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unforthWell, I'm back, and I've spent the day working, and all day yesterday working, which means that my return home is going about as I expected. However, I just hit that moment where you realize that nothing else is going to get accomplished (at least, not related to work...) and so I'm gonna stop. I spent the first 7 hours of my day working on my Co-op application, so I didn't not get nearly as much done as I'd hoped of other stuff, but that's okay...there's always tomorrow.
There's nothing much to report on the house, though I have a theory about what a Co-op Board is based on what I've gathered so far. Imagine that your life is a book. The Board is going to flip to let it fall open somewhere near the present, read one page, and then judge whether or not you are worthy based on that one page, except that they are inclined to think the worst about everything. I really hope I'm wrong, but that's really how it's starting to sound. Sigh.
Anyway. That's not the point of this post! The point of this post is...Gencon!
Tuesday night I had pretty bad insomnia, such that I woke up at 4:45 instead of 6 AM. This ended up not being so bad, because it ensured that I got to my car by 7 (which was the plan) but it kind of sucked once I got to the point that I had to drive all day. I hit the road nice and early, by my lonesome due to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mistress_sin's not being able to come, which was sad cause I was really looking forward to getting some quality time to hang out with her.
I dropped of Jonie in Penn around 9:30, and I will not be getting her back until near the end of September, and though I don't know if I miss her per se (and it sure is nice to get home and realize I won't have to go out again) still my house feels so empty when she's not around - I keep hearing sounds that I think are her walking around, and there's no pup lying behind my chair in permanent danger of getting run over. It's just kinda...empty.
I hit Frederick, MD, where I was picking upsapphohestia, and together we pressed on to Indianapolis (with a stop for Cracker Barrel...) and arrived at about 10:30. The hotel was...well, it was total shit. Don't stay at the Days Inn Indy Downtown. The only good thing I have to say about it is that they fixed the mistake that was their fault in the first place, and apologized to me for something rude that was said. And they did make our beds, I guess. All in all, it made for a long day. We met up with thelisafaerie and made arrangements for wake up times the next day. In all, I was really happy with this sleeping cohort, and am already looking forward to doing to all again at the Homewood Suites, with the addition of an mistress_sin, or, alternatively, with the migration of me and an ozziel to one room, and them in the next one over...not sure. All I know is - Homewood Suites. I'm so there.
Of course, being me, the morning alarm-in-brain was fully active; I was up around 6:30 AM (some days earlier) every day of the Convention. This was despite bed times ranging from about 11 to, at latest, about 1 AM.
Thursday was spent with a lot of running around and tracking people down. Actually...that was pretty much my whole Con. So lets go by activity instead.
1. Hanging out with people. I did a better job this year of meeting up with the wide range of people I hoped to spend time with. I hung out with my roomies a whole lot, of course, and I also managed to get a good amount of alone time withozziel, which was very nice. In addition to that, I spent at least a nominal amount of time with basically everyone there who I'd hoped to see. I wish I could have managed more time with the Windmill guys, but I saw them a lot at Origins, and I still have some novel related stuff I'd like to talk to Kev about, but the sad truth was that my brain wasn't working well enough through most of the trip, cause I just didn't get enough sleep. I was particularly happy to get time with nekomata, dyrecorn, drake_rocket, and dracaena_rocket, because I've not really spent any time with any of them in about a year, maybe longer, and that made me sad. :( Also, schenker28 and I managed to snag breakfast, even though he wasn't at the convention, and I got a few moments with saracariad. I wish I'd seen fallenrose, though, but I didn't even find out she'd been there until I got home. That's what I get for not checking Facebook...clearly, I know waaaaay to many people who go to Gencon. The practical side effect of this was that I didn't really get a moment to myself the entire four days. But I didn't mind. :)
2. Gaming. I wouldn't know. I didn't game, not a single minute. Though if I'd known aboutdrydem's game, I'd so have been there. It was a LARP set at a historical house museum (like, actually held onsite). When I saw him and damaskrose9, they mentioned that next year they want to do another one there, this one involving the Civil War. Consider me already pre-registered; I'm already thinking about my costume...
3. Taking pictures. One of the main things I was looking forward to was lots of Cosplay pictures, but I ended up spending so much of my time outside of the convention center (especially withmoonartemis76 in her hotel) that I didn't do as much of this as planned - though I still got a good number; I hope to have them uploaded soon. A few were really, really awesome.
