Winterose's SF Con Report 2003 
From Wednesday, July 9, 2003

I haven't been in an airport since the New York con so it's a rather awesome and somewhat nerve-racking experience going through all the new security procedures. I'm glad they were there though. The man in line in front of me REALLY doesn't want to take his shoes off for the security scan and holds things up for a few minutes but other than that everything went smoothly.

I love flying. I haven't done it enough for the event to have become mundane. I'm always amazed and delighted when the plane becomes airborne. My brain knows what makes the plane fly, but it just seems illogical that tons of metal should be able to get off the ground. I can't help but say "Wow!" in absolute wonder. I booked a window seat all the way. We are in the clouds mostly, I remember, lying on the ground staring up at the clouds as a child wishing I could go up there and jump from cloud to cloud. They always looked so solid; as if you could climb on them. I guess this is the next best thing.

It seems just a short time until the plane is touching down in Houston. I'm a little nervous again, but the change goes very smoothly. I walk through the airport people-watching. So many interesting faces. The lovers in black leather. The tall business man in the Stetson and cowboy boots. The red-haired children traveling by themselves.

The plane from Houston to San Francisco is much larger. It has two seats on each side plus three in the center. It also has a really fun video display that indicates the altitude, ground speed, and time until arrival, local time, and destination time. Then, the picture switches every few minutes to show a map indicating where we are. I'm thrilled! It's wonderful to know what we are flying over.

I have only been west of the Mississippi once in my entire life so I've never seen the desert or the western mountain ranges. I knew they were big but knowing that and seeing them, even from the plane, are two entirely different things. The desert is amazing. It just goes on, and on, and on. Even from the plane I can get an idea of where houses and roads are, and there just aren't any! Wow! So different from the east where every inch is farmed, or industrialized or lived upon. The mountains are very tall and rugged. Not at all like the Appalachians, which are green and gentle looking. Again, I knew this is how they would look but it's different seeing them. Right in the middle of all this is a huge blue-green ribbon of water  the Colorado River. I wish I could to ask the pilot to detour slightly so we could see the Grand Canyon. But I guess that will have to be another trip. J

Flying over Kayla's area and I wave and wing some warm thoughts down to her. Wish you could have come along Kayla!

Finally, we're arriving in San Francisco. I see some porpoises as we cruise low over the bay.

Meet up with Mary and Cheryl (my roomies) at the airport and then on to the hotel.

We spend the afternoon wandering around the area. Great discovery is the incredibly cheap deli with no name down the street from the hotel. We walk along until we end up in Chinatown browsing the little shops there. In an odd way many of them remind me of the old five and dime stores that were in every town when I was a kid. The shops run the gamut from five and dime to very expensive. One shop owner, who sold antiques, tries VERY hard to sell me a lovely Victorian lamp. ("For you, ONLY $1,200 dollars!") But, SOMEHOW I'm able to resist his sales pitch.

We have planned to meet up with Mary's cousin and have dinner. We ate at a very nice restaurant; the name of which utterly escapes me now. It had good salmon. Found out that San Francisco can indeed, get quite chilly after dark.

When we return to the hotel we run into to some BATB folks in the lobby. But at this point we are all beginning to realize it has been a loooong day and so we say our goodnights. Amazingly, find the energy to chat some more before we crash for the night. I think this was about a twenty hour day for me.

In the next entry:
"For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver"
~ Martin Luther

I fully intended to help unload the con truck this morning but by the time I get downstairs the crew has made short work of it. I help set up the orphan tables for just a little while until it's time to leave for the tour of Golden Gate Park.

The Strybing Arboretum, in Golden Gate Park is a fascinating place. The tour is very good; full of history about the park and fascinating facts about the plants, they're origins and uses. Even the weeds are different here; they have these cute little "lawn daisies". I wonder if I can get these to grow at home instead of the lovely crabgrass I have. J

Since the climate is so different from what I am used to in Ohio of course the plants are also different. I learned lots of interesting things about how the plants conserve water. I also learned it doesn't rain from May to October in San Francisco. The weather is very foggy this morning and it only serves to intensify the magnificent colors of the flowers.

But I'm neglecting the most important part. I met Pixie and J'ecris for the first time! It's just so much FUN to meet people face-to-face finally. And Carol and Karen and Sandy and Ceccio and several other people I met briefly in NYC two years ago at the con. Big grin!

