Whoa, this flu bug has really hit me hard. I’ve spent more of the past 48 hours unconscious than conscious. My head still feels stuffed with hot cotton, but I may actually be able to finish unpacking from FKO tomorrow.
Photo by Walter.
Speaking of FKO, many thanks to Allison for posting such great con reports over on her Livejournal. Reports so far: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,Part 4, and Part 5.
Photo by Walter.
Allison’s already covered most of the same events that I would have, so rather than repeat I thought I’d focus on some of the surprises that I / we encountered during this past weekend.
Photo by Walter.
Like finding out that Jeff’s mom was attending our concert! I had no idea. It meant a great deal to me, because Ginny had never seen Urban Tapestry perform live before. Afterward, she told me that some of you had gone up to her and introduced yourselves, and how much she enjoyed chatting with you, like Tom and Dave.
Photo by Walter.
Another surprise: Being presented with a garish tasteful squirrel planter by the Ropers. Apparently Gretchen found it while going through some of her mother’s things; she and Bill immediately thought of me. Their kindness will not go unrewarded, I swear.
Thanks also to Carolyn Brown for the Squirrel Voodoo Kit (shown in my previous Blathering) and to Crystal Paul for the cute squirrel t-shirt (my favourite piece of advice from the latter: “It’s ok to be a little nuts”!
Photo by Walter.
Another surprise: Finding out that Cat Faber and Peter Alway were behind the mysterious squirrel cartoons that kept appearing under our hotel door. Here are two of them:
Photo by Allison.
I sent back my own cartoon. Heh.
Photo by Allison.
One of the biggest surprises at FKO was the performance by Suburban Travesty, a.k.a. Dave Clement, Tom Jeffers and Walter. You can find out more in Allison’s report on the event.
Photo by Phil Mills.
Walter was probably paying us back for making him wear a bald cap in our concert. Heh.
Anyway, here are the lyrics of the song that Suburban Travesty performed in their one-shot:
Walter’s first filk! And first time singing on stage!
Another highlight was seeing Adam English doing caricatures for filkers during the weekend:
Photo by Walter.
I was impressed that Adam’s fiancee, Jolene, stayed at the convention until quite late Saturday night despite having to drive back to Buffalo and work on Sunday morning (!).
Photo by Walter.
Another nice surprise: Having Walter’s son and daughter attend the children’s concert on Sunday; they were able to hear us perform our song “Walter” live for the first time. :-)
As Allison pointed out in her reports, we greatly enjoyed all the concerts and one-shots, as well as Robert Sawyer’s readings. One of my favourite concerts was Toyboat’s; I so rarely get to hear them, and they always seem to be having SO MUCH FUN onstage. :-D
Photo by Walter.
Toyboat consists of Eric Coleman, Daniel (aka “Gundo”) Gunderson, Jason Neerenberg, and Mike Nixon. Hey…according to this website, one of their first songs was a version of “The Lady” to the tune of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”!
Photo by Walter.
I hate public speaking. This may come as a surprise to some who have seen my stage antics, but I’ve found it much easier to clown around than talk on stage. When Urban Tapestry was invited to be the Filk Waifs (e.g. Toastmasters) at FKO, Allison and Jod knew I’d have mixed feelings.
Photo by Walter.
One of the reasons I made so many props for our Filk Waif gig was because it was my contribution for not being as publicly talkative as Allison and Jodi. However, to my surprise, I found that doing some announcements wasn’t quite as horrible as I thought. I even VOLUNTEERED to do some announcements on my own, though Allison and Jodi had been ready to cover for me. :-)
Why the change of heart? I blame the filk community, and especially Allison and Jodi. Through their never-failing encouragement, they got me singing in public when I swore I never would. It was inevitable that their support has also bolstered my confidence enough to do some public speaking as well.
Photo by Walter.
The mutual encouragement and support is part of why I love the filk community so much. I know I’m not the only one who has found the self-confidence to do things I never thought I could do because of this amazing community of people.
Photo by Walter.
Allison has posted a Survey Of Firsts, for those interested. First time performing in open filk, etc. Do go over and participate!
And some more pleasant surprises:
Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff are Guests of Honour next year, woohoo! And the lovely Erica Neely is the Official Toast Waif! I look forward to finding out more about the Interfilk Guest, Mark Simmons.
Also see the comments in LJ.
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Can you do a ‘Being Erica’ filk for next year?
http://www.sff.net/people/Wm.Mark.Simmons/
Very fine voice. Sings a fair amount of Stan Rogers songs. His own best-known song is “Goddard Passage,” TTTO “Northwest Passage.”
I really enjoyed seeing Urban Tapestry this year, and I appreciated your cartoon. Marmalade cats are my favorites. Would it be okay if I trimmed out the cat-and-hedgehog part to use as a user icon?
Sorry about you getting sick. I’m sick too, but I think not as bad as you; I have made it out of the house a couple of times.
I know I’m not the only one who has found the self-confidence to do things I never thought I could do because of this amazing community of people.
No, you certainly are not – and I so agree with you on this. Thank you also for writing about the con, and sharing your impressions & thoughts. It sounds like a truly *wonderful* FKO!
A_Tim: “Being Erica”? If this is a tv show theme, my ignorance may be due to the fact that I have no cable tv. :-)
Fax: Thanks so much!
Cat: Feel free to use any part of that picture as a user icon! Sorry to hear you’re sick, too! I’m almost over mine.
Rika: I so wish you had been there. *many hugs*
“Being Erica”, from CBC-TV (the free over-air one), made in Toronto, set in Toronto, where Erica finds that with the assistance of Dr. Tom, she can go back and change some things in here life she regretted. Time Travel with no physical mechanism, so it would be placed in Fantasy. cbc.ca might have shows on-line. I’m the one who needed cable to see it.
Ah ok, thanks for the explanation. :-) Interesting that it’s set in Toronto!
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