starmalachite and I caught our flight (the timing was a bit close for comfort, but we didn't run into any snags and got to the gate just as boarding was beginning). I was a bit worried that we'd have to wait for our luggage, but it showed up normally.

We got to the hotel and met some of the other early arrivals. Then, we went back to the room for a while; starmalachite took a nap while I worked up a LOLpic from an idea I'd gotten on the flight. (The image is from the latest page of the webcomic Erfworld, and the humor of the pic, such as it is, probably doesn't work all that well if you aren't familiar with that context.). I then returned to the function space and picked up my badge, There was still a bit of time before opening ceremonies, so I played a game of Thurn and Taxis with mnemex and mrgoodwraith.

I met starmalachite at opening ceremonies. Con attendance this year looks pretty heavy, judging from the crowd there (and the fact that some people I knew were coming hadn't arrived yet). After the ceremony was the traditional GAFilk quiz show and instafilk writing entertainment, followed by filkertom's concert (which was excellent even by the standard I expect from him).

The con then broke into open filk mode over several rooms. I wandered a while, but was starting to fade out and crashed around 1 AM.

I'm back from Philcon -- the con organization left a few things to be desired, but in general I had a good time. I spent less time gaming and more at panels than usual (including a particularly interesting webcomics panel that was the start of partiallyclips' marathon of six panels in eight hours -- I mentioned something about the con organization, right?)

I might comment more later, for now I'll just throw out a few random items:

New custom button: Terrorists can attack freedom. Only governments can destroy it.

Notable dealer's room acquisitions: Caylus: Magna Carta; a batch of Erfworld postcards; Dr. SETI's latest CDs and the two I needed to fill in my FuMP set.

Now to give Satin her subcutaneous fluids and crash out for the night.

Went to see Stardust with starmalachite last night. I'll concur with what seems to be the general consensus -- not quite up there with The Princess Bride (the obvious point of comparison) but definitely worth seeing.

Also finished up an Erfworld filk (somewhat spoilery, as it describes a subplot about halfway through the projected length of the the current storyline).

The Friday night gaming session went particularly well; I handily won games of Puerto Rico (for the first time -- much as I like it, I never seemed to get the hang of its strategy, but this time everything just seemed to click into place) and the new "Power and Glory" version of Thurn and Taxis. (The name struck me as a bit odd; "Power and Glory" seems like it ought to be the name of an old-fashioned combat wargame instead of a classic resource-management German boardgame. It may have something to do with the historical background of the game(s).) That degree of success surprised me a bit; my brain had been dragging a bit all week for some reason.

We finished the evening with the Alhambra dice game; I didn't do as well in that but I think I've got a feel for the strategy for next time.

I also hit upon a graphics-tweaking trick for the Erfworld cartoon image I most often use as a userpic to make the "kritch skritch" sound effect come out clearly at userpic size.

(As credited in my userpic notes, Erfworld is copyright 2006 by Rob Balder and Jamie Noguchi. I adapted and used the art under the Creative Commons License (attribution, noncommercial, share-alike, as indicated by the icons to the lower left of the giant Elvises creating the world) and the specific policy statement re this image.)

Now, I need to go mow the lawn. I've been looking for a lawn service (my Puritan streak was trumped by the fact that I come out ahead both financially and aggrivationally by spending the same hours putting in overtime at the office), but most of them seem to be oriented toward people who want a parade-ground perfect lawn rather than people who are satisfied if the neighbors don't show up with pitchforks and torches. (The most lawn-obsessed person I've ever met was the same one with the most pronounced "get a life" attitude toward fandom. Go figure.)