I got some time to hit the dealer room as well as to pick up Balticon 42 tee shirts for both of us. The largest offering in the dealer room was a wide variety of books. I found the same dealer from whom andreahg had bought my Cthulu fish tee last year and picked up a Cthulhu for President tee. You know, when you're tired of the lesser evil.

sailormur's Live Takeover audio drama was fantastic and hilarious. She had a full cast who gave a stellar performance. I got to help her record video with her desktop tripod and flip camera. I can't wait until the podcast starts.

This was followed by one of the video podcasring panels, 101, I think. southernronin kept the discussion flowing smoothly and ensured the panelists covered a good survey of topics. I had to duck out partway through, though, as my blood sugar had started to crash. I didn't snag any food, my first mistake of the day. I don't think I got anything to drink, either.

My first author reading of the day was Joshua Palmatier. He read from the last book in his epic fantasy trilogy which was recently released. I missed Danielle Ackley-McPhail's reading because the schedule errata was a cryptogram my addled brain could not solve.

The next reading I recorded was the Short Short Slam. The authors included planetx, blackwell, Steve Wilson, James Patrick Kelly and Bill deSmedt. This was my favorite reading after sailormur's. Jared and JR read from some of their short works. Jared obliged my request to read The Bitter Kiss of the Ronin's Cup, the first story I heard him read, the very first time I met him. I love that story! Jim Kelly read a single short piece that seemed familiar though I couldn't say if I read it before as he didn't remark on where it might have been published. Steve and Bill both read excerpts from their longer fiction.

The final reading of the day was Mur's. I didn't have to record it as Martha had it covered. I love Mur's fiction and the excerpts she shared from her current work in progress is no exception. The room was packed to the point where late comers had to be turned away. The heat, unfortunately, really did me in, on top of the dehydration and low blood sugar.

I quickly made me way back to the main podcast room to record the live Aliens You Will Meet for Jared. It was a real treat meeting both Richard Kalwaic and Russell Collins, the narrator and composer respectively who Jared is lucky to have contribute. I think the dual channel audio with the paddle mic for the music and Q&A plus the hand mic for Richard will give Jared some very workable audio to publish in his feed.

At this point, I had to have a time out. I retired to the room, not interested in the hotel restaurant or able to find anyone hanging about looking hungry. I ordered a bacon sandwich. (A BLT? Let's call it what it is, please.) It was delicious and along with the Tres Pistoles and the blissfully cool room air did much to repair my mood. If at any point previous I grouched at you, please accept my apology. It was a set of circumstancs entirely of my own making.

I relaxed further down in the lobby waiting for Heather Welliver's concert to start. I got a chance to chat with Heather a bit before her performance. She was nervous but proved to have no good reason to be. Stokley Rose warmed up the crowd for her, also stalling to allow more folks with conflicting panels to make it to her show.

Kulture Kast conducted a recording for their fiftieth episode outside in the court at the same time, meaning that while the turn out was good, there were some conspicuous absences. I bought Heather a well deserved drink after her set and there was much carousing in the bar and lounge after. As the Kulture Kast recording let out (did they really take three hours? More?), I finally got a chance to see folks I hadn't seen much of to that point. I also got a chance to formally meet James Patrick Kelly and chat with him a bit. I very much enjoy his regular column in Asimov's.

The volunteers I mentioned in the day 1 post, by the way. All no shows. Late on day 2, a fellow approached us offering himself and his iRiver. Martha and I pounced, though we managed not to overload him. He helped us capture three readings on Sunday, which was an improvement over last year where it was just Martha and myself.

We got a late start. Our first event was The Singularity. Dave Kanter and southernronin put on an amazing event, only topped by a huge announcement from the crazy talented creators of Stranger Things. I'm not sure if or when this can be discussed publicly, so I'd suggest subscribing to their feed to get the official announcement in their feed direct from Earl.

We split after The Singularity and I recorded a couple of author readings: Walter Jon Williams and Tom Doyle. I had heard about Williams' upcoming novel, Implied Spaces via an ad on Escape Pod. He read from the manuscript and I am even more interested than I was before. Tom Doyle's reading from last year was one of my favorites and we had corresponded a bit leading up to this year. I was not disappointed. Plus, Doyle bribed us with cookies. Again.

I got to meet David Williams who made a very strong, favorable first impression. I could not stay for his reading but Martha said it was great. I am glad she recorded it so I'll get a chance to hear it.

I managed to grab a quick lunch in amongst my recording obligations and kept far better hydrated. Also, the reading room, Pimlico, had fully functional air conditioning, so I was able to apply the hard won lessons of the day prior to keeping a more even keel.

