Marscon was, as it always is, a good time; it’s home. It’s the place where my con music career transformed from the guy in the back of the filk room all the way up to the guy with a well-attended solo set on the main stage. And, of course, the first event I ever played with the Blibbering Humdingers so many years ago…

It was a little weird with the policy shifts and such, but people mostly managed without drama. We played our music, though our performances were all a little rusty, as we’re *all* getting back into the habit of attending events with even moderately-sized groups of people. The audience, however, is predisposed to like us, since so many of them are friends, so even the bum notes were appreciated…and there were quite a few bum notes.

I got lots of positive comments about my solo set, sold a couple of CDs, and had conversations about possibly booking another convention later this summer, though those details are still sorting themselves out.

I’m getting well-enough known amongst this crowd that, somewhat exhaustingly, I kind of have to be “on” for the entire period; it’s difficult to get from one part of the convention space to another without being stopped by someone with a greeting or a joke or looking for conversation. I love this event, I truly do, but it’s work. Rewarding work, but still work.

Things actually wound down early this year as well – I didn’t stay for the the typical Sunday night dead-dog/cool down, as I was just too wrecked from being so damned social. I checked out early and left as soon as Mikey was done using my guitar for his Sunday afternoon set (his had a technical fail early in the con and I became his spouse’s favorite human because I lent him mine and he wasn’t forced to go buy a new one).

But now, it’s in the can for another year, and that’s okay – universe willing, we’ll do it all again in January.