This is just a post on the fly as I run around the house and do all the things you need to do before leaving on vacation and prepare for Dragon Con. I may be ruining the surprise you all had planned, but I still plan to pretend I didn’t know that you all had secretly planned on coming. You guys! You’re too much! Let’s meet for dinner.

For a trip to a science fiction convention, it isn’t enough that you have a change of clothes, good walking shoes and your toothbrush on hand. You need to pack some “extras” – and no, that’s not: camera, iPod and cell phone. You need your best SciFi convention gear – for me, that means running down a list my friend Lynn (most prepared guerrilla convention goer that I know) once made. So, here’s what I’m packing:

• One black Sharpie marker
• One grey Sharpie marker (you need both for autographs – you never know what the background is going to be on the picture they’re hocking – be prepared)
• One sketch book (artists will sketch in them for $5-$10 – plus, they keep the autographs (signed in either black or grey Sharpie) flat as you lug your stuff around the convention.
• Good walking shoes for all the standing as you wait to see Edward James Olmos
• One Happy Bunny badge cord (the ones provided by the convention are cheap and fall apart – plus, they don’t make a statement and it’s truly the only time I get to wear it – somehow, Happy Bunny just isn’t very appropriate for work.)
• One overly large hot pink bag (you can get yours in whatever color you like – it just needs to hold all of the above comfortably along with water and snacks- no one likes a line fainter while they’re waiting for Cmdr. Adama – makes the herd nervous)
• Several black t-shirts with SciFi logos – this is your UNIFORM if you don’t have a cleverly crafted costume, you must then dress in SciFi Nerd Casual. Wear it proudly. Make a statement. Pick up a few more in the merchant area. Hey, who knows you already saw you in the shirt you’re currently wearing LAST YEAR – how embarrassing for you!

Well, off I go to charge some electronics and throw things in bags. Hopefully, there will be pictures soon and stories.