There was exactly the right mix of interpersonal warmth and social fluidity that makes for great times. Not anything I can easily describe, I think, not without spending a large chunk of time hunting words, which I don't have much time for, given that it's already 1am here and tomorrow is the beginning of a short but much dreaded work week.

Perhaps I could say that, while the con's events were very cool, and really awesome in some case, what made the con so great was everything else -- the part where you are just together with people within a common cultural mindset, and it just works, and it feels great.

Not that individual things weren't great on their own.

The organization team kindly saved a bedroom for jallora and me alone, which was really nice, as it allowed for some activities that could otherwise be more difficult. By which I mean a lot of very personal talking, which matters a hell of a lot to me. Perhaps I'll go into the importance of intimate talk someday, and what a difference it can make in a relationship.

Oh, and yeah, con organizer extraordinaire unblue brought a bottle of wine to celebrate jallora's thesis. How cool of him was that. :)

The con site was very remote, this year, which implied a lot of driving on small roads, which I truly appreciate, as it seems to somewhat sate my intermittent wanderlust. You know the sort: just there enough to tug at your soul, but not enough to make you (or, as the case may be, me) get up from my useless scaly ass. Nice site, though; a large mansion with a lot of rooms, and enough quiet spots for quiet talks, while still sufficiently centralized that getting involved with any group of people at any given time just happened on its own. Very nice. I... strongly dislike having to tailgate my way into social places. I know that's the way it commonly works; I just don't find it right.

The multi-table RPG session was particularly good this year, with a well designed yet open-ended plot in a convincing universe with excellent pre-made characters. Warm thanks to blankhare, unblue, ozonegriffox and kefen for their great work! I liked my character a hell of a lot. I'd like to play him more, if that was possible, but would settle on drawing him. To give him more substance, as those things go. He was pre-made with no particular player in mind, but he fit me so well.

Speaking of which, art-wise, well, I did nothing you'd call art, myself, but Madox made a very nice drawing for me on my badge, and what sketches I scribbled on a piece of paper at some point left me feeling surprisingly not-unpleased with myself, a feeling made of timid warmth and an urge to do more of that, which is awesome, because, God do I need urges, these days. (kefen dear, by the way, if you still have that piece of paper, I think jallora wanted me to complete the anthro dragon, could you scan it for me? I'd be grateful.)

And there was the 3am talking in circle under the moonlight, sitting on the ground, hippie style; and the good words and moments with too many of you guys to list (but I think I will still thank clx personally for allowing me to discuss with him how Zen is relevant to programming :)); a particularly good music session with hirolynx, thenightwolf and bearsh3x; and, and, and... Too many things to list.

One thousand thanks to the organization team -- unblue, ozonegriffox, kefen and thenightwolf -- and all those who made it happen!

And with that, I'll be going to bed, because it's now nearly 2am and I'll be a zombie at work once more.

[Edit: Oh. Yes. The pawpet show was awesome. They managed to slash hard and with great accuracy into the furry fandom's excesses and archetypes, and its treatment in the press, while still delivering a very entertaining performance where we all happily laughed at ourselves and were left in the end with a nice sense of progressive optimism. That was fantastic. Thank you, guys.]

[Oh, and yeah, I STILL deny any involvement in that. Don't believe Kef. ;) As far as I can remember, I but provided a few thematic development ideas, that's all. But still, thank you guys for crediting me as co-writer, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :}]