Party Animal

Yes, iDoc goes to a comic convention!

Again.

This weekend was Silicon weekend. I've been to 4 large conventions before (Comic-Con and WonderCon, twice each), as well as one tiny convention (APE). Silicon was a whole new experience for me (especially after the overdose that was Comic-Con 2007), because there was so little happening that it was hard to say if the con was on or off.

Except for the dozens of costumed people walking around in the hotel lobby.
And meeting great new Browncoats.
And the night-time parties in the hotel rooms.
And meeting more new Browncoats. Browncoat meetings are always fun, because regardless of differences in age, jobs, talents and background, we are all very passionate about one thing, and in the meetups, we don't really care about anything else.
And learning to waltz.
And dressing up in our finest for an all-geek dance party. And waltzing. And dancing to the Doctor Who theme. And stomping around to the Imperial March with 200 people, including a Sandman, several Kaylees, a Jayne, a french maid, Poison Ivy, and at least two teen-aged zombies.
And yeah, I said I took a waltz lesson. And loved it.

You've never seen a party like the Hallo-Whedon Hootenanny. It started out fun and funny, with some guided waltz, polka, and some guided dancing that I don't even know what to call, with most people in the room not knowing how to dance, but having a great time trying to. Nearly everyone was in costume, or shindig-inspired outfits. About 15 minutes after we arrived, Arielle invited me for a dance, and we pivoted all over the ballroom like was GD Fred Astaire. She's that good a dancer. For a moment it seemed like I could actually dance, and I clung to that illusion for the rest of the night.

Most of the time the music was modern-ish dance music, and people just did their own thing on the dance floor. Somewhere in the middle of all that, they played the Imperial March, and everyone marched around the ballroom, stomping their feet as hard as they could. It was the cleanest joy I can remember. It was all so friendly and open, so pose-less and unjudgemental, so unlike just about any party I've ever been to, that I just wanted to stay there and jump around with those people for hours more.

This is not a feeling I get often. I don't easily meet new people, and I'm terrified of dancing. I don't get to forget this very often, and I am bummed to tears to let this weekend go.