I will admit that I found the End of an Era panel frustrating. I am embarassed to admit I was not very gracious about it, not good behavior for a panelist regardless of the mysterious topic or the uneven moderation. Billy Flynn did an excellent job, do not get me wrong, but I don't feel like I got an opportunity to make what few points I had to make. Jon Stallard, the Vicar, expressed similar sentiments on at least two occasions, so I am not all that upset.

If you had to endure my glower from the corner, again, my apologies. It was nothing personal and I should have found a better attitude before showing up. Also, by way of explanation, I was asked by Mur to record her event with Connie Willis and becuase of my prior commitment, had to decline. I do not like having to do so for any of my friends since my volunteer time and my gear is my own small but regular contribution to supporting and promoting their work. That disappointment goes double when the request comes from Mur. Quadruple when the event in question is her interviewing one of her heroes. Again, I should have better mastered my own disappointment as the panel isn't about me but what the attendees want to hear and what questions they have to be answered. I'm just saying I think I had some good reasons to at least glower on the inside.

Andrea and I got a chance to get away for dinner. It was a tad rushed but a pleasant interlude. It was also another regularly spaced meal, so kept my blood sugar well away from the critical grouch threshold.

We got back in time for me to make my last recording of the day and the weekend, Jeri Smith-Ready. She read from her new novel, a bit of magical realism involving vampires and a rock radio station. Good stuff.

I finally got my script for the live Mister Adventure. Rich and Davey generously gave me a few lines for the performance at Ravencon and Rich gave me an even bigger part for this episode. Jared, as Dr. Richards, and I had some fun with the geeky banter between our two characters, and Earl, as Dr. Zhou, got some great laughs at our expense with jabs like "nerd fight" and "geek testosterone". The cast was huge, the performance overall was a smash and it was certainly a high point of the con.

Sadly, I forgot to switch on my mic, as I had agreed to help Rich further by taking a recording. Thankfully, there were plenty of other recorders running, so my hthink-o should hardly affect Rich's ability to edit together a listenable episode for his regular listeners. In particular, David Kanter, of Stranger Things, had a pretty impressive bit of gear. There was also cthulhim's iRiver and someone else's H2, Paulette Jaxton's, I believe.

I immediately bolted from the room after we wrapped and I hastily packed my gear. I got ten steps down the hallway when I ran into a friend (and fellow committee member on USACM) who pointed out my next, and final, panel was in the room I had just left.

The panel in question was the Solo Podcasting panel. As with my copyright panel, I spent some time preparing ahead of time and think it went smoothly. I cannot thank the panelists enough: Grailwold, MA in PA and Jared as their answers and anecdotes totally made the panel. We had a good turnout and the audience seemed to agree.

I attended my only science panel a bit later on, after dropping off my gear. scifilaura was on a discussion of the science of Hitchhiker's Guide. The idea was appealing, the execution not so much. There was some good ideas and discussion but it tended to stray a bit far afield. Also, with Laura's involvement, I had hoped there might by a bit more astronomy or cosmology. As it was, she didn't get much input, partly because of the sciences that were discussed and partly because of somewhat weak moderation.

There was a gathering in the bar after. It was mostly quiet and I ducked out early since we needed to hit the road on the early side to get matt_wallace to his flight out of National on time. I got a chance to say good bye to almost everyone, but if I missed you, now you know why.

The high points were, as with last year, the author readings. I met more great folks and renewed acquaintance with a few more. My two absolute favorites were the short short slam and Mur's reading (despite the heat and its contribution to my grouch implosion later on that day). The live events I attended came a close, close second. Balticon is the only con I attend with so many readings and my volunteer time is actually spent more on recording them than supporting the podcast programming, which is relatively self sufficient. I love the live events, but they are not unique to Balticon and I know I can look forward to attending or even participating in them at many other conventions, as well.

The low points were my two sour moods, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, detailed each in previous posts. This year I worked on my organizational skills as a volunteer, a panelist and a moderator. Next year, I need to work on my poise under fire and maintaining a graceful facade no matter how I may actually feel about a particular situation.

No one likes seeing an irritable volunteer or a grouchy panelist. The programming is for the benefit of the attendees first, the panelists second and the staff/volunteers last. I don't want to be the one anyone remembers from an experience of a particular panel as spoiling it, no matter my personal feelings. I know that may sound self martyring or whatever. It's not. I am happy to bitch and vent out of ear shot. I am just saying I need to keep my cool better when the focus should be on the discussion or event.

On the purely social end of things, I had expected to see very little of my friends but was still disappointed at having that expectation met. There were some notable exceptions. I also realize that my goals at a con, to hone my public speaking in front a live audience, to further the educational aspects of my chosen areas of activism, and to support the creators who mean so much to me, leaves little room for too much socialization. I am learning to temper that with making opportunities outside of cons to see my more far flung friends.

