Author: Allegra

Born when atmospheric carbon was 316 PPM. Settled on MST country since 1997. Parent, grandparent.

and so con ends

I have so many thoughts and feelings. My intimates have been made aware of the worst of it (there is a worse, but it’s getting better as they say) and the good is little spangles of art and conversation, the gifts each of us bring to circle (a poem recited about the sailor who has no coin and must trick his way across the Styx, a pan pipe forced to play out doors because of the fucking panini / con rules, Ann Prather singing Practice Practice Practice and a ghastly hilarious song about how sore your balls are after a vasectomy, in-character Bilbo singing a song about what a bunch of dipshits the dwarves are, That’s Not Gneiss, which I think was written by a Geology professor in the 50s and made it into the filkbuche, ably sung by Cecilia Eng, Eric of the Faithful Sidekicks singing a song about various jobs that is a PUN IN EVERY LINE, Miles Vorkosigan singing a song about a naked man running down a street (he’s a defence lawyer, nuff said eh pOp) and yet more besides).

The con candidly apart from the merch room that one open circle and individual convos was a bust but I got a road trip with my best pals so I WON. And we were good roommates, no huhu.

found the atm

So I stuffed twenty bucks US in the hospitality room tip jar (uphold the right of broke queer kids to get brekky!!), grabbed a Death Wish Blueberry and Vanilla coffee -high test bREW AND TASTY TOO – tipped the maid J. $20 and now I’m off to the dealer room for something to hud my pants up with and to see if tshirts are here yet instead of just really spendy kimonos.

Lest we forget mofos

 

LATER – I HAVE AN ANTIQUE SILK JAPANESE OBI-TIE HUDDIN UP MY PANTS. I got Alex a chain mail fidget stim, some lovely patches (a skull with the advice BE NICE OR GO AWAY), a CD with Advent instrumental music for Peggy. Peggy is being nice to the other con goers and not sharing her respiratory tickles with them so she’s about to jump on a bus and go explore downtown Portland some more.

May be an image of 3 people

Thank you Ian Bristow for this FABULOUS pic of our two fave Dunnett heroes.

another lovely day along the waterfront

Much more overcast today. Winds were apparently howling in owld Burnaby last night if the weather channel isn’t lying.

Briefly participated in a filk last night and then kind of emotionally imploded (it was a filk memorial) and THEN learned that Frank Hayes is in hospital and since I had just put his concert on my list of things to do I was most upset. I did wish him a speedy and uneventful recovery. It was awesome to hear Dornbeast memorialize Creede Lambard by singing one of his songs, and Cecilia Eng memorialized Zander Nyrond (a long time fannish filk favourite of John’s.) Cindy and I sang Brooke’s Last Page for John and OH GOD I was done already and fled the scene. Peggy and I stayed in the hotel room and Cindy did the singin’ and playin’ the rest of the night. I love con, but it’s emotional and I’m just not used to having to manage all them big feels and the ‘panini’ hasn’t made it easier. (Panini is slang for the pandemic “WORST.SANDWICH.EVER”)

Amazing to have a bath while Peggy’s playing bass along with the blues program on CBC on Friday night, she made the fixtures ring. And of course I felt a lot calmer after washing my hair, although the hot water just …. stopping … was tiresome. I had enough to finish up. The hotel shampoo is quite nice.

This morning I swear I am going to not be a fucking turnip, but the odds are even. I’ve taken my pills AND BRUSHED MY TEETH AND APPLIED DEODORANT don’t all rush to thank me at once and apparently there’s a food truck next to the banquet entrance right this second so many that’s where I’ll get brekky?

Also, apart from the cold, I fucking love this hotel. It’s very accessible. AND THE BANQUETTES TUCKED INTO EVERY CORNER HAVE POWER OUTLETS BUILT INTO THEM so you can sit in a sunny nook, charge your laptop and drink your coffee and keep an eye down the corridor where your friends are.

