On Site!

Hello from Hall C of the Hynes Convention Center! Tonight, Nomi and I are safely ensconced in the warm glow of fans and friends. And, thanks to Jim & Laurie Mann, we have learned how to access one of the wireless hotspots in the Hynes.

So what happened tonight? Well, Nomi and I got a taxi to the Sheraton to help with our eight bags of food, our two duffel bags, our laptops, and our backpacks. A personal note to the Red Sox: do not schedule home games on September 1, when everyone converges on Boston to move in. Students are moving in, non-students are moving, and adding a Red Sox home game to the mix means one thing: traffic jams.

But I digress. (TM Peter David)

After we arrived at the hotel, the fact that we were already checked in allowed us to move all our stuff directly to our room. And then, since it was already 8 PM, we headed down to the Con Suite for a special party for Committee, Staff, and Volunteers. The party was a reception so those of us working the con could meet the Guests of Honor (see why you should work the con?). But although there were definitely sightings of William Tenn, Jack Speer, and Peter Weston, Terry Pratchett was nowhere to be found.

However, it was a good opportunity to mingle with a smaller crowd before the hordes descend upon the Hynes tomorrow. People with whom Nomi and I chatted included:

Claire Anderson, who is running the ConSuite with help from her husband Dave (and so far doing a great job!);

Diane Turnshek, who asks me to remind all SFWA members to visit her in the SFWA Suite, and to come to the Business Meeting for the delightful coffee and danish;

Jerome Conner and Kara Haff, who shared recent moving stories and look cute together;

Philip Klass (William Tenn) and Fruma Klass, who still remember us, which always amazes me;

and Con Chair Deb Geisler, who was suffering from a cough and a migraine, apparently brought on from getting enough sleep last night.

The missing Pratchett was a slight disappointment, as Nomi and I brought our copy of BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE, 16th edition (2000), for which Pratchett wrote the Introduction. Two years ago, for the simple reason that he recommends BREWER'S all the time, we got Neil Gaiman to sign our copy; and we were hoping to get Pratchett it as well. We didn't know for sure if he would be signing books tonight, but we thought it couldn't hurt to ask.

I guess we'll have to track him down at one his regular Autographing Sessions. I'm sure the lines will be short. :-)

Tomorrow morning we have to do some shopping; at noon we will browse the Hucksters Room, and at 2 PM we have our first panel: (Really) Hard Science for Beginners. And then more and more and more.

If anyone wants to meet this blogger in person, I'll be signing at the Analog/Asimov's table at 5 PM tomorrow. Oh, and I have a Kaffeklastch Monday morning at 10 AM. I'm sure the whole con will be awake then.

This is Michael A. Burstein, signing off for tonight from Noreascon 4, where the men are real men, the women are real women, and the small blue furry things from Alpha Centauri are real small blue furry things from Alpha Centauri.