Well, this is long overdue, and I apologize for taking this long to update everybody. Hopefully after you have read this you will understand...

After a great deal of running about like a headless chicken, we did get down to Ecumenicon, and despite a number of printing setbacks along the way, I did manage to teach my three classes and I even had handouts for them! I do believe, however, that it should be against some law somewhere to have me teaching a class at 11:00 PM on the same day as Dealers Setup! (Believe me, after a dealer has hauled all their stuff to a different state, unloaded the car, and set up their displays, the only decent thing left for them to do is to pass out on a hotel bed, not attempt to be vertical and coherent while teaching a class.) As usual, I saw a number of old friends, and we had a wonderful time. One of the reason I especially like this convention is because it is one of the few that has a significant deaf population in attendance, and is usually fully interpreted.

Following close on the heels of Ecumenicon was a local event (what a relief!) which did not require driving all of my stuff to a different state; it merely required me to drive my stuff through the middle of the city! DVPN (Delaware Valley Pagan Network) sponsors it's annual Crystal Ball and every year I go merchant there. This is one of the few chances I get to see a lot of the local community, and is generally a more social and relaxing affair for me. However, somehow I forgot all of my Army training, and I volunteered {shudder} to be one of the speakers at the event. Fortunately for my nerves, I didn't find out that I was on the same speakers list with so many big names until after I'd agreed to do it. My speech was on the topic of public relations and public perception of pagan events, and I think it went fairly well. Unfortunately, since I had to man a merchant table, I did not get to hear the other speakers, but I understand they were very well received.

Just one week after this small, friendly, cozy, local event, we packed our station wagon as full as it could possibly go, and the roofrack, and put a few things in a friend's van, and hauled ourselves up the New Jersey Turnpike and across the Long Island Expressway to Stony Brook, New York for I-CON. I-CON is an extremely large science fiction/media convention held every year during spring break at SUNY Stony Brook campus. Typical attendance is over 10,000 people! You couldn't ask for a bigger change of pace from the previous two events. The only fortunate thing is that at this event, I do not have to do anything except merchant, because believe me, that's enough! We filled two eight-foot tables and three alcoves with merchandise, and were on our feet most of the time selling it. That isn't counting the several large boxes which were supposed to be shipped directly to the hotel for this event. Don't ask, just don't ask.

Now, any sane person would have taken some time off to rest, but you already know that that's not us! Because the very next weekend, when I was supposed to be home resting, I found out that, owing to a last minute cancellation, there were two empty tables available at the first annual JerseyDevilCon being held (where else) in New Jersey, South Plainfield to be specific.

Now, what hasn't been mentioned up until now is that I was becoming sick at Ecumenicon, and didn't recognize the early symptoms of a cold or something. By the time I had to give my speech at DVPN, you could have subtitled my speech, "How to Turn Your Speaker Into a Frog," because I was definitely ribbiting every time I spoke. I lost my voice completely after Crystal Ball for several days, and was barely able to speak while we were at I-CON (which, as far I can tell, probably cost us a good bit of profit).

So, I drag all of this stuff over to New Jersey to another convention, and I'm living, living I tell you, on cold medication. Now, did anybody ever tell you folks you shouldn't try to figure out the prices of your jewelry while you're on that much cold medication? All I can say is, that if the staff and committee of the JerseyDevilCon had not been ever-vigilant in making certain that somebody kept bringing me something to drink, I doubt I would be updating this news page even now. So, no, I did not get to see most of JerseyDevilCon, and I did not get to hear the Filk guest of honor, Tom Smith (my FAVORITE Filker, who I traveled all the way to Georgia to hear perform once). Even though he was performing in the same hotel with me, I was too sick to go listen to his concert. Therefore, I cannot tell you very much about JerseyDevilCon, as I was not there at the time!

I am still sick, but am getting slightly more rest, and I believe I have stopped hallucinating about packing for Cons. My plans for the immediate future include not going to events, not running around in headless chicken mode, not fretting all day at home waiting for merchandise deliveries, and not driving to (and through) another state in the pouring rain. If anyone wants to reach me, you can be assured of where I will be for the next few weeks.

Kirsten