My face is tense, my arms are tight and un-coordinated, and my nerves are shot; Annie is looking, perhaps a bit flushed, but otherwise, graceful, masterful, and most certainly, in control. That’s right, we’re dancing! A few of us took off to the University of Chicago where there was a free swing dancing lessons, followed by some swing dancing music and a general free-for-all in a beautifully painted room at the top of a wonderful, gothic building. The lesson was very good; though they kept rotating us around so I’m afraid I left the comfortable voice and general knowledge bank in Annie.
Within half an hour of the lesson I’d not only not master the basics of swing dancing, I was literally struggling with the most demanding dancing task of standing still, and the half turn was beyond me. Once they opened up the floor to general dancing my beautiful partner, looking poised and unconcerned, informed that this was the ideal time to forget everything they just told me. Due to the fact that I hadn’t learned it in the first place I figured this should be the easiest task of the night. Of course I was wrong, but at least it gave me some confidence for a few seconds until my shoes went back to squeaking and my body kept tipping over due to wrong feet or some such thing. The others were looking good as far as I could tell, but I’m not the guy to ask, my feet seemed particularly important at the time and the only chances I got to look up from them was absorbed by staring at Noah, elegantly swinging various women around in beautiful arcs.
By the end Annie had got me to move around with the beat every once and a while and we’d do a spin, Annie would kick out her feet, and we’d look like at least half a shining couple. I had a good time, though I was at wits end and past the end of my nerves but I saw Annie smiling and at the end, that’s what counts. I go now, to listen to Tom, wish me luck.
Hobbes Posted by KAMA_CON (Member # 6771) on :
Then, they all came back to Kama Con Central and we did a reading (or tried) of The Eye of Argon.
Space Opera won overall.
dkw got the prize for best reading.
Frisco won for "funniest"
and...
Jenny Gardner got the "audience vote" (and that's all I'm going to say about that!)
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Any way I can call you suckers from work?
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I was really hoping I'd just stay up today and come down to the KamaCon in the late morning/early afternoon. Now, I don't even know if I can do that. Jess and I have no money, and, though Chicago is close by, we won't be able to afford gas to get down there even for a quick visit. So... I'm sorry. I know you guys will have tons of fun with or without me, but I wish I could come.
Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
Love means to learn to look at yourself The way one looks at distant things For you are only one thing among many. And whoever sees that way heals his heart, Without knowing it, from various ills
Czeslaw Milosz Posted by SoberTillNoon (Member # 6170) on :
I don't know. I wish I were there, but then again, what could beat sitting here on my comp reading about it? Or rather a brief, yet elegantly described, event experiecned by Hobbes. Either way, I will go in a few years yet.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
STN, for me it is all about getting to meet the wonderful people here. Reading about it here can never make up for missing out on that.
But there will be other gatherings. Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
Today after eating at um... Bennington's? Ben-something? Zevlag, Eddie, ElJay, Marek, and I were walking back to the hotel when we came across a Party City shopping cart. So ElJay got in it and Eddie pushed her down the sidewalk. ElJay joked that it felt like she was in a pageant and started doing the wave that people in a pageant do. Then we passed a bus stop and she waved to the people there. As we were walking away one of the guys waving yelled, "Where do I get one those?!"
edit: rivka: "ronnie, why aren't we getting reports in person?"
[ August 14, 2004, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Rappin' Ronnie Reagan ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
How sad is it that I hear about this HERE, and not, well here -- in person?
Hmm?
[Edit: darn, beaten!]
[ August 14, 2004, 10:28 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
I had to preserve it for posterity!
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
It was great, so hillarious.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Here's something that I already told people.
On the way back from the Art Institute, when we got to the bus station, there was this random guy singing along loudly to a twenty year old boom box. He danced, the radio DJ broke into the song a bunch of times. (It was a tape, could have even been him) and then he just picked up his boom box and walked off without catching a bus at all. It was like.. the weirdest thing ever.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Rock on London Rock on Chicago! Wheaties: Breakfast of Champions.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Bob and I are home safely. Bummed about having to leave early, but happy that we were there and got to meet so many Hatrackers (and see again the ones we'd already met.)
