Balticon report (part 2): Stone Dragons

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. But back to my Balticon con report. Do check Allison's Livejournal, by the way, for a more detailed con report from Urban Tapestry's perspective.

Balticon had so many highlights, but my personal highlight was attending the very first concert of Stone Dragon, a duo made up of the newly married Sue Posteraro and Tom Jeffers.



For me, the event and the people encapsulated so much of what I love about filk and the filk community. Kudos to Balticon for supporting filk by providing a filk track and a venue, and to Gary Ehrlich for scheduling this concert into the programming.

I met Tom Jeffers through Dave Clement. Originally seen mainly as Dave's music partner, Tom has gained his own following in the filk community with and without Dave. Tom and I have become closer friends over the years, and I was so happy for him when he found the love of his life: Sue, another filker. I can't wait for the new Dandelion Wine CD, and I'm also looking forward to Stone Dragon's first CD.

And that brings us back to Stone Dragon. Sue used to be SO quiet in filk circles, mainly a listener. I remember the first time she sang something in the open filk; I was surprised and delighted by the beauty of her voice. I've so enjoyed watching Sue blossom in the filk community, cheered when she and Tom got together and now she's doing PUBLIC CONCERTS!!!

I've seen this happen so many times in the filk community (heck, it happened to ME; I used to be terrified of performing in public). Part of what I love about this community is its encouragement and nurturing of shyer types.

But not only was Tom's and Sue's concert wonderful for that reason, but it was also GOOD. Very polished, with a great variety of material, and I love watching the two of them perform. As Allison pointed out during the weekend, Sue radiates joy when she sings. And I loved the interaction between these two as they performed. Walter gave them a Stonehenge compass watch in honour of their first concert together.

I sure hope they get invited to do more concerts at other conventions.

But I digress...

Balticon also provided a great opportunity for getting together with people I don't normally have a chance to chat with much at conventions, like Gary McGath:



I had to miss Maugorn's concert and most of Gary's concert because Jodi and I were at the Balticon Meet & Greet The Guests (as Allison pointed out in her LJ entry, having a trio was handy at the convention where we were supposed to attend more than one event scheduled at the same time :-), but Gary and I made some time to chat in the sunny courtyard during one break.



It was also great to see Maya again. Allison, Jodi and I had all been thinking of Maya a great deal since she lost her husband Greg earlier this year. Maya thanked us for the care packages we sent her, and gave us each lovely "tea cards" along with tea, beautiful earrings, and a small bottle of Godiva liqueur.

More about Balticon in my next entry.



The local squirrels have declared war! I've been gradually transplanting my seedlings outside, and the squirrels have gradually been DIGGING THEM UP! Cayenne pepper helps, but they seem to focus on low-cayenne spots.

Above: an exposed nasturtium seedling beside a newly dug squirrel hole. To add insult to injury, the squirrels don't seem to have a reason for digging the holes but have been throwing in EMPTY SUNFLOWER SEED SHELLS just to taunt me, I'm sure.

Grrr.



In my planters so far: chives, nasturtium, mint, sweet basil, thai basil, Morning Glory, baby carrots, lettuce, dill, forget-me-nots, summer savory, lemon thyme, regular thyme, sage, marjoram (though these seedlings may not survive because of SQUIRREL VANDALISM), kochia, lavender, others I can't remember at this moment and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and check.

Balticon report to continue in my next entry...



Livejournal comments