tanaise | the falling freon/is turning me on

I checked in, got the fax with the membership transfer form in it, and got registered, no problem. I saw Toby while I was checking in, and he was talking to the guy in front of me in the line who I'm almost sure I know, but just can't quite put my finger on. Hmm. he might be a david. What davids might I know? Anyways, this was of course just a precursor to the rest of the evening and night. Lots of people I knew, or just knew I knew without actually knowing. And while I'm fairly distinctive looking, I don't expect everyone to remember me, except that I have a good memory for people who I've met before, so I smile at people who then stare blankly at me.

creed_of_hubris, aka Fred Bush was in the line behind me as well, and I did recognize him and even knew why I knew him (though I might not have known his name without the name tag).

I registered and saw someone else I almost knew, or perhaps the same person as above. Still no name tag. How am I supposed to know who people are without name tags? And then I wandered around a little bit, looking over the rest of the convention center. Wandered through the ConCourse, thought, "goodness that's a distinguished (somewhat) older gentleman," and had the brain click into gear. "Jim!" And a handful of others, on their way to the marriott bar. Which was miles and miles away, and I was thinking I might be meeting up with Sharon and Rudi in a little bit, so I passed to explore a little more.

Wandered up to the third floor, found Alex Lamb, and patted his hair (it's fun! Like a plush toy, really.) and then found the wall o' pros, and looked up and down it for a while, and then saw Karen Meisner sneaking out of a slipstream panel to answer a cellphone. I always recognize her because she looks almost like a HS teacher of mine (a very cool fun HS teacher who wasn't all that much older than me, so this is a very good thing for Karen). And she recognized me, and we chatted for a few minutes, and Susan Marie Groppi came up as well. And I can't remember if she really looks like Kristin Livdahl, but I still always think she does. Perhaps she just looks like she should have a norviegian name, instead of...Italian? (And I should note that any comparisons I make between people are intended to be complimentary, or I wouldn't be making them in a public space.) and they went off to do presumably secret editor type plotting and so I found a wall to hold myself up on, and flipped through the book, looking for fun things to do over the next few days. The panels let out, and I saw Cory, who recognized me and smiled and said it was good to see me. (What? Kitchen boy who?) I gave in and called Ken, having decided that there would be no way that I would accidentally run into anyone at the convention center. And let me just tell you that there is something intrinsically wrong to calling Ken and having a woman answer the phone. Turned out it was Stella, they were all in the Marriott Bar. In the process of treking over there, I ran into Frank Wu, who played with my curls, invited me (and Hannah, and someone walking by) to a party tonight, and dashed off to the Pratchett trial. (Pterry, by the way, was wearing a shirt that said, "Tolkien's Dad. (J.K. Rowling said so.)" when I saw him briefly in the hallway.)

And I found the group in the marriott bar, and I'll be damned if Jenni smith-gaynor isn't about the cutest thing ever. She looks just like a real girl that someone shrank. ;) Hannah and Amanda and Sarah Bear and Stella and Bear and M'ris and others I didn't recognize. We sat for a bit, and I remembered that despite being *so* tired and all, I really needed to walk up to the house and fix the computer before anyone found out it was broken. Hannah and Sarah Bear came with me, and so as a reward, I gave them a whirlwind tour of the house, and then showed them John Kerry's house. And Hannah and I walked back along the esplanade, and then looked for parties and such. No good alcohol, but some nice sodas--Pellegrino Arancita rocks my world. and some various people, and then back to the lobby and we found Hannah's roommates and mine sitting in the bar.

What everyone said to me that evening: "Your hair is so cute." "You look really tired."

Amanda, I believe, attempted to push me out of the bed in the middle of the night. Bad Amanda!

And now I'm at work. At 2 ish, I'll be done with work, and head back over. I"m meeting Hannah in the dealer's room, where we may torture the