Summer travel and event scheduling

[rax]

Short version:

• Brother's college graduation in Chicago, Jun 19-21 (you probably don't care about this unless you're family)
• Anthrocon (Jul 2-5 in Pittsburgh)
• Readercon (Jul 9-12 in Boston)
• Not Worldcon, sadly (it just costs as much as the other three put together and I'd rather do those)

Long version:

I'll be in Chicago or Chicago-ish from June 19th to the 21st because rathdei is graduating from college. I don't have a hotel booked yet, and I don't think I have couches I can surf, but maybe I am wrong. seth99rb , do you have plans yet? I probably won't have time for non-family stuff but I might be able to squeeze a couple of hours in if someone is nearby, and I always love seeing people. Let me know.

I'm going to Anthrocon, which I've never done before, but everyone tells me is fun and, well, it definitely counts as relevant to my interests. We have a suite in the Doubletree and we'd be happy to share. We're probably sharing with lutris , but there's room for more; let me know. I'm excited to meet new people there, including some of you reading this and your friends, so feel free to drop me planning lines. I don't have any specific plans other than "show up, meet people, play games, wear a catgirl costume* frequently." Actually, I do have this plot to bring scads of vegan food both to save money and to prevent "oh god where am I going to find vegan food when twenty furries want to go and eat nasty pizza." If you think having many gallons of lentil-seitan curry for the weekend is a good idea, drop me a line.

I'm going to Readercon, which at this point I pay for a year or two in advance. Readercon is the thing that convinced me that things ending in -con were worth going to. If you're interested in speculative fiction even a little bit and you want to have lots of amazing conversations about literature then this is where you want to be. It's local, and it's relatively inexpensive, so all you local people really have no excuse. postrodent , I am looking directly at you. I'm tempted to just bike there each day, though I'm tempted to do that every year and end up not doing so so that I can ferry people instead. I'll probably poll people on that issue closer to the event, since if you're making plans as to how you are getting somewhere ten miles away four months in advance, you are like me crazy.

If you've read this far you are either bored or addicted to scheduling information, so maybe you're interested in a couple of awesome concerts in Boston in April. The fall/winter will feature Fur and Loathing in ???, Catgirl Goth Rave, and maybe trips to North Carolina and/or California. Maybe even Texas. I don't know. Somewhere warm. But that will depend at least in part on grad school scheduling, and that information isn't available yet.

* You might be thinking "But Rachel, isn't wearing a catgirl costume around a bunch of people who have the hots for catgirls a terrible idea?" Here's the thing: Sure, if you're wearing a catgirl cosutme around, people might hit on you. Usually they're perfectly polite and you can just say no. But if they're not, and you hiss at them and make clawing motions at their face until they go away, everyone around you considers this completely socially acceptable. Personally I find this much more comfortable than your average nightclub, where people will hit on me anyway solely because I have breasts, and hissing at them and making physical threats is somehow considered rude. Your mileage may vary.

Comments

[ckd]

Readercon's on my list, though I don't know if I'll make it up for the Thursday programming or not. I already know how I'll get there; walk to Central, Red Line to Alewife, #350 to Burlington, walk a bit. (Last year I stayed over using Marriott points instead of commuting each day, and was much happier, so I'm determined to not commute this year either.)

[rax.livejournal.com]

I know a couple of people had trouble getting home on the #350 post-Kirk-Poland last year, or at least anticipated doing so and begged rides instead. But that's certainly a valid plan :) It looks like the 350 is even one of the routes with bike racks now, so if I decided biking home at 11 was stupid for whatever reason, I could take the bus much of the way home. Hmmmm...

Commuting doesn't bother me, because the value of sleeping at home and cooking my own food is high, but I can totally see how the hotel might be the way to go. It's not worth the cost to me.

I haven't decided on Thursday either; if it's like last year, I'll be able to go after work if I want to, so I figure I can decide after the schedule comes out.

[ckd]

When I did commute in previous years, I rented a car; that lowers the marginal cost of staying, though obviously doesn't eliminate it. (Another reason to stay over: driving an unfamiliar car back to Cambridge at 0300, by myself, after a long Mafia game is probably not the least safe thing I've ever done, but it's hardly the safest.)

[rax.livejournal.com]

Ah, I tend to leave by 11 or midnight, which helps a lot :)