Dixseption, belatedly
Feb. 13th, 2005 04:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborah_cSo... last weekend was spent, for those that haven't been paying attention, at Dixseption, the UK's annual national filk convention. The last convention I went to was about 9 years ago, and I've never been to a filk convention anyway, so it was a little bit of a step into the unknown.
Having finally arrived in Southsea, courtesy of Minstrel, who very kindly took a diversion via Cambridge to come and get us, I was slightly surprised to discover I was sharing a room. Having wibbled a bit and got over the shock,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
braider turned out, as she'd told me, to be an excellent roommate. We arrived just early enough to make it to the opening ceremony, so we were able to get to that, and then to hear Minstrel's set, the first of the evening. By the end, though, I was pining for dinner, so nrivkis's husband Manny and I ventured out to see what we could find. The street running down the side of the hotel turned out to have a fine choice of restaurants, and we settled after a little wandering around on Indian food. After a short while, we were joined by autographedcat and mokatiki, and a very convivial time followed, along with an excellent, if slightly erratically delivered dinner. We returned to the con, where I mostly spent the rest of the evening talking to random people, although dipping into the remaining programme items. Having had not enough sleep for the previous night or two, I decided on an early night a little short of midnight, which would have worked better if Mary and I hadn't then chatted till 3am or so...
Saturday
Up, rather to my surprise, perfectly early enough to shower, dress and still make it down in plenty of time to get breakfast. The food was nice and in entirely adequate quantities, but I got rather upset by one of the waitresses being very insensitive, as well as finding the other restaurant staff rather unfriendly and officious. I settled in the lobby for a while to play with random children, until the smoke got a little too much for me, at which point I retired to the rather nice chaise longue on the landing half way up the first flight of the large staircase. This turned out to be a good vantage point, where I could talk to random passing people, read quietly, but still breathe (which I tend to find a Good Thing). The only annoyance was entirely forgetting about the dance workshop, to which I'd intended to go.pola_bear's set, at the end of the morning, was lots of fun, although I still haven't fully mastered the difference between the sounds that distressed English zebras and distressed Greek ones make :-)
By lunchtime, breakfast still hadn't worn off, so I grabbed a drink and, errm, some words leaked into my head. This came as a slight surprise, although maybe I shouldn't have been listening to folk songs... I scribbled them down in case they should come in useful later, anyway. It would appear this filking thing is contagious, even if you're Only The Piano Player! DJ was hunting for a pianist, so we went and had a rapid rehearse. Then, 5 minutes before the start of the open concert, she produced a rather lovely cabaret song (I must hunt for the music for this some time). I read through, then when I'd finished crying a bit, we decided we could sing it, and I think made quite a reasonable job of it, at least for sight reading... On the other hand, the less said about my playing of Queen's "We are the Champions", the better. I've always suffered badly from stage fright, which has the problem that once things start going wrong, they get worse really quickly...
I'd still been feeling a bit upset anyway from the morning, and was rather shaken by the mess I'd just made, so I drifted in and out for the rest of the open concert. I do at least try to fight back against my lack of self-confidence these days, though, and toward the end I thought I might just about cope with singing. Brian kindly slotted me in a couple of songs before the end, and I made my filking debut, having copied the lunchtime scribbles onto a more-than-postage-stamp-sized piece of paper so I could actually read it. My singing voice remains terrible, the more so for being terrified (I sang for less than two minutes, and my pulse was nearly 200 at the end!) but people seemed to like it. At the endfilkerdave and bardling, who'd spent quite a large part of the afternoon generally calming me down and destressing me were kind enough to take me out to find chinese food. Ordered very slightly too much -- breakfast still hadn't entirely worn off...
We wandered back to the hotel, to discover that rather to our delight, while we were late forkhaosworks' Guest-of-Honour set, the entire con committee were considerably later, having gone en masse to the other chinese restaurant, and taken rather a while to escape. I opted for a quick change of outfit in an effort to boost my self-respect a little (yes, I'm shallow, so sue me!), and then went to listen to what proved to be an excellent and generally entertaining set of songs. Then the GKs set, for which I drifted in and out -- every time I went back, they seemed to be singing love songs, which didn't quite suit my mood. Finally, I caught the beginning of Mich and Marilisa's set, which was wonderful. (I still haven't worked out whether the two of them are Divine or Strumpet, though...) Unfortunately, when they started on love songs as well, it was more than I could take, and I fled. kitanzi kindly came and rescued me, and we eventually retired to the bar once I could cope with company again, where she and autographedcat looked after me for the evening, until I decided that I should go to bed while I could still walk. Umm. Approximately... Fortunately Mary was still up and in a rather better state to steer me toward the room...