4. Watching Supernatural. We only got in 3 episodes! But I did manage to get a few minutes alone withmoonandserpent, who has watched all of season 4 like me, and gush like a mad woman.
5. Art. I went to the con fearing that I would have a BIG art year because so many of my favorites were there, but as it turned out I kept things pretty solidly under control. I did pursue my goal of buying artist books from pretty much all the artists I liked, and this added up faster than I would have thought, but now it's done, and new ones just don't come out that quick. I ended up with mostly sketches. This year's con commission was bygymnopedie, and she actually posted it yesterday on her blog - it's the top one. I get a commission of the same basic description (female, pretty without being babe-a-licious, quarter staff carved with vines, very long black hair, vaguely elvish, and, if pushed, I own to her being a ranger) every convention that I go to, and this was the most recent to be added to that collection - and I'm super happy with it. I need to go back and share all of them sometime - they make an interesting set, so far I've got like 10, maybe 12. Beyond that, I got two originals Wayne Reynolds. He had sold the painting I'd seen at Origins and was strongly considering, which is fine, and he had another that I really liked, but I decided to not spend that much - it was the original of this image, and it's running about $1500, which was a bit high for me this year. Maybe next year. Instead, I got two pencil sketches.
I also did my usual raid on Storn Cook's box of awesome, cheap art (three sketches for $45 for the win!). Two sketches by Doug Kovacs also were added to my collection. I'd picked up the pencil sketch of this painting a couple of years ago, but he doesn't seem to have a scan up of what I got this year. I also grabbed a sketch by Sarah Frary - so basically, I was a repeat customer a whole, whole bunch. Second to lastly, I picked up only one small original by Stephanie Pui-Man Law, marking the first year I haven't spent considerably more on her art than the year before. :) Looking at her webpage now, I see she just posted some stuff on Etsy, one of which I would have bought if she'd had it at the Con. Ah well, life, it goes on. All I bought instead was one of her planning sketches for a water color, and it's lovely, and though I poked around trying to find the painting that it produced, I don't see it so far - it's probably from her tarot deck, though. Ah - yes - here it is, it was the planning sketch for the Ten of Cups.
Many of my "regulars" were there, but didn't have stuff I wanted...and I decided that was fine. I'm still hoping to get the big commission from Charles Urbach, maybe next year...and neither Vinod Rams or Emily Fiegenschuh, nor Beth Trott had anything I particularly wanted. I managed to at least spend some money with some of these folks by getting their artist books, but I still have never gotten anything of Charles' even though we've now spent tons of time talking (like, over an hour at Origins) - I'm starting to feel all guilty about it... :)
Lastly, in terms of purchases, I picked up two originals by Omar Rayyan, who was the guest of honor. Neither of the two I got are on the webpage, but those are not the reason I saved him for last. Up at his booth he had a painting, hung right behind him, that well-nigh took my breath away. I was afraid to ask how much it was, I wanted it so much, but of course I did ask, and was told that it was $5000. Now, this would represent a pretty large jump from my previous most expensive piece, and while I technically did have a credit card on which I could have put it, I knew it was a terrible idea - the difference that would make in my current level of debt was simply too large to ignore. But despite that resolution, I still spent at least a few minutes staring at it like an idiot each day of the convention.
It's Man with Gold Earring, which is the default painting on this page. And I really, really want it.
One step farther, in fact: on the last day, I spoke to the artist about how much money I would have to put down in order to buy it. He told me $1000, and that he wouldn't be showing it again until November. I can't put together $5k between now and then, but I can put together $1k - $500 in Sept. and $500 in Oct. As soon as I get payed in October, if I still feel the way I do now - which, well, I've had this feeling before, and it doesn't usually change - I will contact him, and I will buy it. I've never spent that much on anything other than a car or housing - ya know, necessary things - but...I really, really want it. Like, resisting the urge to pull the thousand out of the money I've got lying around for buying the apartment level of really want it. I'm a little scared by the feeling, actually, but...well...this is what it is to be an art collector, I guess. I've only seen two pieces of art before that I wanted as much as I want this, and I did ultimately buy them both. One was at my very first Con - Otakon, in 2001 - and it was $150 or so, which was a whole shit load for me back then - an anime cel of Allen Schezar from Escaflowne. The other is of course the current "most expensive" title holder, Wayne Reynolds' Sorceress, which I saw two years ago, and said on the trip to the convention last year that if he still had it, I would buy her - and he did, and I did, for $850. I've never regretted either purchase - both are on my walls, and whenever I see them, they bring a smile to my face. So I think I'm making the right choice - but it's a scary amount to spend on art. And I'm starting to get nervous that he'll sell it in the 6 weeks before I can have the cash. Then again, it hasn't sold in the past 4 years or so since he painted it - though I don't know how long it's been on the market.
