Enjoy!

Thanks!

Nice, hope to see you there!

Thanks! Should be a number of folks I know and don't see very often there. That's part of why I'm going... the local cons all tend to attract a lot of the same people. Nothing wrong with them, but means there are some folks I haven't seen in years now.

have a good one

Thanks, I certainly hope to.

The jenora starcat goes: "Mff!' when she laughs her lovely laugh, being polite so as to not knock smaller furs off buildings with her gale-force laughter; I see no reason why a jenora starcat should not go to MFF. ^_^ 2Paw will check dates for this year's Midwest FurFest, so as to refrain from bugging a jenora while she's there, if she is online remotely from hotel stay. :)

-2Paw.

*grins* Oh, I'll likely show up occasionally, yes.

Hee, is gut! 2Paw knows on the very few occasions he's been away from home overnight (or more than one on the same trip), he requires a bit more psychological breathing room and 'accomodation juice' to handle being able to sleep or be comfortable in a 'strange' bed. I don't mean to project that on you or anyone else; what I do know is that one's sleeping quarters- and this is also a part of that Star Trek novel I'm writing, to be honest, in psychological and trust-based contexts, that we've spoken of in the last couple of months- are often someone's home base; where they find their rock and psychological sanctuary, whether it's trusted soon after in comfort, or never fully adapted to by someone.

When you're away at a convention- heck, when you've been on a business trip you've told me of, and off-duty winding down- and you've some time to post in on F-Chat or on FurryMUCK, I balance in my mind both that I'm sure you need a touchstone and comfort-space to home and friends here in Toronto when you're away, with the fact that you may be in a much more psychologically unfamiliar place, if not a physical one (or probably both), and the getting there included those difference as well. You're away from your accustomed 'home base', even with MidWest FurFest being a place of fun, I'd always hope, meeting friends who in turn you might not see very often in person (and might in some cases had never met in person beforehand; this has happened to me at many of the two local Toronto conventions I've attended, despite them taking place well within city limits, when I was regularly a congoer). If anything, what I would never want to do is overwhelm you with me and my needs, but provide reasonable comfort of friend-contact without taking the control away from you in your temporary home-base or putting doubt about it in you.

BTW, that novel I mentioned, along with my novella, 'Transformer': I plan to have the first, readable solid draft of both completed by the end of the year, as in December 31st. :)

-2Paw.

Good luck with the writing.

And yeah, I will admit I can get 'peopled out' at conventions sometimes, so checking in online can be a way to wind down again.

I'm filling in the last pieces of the plot in the last couple of weeks, including a conversation between the Mirror-Lt. Shiboline M'Ress, Commodore Kirk (late of the NCC-1701-A, now commanding officer aboard the U.S.S. Garot bin Izar, a design & testing mounting/demounting platform for the new technology to be installed on board the Enterprise-B a few years later) and the Guardian of Forever, with the Forever World (called that by Peter David in 'Imzadi') not far from the Garot bin Izar's testing range, near the end of the novel, where the Guardian fills in a few final blanks as to why this M'Ress is Kirk's own harbinger of what is soon to pass.

A lot of what I've written is about the Caitian/Ferasan decentralized world-government, called the Harlequin: basically dead to everyone who knew them before being selected, hiding in plain sight by deliberate de-recognizing.

I had to get them straight before I did the proper draft writing and fit them in where the written plot directs, but a lot of the narrative and precise written lines I've thrashed out in my head while riding the tram or subway up to see Dr. Fishman every second Thursday (or with him in person) or while I'm walking to and from the grocery or when I'm down on my brother's floor using his shower every night or two.

But as for MFF and the travelling-body biz, it's always been like that for me as conventions (as you and D'Otter saw of me yourselves at Ad Astra), even if it's only infrequently I might stay over the night. 2Paw understands, thus! :)

-2Paw.

They'll be shocked when you attend the dance contest by pulling the roof off and dancing above them all :P

Have an epic time :)

*chuckles* Thanks.

Have lots of fun!

I certainly hope to.

I miss this con! Haven't been since the chlorine incident. :) But not because of that - because December is a bad timeframe. Have a blast!

Well, I haven't been there since that incident either, since that was the 15th convention. But I certainly hope to have fun there.

The very first US con I went to (A Doctor Who/SF con) was Visions '98. It was in the very same hotel where MWFF ended up, years later. I remember being thrilled as my car pulled up, because I loved the Visions hotel . Midwest has historically been my favorite furry con. :) I think I've been six times between 2003 and 2014. :) Anyways - I hope you get lots of art.

I think the first SF con in the U.S. (well, mostly) I attended was Contradiction 7 in 1987. I say 'mostly' because it was in Niagara Falls, though on the New York side, so we weren't far across the border. Anne McCaffrey was there as GoH, and Tanya Huff was also a guest (she was still going as 'T.S. Huff' at the time).

My first convention in general was the Victoria International Cartoon Festival a couple of years earlier, where Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones were there, though that was a much smaller affair.

And thanks, I've got a few things specifically to go for, depending on who else is going to be there.

