We're never getting out of here alive

Packing list? This got far beyond a packing list at least a year ago.

Year one of dragon*con: toss your toothbrush, toothpaste, and a spare pair of underwear into your backpack, while keeping your camera in your hand. Six days later, acknowledge the clothes that you're wearing are disgusting, and cannot be saved. Burn them. Vow to do better next year.

Year two: one suitcase. More spare underwear. Steal your spouse's toothpaste after forgetting your own. Make valiant attempts to get two uses out of each set of clothing. Six days later, vow to boil your clothes upon returning home; they're disgusting, but not too disgusting to salvage.Year three: stare at the one pair of jeans and the two pair of shorts you own. Realize that you just can't do this again. Make promises to self to purchase wicked-cool skirts or two more pair of shorts in order to cut down the Funk Factor™ at this year's con. Realize that this may be difficult, since, for the first time, you will be a freewheeler.

free·wheel·er (n.) a tech staff member who has tallied how much time he/she spent in a hotel room during last year's dragon*con, and come to the annoying realization that $300 is too much to spend for so little time actually spent in the room, leading to a decision to stash his/her suitcase(s) in the downstairs equipment room and sleep wherever the sleeping bag falls.

Last year's Forgetting Of The Toothpaste was quite annoying. Spouse and I have noticeably different opinions on what makes a palatable toothpaste, and when I, Amy-the-Minty, managed to forget my tube at home, I got to experience the joy of using a non-preferred taste of toothpaste for six days.

Therefore, I present Packlist 0.1beta. You know your packlist is large when it contains sections. The world should fear.

  1. Nerd Toys
  2. Ugh, You Stink!
  3. Ravers R Us
  4. Maps, Plans, and Schemes
  5. Playing Dress-Up
  6. The Random Category
  7. We Have To Work?
  8. Consumerism At Its Best
  9. Naked Just Isn't An Option


Nerd Toys

  • cell phone (+ charger)
  • camera (+ charger)
  • card reader
  • blank CDs
  • Jeff's laptop
  • monopod?
  • spare camera battery?
  • spare memory card?

Ugh, You Stink!

  • spare washcloth / soap (? - does techops normally run short?)
  • towel (previously omitted from list)
  • razor + blades
  • shampoo + conditioner + styling goop
  • hair restraints: elastic bands, bandannas, etc.
  • rasta hat
  • pick + brush (brush is a maybe)
  • contacts supplies: mirror, case, yummy saline solution, glasses (because carrying contact lenses inside one's mouth is a lousy idea)
  • sunglasses
  • nail clippers
  • toothbrush and toothpaste (previously omitted from list)

Ravers R Us

If I'm going to attend one of the raves this year, I should have some glowsticks or some little lasers to play with. That's assuming I have time to attend a rave, like the DJ, and don't find the crowd scary. On second thought, perhaps I should just invest the money in a spare memory card and monopod for the camera. Yeah, that's starting to sound pretty good...

Maps, Plans, and Schemes

  • Map of downtown Atlanta. That getting-lost thing bites.
  • Plans for confood. Terrify them into submission with your over-preparedness.
  • Directions to the Sam's on 85 and the downtown Publix. Repeat comment about getting lost in downtown Atlanta.

Playing Dress-Up

  • loose blue hair
  • braided falls for me
  • microring supplies
  • spangly dress
  • tights
  • shoes with ass-kicking quotient of at least 3.5 (note: all current shoes are of quotient 1.4 or less; must find better ones)
  • Tech Staff Blue nail polish + remover

The Random Category

  • $ so Jeff can repay The Last Dance for the CD they gave him last year
  • While I'm at it, money for me. Maybe I'll find some CDs or art I want to buy this year.
  • pillow
  • sleeping bag
  • earplugs
  • sleeping mask?
  • caffeine stuff (all hail and fear Caffeinated Amy!)
  • backpack for toting stuff around
  • 1 warm sweater for when the equipment room imports air from Siberia

We Have To Work?

