Happy October! I've finally gotten my act together to plan my trip in just over a month for the final con to be held by Creation in NJ. I'm ambivalent as I'm not enamored of Creation but they were a great reason for me to travel and see a bunch of fandom friends AND a bunch of folks from college. Anyhow, here's what I have planned:

- Nov. 6 (Thursday): Fly to Baltimore after work. Very late night arrival.
- Nov. 6: Need to find a hotel. I'm leaning towards the hotel jalabert and I stayed in Columbia, MD last year since I know the area but it's smarter to find a place that is on the road to Cherry Hill, NJ.
- Nov. 7: Drive to Cherry Hill, NJ. (I'm doing it this way because flying to BWI was half the price of Philly when I was pricing tickets *and* Hertz promised me a Prius at that airport at a reasonable rental price. No Prius guarantee in Philly.)
- Nov. 7-9: Con in Cherry Hill, NJ. selmak and janiekins, I finally chose to take my chances and stay at the very poorly reviewed con hotel. I'd like to say I did this with a sense of camaraderie and misery loves company but the truth is I need to scale back vacation spending. This is the least excited I've ever been about a con line-up. No major SG-1 actors at all and no female guests, either. At least this will help me save money on con photos.
- Nov. 10: Check out of crappy con hotel.
- Nov. 10-15: Undecided. I would *like* to visit yams69 and family since I'm already there but as I don't yet know their schedules because I never got back to them with my itinerary, I don't know if/when they're available to play. We spoke about hitting some of the Revolutionary War historic sites when I was last there and those still appeal strongly. Else, I'm tempted to return to explore the Smithsonian since it's free, stuffed full of amazing things, and I've spent far too little time there. And there's a Ghanaian restaurant in D.C. that sounded cool but ran out of time for last year. jalabert, I'm trying to figure out how to visit NY, meet the new kitty, see you, and visit my beloved Met. Given that I have an extra family member living with me and the expenses of the hurricane and the economic downturn, I'm having trouble. I don't think I can afford a week at the Crowne, eating out a lot, traveling, and the incidentals. Would you be willing to spend some time in D.C.? My plan is to have a rental car again so I could pick you up/drop you off if needed. :)
- Nov. 16 (Sunday): Fly back to Houston.

It seems that waiting for breakfast becomes my LJ update time. I'm packed and ready to head back to Texas. Next year's con moves to Cherry Hill and I can't say that I'll be sorry to never again stay at this hotel. On the plus side, the elevators worked this time. I have a nice view of the Manhattan skyline and it is particularly convenient to get into the City but Secaucus is not my idea of a great vacation spot.

Random con thoughts:

1. The shortest route between Point A and Point B in Secaucus involves an extended tour of industrial parks and at least one turn into a scary-looking garage.

2. Michael Shanks was early to the breakfast and spent a long time at every table. He wore black leather and black denim. I'm not so clear on what's up with the hair but it was obvious that whatever it was, it was on purpose. I might not be down with it but I was so ridiculously thrilled that he wasn't wearing a baseball cap that I was willing to forgive and forget.

3. Michael Shanks gave us a deliciously evil laugh when we were discussing his casting as Lucifer in the upcoming Rage of Angels. He remains optimistic that the project will be produced.

4. Do not ever get between Jay Acavone and his $150 jar of facial cream.

5. Tony Amendola reads Shakespeare beautifully. The fact that he followed it with a theatrical reading of doggerel and bad internet jokes only proved I'd happily listen to him read anything.

6. Kate Hewlett is an excellent playwright. This was a wonderful discovery last night. She's also a fun guest and clearly enjoyed being onstage.

7. Cliff Simon? He is still incendiary hot. They tailor his wardrobe on the show and it's all real leather. Oh yeah, and since he's "ripped" (his words), they made a decision to remove the sleeves from most of his wardrobe in the forthcoming movie. The guys (MS and RDA?) made sport of him for this while filming.

