Saturday, August 22, 2015

On the road again: Sasquan, Spokane, day 4


Getting up in the eights is cruel punishment.  Doing so on a Saturday is cruel and unusual.  Doing so at a convention on a Saturday is just downright mean, but it's how my day began, thanks to a ten o'clock panel on SF comics.

The panel drew a surprisingly large crowd, but I have to say that I did a pretty bad job of it.  Comics writer Kurt Busiek, who definitely knew the most about the topic of the panelists, deservedly dominated the discussion, and I contributed rarely.

From there I looked around the dealers' room a bit and then headed to my reading, which to my surprise had an audience of over a dozen people, not all of whom I knew.  I read the opening from "All That's Left," my story in Onward, Drake!, as well as the afterword, and we talked a bit about the story.

A group of us walked to the Satellite Diner for breakfast/lunch.  My omelet, the "Meatyorite," was quite tasty, and everyone enjoyed their dishes.  For my money, though, the star of the show was Jerry's "The Cheese Bomb," which the menu describes as follows:

Parmesan encrusted bread, melted provolone and cheddar cheese.  Deep fried mozzarella cheese sticks nestled right there between more melted cheese. It's cheese on cheese served with cheese. it's da BOMB!
The sandwich looks as insane as it sounds.

Click the image to see a larger version.

We were prepared to call in medics should his arteries explode on the spot, but he survived the incident unscathed.

As we were waiting for the end of the reading before mine, a woman in a Slanted Jack shirt (and whose name I did not get) told me I should go to a local artisanal ice cream shop.  After a refreshing nap--what a treat!--we drove to that very place, the Brain Freeze Creamery.  The ice cream was excellent, and I am in that woman's debt.  (If you're reading this blog entry, thank you!)

I did a little work and then set out for the Hugo awards.  David Gerrold and Tananarive Due hosted the event, and they did a fine job of it, keeping the evening moving and being funny when appropriate.  A lot of controversy surrounded this year's Hugo's, but I've refrained thus far from commenting on any of it, and I'm not going to break that streak now.  My congratulations to the winners, and my condolences to those who went home empty-handed.

After a quick dinner in the hotel bar (the only late-night option readily available), I spent time at some parties and then crashed.  A long but generally good day at WorldCon.




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