I didn’t bring all of my laptop charger and Peggy loaned me hers. She had no idea what she was going to do with a laptop she said but she brought it anyway.

Oh, and hospitality’s open too now. I should feed. Where the fuck did I leave my american money? A smile won’t git me breakfast.

safely arrived

I had some issues with wifi (reddit is permablocked in this hotel, isn’t that hilarious? and I had to call tech support, although not about that, because I have an elderly Mac laptop) and I still don’t know if my credit card works but I am safely ensconced in the Hotel for Orycon. I have slept hours past my usual getting up time and am now listening to the furtive stirring of my roommates. Cindy and Peggy, because They Are Prepared, brought tons of breakfast stuff and so now all I need to do is get some food in me and then I can skate off to the reg table, which opens in about 25 minutes. That would be ten minutes. I am dressed, finally remembered to take me pills, we are awake, our day of delights has commenced.

Bought edibles across the street. Two ten milligrams at bed time and I was able to shut up (Peggy says *they* kept me up but believe me I gabbled like a lonely chicken) and sleep long about ten pm. Oregon is a reasonably sensible place.

Met a one armed bearded fan named Bandit last night. Within seconds he was telling fabulous con anecdotes and bickering with his partner and I asked him long they’d been married and he said about a year and I was howling because they sounded SO MUCH LIKE BRAD AND OMAR when they were bickering. Anyway Cindy paid fer mah steak. Twas good.

14 seconds of blue sky just now. That’ll be it for the day.

I still haven’t gone to reg. Peggy made me morning tea. Twice.

 

email exchange

for the dignity and privacy of everyone involved I will not cut and paste the email exchange between Cindy, Peggy and Allegra, because we all sound like amiable lunatics. Let us just pencil in that we are all quite anxious about the trip but we’ve all found our passports so really the rest of it is gravy.

This is Brooke’s fundraiser for a powered wheelchair.

 

lovely evening

We had two men out of six at the able, highest Dunnett ratio yet, lol. The Faux Bourgeois is a lovely restaurant, but quite loud. I had the soup oignon (divine) and escargots (not so, but still nice). I will have the beefsteak next time, Ingrid was almost overcome with happiness with hers; there were a lot of duck confits on the table too, and Simon had never had sweetbreads before. Jan had TWO desserts LOL. No alcohol for me but we killed three big bottles of San Pelligrino. Remembered to lard my tights with hand cream and so managed to kill the static.

I didn’t nap all day so I was tired. So tired I started getting migraine signs so I taxied hoping it would clear, it did. First guy drove like an idiot and cheated me, second guy was a total sweetheart with a delicate understanding of the needs of other motorists and how to increase and decrease speed without popping me through the fucking headrest….. Life’s like that. Seating was for 7:30, I got home at 10:30, absolutely shaking with tiredness… at which point I could not sleep. LOL

And I’ve miscalculated leaving dates, I’m actually leaving tomorrow morning. So I’m making dispositions for coverage thank you Jeff.

Love the world, hate its governments, be well everyone.

FOOD 2NITE

SO looking forward. However, I woke up before 2 am and that means I’ll have to have a nap today. I’m not looking after Alex so… that should be easy, right? Anyway I hope to have a compleat report for the drooling multitudes.

Coffee made, tea made, peppermint tea made; contemplating panancakes again.

little squib of a post

Katie and Alex were here sleeping in the basement but they’re gone now. She’s got flu, picked it up from Rikes by the sound of things. She woke up and grabbed Alex on the way to pick up Ryker and she’s headed home to her own bed. Jeff and I are glad to have helped and are equally glad to get the basement back.

I’ve revised “Set of Steps” and once I’ve finished tinkering I’ll post it again.
Tink
Knit
K-Tin
Inkt
don’ worry that’s just a note to myself for later, four new characters just stepped up in a whole new world.

yesterday, today, tomorrow second of its name

So yesterday I made coconut chicken soup, today I used the last of the mushrooms for scrambled eggs and mushrooms, and tomorrow I either dine at the gates of heaven or just have a regular meal at a French restaurant with the Dunnetteers, including the Grand Poobah Simon.

