Stably Socializing (Knock on Wood)

So, last weekend I was at Fourth Street Fantasy Con, braced for an anxiety breakdown like the one I enjoyed in the wake of Wiscon. Except a curious thing happened... I didn't have one. In fact, I had an amazing time. Was it the smaller nature of the con? Did Wiscon acclimate me to being out in public again? Did I discover the proper balance between booze/not booze in my circulatory system? I dunno. But I'm going back next year for sure.

Fourth Street bills itself as "conversation" rather than "convention," and I can admit that before attending I thought this was a bit of an affectation. It just ain't so, though... Fourth Street is a place where blather about art/craft/lore/love really is the Alpha and the Omega. It's an intimate con (about 80 people this year, though there's room for quite a few more) with one track of panels, interspersed with generous breaks and lengthy mealtimes to keep people from going stir-crazy. The consuite was Minnesota Nice in a non-ironic sense and the company was pretty much entirely lovely.

I saw mrissa , met alecaustin , timprov , brooksmoses , and sartorias , among others I'm sure I'm forgetting. I met Steve Brust, DD-B, Will Shetterly, and (fulfilling a fifteen-year-old fannish squeecrush) the field's most notorious diplomat/heartthrob, coffeeem , for the first time. I also got to check in with mmerriam and careswen , swap lots of stories with matociquala , and see cloudscudding , who was furiously scribbling away despite the fact that she seems really, really ready to have the baby any time now. I also think I scared Lois Bujold when I told her how many times I've read A Civil Campaign.

Anyhow, TLDR version: It was incredible and would have been worth even a very, very bad depressive crash afterward. This weekend, I'm finally off to Convergence for a bit-- should be there mid-afternoon Saturday.