I am also realizing I have mostly outgrown the room party scene. Odd, since I really have only been actively going to cons for a few years. First, my desire for alcohol is driven by my palate, not my need for inebriation. Next, often, when I am a bit wrung out at the end of the day, alcohol is actually the worst thing for it. It rarely does anything to improve my mood. Last, the real thing about drinking that brightens my outlook is the company I usually keep in doing so. Drinking in absence of that comraderie is self defeating. It just seems like a cheap fix when my friends are otherwise occupied and not easily unearthed. It takes some will to realize that coincidental association and not drink out of some cargo cult fetish, trying to recreate mood that requires the presence of my witty, fascinating and fun friends.

The short version is this year's Balticon was at least as good, for me, as last year's. Better in some ways, especially in having some realizations about how to improve my experience while still at the con. I am concerned at some of the drama that went on but that is neither here nor there. I prefer to see how much of that is still actively being discussed by the next con. It all feels so immediate when we are actually going through it, but after some time and distance, much of it just doesn't seem all that important.

My continuing concern is helping andreahg find a way to enjoy the cons more. I don't expect her to enjoy the same aspects I do, we've always been relatively independent, happily splitting up to pursue our own interests and re-connecting as we can throughout the weekend to compare notes or enjoy some quiet time apart. Without the buffer, though, of some level of participation, as an attendee, volunteer or panelist, I think she gets hit much harder by the ful brunt of the social eddies and whirls. Time, as I've said, will temper some of it but it doesn't seem to lessen the bruising from the inevitable buffeting she'll no doubt sustain at the next con.

I have gone to events in the past, independent of her, but that works better as an exception than a rule. I guess that's the only really weighty matter for me to ponder and discuss.

Here are some memes I witnessed birthed or helped birth at Balticon 42. I will be, consciously or otherwise, probably helping in their diffusion in the coming months.

Midget ninja: born in particular of Andrea's sense of the light hearted comedic worth of individuals of strikingly short stature but combined with the universal geek trope of the awesome that is the ninja. There is a delicious hint of cognitive dissonance at work, too. Can someone of awkward proportions pull off the stealth powers of the shadow clan? I think the answer is those diminutive trainees to pass muster would have to be of such astonishing caliber that they would be a class above and beyond your run of the mill masked assassin. Still, despite the power of this image, the meme also evokes coolness and comedy by turns for the laugh potential of the height disinclined cannot be diminished even by ninja training. This effect can be amplified by juxtaposing the stocky shuriken slinger with that epitome of vinegar pie. Ask andreahg as I cannot do that meme justice, and it originates with her family. The midget ninja, it must be noted, is not synomous with said wrongful pastry, merely that the dissonant aspects of the black clad meme are amplified by invoking the vignette of said anti-hero figure scarfing that mind-bendingly off confection.

Of the many x I could have y-ed, this is one of them: matt_wallace invoked this truism of writing workshops and critical circles everywhere. It delighted Andrea and I in its potential use in every day situations. Andrea's con wrap up is an excellent, specific exemplar of this usage.

Pretty for a con chick: This is not the pejorative you would imagine at first blush. Many recipients of said appellation are perfectly attractive in ordinary circumstances. Rather it is a commentary on the time and space warping powers of the sheer concentration of the geek norms that occurs at cons. There is an ironic component, as well, as some who bear this tag take advantage of the temporary boost in appeal experienced at cons at the expense of their every day credibility. Contrast to geek goddess, an archetype whose credbility is enhanced by an opposite reaction to the throngs of adoring geeks, a surplus of humility and all around graciousness born of seemingly genuine ignorance of their own elevated status.

Alternate merge: This meme may be still born as I don't think it survived its own stilted inception. I include it here for completeness as I found it remarkable enough to include in my notes. The genesis was a sign indicating a three way merge. This provoked musings of the fervid bureaucratic imaginings that would create such an innocuous label for a potentially mythic cluster fsck. matt_wallace also suggested it might make a good college radio band name and was agreeable to the refinement of speaking as a question rather than a statement.

Outrage addict: Credit again goes to matt_wallace though I will admit I do not know if it is his own coinage or he is merely popularizing someone else's notion. Regardless, it should require little explanation and establishes a nicely continuous line from the well established "drama queen" into the depths that are only apparent at certain events such as beauty pageants, drag shows and amongst certain circles at cons.

Take a costume change: This was a follow on and while, again, it was matt_wallace sharing this bit of wisdom, I am pretty positive the advice originates from planetx. In short, the phrase is claimed to be an adequate protective abjuration when confronted by the previously described outrage addict.

Feel free to add any memes you witnessed in the comments along with a definition and/or example of typical usage.