  • Saran Wrap
  • brown bags
  • permanent markers to ID sandwiches
  • one of those cheap rollable cutting mats
  • knife (label as mine - steal my good knife and I'll personally lobotomize you with it)
  • bleach solution in spray bottle, for disinfecting stuff
  • 1.6×10^5 plastic baggies
  • premade gorp
  • premade Rice Krispie Treats
  • large boxes for transport
  • 1 hand truck (steal from Centennial or Regency when no one's looking)
  • head massager
  • wooden back-massager thing (do these things have names? if so, why don't I know them?)

Consumerism At Its Best

  • monopod?
  • extra memory card?
  • rave toys?
  • back massager
  • sleeping mask
  • earplugs
  • more clothing! (see below)

Naked Just Isn't An Option

  • every pair of shorts I own (current total: 2; optimal total: 4)
  • every pair of jeans I own (current total: 1; optimal total: 2)
  • 6 t-shirts. Preferably a) geeky and b) not paint-stained. (current total: less than five.)
  • Clothing Nobody Sees But Me™ 6 pair
  • comfortable sneakers
  • Outrageous Wear » see Dress-Up

I think I'm going to need a second bag this year.

Current music: all kinds of various Tragically Hip.

Comments

/me wonders if /me should take notes...

Ummm....toothbrush and paste are not on this list either, not that I think you could foreget them twice. The little pocket sewing kits are always nice, especially to make friends with last minute costume fixers (of course duct tape is usually the preference for that). Business cards (or whatever passes for them) to let people see pics online later. I dunno otherwise, now you've got me wondering where my "can't forget to bring to con" list is and I don't have another con to go to until February.

Ahh, so you're thinking about a monopod, too? I'm prolly going to pick one up before Con, because I'll have my big honkin' flash attached to the camera most of the time.

the starlady Theory of Packing: photo ID money everything else is gravy. ;) though I'm still working on a way to get my drum to the con.

That would be fun to take on the plane. Entertainment for all! I've got to get all my gear on the plane. Oy.

I can't believe it... YOU FORGOT YOUR TOWEL!!!! See Douglas Adam's writings for the dire consequences that may befall those who forget their towels. And seriously, TechOps runs out of towels on a regular basis. The hotel tries to keep up with their demand, but I don't think even Hyatt Sean is equiped for 80 people showering in the same room. I'm wondering if the "Harris Contingent" shouldn't just go in together on a large bottle of shampoo/conditioner and a bottle of body wash. It would save all of us having to pack it individually and would cut down on the mass of bottles that collect in the TechOps bathroom every year.

Ok, so that's one massive YES vote for "techops runs out of towels." Misty had also suggested the Techops Showering Goody Bag. Not a bad idea there. A few bars of soap, pls generic shampoo and conditioner...that would definitely cut down on the volume of crap left in that bathroom. Something like, what, 30 people use that shower on a daily basis? (Scary...)

I haven't thought that far ahead yet... Looks like I should. I THINK I've talked two very good friends of mine into attending

I'll pass on the communal shampoo and conditioner. It's not that I'm being stuck up. It's the fact that if I don't treat my hair nicely with the right stuff, then my hair freaks and I really don't want to have to go to my stylist a couple weeks before the wedding whimpering because my hair is beating up on me. Other than that. Ames, you and I have got about the same list going. :) Don't worry about a sewing kit, though, because every year I put together the uber kit and this year I'll be beta testing my "wedding day" sewing kit, so it'll be even more packed than usual. :)

Heh...thats why I always get a room across the street. I get my OWN shower that I don't have to share. I also have my own king size bed that I don't have to share. Now...for those of you who know me...you should be rolling on the ground right now because you know how little time I actually spend in a room each year. But my room will be available for showers for those who need. I will be in the Mariott.

Oompa: Believe me, I'm right there with you on the joys of having our own bed and shower. However, it always seems that life conspires against us in the fall to require the maximum number of unplanned exprenses. Spending $300-$450 for the privilege of said bed and shower just isn't friendly to our budget. Between you, Thomas, and TechOps, I think I can manage to find a shower somewhere.

I think oompa can back me up when I say that at some point the novelty of not sleeping at con wears off in a big way. At that point the novelty of having a nearby bed and shower that one can access at any time of day becomes much more attractive ;)

I am totally ROFL. What a great post and I needed the laugh! Thanks!