Toronto Trek 2004 convention report

Friday

Packed and stopped at the Beer Store on the way out of town.
Picked up John and drove in after stops to get wine and groceries.
Checked in to hotel.
Ran into Nathan almost immediately.
Registered at con and ran into Dan.
Hooked up with Nathan again and checked out the charity auction (some interesting items present).
Went to hotel bar for a coffee and pitched John my idea for a new short story.
Looked through dealer’s room and was very tempted by a number of swords there.
Bumped into Julie and Roger briefly as familiar faces started to congregate (or aggregate) as they do at these events, and they’re good to see.
Went to dinner with John, Lara, Tim, Mary, Rob and Lara’s friend Jennifer (had a great discussion about free medicine, Tolkien and teaching).
At Klingon Karaoke, John signed up a number of us for Sweet Home Alabama.
Got dragged onto the dance floor (and have a scratch to prove it) for the Macarena (though there don’t seem to be any clear pictures to incriminate me).
Escaped with the group before having to do any singing.
Talked Roger into sharing some Scotch with John and I (not a difficult thing to do) before turning in for the night.

Saturday

John and I grabbed breakfast at Harvey’s (mmmm, congealed grease).
Newsgroup gathering was fun with many friends (got to see Annette’s picture book {Wow!}). Also talked to Julie about story idea (which developed as I talked about it).
Went to see Stephanie Romanov (Lilah from Angel) and then ducked out to one of see Julie’s panels.
Picked up lunch from con volunteer’s table by accident (oops) and sat in the consuite for a while, until we had to escape.
Went to the advanced swordplay panel, which was interesting for learning what to look for in a sword, though I’m more interested in swords for display than actual use as the panel leaned towards.
Dinner at Milestone’s with almost everyone, unfortunately we couldn’t all sit together, but there was a lot of visiting between tables.
Had a few drinks up in the room with John and Jana then off to the masquerade.
Discovered at the masquerade just how loud Jana can scream.
Had a few more drinks in consuite I think (uh oh, that’s getting to be a theme).
Danced, which is always more fun than I expect.
Gathered in room with Nathan, Andrew, Nicole, Roger, Ruth, Kevin, Chris, Sarah, Karina, Jana and Julie.

Sunday

Up far too early for breakfast at Tim’s with John, Kevin, Nathan and Miranda.
Started out at panel for Space: The Imagination Station (who cancelled DS9, damn them) and ducked out to go see The Art of War for SF & F.
Caught Rob Sawyer’s reading from his forthcoming book Mindscan (not available until April 2005).
Went to Harvey’s for lunch with newsgroup.
Talked writing with Lara, pitched her my idea for a new short story.
Went for post-lunch coffee with John and Tim and had a good conversation about politics and religion.
Caught Sarah on the Fantasy: Recommended Reading panel (looking forward to trying some of her recommendations).
Slowly said goodbye to everyone before driving home again through lightning, thunder and some really good downpours.

The tally of friendly faces at the con

I’m probably missing someone, but I can’t remember. Sorry.

Dispatches from Obscurity