Here is my after the fact, stream of consciousness diary of my experience at

Sasquan, The 73rd World Science Fiction Convention.

Enjoy!

before Sasquan

people will be there

need business cards

people will talk to me

I will talk to people

I will give my cards out

how many cards do I need?

thousands of people there

thousands!

better get at least 500 cards

they are cheap after all

people will be there

lots of people

thousands

thousands of people in one place

thousands?!

what am I thinking

I dont want to talk to people

I should stay home

no, I cant stay home

ok I will go and hole up in the hotel

then the peoples cant find me

the thousands of peoples

Wednesday, Day 1

badges

got to find registration and get our badges

which way do we go which way do we go

we spot a friendly person on the street

she has her badges

she points us in the right direction

enter the conference center

stairs

so many stairs

100s of stairs

ok and escalators too

but the escalators dont count

they are just for lazy people

Im not lazy

Im taking the stairs

woop woop woop

that was easy!

top of the stairs

where do we go

down the hall

find the maps

maps says the registration area is right over there

look away from the maps

see the signs

they say registration

that must be the right spot

but wait

the registration windows

they are all numbered

1 through 9

how do we know which window to approach

this isnt going well

we just got here and already doing something wrong

there are people here

a few people

hundreds maybe

ask one of the peoples

which window do we go to

it doesnt matter

ok ok

up to the window

a friendly peoples with a German accent helps us out

he has badge

he has ribbons

he has First World Con ribbon

ribbons!

where can I gets?

the friendly German peoples points us towards the middle

ok, lets go get a ribbons!

middle table

get the ribbons

see more ribbons

green ribbons says Local

me want

the ribbons peoples explains the Local ribbon is only if you can answer questions about the area, about Spokane

hmm

ok, don’t take the ribbons

has badge, one ribbon, not bad

wander around

tables

stuffs

more ribbons

find ribbons grab ribbons attach ribbons repeat

this is fun!

I can do this!

I can collect ribbons!

ok now what

check the schedule

THINGS TO DO

so many THINGS TO DO

MUST DO THINGS!

orientation for Discworld fans

ok I like Discworld

go to orientation

see a friend

sit near friend

friends is peoples but friendly peoples are ok

strange people at the front of the room

beside me

behind me

Im in a room with peoples

whats happening

what am I doing here

what are the peoples talking about

I dont understand

must avoid people

how do I get out of here?!

escape

back to hotel

it will be safe there

safety

but there are THINGS TO DO

must DO SOME THINGS

Worldcon prom

fun fun

dance dance

people people

strange people

happy people

dancing people

this is ok

I like dancing!

good night

Thursday, Day 2

ok we are here

we has badges

we has ribbons

we have seen the peoples

some are strange

some are friendly

some are friendly and strange

some are strangely friendly

maybe I dont need to be scared of the peoples

after all, there are THINGS TO DO

we are at WORLD CON

lets go DO SOME THINGS!

another room with peoples

strange peoples

saying strange things

I dont understand

what am I doing here

what are they saying?

there are peoples here

ack!

retreat to safety!

safety

but wait

there are THINGS TO DO

and also ribbons

lets go back

find more ribbons!

ribbons is fun!

stairs

up the stairs

woop woop woop!

easy peasy

find ribbons

grab ribbons

I has 20 ribbons!

hungry

need food

free snacks on 15th floor of the Doubletree

elevator

people

strange people

little box

closed in

15 floors up

breathe

where are the snacks?!

hungry!

find the snacks

so many people

hot in here

cant they open a window or something?

grab the snacks

where to sit

find a seat

eat

talk to peoples

there are peoples here

there are peoples everywhere

the peoples are nice

retreat

too many peoples

box full of peoples

going down!

retreat

retreat

retreat

must get ribbons

also, THINGS TO DO

stairs

up the stairs

woop woop woop!

grab ribbons

find THINGS TO DO

leave THINGS TO DO

look for ribbons

get text

text say some ribbons BAD

what?

oh no!

I thought I was doing something right!

collect all the ribbons is fun!

but some ribbons is BAD?

that’s not fun

stupid con

stupid peoples

so many peoples

do I have the BAD ribbons?

I do!

uh oh!

I dont want to get punched in the face

I dont want to do something wrong

what do I do with these BAD ribbons?!

take them off

hide them

put them in a pocket

no one will know

ok whew!

I hid the BAD ribbons

no one has punched me in the face

I hear there are games

where are the games

find the games

I like games

Salon V

I found the game room!

peoples!

gaming peoples!

I like games!

what game is this?

Kingsburg

oh. resource management.

and dice.

blech.

not my favorite kind of game

but the peoples

friendly peoples

nice peoples

let me sit down and play games with the peoples

Kingsburg

roll the dice

get the things

trade for other things

dice rolls suck

this game sucks

I am losing

this game sucks

I’ll never play this game again!

finally, the game is ending!

I can get out of here and get away from the peoples!

last turn

whats this?

I won?

I LOVE THIS GAME!

THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME GAME EVER!

HAHAHAHA!

I WON I WON I WON!

I like games

too many people

retreat

retreat

retreat

Thursday night

must go to parties

that is a mandatory THINGS TO DO AT WORLDCON

ok ok

one of the friendly peoples invited me to a party

so I will go

where is the party

its over there

in the Davenport

the Historic Davenport

down the street

down the other street

down the other other street

why am I wearing flip flops instead of shoes?

what was I thinking?

get to the hotel

people

lots of people in the middle

all lined up

for what

for the elevators

wheres the party?

9th floor

wheres the stairs?

9 floors, no problem!

up the stairs

one floor

two floor

three floor

stop

woops

cant take the stairs

must take the elevator

must ride in a little box with peoples

strange peoples

peoples everywhere

in the box

only 9 floors

breathe

peoples

peoples from Montreal

friendly peoples

nice peoples

French-Candian peoples

they give me a hug

they give me food

they give me beer

I like these peoples

Montreal 2017!

Friday, Day 3

yoga class at 10AM

that is a THINGS TO DO

and also there are people there

but it is yoga

and I need the stress relief

do the yoga

retreat

nap

hungry

stairs

elevator

15th floor

people people people people people

everywhere

retreat

take the stairs

stairs down

HALT

this is your body talking

what the fuck do you think you are doing

you aren’t 20 any more you dumbass

retreat

sleep

sleep

sleep

no peoples here

quiet here

sleep

sleep

sleep

dream of ribbons

Saturday, Day 4

rise and shine campers!

it is the last full day and there are lots of THINGS TO DO!

Tai Chi at 10!

nah

Discworld tour at noon!

ok ok I can do that

stairs

there they are again

ok

Im rested

I can do this

use the hand rail

up the stairs

made it!

peoples

friendly peoples

nice peoples

they has ribbons

they talk to me

they welcome me

I like peoples

Discworld tour

relaxed

fun

peoples

Discworld

ribbons

I like peoples

I like Discworld

I like ribbons

this is fun 🙂

5 PM

Sasquatch panel

dark room

people with microphones

people all around me

what are they saying

what are we doing here

lets get out of here

retreat

dinner with friends

I like friends

I like beer

I like dinner

this is fun 🙂

Day 5, Sunday

see the art

find more ribbons

drive through smoke

home

phew!