WorldCon Day 2

The second full day of WorldCon was much like the first.  I wandered from panel to panel and ran into friends.

One of those friends is James from England, who is yet another member of the Lois McMaster Bujold email list, which is the venue that got me hooked into this whole SF congoing thing in the first place.  James was in the process of arranging for listees attending the con to have dinner with Lois, and I helped a little.  Sort of.

Panels included one on alternate universes, and the panelists included Steve Stirling, Harry Turtledove, and Eric Flint.  And as my friend Jim (as opposed to James) commented admiringly, they didn't get into a single argument.  It was highly entertaining in spite of that fact.

Another was about writing full time, something I doubt I'll ever do again simply because I prefer to have a lot of irons in the fire, and because I like the museum curator gig.  But it was interesting.

A third panel, purportedly on cover art in the age of the ebook, turned out to be several professional cover illustrators bemoaning how they're not getting paid as much as they used to.  I walked out of that one before it was over. 

That evening I attended a Girl Genius Ball.  It was basically a steampunk dance, although the costumes ranged rather more wildly than that.  I did take some pictures, although most of them did not turn out well.  Here are a couple that did:



The young gentleman in the tailcoat was a sight to behold.  The lady next to him was running the show, very very well.



The gentleman in the center looked like he'd just stepped off the Titanic.  The costumes really were much more fascinating than these photos show.

 The dancers performed all sorts of sets, from waltzes to complicated country dances.  It was great fun to watch.  And, no, I did not get up in my khakis, t-shirt, and sneakers and dance.

A lovely second day.