Dragon*Con provides synchronicity and skepticism

So, I attended Dragon*Con last weekend.  It was sort of a last minute thing, really.  See, my friend Margaret Downey was scheduled to speak there and needed an assistant.  I was in need to go to Atlanta to do some apartment hunting, and things fell together nicely.

If I were a less rational person, I might have thought some intelligent design was at work. But I’m a skeptic.  And luckily for me, there was a track at DC for people like me.  The skeptrack dragon can be seen to the right with two of it’s guests.

Margaret Downey has been doing a variety of characters over the years to deal with a number of issues related to skepticism, atheism, and freethought in general.  On Friday night, she did a presentation about anti-superstition parties, and superstition in general, at the Skeptrack section of Dragon*Con as the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Nurse.

After all, we know that there are lots of people who are into science fiction and fantasy who believe lots of silly woo things.  The skeptrack, organized by Derek of Skepticality, is focused on trying to introduce skeptical thinking into this culture, as a sort of outreach to the larger community of slightly nerdy, geeky, and sciency people.  The fact that Dragon*Con 2009 attracted more tha 45,000 people means that there are a lot of people to reach out to, and in future years they hope to become a larger and more significant part of the event. I’ll look forward to that.

I mean, we all like to meet some celebs, right?  I got a chance to meet some of the cast from Babylon 5, which was pretty sweet because it is among my favorite sci-fi shows.  I also got to see people from Stargate, Star Trek, and he recent Battlestar Galactica (don’t get me started on how annoying I thought the ending to that was…).

On top of all that there were some pretty awesome costumes. In the picture to the left, Maria from the skepchicks is getting to know the local alien population a little better.

Of course, alcohol was involved, and hopefully she won’t have any little aliens popping out from her stomach anytime soon.

And what was great about the plethora of costumes, from a male heterosexual point of view, was how economical many girls can be with their costumes.  I mean, making a whole costume while using so few materials? Brilliant! I must say my head was turned on more than a few occasions, which distracted me sufficiently as to not get my camera out in time.  My lovely girlfriend, who stayed back in Philadelphia for work training, would have been thoroughly amused by this.  Actually, she would have likely done the same thing with the many guys who were not afraid to show off their various attributes.  We are quite a pair.  And speaking of great pairs…never mind.

And there certainly were a lot of people there.

And I got a chance to meet some pretty cool people there as well as well as catch up with some friends I only tend to see at such events.  A few drinks, late night conversations, fun panel discussions, tens of thousands of people and science fiction.  What else does one want from a weekend?

And you read correctly above; I was looking for apartments.  My lovely lady and myself will be relocating to Atlanta come October 2009, just a few weeks away.  But there is a good set of communities down there so we will be able to make ourselves at home.  I’ve already been in communication with people from a skeptical community down there, I will be in contact with the atheist and polyamorous communities, and then I will have to find myself employment in Atlanta.  We are moving because of Seana’s new job, and I love her enough to relocate to be with her.

Philadelphia is a great city and I will miss living here.  What I won’t miss is cold winters with snow, slush, and ice.  A nice cool winter with occasional snowfall seems much preferable.  I will miss hot, fresh Philly pretzels off the conveyor late at night, however.

But I’ll still continue to be your friendly neighborhood atheist, polyamorous geek.