Penguicon 5.0: Day 2 and Convention Nadir
Thursday April 26, 2007 • Howard Tayler

Rachel the Volunteer WranglerDay two at Penguicon is The Big Day. It's the longest day of the convention, it begins early because most attendees are not yet fully sleep-deprived, and it runs until the wee hours Sunday morning. For me, Day Two began around 7:30am and ran until 3:30am.

By the way, if you ever plan to attend Penguicon, I recommend signing up as a volunteer. This year Rachel sat at the volunteer desk, smiling invitingly. I saw through this, however, and drew the details that the only the mind's eye could supply (Photo courtesy Paul Neubauer.) The text obscured by glare reads "Go ahead. Volunteer."

I spent the morning selling stuff, sketching in books, and accepting more packages from Orvan the Ox. This time it was a package of wiggly eye-balls to go with the amorph modeling compound I got on Friday.

Howard At Table

Naturally, I was still suspicious of the parcel. Is this the one that explodes?
Around 3:00pm I hit what I have come to think of as "Convention Nadir." It happens to me at every convention -- I'm tired, things are slow, and I'm wondering why on Earth I've decided to come to this thing. It probably happens because I'm used to getting a nap midday, more especially on days when I've been out late the night before. Howard and Rachel make ChupaquesosThis time around Convention Nadir led into the Chupaqueso panel, in which Jay Maynard and I cooked chupaquesos for anyone and everyone in the Con Suite for two hours. It was fun, ego-stroking (I never get tired of being told "this is delicious!"), and exhausting. Jay had to leave a little early, abandoning me and my trusted assistant Rachel to work the crowd.

It's a shame I don't look happier in this picture (courtesy of Nathan "MightyIX" and his photobucket). Rachael (the volunteer, not the wrangler of volunteers) and I had a good time -- especially that part where I called her my "trusted assistant" and she said "I want to be your LOVELY assistant." I explained that since trust has to be earned it is more valuable. Also, calling her my lovely assistant in this context might have resulted in sexual harrassment suits. It was a very amusing and happy conversation, all of which is completely contraindicated by my exhausted expression in the photo above. Rachael, if you are reading this, you are both trustworthy AND lovely. Thank you for your help!

When it was over, I realized I was still feeling a bit of that low-ebb, so I went out to dinner with Rob Balder, his girlfriend and business manager Janice, Eric "Fetus X" Millikin, and a filker named Shoebox. We had a good time, talked some shop, ate some eats, and headed back to the show.

And I was still at low ebb. I almost didn't hang my shingle back out, and that would have been a mistake...