C14, Tampa, 2008
Convergence 14 was in Tampa,
neither Cris nor Gineane could come with me, so I went solo. It was a bit
startling to realise just how long I've been going to these things, esp.
since I spent some time hanging out with someone I met at Convergence 1!
Friday August 8, 2008
I had to bike over to the post office to pick up my visa enabled passport
before heading to work, so I ended up getting up even earlier than
planned. It was there, luckily, and I got home with just enough time to
shower, change, and get out to the bus stop at 8:15. The bus came quickly,
and so did the train at Harvard, but then the red line was crawling along
and it took ages to get to Park. Xfer to the green line and hauled my
suitcase and backpack the half mile to work, walking as slowly as possible
in the heat, and arrived 1.5 hours after leaving home. Gah. We had
software release issues happening all day, I stayed a bit later than
planned to check on one last bug and splurged on a taxi to the airport at
3:30 for my 5:20 flight. The driver took me around Charlestown to try and
avoid traffic, and got me to the airport in good time, where I found out
that my flight was delayed. A lot. Every one was delayed due to the rain storm that
started as I got there, at one point they wouldn't let staff out on the
bridge because of lightning strikes. I had just bought a big novel, so I
settled in at my new gate and waited it out, occasionally wandering off to
get food or drinks. My plan to arrive in Tampa at 8:30 and make it to the
evening events was thoroughly thwarted when we boarded at 9:30. Once we
finally get into the air and over Atlantic City, the cabin pressure
couldn't be maintained, my ears started popping a lot as they quickly
brought us down in altitude. They turned us around to land at JFK and put
us in a new plane. Luckily it was set up at the next gate, and they were
able to transfer us and our luggage in about an hour, we reboarded at
12:30am or so, and landed in Tampa at 3:30am and had some fun getting a
set of taxis to show up (someone called both cab co's they had the numbers
for). I felt really bad for the people waiting in the departure lounge for
our plane, as they had to take it back up to Boston on it's return leg. My
room was still waiting for me, so I was able to check in at around 4am,
but I'd totally missed all the Friday night official events. Kest had
posted details about her room party, and I popped my head in just to prove
that I made it since they were still going. Got to say hi to her and
Janette, and the rest of the room is a blur of sleep deprivation, but
Axel might have showed up just before I left. I had a
quick shower in my room and then crashed out at around 5am.
Saturday August 9, 2008
I didn't get nearly enough sleep, but the blackout curtains helped me
sleep until noon at least. I swear I had a moment of sheer panic when I
saw the clock saying 11:59 and thought I'd slept through the whole day. I
went downstairs and ran into Fross and Danielle in the lobby at 1pm; she
was taking off on the shopping trip at 1:30, I'd hoped to go when I
thought it was starting at 2:30, but decided that breakfast was more
important. Fross joined me and we got incorrect directions from the hotel
concierge (he pointed the wrong way, gave us no map). We kept walking
until we reached the Convention Center and then stopped at another hotel
and asked there. They gave us a map and directions, and we retraced our
steps to the original hotel and back to First Watch, three blocks away. I
inhaled two huge blueberry pancakes, a large grapefruit juice, and a
raspberry iced tea. It was delicious, and it was great to catch up with
Fross again, in yet another city. :)
I hung out in the lobby for a bit, dropped by the shopping room and got a
necklace. I caught up with Axel, Siobhan, Liz and Simon in the hallway
then I think, and dropped in on the group sitting on the mezzanine again.
There was an amusing moment in the hallway, someone walked past and said "cool
shirt" about Axel's Swarf t-shirt, but they didn't hear when people tried to
call them back and introduce them to Liz. :)
I watched knitting, got my back and neck cracked by Rafe and had pictures
of my legs taken as moses played around with her camera. I got cornered by
the local paper's photographer who got me laughing and showing teeth. I
haven't showed up on any of the newspaper galleries that people have posted yet
though, and I'm kinda glad, as the guy's blog is pretty dismissive of the whole event. Moses and I agreed to head out for food. We ended up at an all
white restaurant that served Spanish tapas. A few misunderstandings about
the food later (the cheese pate was coated with unexpected nuts, and I
asked if they were walnuts, and they said no, pecans, which I'm also
allergic to, but then they gave us a new one w/o nuts; at least I'm pretty
sure that they were right when they said that the white sangria wasn't
made with chardonnay). The food was quite good, even if the white napkin
left my black skirt covered in lint. They were setting up a small stage
for musicians, and it was neat seeing the coloured spot lights against the
white walls.
