To Con and Back

T minus three hours, and I am galloping out of Omaha for five days of a working vacation at Octopodicon. Meaning I get to dress up in steampunk costumes, talk to people, stay up way too late, and spend time with a good friend who lives with her husband in Oklahoma City. And hopefully bellydance - last year I was at Nebraskon and found myself in a room crammed with over 100 cosplayers in various garb and all of us undergoing a bellydancing lesson. Nothing says "surreal amusement" like watching people dressed as anything from Naruto to Evil Little Red Riding Hood trying to shimmy in time to Middle Eastern music. Generally what happens is a lot of bumbling around, various weapons and costume appendages smacking into each other, inane giggling, and a passel of men realizing that they had never consciously thought about moving their hips before. Needless to say, it was tremendous fun, and I hope that there is a steampunk-themed bellydance class somewhere at Octopodicon. 

Breaking news - I've hit $1000 on my Kickstarter project and counting! One of my campaign outreaches has been this amusing video of some of the bloopers that happened when my friend was helping me shoot some video footage for the main steampunk promotion video she helped me put together. 

The good airship Horizon is currently sailing around the Black Sea with a cargo full of armament and searching for a British marine fleet that is anxiously awaiting the supplies. I was doing some research the other day about how 19th century ships managed to find each other out on the water. The general consensus was that most ships made use of trade routes and the same winds, so a ship searching for another had a general idea of where that other ship might be. Also, a lookout standing on the top of the mast could see for several miles on a clear day. The Horizon has the advantage of height and clearly would have a much easier time finding a marine ship than a marine ship would have of finding another water-going vessel. I imagine that there is some sort of nautical formula that calculates how far someone can see into the distance depending on how high up he is. Most unfortunately for me, navigation relies heavily upon math, a skill I only possess in limited quantities. In order to make certain parts of Steam on the Horizon intellectual and correct, I will require the assistance of those far smarter than I am, particularly where math or engineering is concerned. 

Well, it is packing time! Generally I go with the backpacker's mentality which states if you can't carry it, you don't need it. However, steampunk costumes take up an inordinate amount of space in one's suitcase, so I am actually bringing two suitcases for a five day trip. Luckily I am driving and don't have to check all that baggage!