After lunch we break up into smaller groups and wander around the park. The Japanese Tea Garden is very lovely. I keep thinking that my 12-year-old daughter will go crazy when I get back. She's mad for all things Asian right now. Of course, I forgot my camera! Pixie, J'ecris, I hope you post lots of pictures! We stopped and had tea in the little pavilion in the Japanese garden.

Then we walked over to the Natural History Museum. Well, that's not its official name but my literature is still buried somewhere upstairs. It's great place. It has an interesting aquarium and a very cool interactive exhibit on earthquakes.

Pixie, J'ecris and I decide to return to the hotel by city bus rather than by cab. I'm so glad I have friends with a sense of direction or I'd probably still be walking around the streets of San Francisco. The city buses are very clean and you can actually understand what's being said over the public address system. It's a great way to see the city. I was also impressed that all the busses run on electricity. "Zero emissions vehicle", they say on the back end. Great idea! Maybe that's why they seemed quieter than a normal bus.

We switched from the bus to the cable car at Powell Street. This is right where the cars are turned around. They get to the end of the line, which is like a track on a big turntable and then two men step out on the ground, one at each end of the car, and they push it around in a circle until it's facing the way it came. I would never have imagined this was accomplished by hand! The cable car was not quite as I imagined it would be. I wanted to hang onto the outside (like in the movies) but apparently this is where everyone wants to ride. It's crowded and we ride on the inside. The sound of the steel wheels on the track is very loud. The cable line runs right past the hotel so it was easy to find.

I catch up with Mary and Cheryl again and I'm sure we had dinner but it's a little bit of a blur at this point. I knew I should have brought my journal along. We made several quests out to find places that were good AND cheap. I think we ate at Lefty O'Doules a sort of sports bar with a cafeteria style dinner menu. The food was good.

In the evening, we get to the first real con event; registration. Everyone gathers in the banquet room annex on the mezzanine. This was great time to catch up with people and see old and new friends. We also received the long awaited con zine and tote bags. The bags are filled with all kinds of wonderful and amusing things like tissues to dry your eyes when you start weeping and a little fan for when you get overheated looking at some of the hot art in the art room. I heard Sheila had a lot to do with selecting these items. They're great!

The volunteers meet with Deb about things that will need to be done. I realize I probably shouldn't volunteer to man the orphan table since I'm awful at making change. But I can probably help run things around during the auctions. No problem, carrying things I can do.

Back up in the room, (the room is great by the way, with a fantastic view). Anyway, back up in the room I desperately want to read the zine but I must be tired. I keep reading the same paragraph. Tomorrow's another day.


Next time: "Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to dark place where it leads." ~Erica Jong

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to dark place where it leads." ~Erica Jong

This is it! At last, the start of the con.

Opening ceremonies begin at 9:30. This is great. When I went to the NYC con two years ago I arrived after this part and that explains why so many things went on that I was oblivious to. Lots of information is given and many introductions are made here. Even though there is a schedule in the con bag it's nice to have a personal overview of what to expect over the next few days.

After the opening I go back over to the art room. The room is not ready to open and there is still lots of art to hang. . I actually have a few doubts that everything will be able to fit in the room. There are boxes full art waiting to be hung. But of course the space has been planned out perfectly. Helping out gives me a chance to get a preview of the show. It's amazing how many talented people we have in our fandom. Artwork of all sorts. Sculpture painting, drawing, miniatures, collage and some things that are simply lovely and unique. Clare has sent some wonderful etched crystals and a sumptuous embossed velvet pillow in addition to her drawings.

The costumes from the show are also displayed in the art room. I love to just look at them in detail and see all the work that went into them. It's interesting to see them "out of context". In some ways they look completely different than they did on the show.

Finally, most of the room seems to be set up. Just enough time to get some lunch from the buffet before the International Fans Panel begins.

The International Panel is fascinating. We divide into small groups and I get to learn a few lines from the episode "Siege" in Dutch. I'm pretty sure I mangle it terribly even though Angelique and Sandra are very kind and encouraging. All the international fans speak English quite fluently in addition to their own language. I feel a bit like an awkward child as I stumble over the words. But it was fun anyway. I try to imagine seeing the characters on television speaking a different language. It's hard to envision Vincent saying his lines in Japanese. But obviously it happened. I wonder if the show seems odd in English if you watched it the first time in another language.

