Reality sinks in

[gwyn]

Got back from Escapade last night and since I pretty much got off the plane, my lungs have felt as if they're full of fluid. I have never come back from a con with con crud -- I've certainly brought it with me when I went to one, but I've never come home with it, and I still don't know if that's what's wrong or not. I am starting to feel like I have a fever, though, so maybe it is some weird kind of cold that's in my lungs first, which has never really happened before. It makes me nervous, what with my propensity for severe bronchitis.

I did more at the con than I expected to, but still not as much as I used to do, now that I'm apparently no longer part of the vid show. It's weird not to be enslaved to Saturday night setup. When we got in, Tina and I decided to go hiking in a canyon I read about in a recent book I copyedited about California waterfalls, and while the fall was quite tiny and unimpressive, the hike was lovely and a great way to see part of the Pacific Coast we haven't had a chance to before. This is something we do every year -- see a part of the LA area we've never been to, and each year it's different and unexpected and fun. Honestly, for this reason alone, it's worth going to the con, to be warm and surrounded by palm trees and see things you've never seen before.

There were some fun panels I sat in on, and I heard that my Yuletide Justified story was pimped in the Justified panel, which made me feel redonkulously happy. The Prison Break vid I posted a bit ago seemed to be well-received, and that made me feel pretty good, which was nice since I haven't had a lot of that in my life lately.

Best part of the con was that I got to meet ixchel55 in person, and she even said the Prison Break vid intrigued her enough to want to check it out -- that was the thing I most hoped for, that someone would be interested in possibly giving it a try, so yay, and that it was someone I adore, even better. This is why I always want to encourage people to go to cons -- meeting fellow fans, not having to explain yourself to people but just to be who you are in a friendly place, to hang out and watch and read and talk about the things you love most...it's worth every penny, especially when it's a break from a stressful life. And when it's California in February, well, bonus.

We had one day of bad weather, but the rest were nice (if a little chilly). I went for many walks along the beach, went shopping on Main Street, and petted a lot of dogs. Good times. Sunday night I had a little Oscar party in my room, which is always a nice way to unwind after a con. The worst part of the whole weekend actually turned out to be the drive to the airport on Thursday -- it had snowed quite a bit here the night before, and all the hilly streets here were covered in ice. I was utterly terrified the entire drive in, figuring the Shuttle Express van was going to crash horribly on the ice (me to driver as he starts up a hill by my house so steep I don't even walk up it when there isn't ice on it: "Do you have studded tires?" Driver, blithely: "No. But I've been out for three hours and haven't had any trouble so far." Me, interior monologue: OMG we're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die.)

I was sadder than usual leaving this year. The whole Sunday afternoon I was trying not to cry -- somewhat unsuccessfully at times. When I got home, I went to Shuttle Express for my van ride home (thankfully ice-free this time), and the driver took my suitcases and started walking past the vans, past the cars, waaay over to the other side of their area, and opened a door of a limo. I was all, "Whaaaaa?" but he put my stuff in the back, and the other couple going to my area did the same thing, and we laughed and laughed about it. The driver never did tell me why we got a limo for the price of a van, but it was my first real limo ride (longer than five minutes), and a lot more comfy than a van.

The kitties were only mildly interested in my being home, Olive mostly so she could get outside after five days of being trapped in the house with Blues. I think this is why I need a dog -- to actually appreciate me if I go away.

Comments

[the_shoshanna]

Several of us seem to have brought con crud home this year; elke_tanzer is pretty much flattened, and I have a chest cough and throat tickle that I am desperately fending off. I hope you manage to fend off yours!

I heard that my Yuletide Justified story was pimped in the Justified panel

To be specific, someone appreciatively quoted Raylan's line "Oh. Well, aren't I an asshole" (having given its context, but not otherwise identified the story) and I immediately yelped "OMG that is a brilliant Raylan line, who wrote that?" to a general chorus of agreement, but the person quoting it didn't remember the author, so I pulled it up on my iPad and then found you as soon as I could to squee at you!

[gwyn]

Well, hey, that's an even better story, to be honest!

[sweet-woodruff.livejournal.com]

Having my dog greet me when I get home from work each day makes going to work worthwhile.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I feel like I just can't bring a dog into the house with things so topsy-turvy right now, but I want to so bad. I love that cats are independent, but there are times I could stand a little more dependency. ;-)

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

I so loved getting the chance to meet you in person but we didn't get to spend nearly enough time together.

I loved both of your vids but then, that's no real surprise. Your vids are featured multiple times in my top 10% favorites.

And speaking of Prison Break, can you guide me to any good Mahone/Michael fic? *wiggles eyebrows*

EDIT: Well crap, and I meant to add that I hope your concrud clears up soon. I felt a little crappy on the plane ride home but that cleared up quickly as soon as I got out into the fresh air. *hugs*

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, I really was disappointed when I realized at times you weren't around and I couldn't waylay you -- but I kind of hoped the reason you weren't there was that you were doing something fun, and it sounds like you were. TIna and I still have never gone to Echo Park to look for the store, I wish I could have done that with you guys.

So, SDWolfpup has a beginner's guide to Michael/Mahone, (http://sdwolfpup.livejournal.com/448830.html) but some of the story links are gone, which makes me sad -- because someone who ran a major community purged it, the asshats. But with a little research you can find almost all of them; I'm still trying to locate a few. You can also find some good stories on AO3 by out_there (my faves of hers are Your New Twin-Sized Bed and Form, Not Meaning) and flurblewig (Breaking the Rules is wonderful, and she also has a Mahone story from Lang's point of view -- this will make sense once you see the show -- that's superb called Angustia). If you do a search on PB and that pairing, their stories should come up.

One of my other favorite stories is by X (who also has a lovely piece of fan art at her site) called The Ninth Fold, at both her site and on AO3. It's long and meaty and really hot. She's taunted me by telling me that she has more for the future, potentially.

And SDW also has two wonderful vids that I love, Like a Stone and the hilarious Paralyzer, both of which should be watched.

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

I've been really remiss in not letting you know that I really appreciate the info.

You're right in that unfortunately most of the links in the info post are no longer valid, but since it supplies names and authors I've been able to track down most of them. I read X's first because I love her writing and you're right, it's nice and meaty and hot. I'll have to drop her a line with kuddos and a little nudge. *G*

And the full wall scene? Yaowza! Hot hot hot!

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I'd say the lungs sound like walking pneumonia maybe, but I don't know from regular asthma either. Airplane air is pretty provoking stuff either way.
Hope you feel better soon!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thank you -- I am so disappointed that my streak of never getting con crud has been broken!