Arisia Was

(Yes, I know it technically still is going on. But I have to work tomorrow, so no Sunday night/Monday for me. Also, I'm pretty sure that 3 days of con is about all the con I can tolerate, so right now I'm glad to be in my nice, warm, quiet home.)

First of all, thank you thank you thank you to everyone who replied to my last post, and to everyone who took the time to say hello, keep me company, and give me hugs at the con. I had been a bit worried and uncertain going in, and I wound up having a very good time. There was one minor brush with panic on Saturday night, but I had an excellent friend to carry me through it, and other than that all was good and more than good.

This was an odd year for me; it was the first time in years that I haven't been part of either programming or staff. I decided to take this as a low-key year, and it was both liberating and unusual to be able to wander around the con and do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. The up side of this was the freedom; the downside was the fact that Arisia is cold enough and short enough on hangout space that there really wasn't anywhere good to just sit and socialize.

That said, I did manage to find good time with friends, and I got to spend a decent amount of time dancing, both of which were just what I needed. But the true highlight of the con for me was getting to wear the costume I've been working on for most of the past month.

I'm not a very good seamstress, and even though I can sew a bit I honestly just don't like to. But I love the challenge of finding costume concepts that require minimal sewing. And I've had a lot of downtime this past month. And metaphysick has been introducing me more and more to Star Wars. And so I thought to myself, 'Huh. I bet I could make a Twi'lek costume....'

And so I did. And I managed not to chicken out of wearing it on Saturday. And it looked kind of like this....

( Pictures, hidden because my vanity should not overwhelm your friends-page... )

I've never done a serious hall costume before, so it was a fascinating experience. Apparently being painted blue turns you into a rock star (and makes you Even More Fascinating Than Usual to toddlers), and it made just walking around public spaces a major event. On the other hand, I've found that wearing an elaborate enough costume does wonders to help me overcome my phobia of having my picture taken, so the attention and camera flashes were an overall-positive thing. I'm fairly certain I'll wear the costume again next year (and, with luck, airbrushing will be much easier and faster in the future)...

Other than that... there were friends, and there was dancing, and now there is thawing and enjoying the quiet. All in all, a good weekend.