There's no sense crying over every mistake, you just keep trying til you run out of cake

[cosmolinguist]

For years now I have been seeing a slew of "If anyone has anything they want to say to me post-BiCon, here is a post where comments are screened and can be anonymous" LJ posts on the evening after BiCon finishes.

I always imagined they were either drama magnets or hopeful of people saying they fancied/wanted to shag you, but as I never went to BiCon I didn't comment on any of them and of course I didn't have a post of my own to accrue comments.

This year I did but I talked almost entirely to people I already knew (yay lovely people I already knew!) so I don't think such a thing will be necessary, but I'm tired of looking at the sad and ugly post at the top of my LJ now, so I want to push it down the page and I can't think of anything else to write.

And because I never liked feeling left out by the BiCon in-crowd, do not feel you have to have been to BiCon to comment to this post! If you want to say anything, for any reason (or none), please do. (Comments are indeed screened, though, because that's part of the game.)

I will still not be saying anything on anyone's post-BiCon posts, but an astonishingly huge number of people made BiCon good for me. That's a list that includes, but is not limited to, Emily, Ryan, Ed, Jen, Emma, Lucy, everyone who was awesome in the workshop I helped run, Dan, Camel, Ludy, Kaye, Natalya, Paul, the person who invited me to join the circle of people they were with when I was on my own and looked a bit sad, Em J, Steve, Emma who charged my phone, the strangers who were supportively nice when I was sitting on the grass crying, Andrew, Dave, Eve, and Sharon. Some of those people I don't know well, some weren't even at BiCon, a lot won't know I'm thanking them here, but all of them played some part in my weekend being as nice as it was.

Comments

[simont]

do not feel you have to have been to BiCon to comment to this post! If you want to say anything, for any reason (or none), please do.

I've just seen this post go past on my network page (apparently we both know pseudomonas) and I thought the title was excellent. :-)

[cosmolinguist]

It's from the brilliant song "Still Alive", famous to fans of Portal and/or Jonathan Coulton. You might know this but it's worth it if you don't because it is a very likeable song.

Because liking cake is a stereotype bisexuals have of ourselves (I don't know why; it's just Always Been That Way, this also holds true for things like knitting) and when I found myself crying in public at BiCon I was told even by people who didn't know me that they'd done that at one time or another too, it seemed an almost painfully appropriate quote for the subject at hand :)

[angeoverhere.livejournal.com]

*likes*

Am very, very glad to hear this :-)

[cosmolinguist]

It's just a ridiculously long list of people! I think it's kept me from crashing, too; yes some of them were nice in particular circumstances and some I might not see again or for a long time, but a lot of those are people I see every week. I am lucky to know such people. And indeed I'm lucky to know the faraway, less-seen people too! x

[drjon.livejournal.com]

/googles "BiCon". Has his suspicions confimed.

Glad you had a good convention!

[cosmolinguist]

Comment below offers my own description of what it's like :)

I'm glad I had a good one too! I wasn't really expecting to. I was there to help run a workshop and it all got out of hand from there. To no one's surprise but my own, I am sure.

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

What is a BiCon anyway?! I'm glad you had lots of nice people around you, though.

[cosmolinguist]

BiCon is a residential long weekend, held at a different university campus every year (by different people, as it's all volunteer and it's a ton of work making a BiCon happen, it's important to spread the load). It has workshops on things from serious topics (I helped run one about mental health) to stuff like jogging and drawing. And you don't have to do any of that, you can hang out, chat to new people or old friends, drink coffee, knit, snog, read books, etc. In the evenings there are discos and excuses to dress up and my friend Lucy has a guitar so we sat in the dark singing folk songs and I drank beer and it's all like that, you know. It's part summer camp, part bacchanal, part academic conference, and everyone gets to decide for themselves how much of each of these parts they get.

[sfred]

I love this description - can I pinch (and credit) it?

