ARGH!!! Teh Intarweb ate my post! 🙁
So between several sidetrackings, I had put a bit of time into working on my wrapup for today’s GenCon visitation, but thanks to an untimely use of the backspace key while not in the text box lead to the aforementioned post eating. Now I must try to reconstruct the whimsy I had deliberately typed previously. *sigh*
Today was supposed to be my easy day at the con, since I had one goal to accomplish. Unfortunately, things got off to a bad start and started to slide downhill from there. The bad start is called a fire alarm at 4:30 am. It’s bad enough to have the fire alarm go off in the hotel in the first place, but try doing it with three sleepy kids thrust awake unexpectedly, and let’s just say that it wasn’t a happy occasion.
Once we figured out that it really was the hotel alarm and not the wake-up alarm (as I thought, and turned on by accident trying to turn off while half-awake) and it wasn’t the room fire alarm for some reason (maybe related to the sheer number of electrical gadgets we have plugged into assorted outlets around the main room), we got organized and headed out into the hall. By that time, Grimwell had checked downstairs and discovered that it was a false alarm. Someone had put too much butter on the waffle maker and the resulting smoke set off the alarm.
Loverly. And as a result, everyone slept in a bit later, me the latest of all. For my precious few moments of extra sleep, I missed breakfast because it ended at 9:30, which I discovered when I went downstairs hungry at 10:00. Just a reinforcement that this was a hotel catering to business travelers, as if the continental breakfast starting at 4:30 am wasn’t a big enough clue. I did manage to acquire a couple of oranges though, so that did help somewhat.
The Muse and STBMrsSlack stayed in the hotel with the kids, so Grimwell, CmdrSlack and I caught the shuttle to the convention center and arrived around 11-ish. Grim split off almost immediately while Slack and I headed on towards the main hall. We got sidetracked by a gathering at the doors of a smaller room and stopped to watch part of the Gamer Olympics. This was a series of events set up to see how people could handle some of the “real” action they roleplay in RPGs – archery, an obstacle hallway, a short melee session with an expert from Edhellen Armoury, and a few other “tests of strength” that were hidden around the corner.
After watching for a while, I decided to head off to accomplish my daily objective – asking Sandra Garrity, one of the artists for Reaper Miniatures, for an interview. I consider Reaper Minis to be the best available right now. The lines are clear and it’s possible to see expressions and gear and a wealth of other fine details. Plus there is such a large variety of characters and monsters and accessories that it’s hard to keep track of them all.
One of the reasons I consider Reaper Minis to be so high-quality is because of Sandra Garrity. Her work is distinctive, particularly the female figures. These minis aren’t the typical D&D female mini – chainmail bikini and all. Her figures wear armor (and not bustiers either, unless it’s called for) and carry the type of gear male figures do. They are just very unique in that respect, and I believe that almost every female mini I’ve bought in the past few years was created by her. I wanted to interview her because she is distinctive, and to ask how she got into this field and what her background was.
Unfortunately, she was already speaking to another fan when I got to the booth, so I took the time to look around a bit. The fan was persistent and didn’t seem to be interested in moving along, so I went off to get an early lunch before I fainted or something else equally stupid. After eating, stopping at the NCSoft booth to grab some free swag (CoH comics and a trial key for L2), I headed back to the Reaper Booth. The good news was that the persistent fan was gone. The bad news was so was Sandra Garrity for the day. I missed my opportunity.
I did another spin through part of the hall, but nothing new caught my eye and after a while, I headed back to the hotel early to relax in the swimming pool. The day wasn’t a total loss after all.