Fear not, Callaluna--I still have pictures of you at that first Chicago F2F. :)
Though I just tried to look through all my photos and jeez, I need a better way of organizing them. Not only are some of them not in iPhoto, others are in there three times, some are way out of chronological order (because I scanned them, or got them from someone else after the fact), some were important at the time but should be deleted...and as far as I could tell, only two of them were of ita! I know I must have some hardcopies then, that I didn't scan...
DC was my first F2F. I met Ginger on the drive up, riding with Bycyclops and his lovely wife--whose board name I seem to have forgotten. Planning on the board, I remember offering to drive while confessing that I was more familiar with manual transmission, crank windows, etc. He mentioned cruise control, and I said something to the effect that any more automation and I'd be in the back getting snacks and looking at the magazines. He rescinded his permission for me to drive his car.
Anne put me up in her lovely house, which was such a quiet, safe haven after all the hectic meet and greet. Well, except for MM and ND verbally abusing the pope after everybody else had gone to bed.
DC was my first occasion meeting any of the Buffistas, at all. And you were all exactly who I already knew. I met Vortex, and regret to this day not paying proper homage to her beautiful corsetted boobies. I met Deb, and they, Ginger and I were on the elevator on the way to prom when the doors opened and a gentleman waiting hesitated at the sight of the corsetted and tiara'd women regarding him. "It's okay," Vortex said. "We don't bite."
I gave it a beat. "Unless you ask."
Sharing the elevator with the bartender as he left, and thanking him for putting up with our shennanigans, I got a wide-eyed, "Oh no, thank you! Apparently it was the most fun he'd had on the job.
So many first impressions of Buffistas, that really weren't, after all--just 3D confirmation. Again, in planning on the board, the introverts among us had all predicted we'd be hanging out in the stairwell. To my knowledge, that was never necessary. I not only survived crowd-immersion, I thrived on it, with my people.
90% sure the second NYC F2F was David Rothschild.
It wasn't Scola's though he was there, looking like Danny Strong and being quiet again. By the third one (I think at Joe Boucher's) I decided he must like us because he kept coming.
I've been on the board going on how many years now (during the World Crossing period, I think, although I've been posting sporadically mostly) and never managed to make it to a Buffistas F2F. I see Dana and Shrift and Katie yearly during Vividcon, but that's it. Next time there is a formal F2F, maybe I should make an effort to attend...
Loved meeting you, Vonnie, at the Firefly preview showing. That was another big Buffista outing.
Still like you, still coming.
at the Firefly preview showing
Of course! Wow, that was almost 10 years ago. There were quite a few Bay Area Buffistas during that one. I remember being envious of you guys having a Buffistas fannish community right there in your city.
DC was my first occasion meeting any of the Buffistas, at all. And you were all exactly who I already knew.
Yes! I remember being struck by that in Chicago, too. Aren't meet-ups of internet fan groups supposed to be awkward and eye-opening (in a bad way)? That first F2F was like going to a family reunion where you'd known everyone forever. There was some stumbling with the less photographed among us (pinning a name to the lovely faces), but in terms of personalities? All exactly as expected.
I will never forget that trip, not just for the F2F awesomeness, but for the most embarrassing airport experience I have ever had. For the first and only time in my life, I was pulled aside and had my luggage searched by hand. No idea why. But do you have any idea how insanely embarrassing it is to have some jowly middle-aged stranger pawing through your luggage and encountering pleather, corsets, glitter, a tiara and a rubber stake?