[cosmolinguist]

Of course! I'm thrilled you'd want to :)

[goodqueenmolly.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I know you :-)

[cosmolinguist]

The feeling is definitely mutual! ♥

[starbrow.livejournal.com]

We seem to have entirely missed each other, and I so wanted to meet and talk to you in person!

[cosmolinguist]

Oh dear! I am really sorry I didn't introduce myself ostentatiously enough, then, because I knew you were you! I helped run the mental health workshop, crashed in your flat, and ate lunch with you, Emily and Lucy on Saturday and talked about all kinds of awesome things and I really enjoyed your company! So I'm sorry you didn't notice I was me :) I hope to get to hang out with you again though, as I did enjoy it, and I will make sure to tell you that I am me :)

[starbrow.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! That makes me so happy, that was such an excellent conversation. Yes, I just got 'your first name' and entirely missed minnesattva-ness or Wombat-ness. :)

[cosmolinguist]

No that's quite all right; I appreciate that I have no consistent identity online and did a poor job of explaining what I do have. I'm also the Holly who added you on Facebook this morning, should there be any doubt :)

[starbrow.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I'm so glad I had too much food so I could share it with you.

[cosmolinguist]

I'm glad you did too, and thank you for it! The generosity and kindness of friends and new people and strangers is definitely the theme of this BiCon for me.

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

was so so so so so so so so good to see you, one of my favourite bits was suddenly saeeing you and going ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMomgomgomgomgomg

So so very glad you had a good time.

[cosmolinguist]

I really hoped to spend more time with you than I got to, but I suppose that's always true of people at BiCon. To play a part in one of your favorite bits is definitely some consolation!

Besides, there's always the Cricket Tour to look forward to ;)

[taimatsu]

Haaa, I did this too. I was going back to my flat to dump my guitar and then suddenly I was running across a lawn waving my arms about like a, I don't know, like an excitable squirrel. I had to take the guitar to the next two workshops in the end. :)

[cosmolinguist]

Oh I didn't realize I was responsible for the guitar being carried around with you! I do remember, very fondly, your excited running up towards me, and to describe this being like an exciteable squirrel only adds to the delight.

I'm also honored and really shocked that this is an effect I have on one person, much less two now!

[plumsbitch.livejournal.com]

also, the way you have written this is characteristically lovely.

[taimatsu]

It was SO GREAT to see you. I'm sorry I didn't get to say a proper goodbye. You are wonderful and spending time with you made me really happy. Thank you for helping me with my painting and for talking with me about stuff. I will sort out my flat and then get you down here for a visit :)

[cosmolinguist]

It was so great to see you too! I didn't get to say proper goodbyes to anyone except Emily, who took me to the train station, and Sharon, who I'd only just said a proper hello to not long before that :)

Thanks for talking and being awesome and picking glue off my leg and playing songs and making me happy. I would love to see you again soonish!

[sfred]

I kind of hogged her goodbye-time. I'm (not really at all) sorry).
:)

[cosmolinguist]

::grins:: Much as I love Lucy and some other people I might have liked to say goodbye to, yeah, I'm not at all sorry either :)

::still grinning::

[taimatsu]

I was having a huge faff session and was (at the point I called you to check you'd found her) sitting about in my underwear with curlers in. So coming to say goodbye would've been a bit tricky anyway :)

[cosmolinguist]

I called you to check you'd found her

Aw!

(I will never learn how much effort went into getting me to stay and see everybody who wanted to see me, will I?)

[taimatsu]

It was just nice to be able to help out and to see you. I often want to do something nice for you but you are far away and it is hard. It was lovely to be able to do some helpful things (even quite small helpful things) directly :)

That reminds me - must email you! Will do so now!

[cosmolinguist]

I thought of this yesterday when I had a chance to help out a friend who was sleep-deprived and frustrated; she's far away and there's rarely anything practical I can do for her, so I was really happy to have the chance.

And thanks for the e-mail! I've finally gotten around to writing the notes of what I want to say, and it's 3/4 a page of A4 already :)

[trinker.livejournal.com]

:D