As I looked through the program booklet Thursday evening, and then again Friday morning, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there seemed to be less to do this year than last year. I think the reality is more rooted in how I pursue my interests. I prefer engaging in activities on a more personal level. I would rather have an active dialogue in a small group, or even one on one, then sit in the audience listening to a panel. I enjoy being more involved in the discussion, which you just don’t get in rooms full of people.
I come to Dragoncon because there’s no way to replicate the experience any other way. There’s such a wide range of events offered in one place. It’s a great opportunity to have outlets for most of my interests brought together at the same time and readily available, and to be surrounded by people who are similar to me in at least some way. At the same time, I’m an extremely shy person, and being surrounded by such a crowd of people, no matter how much I might have in common with them, is actually pretty overwhelming. I think one of the underlying reasons for coming these past two years is an attempt to challenge myself socially by throwing myself into a horde of people and seeing what happens, with no exact tangible goal.
So, Friday morning, my first goal as I left my hotel was, of course, to find something to eat. My first thought was to visit the Quiznos, but I found it to be closed. I think I actually wandered past an open one Thursday night when I was a little lost, but I did not feel like trying to find that again. This left me with my next choice, the place I now thought of as “Frank’s official hole in the wall eating establishment of Dragoncon”, which is a little kitchen called “Gyro King”. Naturally, I got a chicken wrap.
After lunch, I wandered towards the official host hotels. On the way, I ran into the very talented Steven Archer, of the band Ego Likeness, which made it fortuitous that I was wearing my Save Your Serpent t-shirt, so we could do the special handshake. One of the neat features of the music I follow these days is that there’s a real sense of community to it and the artists themselves foster it.
Continuing that theme, my next stop for the day was to head over to the Hyatt for the Cruxshadows panel. They’re pretty much regulars at Dragoncon, playing a show every year, and quite a big draw from what I’ve seen. As such, they have a dedicated hour to interact with fans. I’ve talked about being a fan of theirs previously. I enjoy getting the chance to catch up with them. Just before the panel started, I somehow ended up in a conversation with a couple people around me. They mentioned being reptile enthusiasts, so I took the opportunity to show off pictures of my little girl tortoise.
After that, I wandered through one of the dealer rooms. There’s a lot of cool stuff to buy there, but I rarely feel compelled to buy anything. Partly, I’m just not into having to carry things around, and with so much available on line, I don’t see the need. This is also my shopping tendency in general, as I usually do one round to look at items I’m considering and then walk away, and if the desire to purchase stays, I come back to buy at another time. I also feel like I’ve become somewhat anti-stuff in general, which I believe is a result of moving, even though my last move was almost ten years ago now. Still, I do like to buy some things to support artists, particularly the musicians I’ve been mentioning. I stopped by Ego Likeness’s merch booth to pick up the new signal, a pendant, and Donna Lynch’s book.
That evening, after dinner again at “Gyro King”, which of course was a burger, I went to another music based panel, State of Goth. I’ve always felt a bit wary about that label, not that I mind being Goth, but that I feel like that only encompasses part of who I am. I think Voltaire does a pretty good of describing Goth. Musically, it seems Goth often flows in and out of other genres. For instance, sometimes I hear Industrial discussed under the umbrella of Goth, and other times not. I have one friend who likes a lot of Industrial but does not seem to consider herself Goth at all. Also, Twilight people are all posers.
The “surprise” guest for this panel was Gopal Metro, one of the original founders of the group Bella Morte. He left that group before I had a chance to see them. He now has a new project called Brighter Fires, which I’ve been liking quite a lot. I really enjoyed hearing him on the panel and getting a chance to chat briefly afterword. He has a lot of positive energy.
My final event for Friday night was a writing panel on how to incorporate religion into your novels and world building. I thought the authors were very intelligent in their perspectives, but at the same time, I found myself feeling like I already knew a lot of what they were saying. I think my Anthropology and History background gave me a lot of that insight already. Also, though, I would say the fact that I have not really been trying to write anything meant that I did not have a specific context to put what was being said. So, the real lesson of the panel is to either get off my butt and work on writing, or get back to building on my RPG campaign world, or both.
After that panel, I went back to my hotel. I spent some time reading Donna Lynch’s book. I toyed around with heading back out for the Friday night band performances. In the end, the anti-social me won out, helped by a lack of motivation from not knowing the groups playing, and so my Friday drew to a close.
iggysden 