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My daughter Sidra picked the con slogan this year. Due to budget cuts, Cepheid Variable lost all of their funding. They worked their butts off and made enough money to put on this con without the help of the Texas A&M University.
In fact, they made a profit, due to promoting this convention extensively, and have made a good start to paying for next year's convention. Take that, A&M! The geeky Fighting Texas Aggie Spirit is alive and well in Cepheid Variable!
We had a great time. Because we were trying to support the convention, The Collector Times bought a table and Joe Singleton came down from Dallas to do commission sketches at the table. Paul and I both spent a lot of time there, talking to Joe and to convention goers. Joe drew commissions, got new fans to read The Collector Times, and drew beautiful artwork in his spare time. I even have one you can win by entering here.
I flitted around a lot. I spent a lot of time between hanging out with Sidra and her friends at registration, sitting at our table, and perusing the dealers room. As usual, we bought too much stuff. I managed to lay hands on the game Settlers of Catan. Sidra's fiance Zack really hooked us on it when he brought it over to our house to play one weekend. I bought some buttons for a friend of Sidra's in New York, who wanted one that said "Arch Nemesis." It's a private joke between her and me, and I was happy to oblige. I bought a cute gargoyle cat statue, some amber earrings, some comics (one of which will be reviewed in this issue,) and the Munchkin expansion pack for Sidra. Paul bought several science fiction books and was happy.
As usual, the art show was fabulous. VF-XX should be writing more about it in detail, but AggieCon has one of the best art shows I have ever been to. This year was no exception, and I bought another winged cat print for our collection, and Paul bought a alien space ship scene for his workplace.
Speaking of VF-XX, I had a task for him this convention. Usually at AggieCon, he disappears into the gaming rooms and we never see him again. This year I asked him to take me with him, and he obliged by selecting a game. I have done a LARP once, but have never been into the actual gaming rooms, so I decided it was time for me to give it a try. VF-XX, Zack, a friend of theirs named Bryan, and a couple of strangers got together for a game of the new version of Car Wars. It was really, really fun. Part of it might have been the folks involved and the guy who was running the game. The table next to ours didn't appear to be having anywhere near the fun we were. We laughed, we hooted and hollered, we made smart remarks, and tried to destroy our opponents. I told Zack I was practicing to be The Future Mother in Law From Hell and he happily tried to take me down, too. It was dysfunctional family fun, I tell you.
I know it's a stereotype, but sometimes these stereotypes have some basis in fact. It was quite obvious that someone in that gaming room had forgotten his or her deodorant for the day, but thank God for the human olfactory system's ability to adjust. I didn't notice it after awhile.
Friday night Joe, Paul and I went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show production. Sidra played Frank-N-Furter again this year. The cast is really good, and what I think enhances the production is that most of the cast looks like the screen versions. Plus, what they do every year behind the sheets is different and hilarious. This time it involved farm animals and alien spaceships. Each year I see the production it gets better and better, and I am looking forward to seeing it next year.
I spent an afternoon with Zack's and VF-XX's friend Bryan. I had met him before, but hadn't really spent any time with him. Apparently his mother has read science fiction/fantasy in the past so he thought nothing of hanging out with ancient old me. We cruised the art show and dealer's room, and talked about science fiction and fantasy books we had enjoyed, and I bought him a copy of Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. I feel everyone should read that one, and I thought it was something that Bryan would enjoy. He's a really nice young man, and I was glad to spend time with him.
All in all we had a great time, and the convention was very well run. I hear the programming got screwed up a bit, but for a convention this size, it was very well done. I encourage everyone to attend. I'm sure you'll have as much fun as I did at this friendly, laid back con.
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