The Mandelbear's Musings

This is just a rather disconnected set of notes.

With 42 CDs (30 shrinkwrapped copies of CC&S and 6 "pre-order" sets) in it, the backpack is a bit too heavy, but it still fit nicely under the seat, even with my shoulderbag under the flap and my rather bulky headphones in the "CD player" compartment.

In any case it's awkward, especially combined with Plink, since I can only have one of the two at a time on my back. Next time I'll bring a folding luggage cart -- it can live in the overhead rack strapped onto Plink. Or, better, with Plink strapped onto the back so that it can fold up easily, and so I can set the backpack on it without having to move Plink.

Next time I have to fly I need to ship CDs to the dealers, and just take enough to cover unexpected shortfalls and a few in-person sales.

50 CDs took up most of the suitcase. I think I need a bigger one; there wasn't room for the hiking boots, which would have come in handy.

I have to remember to print out a fresh songbook before every con. And practice up a two-fer ahead of time.

This is likely to be a little disconnected; I'm sitting in the Dead Dog filk at OVFF, but pretty far back against the wall. There's power and a strong WiFi signal here. Almost like being there.

(Pause while I set up the H2. Should have done it sooner. I'll get to that later.)

I've been getting to bed much too late, and getting up much too late, to have done any real-time blogging. This will have to do. Let's see.

I managed to capture most of the Pegasus nominee concert; missed the "Songs of home" section because I stupidly forgot that the H2 has a standby mode. Got most of the concerts yesterday; nothing today until now.

Had a two-fer slot yesterday. I originally planned to do "Stuff that Dreams are Made Of" and "Rambling Silver Rose", but discovered that I'd pulled "Stuff..." sometime in the past and hadn't replaced it. Substituted "Cicero", which was a better choice anyway because it gave me a good excuse to mention the album. The guitar work in the last verse was a train wreck, and I had a couple of serious vocal flubs as well. Got much more relaxed for "Rose" and I think turned in a decent performance.

Apart from Thursday night and the two-fer I did next to no singing, except for a couple of hours in the hall last night swapping songs with pocketnaomi. Mostly I sat around in the consuite or hallways and talked. I realized several years ago that that's what I really go to cons for. Might have been different if any of the usual Tres Gique suspects had been around, but they weren't. Even so, there a lot of people here who I wanted to spend more time with.

( A few notes on the Zoom H2 recorder )

Went out for a short walk - about 40 minutes around the little business loop in front of the hotel. Still, I managed to raise a bit of a sweat, so it must have done some good. Still worried about the cramps in my left leg, so took it easy and took a Flexeril when I got back. Yay for cyclobenzeprine.

(Cross-posted on mdlbear and healthy_fen.)

(written Thursday afternoon; posted via web because I can't ping my home network. Grump.

On the whole, I think the backpack is a win: I haven't had any trouble squeezing it under the seat in front of me, and it's at least manageable most of the time. Not very convenient in lines; it would be better to have a rolly I can kick ahead of me, and sometimes juggling Plink is a bit of a pain. It's tempting to get a small folding luggage cart that I could lash Plink onto.

Snapped off a fingernail juggling bags and bins in the security line. Grump. Fortunately it the second finger, which I don't use nearly as much. My few guitar lessons, way back when, were in two-finger Travis picking. Still comes in handy.

Struck up a conversation in the airport with a cute girl - just out of High School and on her way to Guatamala for a Spanish immersion program. Turns out folk music and science fiction are major interests of hers, but she hadn't heard of filk. Handed her a flier for CC&S; offered to give her a listen in Dallas but she'd vanished by the time I got off the plane.

A couple more conversations on the plane. The woman in the seat in front of me had even heard of filk! Amazing. I think being a musician is probably better for conversation than being a software researcher, though the guy next to me on the flight to DFW was a marketer at Sun. We both spent most of the flight reading, though.

I overestimated the amount of time I'd have for a layover in Dallas, spent much of the time walking, and ended up eating a hot dog as a fast-food lunch. The flight was about half an hour late leaving: they were replacing a light. Better safe, and all that... Not clear how much dinner I'm going to get, but there's a good supply of Odwalla bars in my luggage; I'll do OK.

The Dallas-to-Columbus leg of the flight is a puddle-jumper; my seat is both an aisle and a window. So no conversations. No legroom, either. I'm going to hurt tomorrow.

I'm packed. Interestingly, the Rick Steves backpack holds more than the Travelpro rolly -- I test-fitted both of them. The backpack is also lighter -- there are simply a lot fewer atoms there -- and it has a flap that I can stuff my shoulder bag under to make it look like I only have two carry-on bags. Plink, the travel guitar, being the other.

I've managed to cram in 80 CDs: 50 in the checked suitcase, and 30 in the backpack. Plus 6 "pre-order" sets and the Interfilk package (binder plus two CDs). Don't think I'll be able to squeeze in the little plush Cthulhu, and in any case he seems to be hiding. I may be a little light on reading material on the way back.

Made my hotel reservation for OVFF yesterday, at the flower_cat's insistence. (Anyone who didn't know her might think she was trying to get me out of town so she could spend time with her lover. I personally suspect she just wants a weekend without my snoring waking her up.)

I'll send in my registration on Monday, and probably book my flight then as well.

I don't normally get to OVFF, but with a newly-released album it would appear to be a good idea. I may need to get a bigger suitcase.