interfilk auction

Went to Pagoda with Leone tonight. We both had the roasted duck soup (yummmmmmmm) and then shared a dessert of fried bananas and green tea icecream. Leone goes to comic conventions (check out her comics Web site); I go to filk conventions...from what I can tell, the experiences are pretty similar: a few short but intense days in close quarters with friends you only see a few times a year but with whom you feel an unusually strong bond of friendship. I might try a comic convention sometime, just to compare. :-)

ovff flashback

Allison's working on a full OVFF report; I'm just going to do highlights. One highlight was the Interfilk auction this year. Interfilk, for those of you who don't know, is a fan fund. From the Interfilk Web site: "Most fan funds raise funds to transport a fan chosen from among fans to a convention that they would not normally attend. In our case we raise funds from filk fans to transport members of the filk community who have something special to share."

Urban Tapestry were Interfilk Guests at ConChord (in California) and have been forever grateful for that opportunity. One of the ways that Interfilk raises money is through auction of items donated by members of the filk community. In addition to being for a good cause, these auctions are also a lot of fun.

This year, Allison, Jodi and I were invited to be "auction wenches", those who help as runners during the auction, carrying auction items around to show to potential bidders. Other wenches included: Talis Kimberley (Guest of Honour), Judith Hayman, Erica Neely, Barb Riedel, Kathleen Sloan, Diana Huey, Mary Ellen Wessels.

This year's theme was medieval garb. Medieval garb and water pistols, that is. Allison had garb; Jodi and I didn't. Jodi had purple sparkly deely-boppers, though. I had a water pistol that Erica Neely was kind enough to give to me.

I bought a box of truffles made by Mike Browne and an afghan made by Pat (I'm sorry, I don't know her last name). I bought the truffles for the obvious reasons, and the afghan to remind me of my filker friends, to wrap around myself (while eating my truffles, ideally) during cold Philadelphia nights.

For me, the highlight of the auction came when a very special CD was auctioned off...a recording of Karen and Lloyd's concert at last year's OVFF. If anyone knows the name of the person who donated this item, please let me know so I can post it here. The concert had a special significance to me because Karen and Lloyd had invited me to participate. They played a sample from one of the tracks on the CD, and hearing Karen's voice and Lloyd's guitar was a bittersweet thing.

I had planned to bid for this, but the bidding soared up beyond my range before I could even open my mouth. I believe that Clark Weirda won the bid for $400.

I think Lloyd would have been happy.

Today's Blatherpic:
Interfilk wenches - Allison Durno, Diana Huey, Judith Hayman.

Mid-way Blatherpic:
Rowan, MEW and Ed's son