After the panel, I browse through the dealer's room and buy a zine. I'm sure it won't be the only one. I wander about the Tunnel Tailors Workshop and the Miniatures Workshop and chat with people. Tunnel Tailors have two big tables covered with second hand clothes and interesting odds and ends for creating a tunnel outfit. The participants are sitting on the floor in a circle. I can imagine the tunnel dwellers looking very much like this.

I met Mycroft earlier, and then later on Annette and Angel. I surprise myself that it's so easy to have conversations. In most situations I'm sort of a wallflower. But when I made the decision to come to the con I decided I was going to make myself mingle and talk to people I didn't know. It's really not as arduous as all that. Even though we've just met, I feel as if I know everyone.

Beast Trivia is going on in the Banquet room now. It's Jeopardy style with Roy Dotrice asking the questions. I sit in the audience thinking, "Hey, I know all these answers" then suddenly, I'm pushed up on the stage. Yikes! Of course, NOW I can't remember a thing about the show. Oh well, we laugh a lot and Roy looks at us in mock disgust that we didn't get his very obvious hint about "Joan of Ark". (The answer to: What part did Catherine have in her school play.)

At this point there is a short lull in activities. The rehearsal for the Fandango is going on. I decide to step outside for a breath of fresh air. And happen to run into Carol. She is from California and knows San Francisco. So when she says "Let's go for a walk". I'm happy to have a guide. We walk out over the plaza about a block in front of the hotel. It's a large tiered area with palm trees. There's an art show going on there. We stop to look at the art. Saw some very nice landscapes. As we cross the street, Carol takes me into Neiman Marcus. The architecture is just fabulous! As you walk in there's a four-story rotunda � all stained glass. Very beautiful. We continue to walk through the downtown area toward the bay. Down Market Street, I think. Like I said before, I'm terrible with directions. Lots of cool buildings everywhere. Now, I'm beginning to wish I'd lugged along the big camera. There is so much variety. Very modern buildings and very historic-looking buildings all together. We arrive at the bay in a surprisingly short time at the Ferry Building at Pier 1 near the Bay Bridge. We hang out by the Bay for a while then on the return trip we walk along the Embarcadero Center Promenade. (I think that was the name) It's the upper level of a shopping area. Outdoors with lots of cafe's and flowers and of course interesting architecture. We return through the financial district.

Back at the hotel there is a buffet dinner. Well, the schedule says "Light Hors d'oeuvers" But there's a ton of food and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is starving. We gather in the banquet room for the Fandango. First comes the costume walk. Beautiful outfits. I can see that people have put a lot of work into these. KG's "Maid Marion" dress was exquisite. Carol, Mycroft, J'ecris and others had handmade tunnel togs. Kathleen had a lovely lavender dress made to look like one of Catherine's dresses. I just can't remember everyone who participated, so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't mention you all by name here. Who was the Uncle Sam and Eagle duo?

The Talent Show. We have so many talented people in the group. Suze got the show going with a great version of I left my heart in San Francisco but re-written as I FOLLOWED my heart. Suze do you have the words posted anywhere? KG sang an Elvis song. Then Suze and KG sang together. Pixie sang a lovely song. Sorry Pix, senior moment. What'd you sing? Mycroft told a funny story about his dog, Freddie. Cecila (as Joe), Annik (as Catherine), and Sobonme did a really hilarious skit involving Joe's mother and other relatives (voiced by Sobonme) calling from Italy to ask Catherine when she and Joe were going to be married. I laughed until I cried. I think the show was finished up with a visit from "Paracelsus Hellcats" complete with red sequined devil's costumes.

We took a short break then returned for a walk down memory lane with Betty, who shared her memories of meeting the cast, walking around the sets and organizing and hosting the first con 14 years ago. Makes me wish I'd been there for just one of those gatherings of hundreds people.

Lori Hicks takes the stage to talk about next year's fan gathering in Kansas City. I'm really excited. KC is driving distance for me. I'll definitely be there. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about it in the coming months. The evening winds up with a fun NovTek music video. Deb, our fearless "ConMom" tells us to rest up because tomorrow's a big day.

