Sunday, August 31, 2014

On the road again: DragonCon, day 4


You can reach a nearby food court from two of the main con hotels via an enclosed walkway, so that place has done a banner business for both lunch and dinner.  I've taken lunch there each day, and I did so again today, choosing Aviva for the second time.  The food was once again delicious and fresh.

I spent a lot of time in the art show today, studying my two favorite paintings.  Ultimately, and after much thought, I spent entirely too much money on a bid for the piece that turned out to win the Best in Show award.  As luck would have it, I won, so a very beautiful oil painting is going to be riding home with me Tuesday.

In the late afternoon, I did a signing at the booth of The Missing Volume, my friend Glennis LeBlanc's store.  Glennis is always gracious at signings, even to authors who do not sell many books for her; I, sadly, am one of those.  I did sign books for a few folks and had a lot of nice conversations, so as signings go for me, it was a good one.

On the way back to the hotel from the dealers' areas, I stopped at a local CVS to pick up more Coke Zero for the room.  While doing that, I passed this sign, which I have seen before and quite like.

Click an image to see a larger version.

No, I did not order the Leeroy Jenkins, but I did smile at the name.

After some work, I headed out to a pleasant and tasty dinner at the nearby White Oak Kitchen.  The place is a very short walk from the hotel, and the food was good enough, but it just couldn't hold a candle to last night's meal or even the one at Bacchanalia a few nights ago.

On my usual walking and people-watching late-night tour, I spotted this woman showing off her Sharknado costume.  Nice concept. 


The crowds at the Marriott were definitely thinner than last night's, but the people-watching was still good, and excellent costumes were plentiful and easy to spot.


The energy remains infectious.  Though I always stand apart from the festival and can't even imagine how I might participate in any of it, I do enjoy watching and listening.

Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., I have my final event of the con, a panel with four other writers.  I have no clue how many folks will attend, so if you're at the con and reading this, come check us out!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since I am from Louisiana, the words that tickled me were "Smoked Cajun", listed there on the board w/out any other explanation. I might be one of only a few folks that would giggle about that.
I hope I get to attend a book signing one day. I have all of your "Jon and Lobo" books.
I keep wondering if one of your kids had something to do w/ the name "Pinkleponker", since your story has a child naming that planet.
Safe travel back from Dragoncon.

Mark said...

That name also cracked me up.

I, too, hope you get to attend a book signing one day. I appreciate your support.

The name "Pinkelponker" does come from a term kids used to refer to sycamore seeds, but my kids weren't the source.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info. My grandma had a sycamore tree but I had never heard the term "pinkelponker". There were so many trees in Louisiana w/ cool seeds/seed pods kids could play w/, like chinaberry trees, tallow trees, sycamore trees, mimosas and more. Fun memories.

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