We got back in time to catch the last half of the gothic bathing beauty
pageant that started at 6 (some very cute bikinis, a 40's style suit, as
well as some inexplicable club clothes) and the fop fight (mmm,
foppishness). The weather being so miserable, most of the guys were
gravitating toward kilts and cargo shorts, but the ones who entered the
fop fight went all out with the layers. Then they herded us outside to see
TheOneBob jump the radio controlled shark in a kiddie pool, with his BMX.
I tried perching on the fountain edge, but still didn't get a good view,
so I hopped down and peeked between people's shoulders. I heard more than
saw his bike dragging something, but everyone else cheered, so I did too.
:) There was a break in the agenda then, with the evening events not
starting until 8 or 9, so Janette and I went on a quest to get water at
the CVS. Which turned out to be closed. But we were invited along with two
other C14 attendees to drive to the Publix a little ways away. That was
great, we were able to get water and granola bars and I picked up a 6 pack
of Strongbow. I ran up to my room to stick half of them in the ice bucket
and then started to get ready for the evening. Everything was going to be
held in the hotel ball rooms and meeting rooms, so I wouldn't have to go
outside, but I still stuck with my lightweight fishnet, lace and light
overdress outfit. I'd only brought an involved halter style corset, so I
skipped that in favour of airiness.
The bands were on stage in the ballroom, and tables were set up, both
regular dinner sized ones and taller cocktail ones. I sat with Dot and co.
from Arizona for a while, and only went down to the DJ room a couple of
times. It was carpeted so it was hard on my knees, though I finally got
into a bouncing style for a Cult of the Psychic Fetus song that wasn't too
painful. :) The ballroom had a wooden dancefloor set down over the carpet,
it was a lot easier to dance there. The only off note was a huge cockroach
that I spotted as I was going to put my purse down next to the speakers.
Right, bands:
Synthetic Dream Foundation: man with laptop, but I loved the music and
he started me dancing. Noisy electronica that pushed all my buttons.
Exit was a one man band, a guy and a guitar I think. Nice to listen
to, but I think a bit slow for me.
Faded Symphony: definitely too slow for me, I had to wander around so
I wouldn't doze off.
Iris rounded off the night, I've never seen them in concert before, so it
was nice to have the chance. I didn't recognise any of the songs they
played, though, I think they avoided the club hits.
The lights came on at around 2am, and I decamped to the lobby waiting for
a room party to coalesce. I ended up in kest and Janette's room again,
tucked in the corner by the windows to stay out of the way. I had my one
cider, and someone requested and got a second one, but there was one left
at the end of the night. I chatted a bit with Janette until Batty jumped
on her and she abandoned the chair. :) I chatted with some guys from
Chicago, I think, and had a moment of don't wanna move when one asked if
I'd step outside when he needed fresh air. I just couldn't face picking my
way across the bodies at that point. Fross was also nearby so I chatted
with him, and Spud came to lay down in the corner as well once he was done
tearing down in the ballroom. As I was leaving, security showed up to shut
down the party. I think it was still dark when I went to bed, so probably
around 5am.
Sunday August 10, 2008
I think I got up around noon again. First off, I went down to the hot tub
to ease my knee (it was really sore from dancing a lot) and a quick swim
to cool off again. It was *hot* up on the fifth floor deck, I almost
burned my feet walking from the pool back to my shoes. One of the guys
from Audra tried to sit and read in the shade, but gave up after about 5
minutes due to the heat. I took a quick shower and then headed down to the
lobby and right through when I didn't spot anyone, heading to First Watch
again to get breakfast. I asked for a table for one, and the group of four
ahead of me asked me to join them when they got their table. The staff
shuffled us to a bigger table and I sat down to an unexpected breakfast
with a group from Gainesville. It turned out that they knew someone I know
in Boston, Darla, from when they lived someplace else that I can't recall
right now. Very nice folks, and I got to chat with the woman with the
fully shaved head who I'd noticed around all weekend. I also exchanged
contact info with Dana since she hopes to come to Boston to work in my
field. One couple split off to hit the road, and I walked back to the
hotel with the other.