I went last year. I missed hotel day, so I ended up at an all-suites hotel far enough away that I had to take a cab. (I considered risking public transit even though it was in an unfamiliar city, but they had a couple feet of snow the day before I got there and I couldn't evven see the stop.) I spent most of the time feeling zonked-out and the rest edging through crowds. I might try again next year, if I can get into the lottery.

Yeah, the hotel lottery is an interesting solution to the attendance problem; at the very least it cuts down on scalpers. I managed to make it this year, and the last time I was there five years ago I was going along with  Serval_Kittycat and he dealt with the hotel. Granted, we also had to deal with transit because our flights went in to the Midway airport and the con was out by O'Hare, which meant going all the way across the city using about three different elevated train lines.

Porter Airlines?

Yes, Serval and I flew out from Billy Bishop on Porter that year. May do it again, haven't settled on how I'm getting there yet, though given it's less than four weeks away I probably should. I'd prefer not to fly if possible, and I like trains, but unfortunately there's not a direct connection between Windsor and Detroit by train. (The only train that actually crosses the border is the Toronto to New York run, and that's going somewhat out of the way.

Also, as annoying as airport security is, scarily enough it's often faster to cross the border at an airport than any other way. There's an element of classism involved there: after all, big businessmen use air travel and we don't want to inconvenience them, but only poor people use the bus as far as some border guards are concerned. I haven't crossed the border for any reason other than business for a few years now, but I can't imagine that sort of attitude has gotten better of late.

Interesting point about classism. I'm not even going to try to understand the psychology of boarder guards.

I wanted to take Porter, I like them, but I couldn't face the extra trip from Midway. I finally went with Air Canada. (I think they were a little cheaper anyway.)
I drove to Chicon IV so that I could bring a trunk full of beer for the TorCon party. It took overnight. I left just after noon and arrived with the dawn. I doubt that's changed since, except that the boarder is probably tighter.

My cousin was married to someone who worked for Canada Customs and Immigration, so I've heard stories.

Yeah, the trip across from Midway was interesting. Fortunately, there are trains to each of the airports, and the elevated lines in downtown connecting them, and Serval had asked some locals and got a map. Definitely not something you want to go into unprepared.

It is true, otters do like fun roller coasters (Midway). ^_^ I didn't know how far your own convention travels had gone from Toronto, D'Otta Chummer, and not unlike Jenora's, but I think you both have a fair bit of seniority past this 2Paw for the years your conventiongoing have preceded what conventions he's attended. :)

-2Paw.

Hi, Twopaw. *hugs*
The furthest I've travelled to a Furry convention was MFF last year, (702 km.) But the furthest I've travelled to any copnvention was ConSpiracy, the 1987 World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton, UK, (5,740 km.) Now if I can afford it, (and I'm still just thinking about it so far), the furthest convention I expect ever to attend will be FurDU in Gold Coast, Australia, (15,033 km.) But it would be very expensive and I don't know if I can do it.

Snugs a d'otta, he does! 2Paw is sorry he's been more of a stranger to you than he'd prefer to be. You and Jenora are the good friends I still have from my Trap Line days yet, and I have no intention of leaving you out. <hug!>

I believe Toronto has gotten a WorldCon the once, during my lifetime (or at least as an active science-fiction fan and congoer): am I remembering correctly that it was in 2003, D'otta? Even if I could afford the fee (much less if it had been out of town; realistically, it would only have been remotely possible that once on my budget), I don't know if it would be something I could handle, as in sensory-stimulation. Toronto Trek/Polaris (when it was still running) and Ad Astra were about as far as I could go with that sort of thing, at least familiar conventions I could accommodate. Something on the scale of a WorldCon, probably taking place in multiple venues (and not a single hotel or convention centre) I don't think I could handle being at, nor being divided on what to do and what to pass up.

Ouf! 1987 was the year I saw my first science-fiction movie in a film theatre, and a Trek movie no less: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, on my 10th birthday (December 27th). And it was also the year I began to petition my parents to allow me to stay up to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. ^_^ I'm quite sure you have the seniority in experience on me there, good chummer! :)

The thought of going that far away, a totally new continent that I don't think I have ancestry there either colonial or Aboriginal...I mean, I don't dislike the idea. But if I was going to honestly take in the thought I was to go, I admit it would take some getting used to the idea. I assume FurDU is in a set city every year in Australia, and it's a matter of when the time and funds might be available? I can guess the kind of costs involved, even if it was a relatively straightforward convention but that far from home (and the way you're talking about it, D'otta, I suspect it's a bit on the luxury side).

I hadn't spoken to you about this, or at least not in detail rather than generic planning: I should have my first science-fiction novel- a Trek novel, no less- done in first draft, by the end of the year. I've already told Jenora about it, but you've been a big part of the same journey that all three of us have shared, and I definitely wanted you to know now, at least.

-2Paw.

Yes, the last Worldcon in Toronto was 2003. Which, unfortunately, was a bit of a mess given that was the year of SARS, West Nile Virus, the big power outage, and just two years after 9/11 so Americans weren't traveling across the border much. It was a bad year for tourism in Toronto in general, but the site selection had happened three years earlier, so nobody knew about any of that.