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Glad to hear it Dk.
-Trevor
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
Although this is my first post on Hatrack I am here at KamaCon. I came with Fugu and Blacwolve to see what all of the fuss is about. I am really glad I came. All of the people here are great. Meeting these people has helped me get over my phobia of online friends. Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
Yay I got to talk to lots of cool people including Kama! And ohman, accent! Hehe.
... Doesn't stop me from wishing I was there, but hey, better than nothing. Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I must elaborate on our musical friend that Ryuko reported on. He was an older black gentleman, who looked from a distance like later-in-life Elvis. He was wearing huge gold aviator glasses and mutton chops. The tunes he was blasting from his circa-1984 boom box were straight off the soul train and taped off a particularly obnoxious radio show. Every now and then, paying no heed to Katharina and Jenny Gardener who were boogying down, he would sing along.
Just before the bus approached, he shouldered the boom box and headed down the street.
"You know what that was?" says Tom Davidson; "That was a Soul Fairy."
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh, also-
Hobbes, Annie and Ronnie Reagan are the OFFICIAL KamaCon Trivial Pursuit champions, though they won it by a very narrow margin over fierce competition.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
And even though they don't know what Yom Kippur is called.
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
It was mostly Annie doing the winning, though.
[ August 15, 2004, 03:40 AM: Message edited by: Rappin' Ronnie Reagan ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
What's it called when two people two feet apart post to the same thread a minute apart?
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
kamacon.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Touche.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Allegra!! Welcome!! I know you!! How's it going?
*sob* I WISH I WAS AT KAMACON! Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*pat pat*
Posted by SoberTillNoon (Member # 6170) on :
:: curses trivial prusuit ::
That game can ROT!
Posted by Allegra (Member # 6773) on :
Hey Shani! I am sorry you couldn't be here. How have you been? You should e-mail me and tell me all about everything.
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
I know allegra too, hehe. I wish I was there but I had fun at Indiana State fair leadership conference.
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Hi guys! Lime and I made it home safely. So did xnera! I just heard from her as well. So, yay! It's too bad we had to go...but, hopefully, we'll meet again soon!
We had a blast, by the way. Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I'm home safe, too! I was so happy to spend time with everyone!
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
I am sad you all had to leave, but I am so glad that you made it home safe!
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
*raised eyebrows*
Especially for the roommate who forces you to go outside at 5 AM? Posted by Happy Camper (Member # 5076) on :
I finally made it home too.
Good times. Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Ryuko and I are back in Minnesota, and she is on her way to work. We made good time, (read: didn't get stopped for speeding,) I only needed coffee once despite a mere 1.5 hours sleep last night, and as we were traveling West we got to watch a beautiful sunset.
It was a fabulous time, so happy to have met everyone I hadn't before and seen again all I already knew. Can't wait to do it again.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
And you remembered everything I asked you to bring home, yes?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Ummmmm.....
I don't know, what all did you ask me to bring home?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Oh, and it must be added that we came across a shopping cart after lunch today, too. So I gave Eddie a ride, and then Andrea hopped on, and then Ken joined her, and I pushed all three of them down the block and into traff... no, no wait, we stopped at the corner.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
Ken and I are also home safe, though he's in grandrapids and I'm in adrian again. ::sigh::
Ni!
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Kama Con has officially moved to my house for the night, though there are still people at the hotel. The reason why I can say it has officially moved for now is because I have Kama here.
AJ
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
Is that kind of like how no matter where the 'real' Air Force One is, any plane currently transporting the President is considered 'Air Force One'?
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Mmmm... Eye of Argon...
*snicker*
Couldn't make it through three sentences... *giggle*
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
tired.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Sup fools! Made it back home to Detroit. Hope you are all still having fun at Aj's house! Rock rock on!
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I'm alive and at work. Woo.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Well, I hope you're all satisfied...
