Many people assume that I am the one who drives us going to Dragon*Con each
year. In truth, it is a mutual decision. Though in all honesty, I've generally
deferred to Karen's preference since 2007. The past two years, getting up there
was complicated by Karen responding to storms the days before. Once, her boss
almost had to fly her there from the field direct.
This year, she wanted a break from the stress of making the annual
pilgrimage. We had a room, though not in any of our preferred hotels. Had we
been able to score a room in Hilton or the Hyatt, in all likelihood we would
have gone. Alas, that was not to be. Even when I offered a week before to fly us
up first class after Karen was having doubts about her decision, she demurred.
So as a joke to cheer her up, on Facebook I posted a set of panels based on
the Dragon*Con tracks that our cats might like:
"Since we will be home with the cats this Labor Day for the first time in
their lives, Nyala and Mara have asked us to organize Kitten*Con 2013 (though
they refuse to stand in line or wear their badges). Here are the panels they'd
like to see:
Alternate History: The Day Humans
Self-Domesticated
Anime: Hello, Kitty
Apocalypse Rising: Surviving a Vet
Visit
Armory: Tooth and Claw, the Only Weapons You'll Ever Need
Art: Live
Model
Costuming: Furries!
Digital Gaming: Apps for the iPaw
EFF:
Hacking 101: Doors and How to Open Them
Filking: Midnight yowls
Gaming:
The Best Die to Steal from the Table
MMEOWRPGS: The Midnight
Heat
Paranormal: The Ghosts Your Humans Can't See
Performance: Bell Circle
(10 pm - whenever)
Science: Catnip Live: Homegrown or Store-Bought (a paws-on
demo)
Sci-fi Lit:: Man-Kzin Wars, a Primer.
Sci-Fi Media: The Red Bird or
the Blue Bird, Which Way to Reality
Silk Road: Ripples in the Water
Bowl
Space: Are We There Yet? An Explorer's Guide to Napping
Writing:
Screen Rubbing and Keyboard Walking for Beginners
X-Track: Schrödinger's
Cat"
Karen ran with the idea and created badges. And the inaugural Kitten*Con
was born.
Over five days we watched seven movies and played five games. We hadn't
seen any of the movies though they were all in our Netflix queue for one reason
or another. Two of the games we owned but had never played. Two more we'd only
played once. The last we'd maybe played twice. Friday morning, we setup a card
table in the library so we could close off a game midway through if we needed to
without the cats disturbing it. We brushed up on rules each morning then ran
through each game 2-3 times to see how they played out.
We kicked over the iPod to a grouping called Darkwave with all the bands
we'd discovered at Dragon*Con over the years: The
Cruxshadows,
Ego Likeness, I:Scintilla,
Ayria,
Abney Park,
Butterfly Messiah,
Celldweller,
Faith and the Muse,
Narrator, Spider Lilies, and
Distorted Reality (all worth checking out on
YouTube or MySpace if you get the chance).
The cats attended a catnip panel (with free samples) and the bell circle
(which they ring every night to go out onto the porch). Nyala ran through the
hacking session on doors though thankfully, she still doesn't quite have the
hang of it. Mostly, they spent their time in the napping demo or advising us
on game tactics.
Here's how the days broke down.
On Thursday evening, without lines or issues, the four of us received our
badges (Mara, Nyala, Karen and myself). An auspicious beginning. While we
watched our first movie, the cats napped in preparation for a busy weekend. That
didn't seem particularly out of the ordinary but Nyala tells me you can never
have too much sleep.
Thursday night: Hunger Games (movie, science fiction): I'm not sure
anyone would be able to make much sense out of it if they hadn't read the book.
Not that I was a fan of the last third of the book anyway.
Friday: Space
Alert (board game, science fiction): To paraphrase the board game panel at
Dragon*Con (about a different game), "When you lose this game, and you will lose
this game..." Both Karen and I had read the rules but were still having trouble
digesting them. Then we remembered the advice we'd heard at the board game panel
and headed for YouTube to look for a tutorial. Once there, we ran across a
multi-part tutorial and demo on a channel called
Two Guys and Some Cardboard. Watching those made it so we could dive right in. A decent
game with a lot of multi-player potential. Playing this with 5 players would be
utter chaos.
Friday night: Melancholia (movie, science fiction). The more
it settled with me, the more I liked it. Not to everyone's taste but very
artistically done. You can find my full recommendation
here.
Saturday: Race for the Galaxy (card game, science fiction). A decent game,
though I'm not sure about using cards for both money and counters as well as
play. I see there's an expansion that allows up to 9 players. That just hurts my
brain.
Saturday evening: We headed out to the Dealer's Room (aka Emerald City
comic shop) and then met a couple friends (who also sometimes haunt Dragon*Con)
for some General Tso's chicken, a food court staple for us up in Atlanta. And
yes, we wore our badges while we were out. Mara and Nyala said they wouldn't let
us back into the house without them.
Saturday night: Metropia (movie,
animated science fiction). Ok, that one was bizarre. Not sure I liked the
animation. But there was a Hello Kitty bomb. So there's that.
Sunday:
Eclipse (board game, science fiction). We picked this one up based on the
recommendation of a friend after Dragon*Con last year. I really like this game.
You can find my previous recommendation for it
here.
Sunday night: The Road (movie, post-apocalypse). A future so bleak,
they ought to wear shades. Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. I suspect
the book was slightly better though the movie wasn't bad.
Monday:
Illuminati (card game, paranoid): It's not paranoia if there really is a
conspiracy out to get you. We spent the morning mounting the User Friendly
custom cards for
Tech Support and
SCO on cardstock then played with the Y2K and
Bavarian Fire Drill expansions. As we knew, this one has serious multi-player
potential. The two-player games lacks all the deviousness of negotiations,
backstabbing and alliances.
Monday Night: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (movie, Swedish). It's
amazing how many words we could pick out. Another movie based on a well known
book. This one was the best done of the three. Definitely
worthwhile.
Tuesday: SolarQuest (board game, science fiction). Think
Monopoly in space. With fuel. And lasers. Not too bad once you get past the odd
phrasing of the rules.
Tuesday night (1): The Secret of Kells (movie,
animated fantasy). Purely enchanting. You can find my full recommendation
here.
Tuesday night (2): Ondine (movie, fantasy-esque). A nice way to close out
the inaugural Kitten*Con. Even if there wasn't a cat in it, there was a Selkie.
Sort of.
We broke down the game table and returned the library to its
previous scheduled function (with Mara still sleeping a chair). As we got ready
for bed, I couldn't find either cat. When I went looking, I discovered them both
in the library/game room, ensconced in the chairs where they perched to watch us
play. They don't usually sleep back there and rarely at the same time. I don't
think they were quite ready for Kitten*Con to end, either.
Nyala
particularly enjoyed having us home. She still sometimes wakes up scared during
the day and cries until I comfort her. Each year she looks hurt when we leave
and a combination of excited and annoyed when we get home. Hers was a hard,
orphaned kittenhood I think.
As with any con, a melancholy settled in the last night knowing that it
was over and real life began again in the morning. One of the more relaxing
staycations we've had in recent years. For that alone it was a success.
(You might be able to see Karen's photos
here)