I went back to the market again, and this time got sucked in even more. I
spotted a table of waist cinchers at Isabella Corsets and since the price was
right, I had the proprietor lace me into a satin one. Wow, never knew my
waist could go so small, even if it was hard breathing. :) I put down my
credit card then and there, and wandered off with my new toy. :) I picked
up a striated quartz (I think) pendant, with green peridots that I put on
right away, as I was wearing my military inspired outfit (green top and
cargo skirt). I also picked up the RomantiGoth Coloring book. I ended up
in the elevator up to my room with the members of Audra, this Convergence
I'm being stalked by them, like Stromkern did in New Orleans. :) I put the
last three ciders on ice while I was up there. moses, Gala and I met up
in the lobby and decided on Thai Thani in the Creekside outdoor mall, and
we walked over together. There was enough of a breeze to mitigate the
heat, but I'd missed the rain storm while I was sleeping. The mango
jasmine iced tea was delicious and came with free refills, I think I had
three glasses. moses let me sip her cocktail (something with lychee in it)
and it was strong and yummy, but I wasn't up for anything alcoholic just
then. The food was good, I ate more than I meant to, but the walk back
helped settle my stomach. I sat in the Meet the Bids panel in the hotel
bar for a bit, but everyone was saying pretty much what I expected (geez,
jaded much?), so I went upstairs to prettify myself in time to get to the
venue to see the first band (Timly made me promise to catch them). I
talked to Cris briefly, but had to hang up as I was trying to lace myself
into my top and new corset. :) I didn't get the corset as tight as the
vendor did, but that was okay, since I wanted to be able to dance. I wore
my satin stretch capris and Doc Mary Jane's and threw a shawl over for
modesty before walking to the venue by myself. I regretted the shawl
immediately, even that light lace was too much in the still oppressive
heat. I followed the trail of people in black to the convention centre and
found the band room. It was pretty sparse, but I found moses right away
(in her awesome cargo bloomers) and I grabbed a drink. The bartender was
doing the best she could with the portable bar, and she gave me a nice
martini, even if I had to put up with a plastic cup. I kept stopping by
JV's table to put in ear plugs before each band, and chatting a bit. :)
Bands:
The Passing Hour: Energetic and awesome; let's just say that all
the pictures that I tried to take of Timly were a blur. :) I danced
through the whole set, it was great, and they handled the opening tech
difficulties with aplomb. I bought a CD and made Timly sign it, didn't win
the raffle for the bag though, I hope they tracked down the winner, as she
didn't claim her prize at the end of the night.
I ducked out here to catch Sexbat's set in the DJ room. He and Voodoo were
trying to fix the mixer, but I still danced as much as I was able after
exhausting myself during the Passing Hour set.
Missile Command: their "break up song" was about a mad physicist blowing
up the world because they lost the girl. Awesome. Very bouncy and fun.
Managed to snag one of the 25 free cds, a pre-release handburn.
Fiction 8: female vocalist, lots of yearning and sadness, solid gothic
rock.
Audra: I'd been looking forward to seeing them all weekend, and they
didn't disappoint, though I was a bit sad to see that the crowd had
thinned out a lot by the time they took the stage around 1am. The live
drums really made a difference and helped fill the space.
The only pictures I took all weekend were of the bands this night, click here.