Can you tell I'm a little freaked by this - both by wanting it, and by actually thinking I'm going to buy it?
Anyway, that's kind of all there was to my Gencon - lots of wonderful time spent with people, the desire for more time spent with boy, a bunch of art, and generally good times.
sapphohestia and I headed out of Indy at 1:30 on Sunday, and I drove till I got home (after a bit more Cracker Barrel), and walked in my door at 3:45 AM - better time than the trip out! I collapsed into bed, woke up exactly one minute before my alarm set for 6 AM went off, and promptly worked a 12 hour day. Despite that, though, I feel pretty good and I'm ready to face the massive pile of work waiting for me. And I've managed to edit the prologue to the novel! It's fun, I'm ripping it to shreds (tomorrow, I'm going to do a comparative post: the original version of that, the version that made it into the finished manuscript, and the new edited version, I think it'll be interesting, if only for me. :) Oh, and due to the general exhaustion that has accompanied all of this, I've been sleeping like the dead, and therefore though I know I've had some dreams, there have been none to report in the Dream Journal. But I am still keeping it. ;)
As for more life updating...I have no life for a little bit. I'll be working like crazy between now and the 31st to finish a whole lot of stuff, but I'm no longer super freaked about actually getting it done - I do anticipate a whole bunch of really, really long, hot days. Then, on the first, I leave for Europe, though it's looking increasingly like I'll have to bail on at least a bit of the trip to take care of house stuff. Sigh.
Life, she goes on. :)
There's nothing much to report on the house, though I have a theory about what a Co-op Board is based on what I've gathered so far. Imagine that your life is a book. The Board is going to flip to let it fall open somewhere near the present, read one page, and then judge whether or not you are worthy based on that one page, except that they are inclined to think the worst about everything. I really hope I'm wrong, but that's really how it's starting to sound. Sigh.
Anyway. That's not the point of this post! The point of this post is...Gencon!
Tuesday night I had pretty bad insomnia, such that I woke up at 4:45 instead of 6 AM. This ended up not being so bad, because it ensured that I got to my car by 7 (which was the plan) but it kind of sucked once I got to the point that I had to drive all day. I hit the road nice and early, by my lonesome due to
mistress_sin's not being able to come, which was sad cause I was really looking forward to getting some quality time to hang out with her.I dropped of Jonie in Penn around 9:30, and I will not be getting her back until near the end of September, and though I don't know if I miss her per se (and it sure is nice to get home and realize I won't have to go out again) still my house feels so empty when she's not around - I keep hearing sounds that I think are her walking around, and there's no pup lying behind my chair in permanent danger of getting run over. It's just kinda...empty.
I hit Frederick, MD, where I was picking up
sapphohestia, and together we pressed on to Indianapolis (with a stop for Cracker Barrel...) and arrived at about 10:30. The hotel was...well, it was total shit. Don't stay at the Days Inn Indy Downtown. The only good thing I have to say about it is that they fixed the mistake that was their fault in the first place, and apologized to me for something rude that was said. And they did make our beds, I guess. All in all, it made for a long day. We met up with thelisafaerie and made arrangements for wake up times the next day. In all, I was really happy with this sleeping cohort, and am already looking forward to doing to all again at the Homewood Suites, with the addition of an mistress_sin, or, alternatively, with the migration of me and an ozziel to one room, and them in the next one over...not sure. All I know is - Homewood Suites. I'm so there.Of course, being me, the morning alarm-in-brain was fully active; I was up around 6:30 AM (some days earlier) every day of the Convention. This was despite bed times ranging from about 11 to, at latest, about 1 AM.
Thursday was spent with a lot of running around and tracking people down. Actually...that was pretty much my whole Con. So lets go by activity instead.
