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rt booklovers convention
May. 19th, 2015 02:53 pmI am eternally grateful that my employer gives me the day after a convention off, because I invariably need it. I slept through most of Monday, got online, then immediately got off, hit by a wave of anxiety that told me it would be best to keep to myself for the rest of the day.
I cleaned cat boxes, got my house back to the beginnings of order, read (SEKRET which took me a little while to get into but by god I'm hooked, and also The Daughter of Smoke and Bone which I'm reading for my MFA and has my attention if not dedication). Watched a lot of Justified with semantics. Snuggled my cats, cooed at my cats, ambushed my cats with love until they ran away. ...I really missed my cats.
I had some trouble getting to bed, because of con-crash anxiety. Knowing that the real world paced on the other side of a full night's sleep. I wasn't even sure I would get a full night's sleep - every single night we were in Dallas, I would get up in the morning with my bed half-stripped from all my tossing and turning.
But even with a succession of early mornings and bad nights, the RT convention was so great. I don't think I've ever been in an environment other than Alpha that got me to drop my shields so fully. Women everywhere, of all body types, wearing all kinds of clothes; a level of diversity I didn't expect; men who respected the women present, and even cover models for romance novels who took selfies with every woman they caught staring. (There was a lot of staring. Those abs are not photoshopped, my friends.)
Women chatting in the bathroom about polish for biker boots while applying fresh lipstick, fixing necklaces of skulls or pearls and sharing compliments on skirts and fascinators. Smart, sharp, involved fans who asked intelligent questions and creators who clearly wanted to be there.
The real world of bills, internet-driven social anxiety, housework, and deadlines is kind of a comedown after that.
Tim and I are already wheedling Tammy about going next year. It's in Las Vegas and she's in full refusal right now, but with luck the two of us can change that. I want to go back. It's a little paradise pocket of how the world could be, and I really really want to go back.
I cleaned cat boxes, got my house back to the beginnings of order, read (SEKRET which took me a little while to get into but by god I'm hooked, and also The Daughter of Smoke and Bone which I'm reading for my MFA and has my attention if not dedication). Watched a lot of Justified with semantics. Snuggled my cats, cooed at my cats, ambushed my cats with love until they ran away. ...I really missed my cats.
I had some trouble getting to bed, because of con-crash anxiety. Knowing that the real world paced on the other side of a full night's sleep. I wasn't even sure I would get a full night's sleep - every single night we were in Dallas, I would get up in the morning with my bed half-stripped from all my tossing and turning.
But even with a succession of early mornings and bad nights, the RT convention was so great. I don't think I've ever been in an environment other than Alpha that got me to drop my shields so fully. Women everywhere, of all body types, wearing all kinds of clothes; a level of diversity I didn't expect; men who respected the women present, and even cover models for romance novels who took selfies with every woman they caught staring. (There was a lot of staring. Those abs are not photoshopped, my friends.)
Women chatting in the bathroom about polish for biker boots while applying fresh lipstick, fixing necklaces of skulls or pearls and sharing compliments on skirts and fascinators. Smart, sharp, involved fans who asked intelligent questions and creators who clearly wanted to be there.
The real world of bills, internet-driven social anxiety, housework, and deadlines is kind of a comedown after that.
Tim and I are already wheedling Tammy about going next year. It's in Las Vegas and she's in full refusal right now, but with luck the two of us can change that. I want to go back. It's a little paradise pocket of how the world could be, and I really really want to go back.