Some photos from APC7

Here are a number of photos I took during my trip to the US for APC7. They're not all of the con itself - I've included a few from other parts of my travels as well, in case folk might find them interesting. I have a lot of other shots of the con that haven't been included, mostly because they have people in them who I haven't been received specific permission to publish pics of, or because I can't remember who a goodly number of people in the shot are, and thus can't be sure of permission issues.

I apologise that so many of the shots are blurry. My excuse is that I was using a borrowed camera that I was unfamiliar with and I miscalculated how it would handle low light situations. But I figure that blurry pics are better than none at all, so I've included them anyway. Oh, and on the subject of blurring - if someone's face appears deliberately blurred on any of these pics, it's probably because I couldn't remember their name and I didn't want to publish identifiable pictures of anyone without permission, but other than them the pic was ok to publish. So if you see yourself blurred out in any pics and would like to be de-blurred, feel free to email me and I'll see what I can do!

In Minneapolis the week before APC7

• This is Elise and Betsy having dinner with Joe and I in an Afghani restaurant one evening. I recall the dips being particularly yummy.
• Elise decided that Joe and I really needed to see the Mall of America. So she, Mike, Joe and I went on an Expotition. Here is a shot of me standing next to the Barbie Shoe Fountain in the Barbie Shop Of Horrors. And here are Joe and Elise regarding the Barbie Shop of Horrors with considerable dubiousness.

The Minneapolis-to-Seattle trip on the Empire Builder train

• Here is Piglet (the one with the sunny smile) enjoying dinner on the train.
• This is me in one of the rather shoebox-esque sleeper compartments on the Empire Builder.
• A nice shot of the site-seeing carriage, with Cally (right) and FMMO (left) facing the camera, and Umar with his back to the camera in the seat next to FMMO.
• Piglet again, talking about something with vigour and animation.
• Each sleeper room got a complimentary fruit basket. Here we have Joe doing Carmen Miranda impersonations with one of them.
• An early morning Shaun, demonstrating exactly how zombielike most of us were after spending two nights trying to sleep in the coffins-for-midgets that Amtrak call "sleeper accomodation".

APC7

• The hotel the con was held at was the University Plaza Hotel in Seattle. It looks pretty innocuous from the outside, doesn't it? Well, don't be fooled. This shows what it looked like inside. There were good reasons why it was referred to in the con programme as the "Tudor Hell Village"...
• This and this are a subset of all the folk who attended the APC7 Opening Ceremony. I leave identifying 'em all as an exercise for the reader...
• Here and here are a couple of pics of Chris and I just hanging around during the con.
• In the Con Suite, here's a pic of Joe, Chris and I; and another pic of me with Chris and Jennie.
• And again in the Con Suite, here and here are pics of Jennie and I attempting (and succeeding) to make Chris blush! The figure in the background is Shaun.
• This is Rivka, Elise, Carla, BC and Elynne during the "Love is Blind" panel.
• Yet another Con Suite shot, this time of Joe and Betsy. Joe seems to be regarding either me or the camera with dire mistrust!
• And here is a moment from the closing ceremony.

The Seattle Hair Party

• The day after the con, Angi and I went window-shopping around the Seattle university district. This is Angi in one of the shops we explored. And this is a display of interesting masks for sale in that same shop.
• And the next day, a number of us decided that a hair-dyeing party would be just the thing. Here are the hairdye victims before we started. Left to right, we have me, Susan, Kylee, Elynne and Mevima. Not in the shot (because they didn't get their hair dyed) are Angi, Joe and possibly some others who I don't recall right now!
• Here is Elynne, considering the possibilities inherent in a pot of purple hair dye.
• In this pic, Kylee is just starting the process of painting my head in a many purple and blue stripes. This shot has the process a bit more advanced; here we have a view of my stripy head from above.
• Here I am in all my stripy glory, just after washing all the dye out.
• Be afraid, Mevima. Be very afraid!
• Kylee post-hairdye looking winsome.
• Here we have a rather bemused Angi observing the shenanigans.
• And here is a group photo of the final result. This group shot is a bit blurry, but I thought it was worth it for the expressions!
• This is Joe's contribution to the hair-decoration of the evening.
• However, Joe did participate in the festivities in other ways. Here is Joe just after having his toenails painted in a variety of multicoloured patterns. Yes, I know he has bits of pizza between his toes. Don't ask, okay? Just don't ask.
• And here is a close up of one of Joe's feet post-decoration.
• Here we have Kylee tormenting her cats with things on string in her kitchen the day after the hairdye party. Note in particular the delicate mauve tones of her flowing locks!

Around the SF Bay area after the con

• RJ and Ruth Anne generously opened their home to Chris and I while we were in the Bay Area. And here they are having a happy domestic moment.
• Mary threw a wonderful party while were in town, as well. Here is a pic of Chris and Mary discussing something in a very animated fashion.
• Here are Stef and Aahz sharing a moment of amusement during Mary's party; and this is RJ in a very laid-back moment.
• RJ & Ruth Anne took us for a sightseeing trip around San Francisco at one point, and I just had to get a photo of this van when I spotted it! I imagine that if your rhino needed rooting, you'd be wanting a 24hr emergency service too...
• This is a shot I took of a particularly stunning sunset. Chris and I spent a couple of days puttering around Marin county, and it was just full of glorious scenery like this! During the same trip, we visited the redwood forests in the area, and discovered this rather interesting bit of seaside architecture.
• This is Chris and me waiting for the bus that Chris caught to the airport to return home to Canada. If we look a little subdued in this shot, it's because we had no idea if or when we would again be able to spend time togther in person.