Chicon 7 con Report

So I've returned from Worldcon, also known as Chicon 7, and I have learned a lot of things:

• I miss Chicago. I really miss Chicago. I miss riding the el. I miss the mountains of buildings and the valleys of streets. I miss downtown. What I don't miss? Traffic jams, crazy drivers, drunk bums on the el and $5 for a bottle of juice (no thank you, hotel restaurant. I happen to know there's a Walgreens right down the street from you. So nyah.)
• Seeing that I used to work for Blue Cross Blue Shields in the Illinois Center, being at the Hyatt right next door felt very, very surreal. I kept expecting to see the ghost of my college self sitting in the lobby reading books and feeling like a nobody.
• At Chicon 7, I am happy to say that I did not feel like a nobody.
• Worldcon is big. Really big. Really, really, really big. Bigger than Oddcon. Bigger than Wiscon. It is that big.
• I hadn't signed up to do anything at Worldcon--no panels, no readings. I wanted to experience Worldcon to the full. To that extent, for the most part, I spent most of my time talking to people.
• I saw a whoooooole lot of people. I saw so many of my writer friends, from Viable Paradise to the Carl Brandon Society. I saw a whole bunch of authors, from famous to just starting out like me. And I saw Neil Gaiman again. He geeked out over the American Gods tshirt I so serendipitously wore that day.
• I saw my grandmother on her birthday. I also got to see a guy playing a saw with a violin bow. A genuine saw.
• I saw the Hugos. I saw several Hugos up close. I held a Hugo. I also watched Twitter explode when Ustream cut off the ceremony. That was awesome.
• I learned there are two types of people who attend cons: those who are fans, and those who create the works for fans. At the cons I've been to, I've met a lot of the latter, but not much of the former. At Worldcon, I got to meet a fair number of the former, from a group of Christians fans to a black woman from Hyde Park who wanted to meet more black fans.
• I got to indulge in a little fandom when I went to watch the Gaiman theater perform The Troll and Snow, Glass, Apples as a dramatic reading. I have come to the conclusion that in the end, I'm not so interested in a movie deal. But if a three-person actor troupe come up to me and say they want to do a performance of one of my short stories, I would be thrilled.
• The parties...oh...the parties...
• Although I didn't have a finished book to pitch, I didn't feel too bad. I saw old friends, made new ones, squee-ed over some writing heroes, and, best of all, made some important networking contacts that will help me in the future.
• I really enjoyed Worldcon. Don't think I will go next year. It was cool, but also very, very intense. I'll look into it maybe a few years from now. But it opened my mind up to attending cons outside of local. Like say, ReaderCon.
• My takeaway from Worldcon: renewed determination to finish the novel. Some networking thingies to follow up on, and relationships with friends I'll be cultivating on the Internets.
• Oh, by the way, Jesus was there. He heartily approved of my attendance and told me to keep up the good work.

  Can't say no to that.