There's a "Mittelaltermarkt Online" again on Saturday, and I'll be there!

There have been a few of these markets this year, but I was away or otherwise engaged for the last few events. This time, the stars have lined up favourably, and I'll take part again.

The market organisers have shifted the timeframe of the market, it now starts at 17:00 German time, so the Saturday (which we usually spend, at least partly, with grocery shopping, like so many others) doesn't get ripped apart by a noon-to-afternoon event. I totally approve, and am very happy with that change.

In case you missed the last ones, and don't know at all what I am talking about: The market is intended to give people a possibility to do some "medieval shopping" that they would otherwise have done on real-life markets and events. There's a stage with some entertainment, and stalls with different goods offered by different people. They are not all medieval as in historically correct, but if you don't expect that, it's quite enjoyable and fun.

Registration is necessary (but free), and then you can click yourself along the market paths (which remind me of a simple game dungeon), look at the stalls left and right, and chat with the stall owners, look at their goods, and maybe buy something. It's even possible to run a video meeting so one can video-chat with people. That is the closest online equivalent to a real market that I have yet seen, and actually allows to explain things or show something.

So: Stop by if you wish, and have a chat with me!

There's a second "Mittelaltermarkt Online" tomorrow, starting at 11 am German time - and I'll be there!

This is a funny little thing: You register (free), then you can click yourself along the market paths (which reminds me of a simple game dungeon), look at the stalls left and right, and chat with the stall owners, look at their goods, and maybe buy something.

I was there last month for the first one, and it was curious, but also fun, so of course I decided to go there again. Stop by if you wish, and have a chat with me, either typed at the stall or via Jitsi Meet as a video meeting!

The Corona Scare has probably reached almost every corner of the world now, and things are definitely starting to get interesting in Germany. Bavaria has cancelled all events with more than 1000 people until April 19, and other federal states are following suit - among them Baden-Württemberg, though I couldn't find any dates on how long this ban will be in effect.

The cancellation of events in Ba-Wü will probably directly affect me, as there are two fairs there, one in mid-April (18th and 19th) and one at the beginning of May (8-10). At the moment, I'm not counting on either of the two actually taking place; the first because it's still just within the "ban time" that Bavaria has called out, and I'd guess that Baden-Württemberg will go for a similar time period, if not for a longer one; the second because though it is a good bit later, it's also a (substantial) bit larger, with more than 10 000 visitors during the three days of the fair, and it might well be that events in that size will still be banned then, depending on how things develop.

There's also a bike fair we were planning to go to, which is on the last weekend in April, in Rheinland-Pfalz. It's (unfortunately, in this case) also a very large one, with about 10 000 visitors, and a rather international one... so while the status for this is still unclear, I won't count on it taking place. Which would be rather sad, just like the wool fairs being called off. I do get that cutting out large gatherings of people, especially if the crowd comes from all kinds of places and will spread back out afterwards, will be helpful in slowing the virus spread.

NESAT is not before mid-May, and not very large - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing dire will happen to put this in danger.

So. Things will develop as they will, and there's nothing to do right now than wait and see (and hope, of course, that the virus spread will peter out quickly). The virus has caused enough madness all around the world already - panic shopping included, which meant that hospitals and doctor's offices ran out of disinfectant and other necessary supplies, and could not get more because of people hoarding the stuff. That, obviously, is not a good thing at all. Especially since for most people, going a bit easy on the hugging and keeping up a good basic hygiene (washing hands, first and foremost) would be more than sufficient to keep risk down in normal life. We still know relatively little about the virus, including the real mortality rate, and panicking will definitely not help anybody.

Has the Corona Scare arrived in your area yet? Or are people still relatively relaxed?

So what else is there to tell about my Dublin adventures? There was a talk about medieval textiles and textile crafts, which was very well received according to what I heard afterwards. I had the pleasure of sharing that panel with Jeannette Ng, who later during the convention accepted her award for Best New Writer (congratulations again!).

I also enjoyed my two other panels (proper panels, not talks, this time) about archaeology in SFF, and about costume research and documentation.

I also got to meet (and hold, for a short time) this guy:



and I got to meet a real Lady Astronaut, as Dr. Jeannette Epps was at the convention. Which was a "wow" moment as well.

There also was cake (because life is better with cake, even if it is only store-bought chocolate cake from Tesco's), and weird chocolate both from Ireland (Cadbury's Mint Oreo. Delicious, if you ask me.) and from Germany (I brought some Knusperflocken for people to try) and from New Zealand (which will host next year's convention) and, if you are generous in what you count as chocolate, choc-covered malty caramel Timtams from Australia.

Finally, one of the really nice things about WorldCon is how easy it is to meet people, and chat with them, making new acquaintances and learning things about their bits of the world. I was delighted to see again quite a number of people I'd last met in London, back in 2014 (one of whom saved my voice by bringing me a pack of Fisherman's Friends). Even though there's never a load of time to catch up, it was wonderful to see them again and chat. It was also totally delightful to see so many authors, whose work I love to read, and it felt like so many of them stopped at my table in the hall and enjoyed seeing (and, in some cases, buying) something completely different. (Which were the moments when I silently went "squeee!" in the back of my head. As you do. Right?).

