I’m sitting on line for the leaving feast and at 59% battery power so I don’t know how much I’ll be able to get done. The bags under my eyes are enormous.

Yesterday morning I went to a panel first thing that was WAY too academic. I appreciate when scholars don’t talk down to us but, seriously, she was reaching in her literary analysis IMHO and I didn’t enjoy it, so I skipped out early. I kept asking people about the HPA flock which was scheduled at same time as the check presentation, but no one knew anything. I also got the password for internet here from registration.

I headed to a panel on the Black brothers, which was fascinating and inspiring (fic-wise). Then I skipped lunch to go to the ceremony where they were awarding the money to the HPA. I made the right decision. I was in TEARS with happy! It was so amazing (plus Chapter organizers sat in the first row so I got to meet them IRL after talking to them online and on the phone so many times. I hugged Karen, but didn’t get to meet Andrew.

Oh no! The feast opened early!

*several hours pass and I’m now sitting outside of Nerdapalooza, rather intimidated by the hard rock going on inside. I love nerds but I do not know if these are exactly my people; I think I must be more of a geek than a nerd. Is there a tern for a softcore fangirl? I’m that. But I’m not a gamer.*

Anyhoo, yesterday… where was I? Oh, the HPA check awarding. Yeah. It was incredible. One of the Senators from the state of Florida was there and Ester connected live via skype. And then Paul jumped down into the crowd and played The Weapon with us all (I got the whole thing on video; it was EPIC). Seriously, I have never felt such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and love and community all at once with people I have never even met in person before. Internet communities are amazing.

Then I decided to go to the Slash panel and I’m soooo glad I did. I got free stickers out of it! Heehee But, seriously, it was wonderful hearing so many opinions about slash from so many slash-lovers. I was worried it might be too pairing-based or might devolve into an argument about what pairings are loved/hated. But the topics stayed general and there was lots of love for slash in general. It was amazing to see SO many people show up for it, actually; the room was packed.

I ran over to the common room after that and caught Swish’s side project called “Slash Fiction” next. There were some wonderful songs; I would pay good money for that Remus/Sirius song they played, but all of them were really good, even though it was difficult to hear the first two because the common room was so very loud. Scott Humdinger played the guitar on a few of the songs with them.

Then I went and hung out in line for Starkid. I noticed an important line in the rules for the photo scavenger hunt about how all photos had to contain a team member in them. So we all had to quickly rethink most of the photos we had taken and retake a few more photos later that night.

The Very Potter Sequel will be released on the 22nd and let me tell you, it is amazing! I think I even liked it better than the first one, though not as many songs and not a lot of very catchy songs. There were still some absolutely amazing moments and it was so much fun to watch it with thousands of Harry Potter fans AND the directors/writers/cast! Seriously entertaining stuff. The only problem was that the production was 4 freaking hours long with no break in the middle, even though it was divided up into two acts. We really could have used a 10 minute stretching/water-get break.

Then we headed back to the room, by way of the gift shop and hallway where we re-shot photos for the scavenger hunt. We decided on food (I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch) instead of the ball, and we worked on the scavenger hunt all the way through dinner and then after dinner. It actually took us until 11:58 to finish up the scavenger hunt and get dressed, so we ended up missing the whole ball. I would have liked to have been there to meet Chris Rankin but that’s the only reason I would have wanted to go (apart from the Coventry-style dancing, which was from 8-9 so I DEFINITELY missed that). I don’t dance and pre-recorded music… eh. What I really wanted to see was the live Wizard Rock following the ball, so we were in time for that, but almost all my friends were going just as I got there.

The first group was not my favorite; it was difficult to hear them and the quality wasn’t fantastic (in the so-so category of WRock). They went on FOREVER, leaving little-to-no time for the other groups I really wanted to see. By the time the Blibbering Humdingers were up, they were only allowed 3 songs, which was seriously cruel. And the Parselmouths didn’t even get to go (I really wanted to see them, as I had never seen them before).

I hung out with Vanessa in the crowd and would have joined the conga line if I hadn’t just gone to get a cup of much-needed water. The music was good, and there were a couple bands I’d never heard live, but the two I wanted to hear either were cut short or didn’t go on at all.

They kicked us out of the main room (which was fine) so the hotel could clean & set up for the next day. So the Humdingers set up in the lobby of the convention center and played a few more of their songs, including my favorite. We were kicked out of there at 2:30am but for those few songs, it was a truly magical experience, sitting on the floor late at night, like a private, acoustic, spontaneous concert. We all bonded and were on such a high it was difficult to leave. Seriously, I think the Blibbering Humdingers are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I can’t stand seeing them short-changed. Scott suggested we move the concert outside, but the organizers wanted us to go. So, like the dutiful Hufflepuff I am, I went. I got back to the room and both roommates were still awake. We talked about some stuff and ended up on the topics of Harry Potter LEGO and slash before going to sleep after 3.