8. A third movie script is being written. I have no idea if that means we'll *see* a third, but Brad is penning one.

9. Alexis Cruz is still a thoughtful kind of guy but the cabaret act is not one you'd expect from a guy who was on the schmaltzy, Christian-fest Touched by an Angel.

10. Paul McGillion's Scottish accent reasserts itself in direct proportion to the hotness of the woman standing in front of him. :)

11. I'm still sorry that Steve Bacic couldn't make it.

12. Cons are still all about the friends. No surprise that I had fun with the usual suspects (selmak, janiekins, triciabyrne1978) but also with niamaea, who turns out to be exactly as cool and nice and pretty as I suspected. I got to know a lot of people from Gateworld this time around. I would be willing to wade into the abyss in order to keep up with Dave and Marla, who were just plain wonderful.

13. Meeting triciabyrne1978's family was...interesting. It's good to know that she comes by her smut gene naturally.

14. The hotel bartender didn't get to us often but he "made up for it" by forgetting to include the mixers. However, a glass of tequila really isn't an improvement over the margarita I ordered. Not that that stopped me from drinking it.

15. Creation Cons are MUCH MUCH MUCH more enjoyable when they're run by a really nice, laid-back guy. With the exception of a few incidences, it was easy to forget that we were at a Creation Con. It was the (mostly) pleasant event that I suspected a con could be. I almost don't feel overcharged. ;)

Just dropping a quick note from the lovely wifi at Panera. Vacation thus far has been excellent. Fall is late this year, I guess, because I had beena ssured this was too late in the year for stunning fall color but the trees are a beautiful green, gold, orange, and red along the routes I've taken. Since last Friday, I've been to Maryland (Columbia, Baltimore, and Rockville), Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and now Flemington, NJ.

( Ramblings to help me remember but probably not of general interest unless you're bored at work. Much talk of museums and visiting with friends. )

Has anyone received tickets yet for the Con in NJ? I haven't yet but I've dug out my statements and printed copies to have in hand when Creation inevitably bungles the tickets.

So, here's the final itinerary I've come up with. Not a whole lot of changes. I need to get to NYC earlier than planned so that I can catch dinner with la_directora before she takes off to work on a film. I've added in a side trip to the Smithsonian this coming Sunday, though I know it'll make me weep for all of the stuff I *won't* have a chance to see.

( Itinerary )

yams69, mcroft, and immlass -- PLEASE look over this schedule and make certain it still works for you. If not, don't be shy about telling me. I can happily adjust so that I spend more time at the Smithsonian or I can go to Manhattan a day earlier and catch more time with la_directora, maybe a full day at the Cloisters or some time at the Frick? There's always more to do than I have time so you won't hurt my feelings. :)

Oct. 26 - Nov. 5: TEN DAYS!!! Woot!

( I've bought my tickets and made my hotel reservations. )

My plane tickets cost me $5 since I cashed in a wad of frequent flyer miles. Quite the savings over the nearly $400 it was going to cost otherwise. :)

It's time to begin nailing down the details of my trip to the great states of New York and New Jersey. I'm tentatively looking at Oct. 26-Nov. 5/6. That gives me a weekend up there where I don't have any plans!

- yams69** are you still reading my LJ? I got the baby announcement (WOO! I didn't even know M was pregnant!). How does that affect your time? Will y'all be available to visit? I know this means you'll have less flexibility in schedule so I want to know your life schedule early so I can make plans to see you, M, M, M, and A. Whoa - you have Triple Ms. Very cool. :) I could plan to rent a car/room in the area if that would make visiting easier.
( More blathering to friends )

So, I've got a very full mental schedule but now I need to check with youse guys. Does that time period look good?

