So, this past weekend was Balticon. I was there. In dramatic contrast to the last 48 hours or so, I mostly had a pretty good time, basking in the communal glow of geekdom (or not…the communal “glow” can occasionally be described as more of a “funk” or “stench”, and is not particularly pleasant to bask in), mingling with like minds, meeting new friends, and spending some time with other great people I don’t always get to see very often.

I spent some time in panels about publishing, songwriting, and gaming, and may have been recruited to sit on one or two next year (about gaming). I listened to a lot of excellent music, and saw an interesting short film, and watched an award-winning webcomic writer wrestle with the implications of prodigiously foaming malt beverages.

Normally, I’d weave everyone’s links and such into a coherent narrative, but given the level of real-life stress I’ve dealt with since leaving the convention venue (mostly expensive things breaking and a couple of particularly daunting parenting challenges), I would probably get it wrong. Instead, I’m going to mostly just end up listing people; apologies up front if I left someone out. I will say, however, that I highly recommend all the people and projects I link to as Guaranteed Cool Stuff™, and highly suggest you follow a few links and exchange some of your money for some of their art. The transactions will be worth it.

I greatly enjoyed the music and company of talented musical performers and all-around good guys Jonah Knight, John Anealio, and Danny Birt. I also made the brief acquaintance of the very talented performers Heather Dale and “Sooj” Tucker, whose work I expect I’ll be enjoying for many years to come.

I also met some interesting new people, including Barbara and Mark of Mercury Retrograde Press, who throw a great panel (and a great party, as well as publish great books by nice people like Leona Wisoker), and an entirely different Barbara and Carl from Mysticon, another event we’ll be adding to our already busy schedule for next year.

So, yeah. See ya all next year.