Wapsi Square Forum

Ok so you know how people say "never meet your heroes"?
Meet Paul. You will not regret it. He is every bit as awesome as we think he is.

This has been a really great experience and he has been a really great guy, and I've had loads of fun. Got a print of Velma and I think I snagged the original artwork for the post apocalyptic distopian Stop Sign Shield Claymore gal.

I am honestly thinking about driving back up here tomorrow - this is super cool.

Also spent quite some time with another fan of his, but I won't name names unless they decide to say "hey it was me". It was a pleasure!

Bravo!

GlytchMeister wrote:Also spent quite some time with another fan of his, but I won't name names unless they decide to say "hey it was me". It was a pleasure!

‘‘Twas I”, remarks Hansontoons. I had been planning to visit friends in Chicago, noted the fact the con was this weekend, so timed it just right. Met Paul and Glytch. Had a great time, learned some things from the panels that Paul participated on, enjoyed hanging with Glytch.

I wish i could go to conventions any more - these days, between money and having to make sure that someone is around to help Kate, i can't.

I used to love to go to SF conventions; i met so many of the old-school pros, who were also fans themselves.

One of my more cherished memories is of my Very First Convention; Tricon in Cleveland in 1966 (that years Worldcon), where i was to some extent mentored by Hal Clement.

The first RiverCon, in 1975, where i asked Poul Anderson about what seemed to me to be a flaw in his story "The Thee-Cornered Wheel" ... and after a moment's silence, he said "Son of a bitch. Fifteen years since that story was published and nobody's noticed that before." (Including, apparently, himself.)

ASFiCon (DeepSouthCon 1980), where i presented the Rebel Award, surprised hell out of the recipient ... and got a huge laugh out of the crowd.

DeepSouthCon 1981, where we were bidding to hold the 1981 DSC in Atlanta (with me as chair), where i accidentally triggered an incident wherein our intended Guest of Honour's wife hit our intended Fan Guest of Honour with a pie... (Traditionally, DSC bids do not announce their intended GoHs until they win the bid - if they do. In this case, the GoH was Karl Edward Wagner (RIP) and his wife, Barb, hit our intended Fan GoH, Lon Atkins with a pie because of something i said...)

Made the drive back up here, and got to hang out with Paul for another hour or two. This has been so damn cool. Totally worth it. Paul has to leave right after closing ceremonies, so I think that’ll be it.

I also got to network a bit with a leatherworker regarding a custom harness and sheaths for my kukri and dagger, and found a woodworker for Dinky to check out since she’s been needing a box for her scent vials and stuff, and found a costumer that I thought Yana might want to talk with regarding a potential foray into cosplay.

GlytchMeister wrote:Also spent quite some time with another fan of his, but I won't name names unless they decide to say "hey it was me". It was a pleasure!

"I Am SPARTICUS!"

All done! Got to hang out some more with Paul before closing ceremonies, but he had to haul ass to catch his flight after that.

I’m extremely glad I did this, and very thankful for Hansontoons for providing the extra oomph needed to get me to drive there... sad it’s over... and looking forward to my next con. I believe Paul said he’d probably be at a con in Minneapolis sometime in Spring. He’ll get me the details when he gets it all figured out. I hope I can make it.

I’m so excited I can’t remember if I said any of this here already, so apologies for potential repetition.

Glad you guys had a good time. Glad to hear Pablo did, too.

GlytchMeister wrote:All done! Got to hang out some more with Paul before closing ceremonies, but he had to haul ass to catch his flight after that.

I’m extremely glad I did this, and very thankful for Hansontoons for providing the extra oomph needed to get me to drive there... sad it’s over... and looking forward to my next con. I believe Paul said he’d probably be at a con in Minneapolis sometime in Spring. He’ll get me the details when he gets it all figured out. I hope I can make it.

I’m so excited I can’t remember if I said any of this here already, so apologies for potential repetition.

See? I told you he was amazing.

This is great, GM... I'm glad you were able to have, and seize the chance.

I hope to have the opportunity myself some day. Unfortunately I think he doesn't get out to the left coast at all often

TazManiac wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Also spent quite some time with another fan of his, but I won't name names unless they decide to say "hey it was me". It was a pleasure!

"I Am SPARTICUS!"

No, I AM Sparticus!

Hanging out at Haymarket Pub and Brewery on Randolph St. in Chicago. Unfortunately, not with Pablo.

DinkyInky wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:All done! Got to hang out some more with Paul before closing ceremonies, but he had to haul ass to catch his flight after that.

I’m extremely glad I did this, and very thankful for Hansontoons for providing the extra oomph needed to get me to drive there... sad it’s over... and looking forward to my next con. I believe Paul said he’d probably be at a con in Minneapolis sometime in Spring. He’ll get me the details when he gets it all figured out. I hope I can make it.

I’m so excited I can’t remember if I said any of this here already, so apologies for potential repetition.

See? I told you he was amazing.

He does work hard to make people feel special.

While Glytch and I were standing near his table, he autographed and added a personal touch to a Windycon t-shirt for a lady (I would identify her as a grandma!). She has attended each Windycon since its beginning. She was so thrilled what he did for her! Made him blush!

And later there was this young girl, maybe 8 years old, standing for a caricature sketch by Paul. She wore a tan hoodie, hair in a ponytail, had a set of wings on her back- some tan fuzz along the top edge with pheasant feathers forming the rest. Glytch asked her who she was cosplaying, she spoke softly so I unfortunately did not hear the reply. The final result was a precious rendition, the wings prominent, the girl's face captured with a smile worthy of any Wapsi character. Her dad looked pretty happy, too.

