The conventions I've attended for Skotos have been even more tiring than the old Chaosium ones, and that's primarily been because they're out of town. With Chaosium I could get away with one day, maybe two. With Skotos I've in for four solid days of non-stop activity.
Nonetheless, the Skotos conventions are enjoyable, and this one will be too. I like the people who play the Skotos games, and those who create Skotos games, and it's good to get to see them in person. When so much of my work is solitaire nowadays, it reminds me of the real people I'm working with. And for.
I'm also going to do my best to make this GenCon not all work. I mean 96 hours of solid work, minus some brief sleep periods, that's just not doable. Or at least not sane. So I'm going to bring a couple of games with me. Small stuff, probably. I'm going to try and get into the KniziaThon, if I can figure out when that's happening at the con. I'm going to try and balance social time with some time for myself.
On the whole there's a lot about the convention that I'm looking forward to at this point.
What I'm *not* looking forward to is the travel.
A 5-hour trip to Atlanta followed by a 1.5-hour trip to Indianapolis.
That is uncomfortable, but doable. What always worries me more, and makes me really hate travel is the possibility of eating something the night before that makes me sick that morning, which unfortunately happens with too much regularity. I've been sick on planes a couple of times now, and it turns a normally bad experience into utter hell.
So I'll be looking forward to GenCon a lot more when I collapse into a hotel room Wednesday night then I am now.
There's still stuff to put in order, of course. I'm going to try and have all my Skotos piles the rest of the way ready today.
I need to do some laundry and otherwise pack. (What game or two can I bring that will be great fun, but small and light? Modern Art. Maybe a few others.)
Tonight I'm going to do one last playtest of my CCG with
kimberly_a, then print things onto Avery stickers and make two nice decks of cards. I also need to finish putting together a packet to really show the thought that's gone into this design.It's all a manageable amount of stuff, however.