My 2nd Day In Scotland

[figmo]

In the middle of the night I awoke, hit LJ, and learned gorgeousgary and Sheryl would be arriving later Thursday morning, so I was able to relax and crash. I reawoke around 11am, eased up (still groggy), and as I was in my final stages of waking the Ehrlichs arrived.

All three of us showered (not at once!), then took off to "The Rotunda" for lunch. There was a roundish building near the hotel that housed a restaurant serving a combination of Thai, Japanese, and Chinese cuisines. Their lunch was an okay deal. I opted for a Thai soup and Chinese main course. Gary and Sheryl both had Chinese first and main courses. The food was good, but the smoking section pervaded the non-smoking. I was grateful they didn't charge us for each soda we drank!

Next it was off to various things we wanted to go to. I opted for the opening ceremonies, which turned out to be followed by a wine reception. hazelchaz has a pretty comprehensive list of folks who were there, so I'm not going to repeat it. There was no food, however, and I was frightfully drunk about halfway into my 2nd glass. I ran into lots of LJ folks and non-LJ friends who I only get to see at these conventions. (I could fill an entire entry with the folks I ran into.) Unfortunately, I somehow missed Pat McMurray all weekend; he was apparently handing out LiveJournal ribbons, and I didn't get one.

After the reception I went in search of some food, winding up with a hot dog because it was cheap and there. As the convention filled in, all the feelings I had the day before about feeling ripped off subsided in favor of a sense of comraderie with all the folks there. It's amazing how SF fandom acts as a bonding material between total strangers.

I was still recovering from jet lag, but at the same time I was pushing myself to a) work on the MIDI file for my opening number for my concert and b) line up some backup singers. I had the sheet music mostly arranged for the vocals, but I didn't have the lyrics entered. I then realized I could always have folks fake the vocals since it was to a well-known tune (in the UK, anyway).

I wound up hanging out in the Real Ale bar at the hotel with a bunch of filker types, eventually going to dinner with vaurien at an Italian restaurant. We tried for Mother of India, but they were so full they were turning folks away at the door. (I later learned quite a few other filkers tried to eat there that night.) vaurien had a "Fruits du Mer" pizza; I opted for a sausage and tomato risotto which was tasty and filling. Simon asked me if I wanted pudding; I thought the idea was interesting, but I was almost ready to drop, and while I was interested in trying Scottish "pudding" I didn't dare input sugar at this point, lest I tip over. (I later learned "pudding" is generic British slang for what we call "dessert." Just as well I didn't have it!)

Eventually I shlepped into the filk room, hung out long enough to recruit a few warm bodies, and then went up to my room and crashed.