Today I will once again attempt to make a packing list. DAMMMMN these mushrooms are good, I have ceased my inhalation of food now.

Jeff got the kitchen fan running again so hopefully I’ll stop setting off the alarm if I’m bothering to cook.

Still playing with my Chromebook. I’m not sure I want to take it to the US, though, I haven’t set up all my daily tasks on it yet.

Alex will be here in about an hour. I missed him. He is such a loving child.

 

stew

After Jeff trundled back downstairs with his third bowl of stew, I quit worrying about whether he liked it or not. LOL

We were watching the season opener for S8 Shetland and I said, “Can I ask you to put away the stew,” and he said, “Way ahead of you.”

So I said, “Can I thank you for putting away the stew?” and he said, “No.”

Reader, it took me about 30 seconds to stop laughing, which is good, because he was trying to be funny.

Today is the anniversary of the ‘love declaration’ on Supernatural, and Guy Fawkes’ Day. I am thinking of a new destiel story or two, but no writing. I’m going to be pretty focussed on the trip to Portland for the next few days.

feeling pretty sad and bent

For reasons I can’t get into.

Jeff is aware and has actually been super supportive so I’m not on the ground, I’m just very demotivated. When I get my mo back I’ll make beef stew with thyme, which I hope Jeff will enjoy. Was very heartened by his defence of my overcooked pancakes – next time I think I’ll a) make the batter thinner and b) have the heat down JUST a smidge.

Towels and cleaning rags washed and put away.

Working on writing down songs this week so they’ll be ready for the con.

How’s this for a deal – I don’t have to take care of Alex on Friday, because his mother will. So we can be on the road first thing!!!

SO EXCITED. less than a week now. MUST FACE THIS NEW THING AND MAKE ALL THE LISTS.

the enshinening has happend

Katie had a bad day at work and knocked off early, she and Suzanne had a chinwag. Alex got to go home early too. Nearly cried when Suzanne folded all my laundry.

Doing relatively okay. Have a powerful urge to go out for breakfast but I think I’m going to make pancakes instead.

 

l8r very sub par pancakes accomplished but at least I used up the strawbs before they went bad.

yesterday Eighth of its name

we didn’t eat until 1:45, but what a meal. Oven baked chicken with onion gravy, oven baked spud cubes and carrots and green beans, fresh prepared. After we watched ‘Currahee’ the first episode of Band of Brothers. Peggy showed up for 2 seconds to give Keith GGma’s knitted sweater back and fled to other errands.

Paul had an excellent time, – he had half a beer, free healthy food, social contact, and the only thing he cared about was Buster making an appearance, he misses his cats so much – but he also showed issues with his illness; as much as he could recount watching TV with the woman across the hall at home, the stairs here were hard on him, and he recounted a tale of being assaulted in the hallway at his residence by two care workers who told him he smelled bad and stripped off his tshirt right there in public. He says he called Ruth to complain and she blew him off and none of that actually sounds plausible. 

Keith was in very high spirits when he arrived but he was exhausted when he left. I know the feeling, but it was a super good visit generally. He was very happy I went to the efforts I did to clean the kitchen, and I did all the clean up afterwards after his half hearted offer to assist, mostly because I move a lot faster. I imagine it’s very annoying to Jeff, but I hate cleaning up at night, I’d far rather do it in the morning when I’m first up and energetic; in this case I attacked everything right away, like the oven sheets and the cast iron pan.

Mike called, and then showed up with equal but even more theatrical result; he brought my birthday present early – a chromebook. I’m currently setting it up, having charged it. I’ll have a computer with nothing personal on it TO TAKE TO THE STATES which is why he gave it to me early. I was blown away and loudly and repeatedly thanked him.

And I didn’t have Alex yesterday, he stayed home with his dad. So I didn’t have to run away in the middle of a conversation to be with him, and that was nice timing too.