All this would never have happened if not for Gillian prodding me to come to London in 2014 (because apparently, London is right around the corner from Erlangen, if you ask an Aussie) and for my wonderful Irish friend helping me out at the table, making it possible for me to sneak away to my programme items, the Escape Artists Live panel, and, occasionally, even to the toilet:



Thank you! (Also, I'm still bad at taking phone selfies. Obviously.)

 

Dublin was... exciting, and wonderful, even though getting there was a tiny bit scary - I knew I'd be travelling alone, and taking two large suitcases. Plus a backpack. Plus a handbag... maxing out my luggage allowance on all counts.

[caption id="attachment_4776" align="alignnone" width="412"] Tell me again who is going to be lugging all this to Dublin?


Because I was rather nervous about not making the airport in time, I took a really early train, which meant, of course, that everything went smoothly and I arrived with plenty of time to spend knitting at the airport. Changing trains was also going well - I did have a helping hand for all exits and entrances that involved stairs, and a very friendly couple helped me (and a group of fellow travellers from Taiwan) to pick the right S-Bahn to get to Munich airport, as there were currently construction works going on, mangling the usual schedules. (Things like that are wonderfully reinforcing my belief that most of the human beings on this our planet are lovely people who are willing to help, and happy to make the world a little bit better by their actions. Thank you.)

So... everything went smoothly, we landed in Dublin wonderfully on time, I collected my things and went straight to this place:



which is the Convention Centre Dublin. And then I started getting to work, as in getting my stall set up. I had some help from Gillian Polack, who was one of the volunteers in the Dealer's Hall, helping everybody to find their way around and to get set up. (Of course, as always, I had to hand-write a few of the labels. And also of course, as always, I finished set-up the next morning.)

In the end, the table looked like this - at least it did so at one point, things changed slightly in their layout as some stuff was sold out:



Being at a WorldCon is something lovely, and special, and exciting - and for me, being part of it by having a stall in the Dealer's Hall is something extra-special on top of all the "normal" WorldCon excitement and enjoyment. Every show and every fair has their own distinct flavour, so to say, but I think that the WorldCon flavour is far, far different from any of the other fairs that I have done until now. And personally, I find it very, very tasty.

Speaking of tasty - I was totally delighted when I found out my accommodation came with breakfast included, and actually treated me to the possibility of having a Full Irish Breakfast each day, complete with white and black pudding:



That set me up nicely for the day to come - which was good, because between the programme items I was on, the programme items I got to see, and standing at my table meeting so, so many wonderful people (plus looking at their t-shirts and badge ribbons) did not leave much time for eating!

 

I'm back from the fair, which was - as usual - both fun and exhausting. We had a slightly different setup in our booth this year, which made things a bit more interesting as well. New layouts always mean spending a little more time on setup and decoration, as things need to be figured out anew. We both arrived early enough on setup day, though, to do this in a fairly relaxed way. No car calamities this time - and not even a traffic jam or similar thing that would have held me up!

As always after a fair, I took it easy for a day to relax and unwind a little, and also as always, I now have homework to do: Update stuff on the shop page, write emails, look up things, and so on.

There's also some other stuff here waiting for me to have some time... exciting little bits of stuff. Now where's that extra day between Saturday and Sunday, reserved only for fun things? Can somebody invent that, please?

I'm prepping for the Nadelwelt fair - checking all the things that need to be checked, charging all the batteries, topping up the stock stuff that needs to be topped up.

Also, of course, packing the overnight things - which always include the Three Magic Wellness Things: the travel yoga mat, my current knitting project, and something to read (which usually means the e-book reader). It also always includes, of course, the washbag... which this time around put me in front of a slight problem.

As this is also what goes with me on cycling and paddling holidays, and has to fit into rather small bags for that, my washbag is supposed to stay as small as possible. Unfortunately, over the years, it has grown a bit, due to my wanting to take some additional stuff. Such as a pair of glasses for when the lenses are out. Or more skincare products. Age, here, is definitely leaving some traces!

So in the quest of keeping it small and manageable, most of the things are packed into small containers. Which means my soapbox is an old small box for peppermint candies, and it will only fit a very slim piece of soap. Which, in turn, means I occasionally transfer a piece that has shrunk enough into my travel washbag, and replace the shrunken piece with a new big one.

This time, the small piece came from the soapbox that I take with me to the bouldering gym... but the new piece of soap, bought from a soapmaking manufacture, was so large that it didn't fit that box either. A quick internet search later, and now I know how to divide a piece of soap.

The easiest way to do this without the soap splintering is to heat it up in the oven, at about 100° C for at least half an hour; this softens the piece. Then you can either cut it by pressing through it with a very sharp knife, or try using a piece of thin, strong string, or - probably the best method - cut it with a thin wire. I used the wire from a cake cutting device that hangs out in our kitchen, and it worked very well indeed.

So now my soap round-robin is done (and I have three more pieces that will fit the box, too) - on to the rest of the packing!