Morphicon, such as it was
May. 17th, 2011 02:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rain_gryphonThis weekend was Morphicon, although I was sick for much of it. I've been really detached from the con these last two years. I'm going to try to be more active in the con and the community next year.
The ALAA awarded us the Ursa Major Awards Ceremony, which we hosted before in 2008. We're the first con besides ConFurence to repeat. I did the emcee work myself, since I also serve on the ALAA Committee. I was afraid I'd lose my voice, so I asked the Wampus to help host, but I held out, and the audience seemed to enjoy us. We play well off one another.
I gave away Pony badges too - http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5607598/ and http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5755068/ . I'm much, much more into the Ponies than I have been for years. This alone is pulling me back towards the fandom.
The high point of the weekend for me was having dinner with the Wampus,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
austin_dern and bunny_hugger Sunday night at the downtown Ethopian restaurant, the Blue Nile. I kept referring to it as a Somali restaurant all day Sunday - I haven't a clue why. African Paradise, not too far from here, *is* a Somali restaurant, so it's not like I don't know the difference.
Ethopian food (what we had, at least) is a variety of spicy stews that come on a common platter. You get these sort of sourdough pancakes, and you break off pieces of those and scoop up the stews. We got like eight different varieties for four people. The platter has a big pancake on it as well, which soaks up all the gravy.
Here's where we went. You can click the little pictures on the right, and get some idea what it's like. You sit on little stools around a strange kind of table made from coiled rope. The walls were decorated with huge amateur murals showing scenes from Ethiopian life, and every pair of diners got a tiny red table set between them to hold their drinks and the basket that held the pancakes. I loved it. Family-owned restaurant, friendly staff, very much a family style dining experience. The owner just glowed to see us enjoying his food. I can't recall the last time I felt so welcome at a restaurant.
This was my first definite FTF meeting* with Austin Dern, despite having him among my online friends for ten or twelve years or so. He's surprisingly quiet in person. He comes across much louder online. I'm apparently not the only one to have remarked on this :)
*It develops that we were both at CFE II back in 1997, but neither of us remembers meeting the other.
The ALAA awarded us the Ursa Major Awards Ceremony, which we hosted before in 2008. We're the first con besides ConFurence to repeat. I did the emcee work myself, since I also serve on the ALAA Committee. I was afraid I'd lose my voice, so I asked the Wampus to help host, but I held out, and the audience seemed to enjoy us. We play well off one another.
I gave away Pony badges too - http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5607598/ and http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5755068/ . I'm much, much more into the Ponies than I have been for years. This alone is pulling me back towards the fandom.
The high point of the weekend for me was having dinner with the Wampus,
austin_dern and bunny_hugger Sunday night at the downtown Ethopian restaurant, the Blue Nile. I kept referring to it as a Somali restaurant all day Sunday - I haven't a clue why. African Paradise, not too far from here, *is* a Somali restaurant, so it's not like I don't know the difference.Ethopian food (what we had, at least) is a variety of spicy stews that come on a common platter. You get these sort of sourdough pancakes, and you break off pieces of those and scoop up the stews. We got like eight different varieties for four people. The platter has a big pancake on it as well, which soaks up all the gravy.
Here's where we went. You can click the little pictures on the right, and get some idea what it's like. You sit on little stools around a strange kind of table made from coiled rope. The walls were decorated with huge amateur murals showing scenes from Ethiopian life, and every pair of diners got a tiny red table set between them to hold their drinks and the basket that held the pancakes. I loved it. Family-owned restaurant, friendly staff, very much a family style dining experience. The owner just glowed to see us enjoying his food. I can't recall the last time I felt so welcome at a restaurant.
This was my first definite FTF meeting* with Austin Dern, despite having him among my online friends for ten or twelve years or so. He's surprisingly quiet in person. He comes across much louder online. I'm apparently not the only one to have remarked on this :)
*It develops that we were both at CFE II back in 1997, but neither of us remembers meeting the other.
