*Grumble grumble*
Darn far away city, with people partying, and free beer and wine, and cookies...
Oh God, the cookies!!
Ohh no cookies for ussesss...
Sigh. Have fun folks, wish I was there.
13 hours and counting...I still need to pack, and maybe take a nap.
13 hours and counting...I still need to pack, and maybe take a nap.
You can do it!
THEN KEEP US POSTED!
Only if I can borrow someone else's laptop. I'm not dragging my PC all the way to Bellevue just to post updates...
Friday evening was a pleasant surprise for those who did not know each other from last year's Meet-n-Eat. 'The Crab Pot' comes across as a well-regarded local restaurant. At lunch I overheard what seems to be a uniquely Seattle discussion - about fishing experiences in Alaskan waters, by women.
For those who have seen "Deadliest Catch", women are not featured as crew members anywhere other than in the ships' galley. From the conversations I overheard, that is decidedly not the case. It was fascinating hearing about the sheer size of king crab legs and other seafood delectables.
Back to the Happy Hour, it seems there were over 40 attending the gathering, with a few more to trickle in after 7 or 7:30 pm local time. Hugo (aka Butterfrog), Imorra and Lillith were the three Paizonian artists in attendance that I personally encountered. Lillith was living up to her well-earned reputation for being social, doling out shoulder massages and greetings. Imorra I think severely underestimates her artistic ability - I got to look at her sketchbook and her work in there is phenomenal. Hugo was also meeting-n-greeting, shaking hands, taking video as were 2 or 3 other people. Clinton Boomer and Neil Spicer were also in attendance out of the several Paizonians that have garnered a bit of fame/notoriety through the boards or their other projects.
Quite a few people got to enjoy a first-time experience eating shellfish, crab legs, sausage, corn on the cob and red taters - all liberally seasoned and accompanied by spiced, melted butter - spread atop a long sheet of butcher's paper and accompanied by a whacking board, a mallet, shell/leg crackers and the meat-retrieval-implement (fork). The sounds of conversation about gaming, cracking crab legs and general festivity made the evening an excellent affair. Hopefully even for the children in attendance too!
If Piazocon is to have an 'official' pre-con chow place, I cannot think of a better place than The Crab Pot to enjoy the experience.
Have fun everyone, and see you in a few hours! ^_^
Updates from Paizocon (well, just my personal observations):
*Having this many gaming geeks gathered in one place produces a rather odd aura (no, not smell, aura...seems most Paizonians are more fastidious than your sterotypical gamer). It's a fun feeling, and even funnier when you can spot the gamers from across an open room, even without books/dicebags/character sheets in their hands and gaming tees on.
*Did you know that Erik Mona is actually 6'8" tall, 300lbs, and could benchpress a half-ogre? Whodathunkit?
*Cosmo really does have only one eye.
*Call of Cthulhu is much, much more enjoyable when you're playing the villain secretly in the midst of unsuspecting fools that are interrupting your ascension to godhood.
*Related to note above: Backstabbing your fellow PCs is much easier when you actually know the players rather than them being total strangers you've just met.
*Coffee pots in hotel rooms are much, much too tiny.
*It is easier to restrain oneself shopping for Paizo products online than when they're all heaped on a table in front of you like so much treasure.
*Lisa is one of the coolest people ever.
That's all for now. Some or all of the things posted above may be complete or even partial fabrications. I'll leave that up to you poor homebound suckers to puzzle out.