I attached myself to Wookie and Madelyn for the walk back
to the hotel, and we chatted a bit with the servicemen who'd checked in
earlier and had been convinced to join us for the evening festivities at
the Convention Center. Yesterday's DJ room wasn't open so I ended up back
in the lobby, where I got the longest head rub ever. :) People phased in
and out, kest and EdwardS went up and liberated alcohol from 1301 and
Frank added to the cache as well. My leftover cider had showed up, so I
cracked it open and was sipping and talking about my job and movies and
reminiscing about the weekend. All while getting a head rub, my
concentration waned occasionally, but I was stubborn. :) At around 5, they
started cleaning up the lobby to get ready for breakfast, and we realised
that the pool and hot tub was open now, so we broke to meet up there. Spud
and a couple of ladies were anchoring the nekkid hot tub half, and a guy
and girl were sitting in the other half, wearing swimsuits. I slipped into
the clothed half and studied the stars when necessary. :) Timly and Frank
showed up as well, and the two Passing Hour punk bois were spotted on the
exercise machine (mohawk still up) and dipping hands in the pool, but they
couldn't be convinced to join gothic soup in the tepid tub. The jets
started to almost feel warm after a few restarts, but the sky faded to
purple and then blue as the sun came up before it really reached hot tub
status again.
Monday August 11, 2008
I had my alarm set for 11am, and I just had enough time to pack everything
(lucky my suitcase is soft sided!) and take a quick shower. I checked out
and was able to get the noon shuttle to the airport, just after being
handed a Goth Point and a CD in the lobby. :) I got to airport to check in
for my 2:20pm flight to JFK, and let the other shuttle passenger go ahead
of me, and hear him being told that our flight is cancelled. They rebooked
me on the 9:05pm flight direct to Boston, and told me to come back at
7:30. Okay, 7 hours to kill, so I take a taxi back to the hotel and have
them hold my luggage. Spud was nice enough to call Gala for me to let her
know I was around, and JV was gracious enough to go back to First Watch so
I could get my breakfast and he got his second breakfast. I snuck into the
business centre to get an update, and watched the delay on the new flight
go from 30 to 60 to 120 to 180 minutes. I signed up for all the flight
notifications, and got exactly zero voice mails from the airline.
I was rebooked on the flight that Gala had booked herself on, so we
ended up hanging out most of the day. We browsed through a used book
store, and I almost picked up a new novel but didn't find the perfect
airplane book. Gala found a neat book of poetry though. And we went out to
grab food at the Pita Stop/Pit/something, but my stomach was a bit queasy
so I sat and sipped my water while she ate. I hung out in the lobby for a
while, and heard Peter planning a dinner outing, so I signed up for that,
and then went out to procure more cash, as I'd need money for dinner,
getting back to the airport and then the cab home at 3am. I ate half my wrap a bit before heading out to dinner, as my stomach had settled - I was stressing out about the travel delays. Random movie quote text messages helped keep me sane though. :) I ended up
taking a half nap waiting for everyone to assemble, letting the known
voices wash over me in a comforting blanket, hat down over my eyes. They
even woke me up when it was time to go. :)
Went out to dinner at Oishi with Peter and crew, via the hotel shuttle bus,
and it turned out to share a lobby, and a drinks menu, with Thai
Thani. I twisted Sexbat's arm to get him to help me finish off the bottle
of sake I'd ordered (my fifth and final drink of the weekend, I think),
and generally relaxed and forgot about my travel woes. Ken wandered off to
go to the Castle, and the rest of us piled back into the shuttle that
Peter had called. In perfect timing, we came back to the hotel just in
time to get the 10pm shuttle to the airport. Once there, the flight was
listed at one time on the departure board, and another on the gate, both
different from what the phone system was saying. I ended up joking a bit with the woman who hand searched my purse (it was a mess, I'd been stuffing cards and receipts and CDs in there all weekend) - I have to remember to take my little metal pill case out of my purse before going through xray, it always worries people (I had it in my suitcase on the way out, no hand search then).
But the incoming plane
actually arrived and they were able to turn it around quickly and we were
on our way around midnight after all, landing at 2:30am. My luggage came
through okay, and I was able to get a taxi right away. I made it home at
3:15am, I guess all told I was delayed about the same amount on each end,
so it evened out. Kinda. *falling down now*
Pictures taken by other people:
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