Dragon*Con 2012 Highlights

     Another year, another Dragon*Con under my belt. Actually, I'm surprised to look back and realize that this is only my 4th ever D*C, and only the second time I've gone for multiple days. It feels like such a major part of my yearly routine that you'd think I've been doing it forever. Plus, of course, I've been to plenty of other conventions, including Origins back in my native Ohio pretty much as far back as I can remember being a geek (high school, at least).  Some highlights from my D*C experience this year:
     1) Seeing Jane Espenson and getting to hear her talk about writing. I don't really do celebrity panels anymore; I can't stand waiting in lines to go see them, and then I just get mortified by some of the terrible gushing questions that people always throw at the celebrities. There's nothing worse than watching and actor have to fumble through some explanation or defense of something that somebody else wrote and directed their character to do. Espenson, as a writer, is actually in a position to be able to answer questions regarding the writing of TV shows. Not to mention that she was as clever and articulate as you would expect considering her resume. As a writer myself, she gave me a lot to think about...so much so, that it's going to have to be a post in itself later on.

     2) Group costuming with my D&D crew. I don't normally hang out too long with people during the convention, because there's just too much to do and nobody's schedules ever mesh terribly well. I'm also not much of a cosplayer on my own. However, it all worked out pretty well once we got together, and getting to roam around with my gaming crew in costume was definitely one of the high points. Sure, we didn't end up finding any random encounters, but we did end up in a tavern, so I guess it wasn't that bad of an adventure after all.
     3) Figuring out what types of panels I find the most interesting. In past years, I have gone to panels on more traditionally geeky things: gaming, comics, movies, and TV. Most of them were disappointing, at best. This year I went to "nerdier" things: stuff from the Skeptics, Space, and Paranormal tracks. They were interesting and run by individuals who have some weight in the field or on the topic (as opposed to just random fans). I will definitely be spending more time seeing what they have to offer in the future.
     4) Just to be perfectly hypocritical about speaking ill of fan panels, my last highlight will be the Cabin in the Woods fan panel that I spoke on. I was nervous to do so at first, but just as my wife predicted, once you got me up there and talking about horror movies and the genre in general, you just couldn't shut me up. I remember being sad when it ended because there was just so much more to talk about. I don't know if I'll be doing more fan panels in the future, but there's a good chance.
     5) Last, but not least, my wife's performance in the Doctor Horrible shadow play is always on the top of my list. Sure, there's favoritism there, but they do a fantastic job. And I'm not the only one who thinks so; this shadow play is so popular that every year it's standing-room-only in the biggest ball room at the convention. Part of it is because all the actors have their parts down to a science, but also because they clearly love doing it so much. And that kind of enthusiasm is inevitably contagious.
     As I said, there are many of these points that I will have to discuss with more depth later, but for now, I'll just close with saying that this has probably been my best D*C so far. I think it has been worth making every other chore and home-improvement project dreadfully far behind schedule.