Mary, Cheryl and I decide "light hors d'oeuvers" just wasn't enough so we amble across the street to Lori's Diner for some late night apple pie.

When we return to the room we start talking about the con zine and we ask Mary to read her poem for us. She ends up reading the poem, Cheryl's submission and mine. Bedtime stories. It's very fun to hear something you've written read aloud by someone else. Gives you a new perspective on the story.

Managed to make it downstairs in time for breakfast. Sitting in the fan drop-in room talking to people I'm thinking "I KNOW who this guy is" and not quite connecting until I realize it's Jamie. I haven't really seen him in two years and up to this point in SF I haven't seen without his Myrh makeup. It's early and I haven't had enough coffee yet.

Teri and Linda conduct the writing workshop. Very fun and challenging. Each small group is given a situation and asked to write a short story in about half and hour. I was with Marilyn and Angelique. I'm sure our group just got started but I hope we can finish it up through e-mail. The panel ends too soon.

Roy, Jay, David and Jamie gather on stage for their usual hysterical antics and Q & A. Roy tells some very funny jokes, complete with character voices. Jay does a dead-on imitation of his favorite actor, Christopher Walken, and gives us the run-down on his brief appearance in T3 and other projects. David talks about his latest project, a day-time cable show about couples getting engaged. All, including David, have things to say about reality TV. I, personally, don't care for it but I never really considered that it's making it difficult for actors and writers too. Interesting to get the inside perceptive. Jamie talks a bit about his art and what he's doing in his life. There's a running thread through the whole thing regarding the English vs. American pronunciation of words.

I loose track of time and miss out on the drawing workshop with Sandy Tew. Drat! Can anyone tell me about this?

Lee Holdridge arrives and talks about his music. The highlight is having him sit at a piano and play "The first time I loved forever". Beautiful!

Among those things, I had said I would do that I've never done before is talk to the guests a little. I'm not sure I want to examine why this makes me nervous. I'm afraid I'll find out I'm really a swooning groupie deep in my heart. So I line up for autographs and go through the line chatting briefly. As I'm about to leave Roy, He suddenly pulls me over next to him and says in his wonderful accent "We're getting our picture taken dear." and gives me a peck on the cheek. I'm totally startled and I'm sure turned beet red. Oh well, so much for any self-delusions of sophistication! (Mary, how did the photo come out?)

Mary, Cheryl and I decide we have enough time to walk down to the Bay before the banquet. I was there yesterday so I'm supposed to be the guide. Hmmmmm, I mentioned I have no sense of direction, right? (yes, Winter, several times!) Well to my credit, I DID know what direction we were headed...toward the bay! We just walked there on a different street than Market Street.

The banquet is lovely. Oh, to hear those sweet words from the show spoken by Roy during the lighting of the winterfest candles. "We are all part of one another...one family...one community. Sometimes we forget this. And so we meet here each year to, to give thanks to those who have helped us. And to remember, even the greatest darkness is nothing, so long as we share the light."

I'm getting all teary-eyed again.

Dinner was a success in spite of our frazzled and nervous waiter. We got to see several fun music video from NovTek including one with "Vincent Moments" featuring the song "What's up pussycat" by Tom Jones. And, of course the famous outakes video. I actually love the whole video. I love seeing the actors step out of their roles between scenes. To me, it's like watching an artist draw or paint. I like to see what goes into the craft.

We take a short break then launch into introductions for the Charity Auction. By now, I'm sure most of you have read Deb's first-hand account of her tumble from the stage and I won't try to re-create that awful moment. My brain just froze up for a few moments as everything stopped with a collective gasp of horror. The only thing I can put down with perfect clarity is the image out of the corner of my eye of Roy literally leaping up and over the edge of the stage to Deb's aid. I was terrified that she was taking an attitude of "the show must go on" (she was) and was really hurt worse than she was letting on. Fortunately, Deb I'm glad you are recovering.

The auction. I've volunteered to run things around the audience for a close-up look. I should have changed my shoes after the banquet. Jay and David are crazy as usual. They even field a phone call from David's friend in the middle of the auction and Jay has us all yelling, Goodnight" to her. Lots of items. We run pretty late into the evening.

Back in the room my sensible roomies go to sleep, but I guess I shouldn't have coffee with dinner. I stay up WAY too late reading the con zine.

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Winterose
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