Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
Day Four: The Trial
I woke up my fourth day (Sunday, August 10) at Otakon with hardly any voice. But one grande coffee later, and I was feeling much better.
When I arrived at the Baltimore Convention Center, the registration goddess had a request. She wanted me to help with Art Show.
I knew from previous experience that this was not a cushy assignment, that there would most likely be long lines of frustrated people waiting to purchase the artwork they'd won during silent or live auction. Still, I was up to the task.
When I got downstairs to the chilly room that held the Art Show, creatures of every sort milled about.
They kept asking me questions I couldn't answer, but I tried to be sensible and give them any answers I could. Mostly, my responses were like so:
"What do you know about this business?" the King said to Alice.
"Nothing," said Alice.
"Nothing whatever?" persisted the King.
"Nothing whatever," said Alice.
"That's very important," the King said.
But it didn't matter a bit. When the creatures came through the line, an odd assortment of sizes and shapes and colors, I did what it seemed they wanted me to do: typed numbers into a computer and took money from them.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," I said. They skipped off happily with their artwork.
At one point, two figures came through who looked quite familiar. One had a peculiarly large grin. "Hey, you're..."
"The Cheshire Cat and the Mat Hatter," the Hatter said.
"Yes, and I'm..."
"Alyce. Yes, I read your badge."
"Nice to see you!" I said, in what I hoped was a friendly tone.
When all of the creatures had gone, I traipsed back upstairs to see what else was needed. The registration goddess directed me to help load the trucks with materials that would be stored until next year.
I was the only female there, but I rolled up my sleeves and pitched in. A few more women arrived after awhile, and when we'd finished loading the truck, we all sat on pallets and talked about our days in high school band.
Then it was time for the most fun portion of the evening, unloading the truck at the storage location. I knew I was in for some long hours of work, but I'd had so much fun telling tales with my comrades that I gladly went along. As we passed boxes, we made it into a game, first saying things like "heavy" and "light" and then saying, "gopher bits" or "potential blackmail."
After such a weird and wonderful time, going to the staff party, a.k.a. the Dead Dog Party, seemed almost superfluous. But I attended anyway, after cleaning up. I played a game called "Guillotine" with some people, which is like "Uno" but with chopping off people's heads.
"Off with their heads!" I called, gleefully.
Late into the night, I chatted with friends, told stories, and invented new in-jokes. After going to bed, I even dreamt about spending more time with them, laughing at all the silliness around us.
More of Alyce's Adventures in Otakon:
Musings on Otakon 2006:
August 8, 2006 - Bunny Ears of Command
Musings on Otakon 2005:
Musings on Otakon 2004:
August 10 , 2004 - Overture to Otakon
Moral:
"If any one of them can explain it," said Alice, "I'll
give him sixpence. I don't believe there's an atom of meaning
in it."
Copyright
2003 by Alyce Wilson
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