| London Xena Convention Sunday |
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| Once again, Pandora and I were able to spend the morning in a fairly relaxed way. We chattered throughout our morning routines. Then she walked me over to Marks & Spencer, the British equivalent of Super Wal-Mart. Only, Wal-Mart has mostly name brands for sale, while Marks & Spencer sells only its own brands. It smells good in the grocery section...sort of like coffee, but not really describable. I've read about turkish delight in the Chronicles of Narnia, but never seen or tasted it, so I bought a box. |
| There were more Xenites waiting for us in the dealer's room. Lots more Xenites! Everhope, Gravitystar, and Jollyape had made the trip for the day. They seemed to me like a three of a kind, and a lot of fun! |
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| Pandora, Everhope, Jollyape, and Gravitystar |
| Convention programming started with two music videos, including "Subtext for Dummies, Part 2" by Everhope and Gravitystar. I was sitting right next to them at the time, so I could compliment them on their videos in person...since it made me laugh every bit as hard as it had the first time I saw it in Burbank. The first guest was Joe LoDuca. I wish I'd been able to hear him better, but his microphone wasn't working. I did catch that he said the actress who played Tara had been the one singing for "Candle in the Wind" on Lyre, Lyre. |
| There was rather too much to talk about anyway, as I was sitting sandwiched between Gravitystar and two of her livejournal Xenite friends. Then, they went to stand for a better view, and I sat up in my seat to welcome Lucy Lawless!!! She didn't greet us with her usual energy. She seemed really tired...but that might honestly just be part of our expectations for her (she usually has so much energy). And from what I heard, both her concerts were incredible, so it was probably just jetlag. (I was getting sleepy myself.) There was a long line of questions and stories for her, though, including XOC's own Solansmum. Her son's name really is Solan, and she had Solan in line to introduce to Lucy! |
| I wasn't going to leave without a convention T-shirt. I wore my chakram necklace all weekend long! |
| After Lucy left, and we all finished clapping and cheering, I left to go get some lunch and a hot cup of tea (very British, I know...there was a "kettle" in our room, and I was freezing. I think they turned on the A/C right as Lucy came into the room). There was no real programming for another couple of hours. I hung out with Pandora and LadyKate. Then I slipped back into the convention room during the auction. Um, bidding at auctions just isn't my thing, so I finished writing down my talk with Steve Sears from the previous day. In retrospect, though, I wish I'd spent more time in the dealers' room, because JollyApe, Everhope, and Gravitystar were signing each other's t-shirts, and I never got a chance to write on theirs. I also never got to do more than glance across the room at Deborah Kizzy, who seems like another neat person. I sat next to LadyKate and Tango for Steve Sears's final presentation. I think that was the most interesting one...he gave us so much of his insight, about subtext, about the ending to the series, about the different ways the show has impacted people's lives. Tango and I had a good discussion about some of the things he'd said about the finale later. And that was it...official convention programming was over. |
| I kept LadyKate and Tango company, walking back to their bed and breakfast to get their stuff. It was the first time I'd been that far away from the hotel in London. It wasn't raining, not quite, but it was rather grey and wet. The streets weren't on a neat grid like Phoenix, but it wasn't too hard to see which direction led where. There wasn't a "historic" district; all of the buildings looked old. The inside to the bed and breakfast looked like an apartment, I guess--one of those apartments with a downstairs. I got to talk with LadyKate and Tango about writing. Tango said that ultimately the writers do have control over the endings to their stories. I said that I agreed with her point in principal...but I just remember how I'd have felt if J. K. Rowling had killed Ron and/or Hermione without having them get together for real first. *laughing* Crazy fans in general! LadyKate, Tango, Unwise Ocean, Pandora, JollyApe, Everhope, Gravitystar, and I all gathered for dinner on Sunday night. I think we let JollyApe, Everhope, and Gravitystar (oh, dear, I think of you all as a group!) do most of the talking, because they had to catch a train fairly early in the evening. So they didn't order dinner, just drinks, and told stories and in-jokes. LadyKate and Tango had to leave right around seven. I was sorry to see them go, but they were off to Oxford and needed to make the check-in for their hotel there. Pandora and I meandered over to the hotel bar and ordered drinks and talked for several more hours. (I had soda, she had juice...wild 'n' crazy pair of Xenites, I tell you...) I loved the one on one time. Another of my favorite parts of this convention. Unwise Ocean joined us around eleven, as well as Mike from Mike's Images (one of the best Xena wallpaper and screencap sites out there, in my opinion). I guess we were fairly quiet until midnight, when people started going to bed. The concertgoers from Sunday night were back by that time, too...and up to their usual craziness in the lobby. I wasn't about to go to bed before I had one more chance to sit and talk with GirlWithAChakrem--and we did get that chance. She's so nice, funny and insightful, with a lot of stories to tell. (And a Scottish accent...I felt like I was thinking in a Scottish accent that night!). We were joined by Smutterly, InkyBlue, Twinkletoes, and LSaved. LSaved, Twinkletoes, and GWAC had all signed each other (and were insisting that everyone sign them)...it was hysterical. We alternated between actual conversations and taking pictures of the outrageous things each other did. I hated to...but I finally had to hug everyone one last time and go to bed. I still don't know what time it was when I finally did that. Could've been 2 AM; could've been closer to 4. |
| As I draft this, I'm flying above the ocean. There are islands below me. I have no idea which are which. It feels so strange that tomorrow I will wake up in my own apartment and go to my job, and tackle the huge stack of papers waiting for me. I'm wearing my Xena convention T-Shirt. I proudly showed it to everyone at the airport when they asked why I was in London and if I was on holiday. This weekend was everything I'd hoped for. The mishaps and imperfections, the opportunities and all the long talks, building on everything we've already built, made this one of the best weekends of my life. |