I hope you had a fabulous time and didn't give the rest of us one thought... (except for those I talked to yesterday )
I hope you're all brimming with exciting stories that the rest of us can't participate in, and that will flood Hatrack for the next few weeks...
Ok, I'm done. *grumble* Kama, welcome to the US. Next trip Jerusalem, right? *nudge*
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I meant to talk to you, Raia, but I had to take a shower. You wouldn't want to talk to me when you could smell me all the way from Jerusalem...
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
*giggles* It's alright. We can talk another time, perhaps! I would have liked to talk to you too.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I made it home also...and am back at work. Stupid people on train keeping me from sleep.
I'll have a full report of my own tonight, time permitting. Let's do it again soon though! Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
quote:On the way back from the Art Institute, when we got to the bus station, there was this random guy singing along loudly to a twenty year old boom box. He danced, the radio DJ broke into the song a bunch of times. (It was a tape, could have even been him) and then he just picked up his boom box and walked off without catching a bus at all. It was like.. the weirdest thing ever.
YES! That was weird! A big old black dude from the 70's.... with a white lesure suit and huge sideburns. SHAFT! He's one bad motha-Shut yo mouth!
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
The grayhound had less weird people on in going home. I went to bed at 2 am and got up at 4 pm when my kids got home from school. I think I may have broken a sleep world record.
space opera
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Glad you made it safely!
AJ
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
((((((((((((((((AJ))))))))))))))))
Hobbes Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
We made it home with plenty of time to get to bed early, only to be kept up by the cats being "exuberant" over our return.
*grumble*
So how many t-shirt orders do you need to make a run of Soul Fairy shirts, ElJay? Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Made it safely home . . . oh, wait, that's tomorrow. Today I made it safely to my friends' place in West Rogers Park. So I guess I'm the last non-local left in Chicago?
Never try to take the CTA buses anywhere.
Never.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
I can't wait for all the full-length narratives of this one. Did Taalcon go (I hope)? His wenchcon series was so fantastic!
Noah, kat, all of you.... get posting!
And pics, where are the pics? mac, have you put any up yet?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Taalcon had Family Obligations. However, a small caped wax figure was created by kat to be a mini-Taal.
Don't think it/he writes much, though.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I never got to see the effigy Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Noah,
I owe you a pun.
I'll start a thread about it.
Been sort of frazzled lately, or I would've done it by now.
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
Tom's camera has a few pictures of the Dave effigy, playing D&D in particular.
Posted by Insanity Plea (Member # 2053) on :
nope, my camera has it, they'll be up tomorrowish...maybe...why am I posting this? You're four feet away.... Satyagraha
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Zev does that mean you've made it safely to Bernard?
AJ
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
AJ, yes.
Thanks for the awesome tour of your Lab, it was great! ::chuckles at Noah::
What was the name of that place we ate dinner at?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Portillo's hey IM me @ BannaOj if you are on, I don't think I have either of you on my buddy list.
AJ
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
*wishes she could have stayed to get the lab tour and eat dinner*
Next time I'm flying out of Knoxville rather than Nashville. I don't care if it's more expensive. A 5 minute drive rather than a 3 hour one is worth it.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Ah, so before I wasn't the only non-local still in Chicago, but now I am?
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
*nod* I understand that. One of those things you learn when you travel. I won't ever check luggage again without really good reason, just isn't worth it. If you can do it all carry on it is so much easier.
Glad you made it back safe Sarah.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
yeah, when are you leaving rivka? I was hoping I'd see you tonight but they said you were with family. Tomorrow night I have to go pick up my dogs.
AJ
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Actually, I ended up staying with friends (she's originally from L.A. and they visit often). And it turned out that tomorrow lunch worked better than today to meet up with my cousins.
My flight out isn't until almost 9 pm tomorrow, but if you are going to pick up your dogs, sounds like you won't have much free time.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Lime, how many orders are needed depends on how much you want to pay for the shirts. There's a $30 set-up fee... get 10 orders, shirts will be about $20. Get 30 orders, they'll be about $12.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)
How's it going?![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Can't wait to do it again.
![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)
![[Group Hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)