I write this from within the lobby of the LAX Marriott, surrounded by the din and crash of a room full of conversations going at the same time. This is Lobbycon, the unofficial kick off for Gallifrey One. From what I have gleaned, this year is no different from any other, the attendees are boisterous and vocal in their mirth making. Some are old friends coming together for the first time in a while, some are fast friends coming together through a haze of alcohol. But mostly they come together to talk WHO. There are scarfs aplenty, T-shirts galore, and Cosplaying in force.
This is Gally.
I feel vaguely out of place, not being an over zealous drinker, and new to the party this year. The fact that I have been up since 4am, operating on a diet of high stress and Coca-Cola for the last three days, cooped up in a plane for 4 hours, then cooling my heels in an airport for two hours, then forced to brave the highways of Los Angeles in a rental car, done a mass of sightseeing before finally arriving at this Meca of the Whoniverse may have something to do with it. Indeed, I find myself dozing off in the lobby as I type, the victim of this late night (1:30 am now, but with the time change my body still thinks it’s 3:30, so I’ve been up for nearly 24 hours and on the move for half of that.) And while I am not directly taking part in the conversations around me, I feel them washing over me, and the snipits I gain from osmosis tell me what I suspected all along. These are good people.
This is Gally.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of the weekend holds. But first…. to sleep…