**See what deleting your LJ did?? They must have purged it and now you're listed without even a head. *sniffle*

I'm home. I haven't yet ventured over to my f-list but will be doing so very soon. Short version of the trip:

- No Gale Harold autograph. Blond isn't his best color but he's STILL smoking hot.
- Thousands of photos. THOUSANDS. Shouldn't take me forever to Photoshop though since lighting this year was excellent. wive, I tried to get lots of good Jason shots for you. Next time I'm taking a phone book to the breakfast and dessert parties for the guests to read just in case our group runs out of questions.
- For those Stargaters who know Mikey, you know he takes great photos of the many, many cons he attends but never has the time to process and share. He kindly agreed to allow me to copy his digital photos dating back to Gatecon in England this past year to prep and post. I have about 5.5 GB of his photos in addition to my own thousands. Oy.
- Even using my firewire connection, I expect tonight's photo transfer to take hours. :|
- jalabert, triciabyrne1978, katiedammit, moonshayde, janiekins, and selmak totally rock. Youse guys make going to Secaucus (pronounced Se-cawwww-cus) not a Bad Thing. :)
- Blisters on the bottom of your feet? Really not pleasant.

It's off to the airport for me after work today! This is my final obnoxious "I'm so excited and it's going to be so much fun" post; hopefully to be followed in a week by obnoxious "that was even better than I'd hoped" posts. Consider yourselves warned and configure those filters appropriately. ;-)

I'll miss my f-list something fierce -- I think I'm addicted to y'all. I'm not going to quote Brokeback Mountain here re: quitting you, but it's only because I'm a bit hyper this morning and I know that's really annoying on a Monday.

~~**~~

SERIOUS BUSINESS for those in the U.S.: Please, please, please vote in the next election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7. I will get home just in time to vote and probably will forget to exhort you to go vote.

I fail to understand this willingness to not vote that the majority of our country feels. Every election is crucial but this one could be about restoring checks and balances to our government. This is about saying no to torturing prisoners. This is about not being evil.

Hey, Frodo lost a finger to destroy the Ring; all you have to do is touch a screen -- and you get to keep the finger.

I know I have some non-liberals on my f-list (shocking!). I'm urging you to vote, too, though I'm obviously hoping my viewpoint prevails. Never, ever give up your right to vote. For so much of our history, having the temerity to show up and vote could get you arrested (women) or, worse, killed (minority men). Please don't throw away the opportunity that people died to secure for you.

*Wonder if I have any Arlo Guthrie on my iPod...

I meant to post yesterday about the two great things happening in New Jersey -- mcroft's birthday and the court decision striking the blatantly discriminatory marriage strictures -- but I didn't have the chance. Sorry to have missed both celebrations because they're both worthy of much happiness and they both make life better.

~~**~~

mcroft and/or immlass -- Are y'all available on Halloween day and/or night? That's one point on my schedule not already fully planned; I wanted to check with you prior to filling in that spot.

~~**~~

My fandoms have been colliding. Randy Harrison is performing one night only on stage at a time when I will be in town. I had a crisis as I tried to decide between a con and seeing Randy Harrison live. Albeit with his clothes on. *smirk* Yanno what? Teryl Rothery so won that contest.

But I'll still be looking at my watch at 5 p.m. and wishing I could arrange to have two of me so I could see the other thing, too. It should help that I'll be seeing Gale onstage but not really. I'd love to see Randy Harrison doing improv but it can't be helped.

~~**~~

They've added both Colin Cunningham and Joe Flanigan to the con line-up. The first makes me happy and the second, indifferent. I'm sure Cliff Simon is breathing a sigh of relief that he won't, in fact, be entertaining the con attendees onstage for 6 hours straight.

My hypothetical friend reports that UPS delivered a recommended iPod gizmo today.

~~**~~

( Last time through for the NJ itinerary. )

Just checked the con schedule, in hopes of figuring out how to squeeze in my non-fandom friends and noticed that:

- Michael Shanks has been removed from the guest list. Bummer. I do like to take pictures of the man. He's very pretty.

- TERYL ROTHERY HAS BEEN ADDED! I know, I know. It's impolite to shout but oh my god, I was just whining about how it seemed wrong to have a con without her and there she is!!! Oh joy! katiedammit, is there anything now you want me to get signed?