1. Hanging out with people. I did a better job this year of meeting up with the wide range of people I hoped to spend time with. I hung out with my roomies a whole lot, of course, and I also managed to get a good amount of alone time with
ozziel, which was very nice. In addition to that, I spent at least a nominal amount of time with basically everyone there who I'd hoped to see. I wish I could have managed more time with the Windmill guys, but I saw them a lot at Origins, and I still have some novel related stuff I'd like to talk to Kev about, but the sad truth was that my brain wasn't working well enough through most of the trip, cause I just didn't get enough sleep. I was particularly happy to get time with nekomata, dyrecorn, drake_rocket, and dracaena_rocket, because I've not really spent any time with any of them in about a year, maybe longer, and that made me sad. :( Also, schenker28 and I managed to snag breakfast, even though he wasn't at the convention, and I got a few moments with saracariad. I wish I'd seen fallenrose, though, but I didn't even find out she'd been there until I got home. That's what I get for not checking Facebook...clearly, I know waaaaay to many people who go to Gencon. The practical side effect of this was that I didn't really get a moment to myself the entire four days. But I didn't mind. :)2. Gaming. I wouldn't know. I didn't game, not a single minute. Though if I'd known about
drydem's game, I'd so have been there. It was a LARP set at a historical house museum (like, actually held onsite). When I saw him and damaskrose9, they mentioned that next year they want to do another one there, this one involving the Civil War. Consider me already pre-registered; I'm already thinking about my costume...3. Taking pictures. One of the main things I was looking forward to was lots of Cosplay pictures, but I ended up spending so much of my time outside of the convention center (especially with
moonartemis76 in her hotel) that I didn't do as much of this as planned - though I still got a good number; I hope to have them uploaded soon. A few were really, really awesome.4. Watching Supernatural. We only got in 3 episodes! But I did manage to get a few minutes alone with
moonandserpent, who has watched all of season 4 like me, and gush like a mad woman.5. Art. I went to the con fearing that I would have a BIG art year because so many of my favorites were there, but as it turned out I kept things pretty solidly under control. I did pursue my goal of buying artist books from pretty much all the artists I liked, and this added up faster than I would have thought, but now it's done, and new ones just don't come out that quick. I ended up with mostly sketches. This year's con commission was by
gymnopedie, and she actually posted it yesterday on her blog - it's the top one. I get a commission of the same basic description (female, pretty without being babe-a-licious, quarter staff carved with vines, very long black hair, vaguely elvish, and, if pushed, I own to her being a ranger) every convention that I go to, and this was the most recent to be added to that collection - and I'm super happy with it. I need to go back and share all of them sometime - they make an interesting set, so far I've got like 10, maybe 12. Beyond that, I got two originals Wayne Reynolds. He had sold the painting I'd seen at Origins and was strongly considering, which is fine, and he had another that I really liked, but I decided to not spend that much - it was the original of this image, and it's running about $1500, which was a bit high for me this year. Maybe next year. Instead, I got two pencil sketches.I also did my usual raid on Storn Cook's box of awesome, cheap art (three sketches for $45 for the win!). Two sketches by Doug Kovacs also were added to my collection. I'd picked up the pencil sketch of this painting a couple of years ago, but he doesn't seem to have a scan up of what I got this year. I also grabbed a sketch by Sarah Frary - so basically, I was a repeat customer a whole, whole bunch. Second to lastly, I picked up only one small original by Stephanie Pui-Man Law, marking the first year I haven't spent considerably more on her art than the year before. :) Looking at her webpage now, I see she just posted some stuff on Etsy, one of which I would have bought if she'd had it at the Con. Ah well, life, it goes on. All I bought instead was one of her planning sketches for a water color, and it's lovely, and though I poked around trying to find the painting that it produced, I don't see it so far - it's probably from her tarot deck, though. Ah - yes - here it is, it was the planning sketch for the Ten of Cups.
