I really should do a 2011 sum-up post at some point...
...but this is not it.
I did, though, want to mention that I made it through Arisia and its two concerts. I was not perfectly happy with everything, but there were several moments where I really did a good job of not being flustered by issues beyond my control and maintaining my performance face, and I was pleased with that.
Overall, I think Saturday went very well for both groups, minus technical issues somewhat out of our control, and I'm glad so many people came for that concert. Also, I'm very pleased our idea for using a PowerPoint slideshow with the 12 minute song in our set worked out (let's ignore the ~30 minutes and 3 laptops needed before we could get it working). Seemed like it really kept people engaged, and heavens knows I think we had fun putting it together and being a bit silly.
Sunday, we had different technical issues, which at least took less time to resolve, but I also got fairly flustered and completely screwed up one of the Stranger Ways songs. I think other things went well, but I'm having a very hard time not dwelling on my three verses worth of mistake.
On the whole, I feel bad for Brad, since electronic drumkit issues were the biggest technical bugbear (which we really never got a good resolution for, just a sort of okay one), and am very grateful to the sound tech folks for being patient. Particularly Saturday. It was just very challenging, and would have been complicated even if everything had gone well.
In non-concert con terms, there were several out-of-my-comfort-zone type things I did during this con, and that I think was mostly a positive thing. Also, I had several opportunities to be mindful of how grateful I am for my friends. I think the only thing I was disappointed by is that things I usually make sure to catch every year (at least some of the dances, Buffy singalong, Repo shadowcast) I was just too damned tired to bother with. Saturday in particular I'd been expecting to really make a huge night of it, and instead after the concert I pretty much ate dinner, dissolved into incoherency out of stress/exhaustion/??? and then went back to my hotel and collapsed.
Anyhow. Note to self for the future: plan ahead a bit more, dummy. While my hotel solution this year worked, it also involved a lot of walking through extreme wind and cold with suitcases muttering under my breath.
Oh, and now that Stranger Ways' new album is officially released, allow me to link our bandcamp site for it: http://strangerways.bandcamp.com/album/guilt-angst-fairy-tales
As with everything, I have a hard time not listening for flaws (and I particularly have a hard time listening to my voice), but it's really neat that there's a CD out there that I'm a part of.
I did, though, want to mention that I made it through Arisia and its two concerts. I was not perfectly happy with everything, but there were several moments where I really did a good job of not being flustered by issues beyond my control and maintaining my performance face, and I was pleased with that.
Overall, I think Saturday went very well for both groups, minus technical issues somewhat out of our control, and I'm glad so many people came for that concert. Also, I'm very pleased our idea for using a PowerPoint slideshow with the 12 minute song in our set worked out (let's ignore the ~30 minutes and 3 laptops needed before we could get it working). Seemed like it really kept people engaged, and heavens knows I think we had fun putting it together and being a bit silly.
Sunday, we had different technical issues, which at least took less time to resolve, but I also got fairly flustered and completely screwed up one of the Stranger Ways songs. I think other things went well, but I'm having a very hard time not dwelling on my three verses worth of mistake.
On the whole, I feel bad for Brad, since electronic drumkit issues were the biggest technical bugbear (which we really never got a good resolution for, just a sort of okay one), and am very grateful to the sound tech folks for being patient. Particularly Saturday. It was just very challenging, and would have been complicated even if everything had gone well.
In non-concert con terms, there were several out-of-my-comfort-zone type things I did during this con, and that I think was mostly a positive thing. Also, I had several opportunities to be mindful of how grateful I am for my friends. I think the only thing I was disappointed by is that things I usually make sure to catch every year (at least some of the dances, Buffy singalong, Repo shadowcast) I was just too damned tired to bother with. Saturday in particular I'd been expecting to really make a huge night of it, and instead after the concert I pretty much ate dinner, dissolved into incoherency out of stress/exhaustion/??? and then went back to my hotel and collapsed.
Anyhow. Note to self for the future: plan ahead a bit more, dummy. While my hotel solution this year worked, it also involved a lot of walking through extreme wind and cold with suitcases muttering under my breath.
Oh, and now that Stranger Ways' new album is officially released, allow me to link our bandcamp site for it: http://strangerways.bandcamp.com/album/guilt-angst-fairy-tales
As with everything, I have a hard time not listening for flaws (and I particularly have a hard time listening to my voice), but it's really neat that there's a CD out there that I'm a part of.