Worldcon has been in Canada five times now; two previous times in Toronto in 1948 and 1973, once in Winnipeg in 1994, and once in Montreal in 2009.

And even a 'poorly' attended Worldcon like TorCon 3 in 2003 had about 4000 people, so yes, being worried about sensory overload makes sense. In a sense, it helped that I was helping Dronon with his 'Furry Fandom' fan table for about half the con, as I could sit in one place and have people come to me instead.

Hello, lovely titan starcat! Puts in a smooch on a fingerpad or enormous cheek, if he can reach (or is assisted). <3

The Worldcon in Winnipeg I don't ever remember hearing about at Ad Astra, my first one being in 1994, but to be fair I think (as you and D'otter probably saw yourself- thank you for the drive home and Wendy's treat, as well as your company, good D'Otta!) I was already overwhelmed by the new conventioning-world I was taking in that year. I mean, it was a good overwhelming (like being heavily mashed underfoot by a friendly, immense female felinoid ^_^) but the whole thing was my First Step, as it were, and I think what I would look for every year down the road I hadn't learned to expect or where to find it just yet.

Montreal in 2009 was also out of my knowings, but to be fair and as we both know, I hadn't been going to yearly conventions since 2006, and it would've needed either a deliberate looking-up or the chance of coming across an otherwise unconnected mention to have notice of it find its way to me. I'm glad you understand about what my hypothetically going to a WorldCon (TorCon 3) would be like, even if it wouldn't have mandated I travel anywhere but to hotels and the Convention Center here in downtown Toronto (as opposed to a VIA Train ride away from home to Montreal, for example, and needing to obtain and pay for accommodations and food), and specifically about how I would handle it psychologically or my limited threshhold for sensory tolerances. In both your and D'otta's case, I'm glad you both were at the conventions here I attended (and you were also at CONTario, the furthest from Toronto proper I've ever attended a convention, just outside of city limits in Mississauga in 1995), and while things were mostly well within my tolerances at the 13 Toronto Treks and Ad Astras (1994-2006) we attended, that I knew I could count on your mutual support when and if needed. I think knowing I'd see you both at almost every Ad Astra I attended each and every year, was something I looked forward to tremendously; a touch-stone of purpose and identity with two close and excellent friends who shared the interests we do and the journey we've taken together, each in our own way.

Half wondering, since you and the Brass-Mane were both managing that table at TorCon 3/WorldCon 2003, if there are gigantic, plantigrade cat-footprints around there somewhere being used as ponds or sculpted frontings around downtown or the Metro Convention Centre. I mean, it's not like you'd have put most of them there intentionally. ^_^ BTW, I saw the picture a body put together for you, Jenora, for 'Painting The Sky' and the treat of the sequel to 'Painting The Cathedral' to look forward to next month! 2Paw is a happy 2Paw, he is. he is! Toe-smooches! <3

-2Paw.

Trust me, I get 'peopled out' sometimes and have to go somewhere quiet to recharge. Which has happened in the middle of a convention before. On the other hand, sometimes it's all about the momentum and as long as I'm still doing something and can keep going, I'm fine, but the moment I pause and am alone with myself I just crash. At least I can see most of these moods coming now so I can pace myself.

Heh, no no new ponds around the convention centre. At least none that can be traced back to me.

The 'Painting the Skies' story I mentioned is a short bit because it was written to go in the souvenir conbook. And just in general principles I'm not going to post it here until after that happens. Honestly, don't even know if it's in or not yet.

O, I dig! It does have to do with MFF ('Painting The Sky') or a writing you were bringing with you there, at least at first. 2Pawnderstands! ^_^ Is gut, tho'. 2Paw knows you'll share it with us in time, and that's what he's quite sure you would want; but starcats, like creators in general, must take the path they choose for their creative energies. :)

As for the hypothetical ponds, I'll just assume any necessary cleanup has eliminated the evidence (or at least a bit of matter-forming by the authoress herself). Wags!

I think it's a bit of a conceit and a convenience for me to assume that only I or people with specific troubles akin to mine need to recharge, and can run out of psychological juice in a very specific way like I do. It's been far too easy, sometimes, to treat multiple elements of myself as a crutch like that, or at least an excuse. I mean, when I needed the help in simply finding what I was in my head, when the boy I was I had a poor grasp (if any at all) on the man I've since become, I suppose it was needed sometimes. And in my worst moments, I still give in to that conceit and emotional shortcut in rough spots, but I don't use it like a relative-state weapon, if I ever did before, and certainly not on other people in my family or anyone else I care about. Those times are in private, usually in my room and always in my head, and if they're for anything they're for damage control, and not to measure the size my of grief or rage at angels. The fact that I can think clearly most of the time now, relieves me of any worthiness for its use that way. If I can act, more or less, like a normal human being, I should act that way with the people who care about me, certainly those in my life who've helped me walk this far. <hug!s a jenora starcat!>

So, not delaying the starcat to her neutron-decay refresh cycle when needed or desired, is entirely appropriate. ^_^

-2Paw.