Sunday
And so to Sunday morning. I woke at about 8am, slightly to my surprise with no hangover... Despite this, though, I was very slow moving, and barely managed to make it down to breakfast before it was over at 10am. Still, I did manage to get a good cooked breakfast again, although tea came only very grudgingly (it was three minutes past ten, and they really didn't want to give me any, which I found unimpressive. Did I mention surly waiters? Oh, yes I did..) We'd not managed to find anyone going back to Cambridge on Sunday night, so I went to try and extend my booking. Unfortunately, while I could stay an extra night, I couldn't do so in the same room, so I had to go and pack anyway. They did at least move most of my luggage from the old room to the new one, which was nice, although I kept a bag of the things I needed for the day downstairs so I knew where it was...
Gwen had spotted and enthused about my corset the previous evening, and asked if I could wear it to the wedding, so I disappeared back to the room for a while to get appropriately dressed (it's nice to be appreciated!) I dropped into the main room (although I don't quite recall whose it was, and don't have a programme to hand), and then went to join the wedding party. I'd never before been to a handfasting, but it was a wonderful ceremony, and I was so pleased to be able to be their. Gwen looked radiant, Joe every part the handsome groom. I always find weddings remind me of my own commitments, and although things are a little difficult at the moment, it was definitely a good thing for me. I spent a lot of the ceremony in tears, but mostly tears of joy for them -- they're utterly wonderful people, and they deserve an equally wonderful life together.
Post-lunchtime (not post-lunch, breakfast was still quite sufficient) was the NMC set. I dashed up to my (new) room for a quick change of outfit (yes, again. I know, I probably came over as a bit of a clothes-horse), this time into ballgown (well, everyone else was being OTT, so why shouldn't I?) and sweatshirt (since we were being casual until the end of the set). Having thrown on an overcoat and scarf, I went down to join the others, where we attracted curious glances from people who wondered if we were really that cold...
... because the main room was hot. Very hot. Particularly wearing even one extra layer of clothes (I did at least take the coat off). Anyway... The set seemed to go well, although I think G&S wasn't entirely to the taste of everyone in the audience. Apart from finding that the pedal on the piano had a slight tendency to run away in the middle of pieces, and a couple of inadvertent changes of voicing when a flailing hand hit the wrong button ("where did that string orchestra come from?") my playing seemed to work OK, by and large, or at least wasn't too distractingly wrong... The choir sang excellently, and DJ's Xena song went down well.
By the end, I was thoroughly dehydrated, so I disappeared for a while to find neurofen and lots of water, then spent the next couple of programme items listening lying down on the floor at the back with my eyes shut, since I was still feeling moderately ill but really wanted to hear Terence's second set. Gwen's set was wonderful, and I'm completely in awe of her. (I particularly enjoyed "The Murder Ballad", and must try hard tosteal itfind out the words some time.) The closing ceremony followed, in which I was very touched to find that someone had liked what I'd sung on Saturday enough to nominate me for an award. I helped with a little clearing up, then sat down and promptly fell asleep in one of the chairs in the lobby. Fortunately, I woke up just in time (feeling very stiff) to join a small group heading out in search of dinner (Thai, by way of a change), pausing only to bounce, wave and make faces at the group in the Turkish restaurant not quite so far down the street...
Back at the hotel, I wandered up to the circle, where Manny and Naomi were wrestling with a slightly recalcitrant daughter. I thought that they should get a chance to enjoy things, so Grace and I wandered back to the lobby, where we did circuits, played with various people, climbed the stairs, looked in mirrors, worked out how to climb downstairs again, investigated the contents of all the tables, wondered if Terence's guitar was edible, and generally had fun until about midnight, when she abruptly (and noisily!) decided it was bedtime. Having returned her to mum and dad, I rejoined the circle, even occasionally singing again. (This still comes under the heading of "interesting experiment", not "something I can do", but I'll keep working at it...) Eventually, at about 3.30 I admitted defeat and headed, very wearily, for bed.
Monday
And so, to Monday morning. I came down in the morning feeling decidely hungover, which seemed rather unfair given the complete lack of anything stronger than jasmine tea the previous day... We were ready to go by mid-morning, and said a very painful set of goodbyes to everyone who was left. Taking a small diversion so I could see the house where I lived in Old Portsmouth for my year off, we got back on the road, and had a fairly pain-free journey back to Cambridge, where I fed Minstrel and Rhodri tea and we watched Disney cartoons for a short while with R, who was home from school feeling ill.
So: all in all, an excellent weekend away, despite all the issues and baggage I took with me. I went feeling nervous, unsettled, an outsider; I came home feeling I had a new family. I made so many new and wonderful friends, who I'm missing terribly now I'm back in Cambridge. I do hope, however, that at least some of them will be back in future years, and indeed that I can get to more cons in the future... Thank you so much to everyone for making the weekend what it was, particularly to everyone who had the unenviable task of looking after me when I was down; you're all amazing people.
