First off, pictures: http://www.e-comsultant.net/~dementia/gallery/hypericon2

Review:
Hypericon 2 was, in a word, fantastic. Not only did I get to see many of my "con friends," I got to know several new ones, spread the word of PhreakNIC, and I even got a few hours of sleep.

Since no one really wants the play by play - I know, I've read con reviews before - I'll give the highlights:

* The Brian Keene Book Release Party on Friday night was a blast, replete with Keene trivia contests, drinks, and fun. I was asked to dance, and did so, for which I got several compliments. Afterwards, oddball79 and I sat around, killed a bottle of mint chocolate Bailey's, and watched the show across the street from the hotel ("It's the latest Sims add-on: 'Pimp City'!") while we kibitzed on the 9th floor balcony until about 5am.

*Saturday I actually managed to attend a few panels: "The J.R.R. Tolkien-H.P. Lovecraft Connection" by Amy Sturgis, Ph.D., which was an excellent presentation of what Tolkien and Lovecraft did and did not have in common; "My Worst Convention Stories" with toddlyles,melissagay and thewordoffred, which was hilarious (the tornado story was classic); and "Magic in the Here and Now," an urban fantasy panel, with Tim Powers, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sara Harvey, and Steve Savile. I'm duly impressed with Mr. Powers, and need to read some of his books, which are not set in (as he so aptly put it) "Ding-Dong Land."

*Saturday night's PhreakNIC promo party won the Room Party Battle hands down. No really. We were the only entrant. Apparently the other party didn't show up. *shrug* At any rate, we had a great time. Corydon, Mirage, Lissa, Ethan, Oddball and Panya helped set up, and we all went to dinner at the Gerst Haus afterwards. (We are now convinced that, as a group, we will never get good service, anywhere.) We kicked off the party at about 9:30pm, and ran until 4am. In that time we went through quite an assortment of liquor, 5 gallons of punch, and several batches of margaritas and pina coladas (thanks to Lissa on those). Mirage provided the music, and a good time was had by all. The "roll a d20 for your drink" game went over very well, and I'm apparently to blame for many hangovers the next day (sorry again, shadowmancer_x!). I made it up once to the dance, then back behind the bar. By 4:30 am the hotel was pretty deserted, and I went off to bed.

*Sunday I attended closing ceremonies, broke down the party (again, thanks go out to Lissa, Ethan, Oddball, Panya, and Chris for clean up help), helped clean up and pack up a bit, and hung out at the Dead Dog party until quite late on Sunday evening, with Hypericon folks and Mr. and Mrs. Powers. I now have a nice long list of books I need to read, provided by Mr. Powers, Fred, and Ian.

Check out the pictures, and if you missed it, make sure to come to Hypericon 3!