WisCon 43: Day Zero

[owlmoose]

I am at WisCon! Flight was almost entirely uneventful -- there is now one (1) non-stop flight a day from SFO to Madison, and you can bet I was on it. It's on a smaller regional jet, so I was a little nervous about being cramped, but I did a little research and found out that, because of the way the seats are configured, they're actually an inch wider on this plane than on the 737s I'd be taking otherwise. Turns out I was perfectly comfortable (well, for being in an airplane seat, anyway), so I hope they continue doing this run in future years. It was an early-ish flight (8:30am) but not outrageously so. On the plane, I finished one book (Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, which I enjoyed greatly even if it was just a little too real on the grant application process), started another (The True Queen, which I started with about an hour and a half left in the flight and got so engrossed that I'm already halfway through), and listened to an episode of Larry Wilmore's podcast (who is holding out on me, not letting me know that Larry Wilmore has a podcast???) in which he interviewed Rebecca Traister (highly highly recommended).

Upon arrival, I got the free hotel shuttle, then met up with renay and echthroi for a very late lunch (I hadn't brought any food on the plane because it was a morning flight; this was An Error) at Short Stack Eatery, an all-day breakfast place that's one of my favorite restaurants here. I have dreams about their blackberry thyme lemonade, which I have attempted to recreate at home with only limited success. After that was the annual Guest of Honor readings at A Room of One's Own, the local bookstore downtown. I managed not to buy anything, but I imagine I'll be back. This year, the GoH are Charlie Jane Anders and G. Willow Wilson. Charlie Jane read an excerpt from her most recent book, The City in the Middle of the Night, and a sweet and lovely short story for Bikes in Space, a zine of feminist bicycle science fiction. Wilson read from her new novel The Bird King, a fantasy set in the late days of Islamic Spain, and I am intrigued.

Then it was hooking up with more folks for dinner; they also wanted some Short Stack, so I had breakfast for three meals today. This is not a complaint -- breakfast food should always be anytime food. Some days, you just need to get your Ron Swanson on.

Now I am back in my room, a little early maybe, but it's been a long day, and I want to at least get started on Critical Role (especially since some sweet sweet bonus content dropped today). So for tonight, I bid you all adieu. Con proper starts tomorrow, hooray!