Having finally arrived in Southsea, courtesy of Minstrel, who very kindly took a diversion via Cambridge to come and get us, I was slightly surprised to discover I was sharing a room. Having wibbled a bit and got over the shock,
braider turned out, as she'd told me, to be an excellent roommate. We arrived just early enough to make it to the opening ceremony, so we were able to get to that, and then to hear Minstrel's set, the first of the evening. By the end, though, I was pining for dinner, so nrivkis's husband Manny and I ventured out to see what we could find. The street running down the side of the hotel turned out to have a fine choice of restaurants, and we settled after a little wandering around on Indian food. After a short while, we were joined by autographedcat and mokatiki, and a very convivial time followed, along with an excellent, if slightly erratically delivered dinner. We returned to the con, where I mostly spent the rest of the evening talking to random people, although dipping into the remaining programme items. Having had not enough sleep for the previous night or two, I decided on an early night a little short of midnight, which would have worked better if Mary and I hadn't then chatted till 3am or so...Saturday
Up, rather to my surprise, perfectly early enough to shower, dress and still make it down in plenty of time to get breakfast. The food was nice and in entirely adequate quantities, but I got rather upset by one of the waitresses being very insensitive, as well as finding the other restaurant staff rather unfriendly and officious. I settled in the lobby for a while to play with random children, until the smoke got a little too much for me, at which point I retired to the rather nice chaise longue on the landing half way up the first flight of the large staircase. This turned out to be a good vantage point, where I could talk to random passing people, read quietly, but still breathe (which I tend to find a Good Thing). The only annoyance was entirely forgetting about the dance workshop, to which I'd intended to go.
pola_bear's set, at the end of the morning, was lots of fun, although I still haven't fully mastered the difference between the sounds that distressed English zebras and distressed Greek ones make :-)By lunchtime, breakfast still hadn't worn off, so I grabbed a drink and, errm, some words leaked into my head. This came as a slight surprise, although maybe I shouldn't have been listening to folk songs... I scribbled them down in case they should come in useful later, anyway. It would appear this filking thing is contagious, even if you're Only The Piano Player! DJ was hunting for a pianist, so we went and had a rapid rehearse. Then, 5 minutes before the start of the open concert, she produced a rather lovely cabaret song (I must hunt for the music for this some time). I read through, then when I'd finished crying a bit, we decided we could sing it, and I think made quite a reasonable job of it, at least for sight reading... On the other hand, the less said about my playing of Queen's "We are the Champions", the better. I've always suffered badly from stage fright, which has the problem that once things start going wrong, they get worse really quickly...
I'd still been feeling a bit upset anyway from the morning, and was rather shaken by the mess I'd just made, so I drifted in and out for the rest of the open concert. I do at least try to fight back against my lack of self-confidence these days, though, and toward the end I thought I might just about cope with singing. Brian kindly slotted me in a couple of songs before the end, and I made my filking debut, having copied the lunchtime scribbles onto a more-than-postage-stamp-sized piece of paper so I could actually read it. My singing voice remains terrible, the more so for being terrified (I sang for less than two minutes, and my pulse was nearly 200 at the end!) but people seemed to like it. At the end
filkerdave and bardling, who'd spent quite a large part of the afternoon generally calming me down and destressing me were kind enough to take me out to find chinese food. Ordered very slightly too much -- breakfast still hadn't entirely worn off...We wandered back to the hotel, to discover that rather to our delight, while we were late for
khaosworks' Guest-of-Honour set, the entire con committee were considerably later, having gone en masse to the other chinese restaurant, and taken rather a while to escape. I opted for a quick change of outfit in an effort to boost my self-respect a little (yes, I'm shallow, so sue me!), and then went to listen to what proved to be an excellent and generally entertaining set of songs. Then the GKs set, for which I drifted in and out -- every time I went back, they seemed to be singing love songs, which didn't quite suit my mood. Finally, I caught the beginning of Mich and Marilisa's set, which was wonderful. (I still haven't worked out whether the two of them are Divine or Strumpet, though...) Unfortunately, when they started on love songs as well, it was more than I could take, and I fled. kitanzi kindly came and rescued me, and we eventually retired to the bar once I could cope with company again, where she and autographedcat looked after me for the evening, until I decided that I should go to bed while I could still walk. Umm. Approximately... Fortunately Mary was still up and in a rather better state to steer me toward the room...Sunday
And so to Sunday morning. I woke at about 8am, slightly to my surprise with no hangover... Despite this, though, I was very slow moving, and barely managed to make it down to breakfast before it was over at 10am. Still, I did manage to get a good cooked breakfast again, although tea came only very grudgingly (it was three minutes past ten, and they really didn't want to give me any, which I found unimpressive. Did I mention surly waiters? Oh, yes I did..) We'd not managed to find anyone going back to Cambridge on Sunday night, so I went to try and extend my booking. Unfortunately, while I could stay an extra night, I couldn't do so in the same room, so I had to go and pack anyway. They did at least move most of my luggage from the old room to the new one, which was nice, although I kept a bag of the things I needed for the day downstairs so I knew where it was...
