alexandraerin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexandraerin) wrote2012-05-29 09:44 pm
alexandraerin) wrote2012-05-29 09:44 pm
The Long Con
So, I kind of figured that cocktails with Tempest was the last hurrah of Wiscon for us, but then when we were waiting at our gate for our plane, sparkymonster showed up, and wouldn't you know it, she was going our way. We'd already been sitting there for a while... we have a habit of over-padding our airport stays, just to be on the super safe side. We had a pretty interesting and wide-ranging conversation, and it made it feel like the con wasn't quite over.
We ended up getting about an extra forty minutes to just chat, too, because the plane was a bit late getting off the ground. That didn't seem like a big deal to us, because we had nearly three hours on the ground in Cleveland, but it made things a little dicey for people with tight connections to make.
Anyway, it was a pretty great time, especially considering that I think in real life I've talked to Julia maybe once or twice, probably about Etta Candy. Even online I think we've more talked in the same places than talked to each other.
But there was some real... clicking, I guess. Ironically, one of the major topics was about awkwardness and how amazing it is that some people can just walk up to someone and say something to them like it isn't even a big deal.
And you know, this is something that I'd started discovering before WisCon, on Tumblr: there is a lot of power in being able to stand up and admit to feelings and experiences like that. There's just such a high chance that somebody reading/listening will understand and share the experience, and then you have a common ground with this person and you also both have one more data point that says you're not alone, that your experiences are not unique.
The rest of our trip went pretty well. We went through Cleveland because we know the airport and like it pretty well. It has a good seafood restaurant, and a gelato stand... last year we tried the gelato stand on a poorly-thought-out impulse (mine) and because of a small (large) miscalculation involving time and distance... it just didn't work out very well. This time we planned for it in advance, and it was awesome
There were some technical difficulties involving our plane possibly not actually in fact existing, but after it was pushed back several times a flight to New York was cancelled, freeing up the plane. That required us to hoof it back to the terminal with the gelato. Then when we got back to the east coast, Sarah had to drive us home from DCA (not an area she knows as well as the one around BWI) in a deluge and the dark, which was a little stressful... but even with those hitches, I think the positive outweighed the negatives even on the travel portions of the trip: good company, good conversation, good food.
Anyway... home now. I started to write this post last night, but apparently I ended up crashing without hitting the submit button.
sparkymonster showed up, and wouldn't you know it, she was going our way. We'd already been sitting there for a while... we have a habit of over-padding our airport stays, just to be on the super safe side. We had a pretty interesting and wide-ranging conversation, and it made it feel like the con wasn't quite over. We ended up getting about an extra forty minutes to just chat, too, because the plane was a bit late getting off the ground. That didn't seem like a big deal to us, because we had nearly three hours on the ground in Cleveland, but it made things a little dicey for people with tight connections to make.
Anyway, it was a pretty great time, especially considering that I think in real life I've talked to Julia maybe once or twice, probably about Etta Candy. Even online I think we've more talked in the same places than talked to each other.
But there was some real... clicking, I guess. Ironically, one of the major topics was about awkwardness and how amazing it is that some people can just walk up to someone and say something to them like it isn't even a big deal.
And you know, this is something that I'd started discovering before WisCon, on Tumblr: there is a lot of power in being able to stand up and admit to feelings and experiences like that. There's just such a high chance that somebody reading/listening will understand and share the experience, and then you have a common ground with this person and you also both have one more data point that says you're not alone, that your experiences are not unique.
The rest of our trip went pretty well. We went through Cleveland because we know the airport and like it pretty well. It has a good seafood restaurant, and a gelato stand... last year we tried the gelato stand on a poorly-thought-out impulse (mine) and because of a small (large) miscalculation involving time and distance... it just didn't work out very well. This time we planned for it in advance, and it was awesome
There were some technical difficulties involving our plane possibly not actually in fact existing, but after it was pushed back several times a flight to New York was cancelled, freeing up the plane. That required us to hoof it back to the terminal with the gelato. Then when we got back to the east coast, Sarah had to drive us home from DCA (not an area she knows as well as the one around BWI) in a deluge and the dark, which was a little stressful... but even with those hitches, I think the positive outweighed the negatives even on the travel portions of the trip: good company, good conversation, good food.
Anyway... home now. I started to write this post last night, but apparently I ended up crashing without hitting the submit button.