I've only been to Windycon once, about 1990 I think, and it was pure coincidence that I was in range. I was in Shaumberg for two weeks for some software training, and learned on Saturday night that the con was occurring in another hotel a couple miles away. Caught a bus Sunday morning, found that there was so little left of the con that they weren't even selling memberships, persuaded them to let me in the dealer's room without a membership.

The dealer's room itself wasn't worth the bother of taking a bus across town - after a dozen cons they tend to look pretty much alike, some have more of X and others have more of Y but there's rarely anything much different from what you've seen before, I was used to Norwescon's four-times-the-size dealer's room, and I've never been much of a collector of stuff. But I happened to see Mercedes Lackey. And she commented on something I had said to her a couple years earlier at Norwescon. THAT was worth the trip.

(I had asked her if she had modeled for Talia on the covers of her "Arrows of the Queen" trilogy. Seriously, it's plausible. But no.)

Obviously and unsurprisingly, WindyCon has grown more than a bit since then. It's only been about 27 years...

But, rather than WindyCon (which is a couple thousand miles from here), I spent the weekend at TusCon (only a couple hundred miles). Had a great time. Learned a lot - the mind-map of notes from one panel (on making it as an indie writer) is over 50 bubbles. And in the course of doing that I found a few neat tricks with the mind-mapping software that I didn't already know.

"Who's that?" I pondered...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Lackey :
Lackey has published over 140 books and writes novels at a rate of 5.5 per year on average. She has been called one of the "most prolific science fiction and fantasy writers of all time."[1]



(Iiamspartacus...)

Warrl wrote:I've only been to Windycon once, about 1990 I think, and it was pure coincidence that I was in range. I was in Shaumberg for two weeks for some software training, and learned on Saturday night that the con was occurring in another hotel a couple miles away. Caught a bus Sunday morning, found that there was so little left of the con that they weren't even selling memberships, persuaded them to let me in the dealer's room without a membership.

The dealer's room itself wasn't worth the bother of taking a bus across town - after a dozen cons they tend to look pretty much alike, some have more of X and others have more of Y but there's rarely anything much different from what you've seen before, I was used to Norwescon's four-times-the-size dealer's room, and I've never been much of a collector of stuff. But I happened to see Mercedes Lackey. And she commented on something I had said to her a couple years earlier at Norwescon. THAT was worth the trip.

(I had asked her if she had modeled for Talia on the covers of her "Arrows of the Queen" trilogy. Seriously, it's plausible. But no.)

Obviously and unsurprisingly, WindyCon has grown more than a bit since then. It's only been about 27 years...

But, rather than WindyCon (which is a couple thousand miles from here), I spent the weekend at TusCon (only a couple hundred miles). Had a great time. Learned a lot - the mind-map of notes from one panel (on making it as an indie writer) is over 50 bubbles. And in the course of doing that I found a few neat tricks with the mind-mapping software that I didn't already know.

Misty is cool, but if you REALLY want to meet someone interesting, Leslie Fish is a HOOT! Kinda nuts, but in that 'crazy aunt that no one talks about but always has the most amazing stories at get-togethers' sort of way. I once obtained permission to form a group called 'The Band from Argo', with the caveat that, should she ever be present for a performance, she would be permitted to chase us off stage, with a stick, after the performance was done. It never came together, sadly, but hey... it was cool.

I remember one DragonCon, I ended up Assigned Liason (i.e. Gopher) for Anne McCaffery. I about flipped my lid when I found out whom I was to work with. Got a pretty sweet autograph out of it too, which was SUPER uncommon by then because it was her last trip to the US and arthritis meant she pretty much couldn't do autographs anymore. My job was basically 'whatever she wants, make it happen'. Which I did. Was a lot of fun.

But yea, my first con was a GalaxyFaire back in the 80's. Was a lot of fun.

Hansontoons wrote: Hanging out at Haymarket Pub and Brewery on Randolph St. in Chicago. Unfortunately, not with Pablo.

DAMN nice hat!

Just Old Al wrote:

Hansontoons wrote: Hanging out at Haymarket Pub and Brewery on Randolph St. in Chicago. Unfortunately, not with Pablo.

DAMN nice hat!

Gift from a niece. Kept my noggin warm on the chillier days. Had two inches of snow Friday where I was staying. None further west at the con.

For those interested, here's the cover of the Con book, Paul's page, and the o-fisshul tee-shirt.

Two Things (iamsparticus):

- Back in 1980, My Father (a man of many occupations and causes) was at the time designing and consulting on Solar Envelope Houses. (Solar Clime Designs.) I diverge, but he also produced a 'zeen on the subject as well. (Folks, this was pre-Internet, a 'blog' was something that, if you stepped in it would likely suck your shoe off...). Digression aside, that year he & I went on a cross-country bus ride from San Fransisco (Bay Area) to Amherst Mass. It was for a Solar Power Symposium/Get-2-Gether/Convention type thing and one of the defining moments ["why is this guy, TazManiac, going on and on about a non-sequitur?"...] was a poster I saw published espousing something or the other I can't recall- but it's graphics showed a Tin Man (think Wiz o' OZ), slumped and defunk'd, at the base of a cut down tree, and it was very reminiscent of the animated film 'Wizards' and Pual's work as seen in this thread. I pinched a good copy off the bulletin board and brought it home but I don't think it survived the rampage and pillage that was my Ex-Wifes plundering.
Well done Pablo. Cord Struck, Heart Strings Plucked.

(Iiamsparticus)

- I cant recall the Second Thing...

(edit)
Oh!, Oh!- I remember!:

Really Cool Hat.

That is all.

Hey, Taz: I was at that thing in 1980! I was the "information coordinator" for the local Community Action Agency's home solar demonstration project at the time, and they sent some of us up there.

And, yeah--Nize hat! (Very familiar looking, too--yer niece has excellent style appreciation. )