Gwen had spotted and enthused about my corset the previous evening, and asked if I could wear it to the wedding, so I disappeared back to the room for a while to get appropriately dressed (it's nice to be appreciated!) I dropped into the main room (although I don't quite recall whose it was, and don't have a programme to hand), and then went to join the wedding party. I'd never before been to a handfasting, but it was a wonderful ceremony, and I was so pleased to be able to be their. Gwen looked radiant, Joe every part the handsome groom. I always find weddings remind me of my own commitments, and although things are a little difficult at the moment, it was definitely a good thing for me. I spent a lot of the ceremony in tears, but mostly tears of joy for them -- they're utterly wonderful people, and they deserve an equally wonderful life together.
Post-lunchtime (not post-lunch, breakfast was still quite sufficient) was the NMC set. I dashed up to my (new) room for a quick change of outfit (yes, again. I know, I probably came over as a bit of a clothes-horse), this time into ballgown (well, everyone else was being OTT, so why shouldn't I?) and sweatshirt (since we were being casual until the end of the set). Having thrown on an overcoat and scarf, I went down to join the others, where we attracted curious glances from people who wondered if we were really that cold...
... because the main room was hot. Very hot. Particularly wearing even one extra layer of clothes (I did at least take the coat off). Anyway... The set seemed to go well, although I think G&S wasn't entirely to the taste of everyone in the audience. Apart from finding that the pedal on the piano had a slight tendency to run away in the middle of pieces, and a couple of inadvertent changes of voicing when a flailing hand hit the wrong button ("where did that string orchestra come from?") my playing seemed to work OK, by and large, or at least wasn't too distractingly wrong... The choir sang excellently, and DJ's Xena song went down well.
By the end, I was thoroughly dehydrated, so I disappeared for a while to find neurofen and lots of water, then spent the next couple of programme items listening lying down on the floor at the back with my eyes shut, since I was still feeling moderately ill but really wanted to hear Terence's second set. Gwen's set was wonderful, and I'm completely in awe of her. (I particularly enjoyed "The Murder Ballad", and must try hard to
Back at the hotel, I wandered up to the circle, where Manny and Naomi were wrestling with a slightly recalcitrant daughter. I thought that they should get a chance to enjoy things, so Grace and I wandered back to the lobby, where we did circuits, played with various people, climbed the stairs, looked in mirrors, worked out how to climb downstairs again, investigated the contents of all the tables, wondered if Terence's guitar was edible, and generally had fun until about midnight, when she abruptly (and noisily!) decided it was bedtime. Having returned her to mum and dad, I rejoined the circle, even occasionally singing again. (This still comes under the heading of "interesting experiment", not "something I can do", but I'll keep working at it...) Eventually, at about 3.30 I admitted defeat and headed, very wearily, for bed.
Monday
And so, to Monday morning. I came down in the morning feeling decidely hungover, which seemed rather unfair given the complete lack of anything stronger than jasmine tea the previous day... We were ready to go by mid-morning, and said a very painful set of goodbyes to everyone who was left. Taking a small diversion so I could see the house where I lived in Old Portsmouth for my year off, we got back on the road, and had a fairly pain-free journey back to Cambridge, where I fed Minstrel and Rhodri tea and we watched Disney cartoons for a short while with R, who was home from school feeling ill.
So: all in all, an excellent weekend away, despite all the issues and baggage I took with me. I went feeling nervous, unsettled, an outsider; I came home feeling I had a new family. I made so many new and wonderful friends, who I'm missing terribly now I'm back in Cambridge. I do hope, however, that at least some of them will be back in future years, and indeed that I can get to more cons in the future... Thank you so much to everyone for making the weekend what it was, particularly to everyone who had the unenviable task of looking after me when I was down; you're all amazing people.
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Date: 2005-02-13 05:00 am (UTC)But they're worth it I find :)
I've never really bothered with filk stuff, I'm too lazy to spend the time I guess.
anyway, enough babble from me! Glad you had a good time. Now make sure you continue to goto other Cons ;) it'll be good for you ;)
Oh and you're better at the singing thing than I am, you *attempt* it, even that is something I cannot do, even alone!