Many of my "regulars" were there, but didn't have stuff I wanted...and I decided that was fine. I'm still hoping to get the big commission from Charles Urbach, maybe next year...and neither Vinod Rams or Emily Fiegenschuh, nor Beth Trott had anything I particularly wanted. I managed to at least spend some money with some of these folks by getting their artist books, but I still have never gotten anything of Charles' even though we've now spent tons of time talking (like, over an hour at Origins) - I'm starting to feel all guilty about it... :)
Lastly, in terms of purchases, I picked up two originals by Omar Rayyan, who was the guest of honor. Neither of the two I got are on the webpage, but those are not the reason I saved him for last. Up at his booth he had a painting, hung right behind him, that well-nigh took my breath away. I was afraid to ask how much it was, I wanted it so much, but of course I did ask, and was told that it was $5000. Now, this would represent a pretty large jump from my previous most expensive piece, and while I technically did have a credit card on which I could have put it, I knew it was a terrible idea - the difference that would make in my current level of debt was simply too large to ignore. But despite that resolution, I still spent at least a few minutes staring at it like an idiot each day of the convention.
It's Man with Gold Earring, which is the default painting on this page. And I really, really want it.
One step farther, in fact: on the last day, I spoke to the artist about how much money I would have to put down in order to buy it. He told me $1000, and that he wouldn't be showing it again until November. I can't put together $5k between now and then, but I can put together $1k - $500 in Sept. and $500 in Oct. As soon as I get payed in October, if I still feel the way I do now - which, well, I've had this feeling before, and it doesn't usually change - I will contact him, and I will buy it. I've never spent that much on anything other than a car or housing - ya know, necessary things - but...I really, really want it. Like, resisting the urge to pull the thousand out of the money I've got lying around for buying the apartment level of really want it. I'm a little scared by the feeling, actually, but...well...this is what it is to be an art collector, I guess. I've only seen two pieces of art before that I wanted as much as I want this, and I did ultimately buy them both. One was at my very first Con - Otakon, in 2001 - and it was $150 or so, which was a whole shit load for me back then - an anime cel of Allen Schezar from Escaflowne. The other is of course the current "most expensive" title holder, Wayne Reynolds' Sorceress, which I saw two years ago, and said on the trip to the convention last year that if he still had it, I would buy her - and he did, and I did, for $850. I've never regretted either purchase - both are on my walls, and whenever I see them, they bring a smile to my face. So I think I'm making the right choice - but it's a scary amount to spend on art. And I'm starting to get nervous that he'll sell it in the 6 weeks before I can have the cash. Then again, it hasn't sold in the past 4 years or so since he painted it - though I don't know how long it's been on the market.
Can you tell I'm a little freaked by this - both by wanting it, and by actually thinking I'm going to buy it?
Anyway, that's kind of all there was to my Gencon - lots of wonderful time spent with people, the desire for more time spent with boy, a bunch of art, and generally good times.
sapphohestia and I headed out of Indy at 1:30 on Sunday, and I drove till I got home (after a bit more Cracker Barrel), and walked in my door at 3:45 AM - better time than the trip out! I collapsed into bed, woke up exactly one minute before my alarm set for 6 AM went off, and promptly worked a 12 hour day. Despite that, though, I feel pretty good and I'm ready to face the massive pile of work waiting for me. And I've managed to edit the prologue to the novel! It's fun, I'm ripping it to shreds (tomorrow, I'm going to do a comparative post: the original version of that, the version that made it into the finished manuscript, and the new edited version, I think it'll be interesting, if only for me. :) Oh, and due to the general exhaustion that has accompanied all of this, I've been sleeping like the dead, and therefore though I know I've had some dreams, there have been none to report in the Dream Journal. But I am still keeping it. ;)As for more life updating...I have no life for a little bit. I'll be working like crazy between now and the 31st to finish a whole lot of stuff, but I'm no longer super freaked about actually getting it done - I do anticipate a whole bunch of really, really long, hot days. Then, on the first, I leave for Europe, though it's looking increasingly like I'll have to bail on at least a bit of the trip to take care of house stuff. Sigh.
Life, she goes on. :)
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-19 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-20 12:11 pm (UTC)I'll be in B-ton a bit more often now that I'm dating
As for the Stephanie prints...maybe bring them next year? I'm sure she'd still sign them...
no subject
Date: 2009-08-19 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-20 12:12 pm (UTC)The tarot deck as some of my absolutely favorite art by her - every year since 2004 (when the first images came out for it) I've been like, "when's it coming out?" - last year, she said probably this year; this year, she said definitely next year...so hopefully...
As for the Co-op Board...I'll make it work somehow...