InConJunction

3 weeks ago, still riding the high from DucKon, I pulled the trigger on InConJunction.  I went all by myself this time.  I had a pretty good time, but it was nowhere near what DucKon had been.

( some recollections )

The InConJunction folks did a good job.  It is not the con's fault that there were fewer of my friends there than I might have hoped, and it certainly isn't their fault that I was shorter than even my usual on emotional energy to connect with new people most of the time.  There was a period in InConJunction's history when the con was actively hostile to filkers, but I certainly didn't have any complaints this year.

S J Tucker house concert

In an effort to prove that I really am crazy, when I heard that s00j was doing a house concert at Casa Middleton in Waukegan today (Sunday, July 5, that is -- it's still "today" until I go to bed), at 2 PM, I decided that I would go, even though I had already bought my membership and made my hotel reservations for the aforementioned InConJunction.  I actually succeeded in my plan of getting up in time to be on the road at 11 AM EDT, which would have actually gotten me to the venue on time, except that I was so stupidly full of myself for knowing where I was going that I didn't actually consult the map.  I failed to recognize the area as I came to it, and roads that I was looking for by name were labeled only by route number, so I drove on by and spent at least an extra 20 minutes on my trip.  So I missed the first couple of songs.

I'm not going to try to recap the concert in detail.  I just want to say that, while I'd gotten enough of an impression of s00j at DucKon that I actually did this trip, I was completely blown away.  She was much more than I was expecting.  Amazing voice, great guitar accompaniment, wonderful stage presence and showmanship, and some songs that just reached right down into my soul.  I'm still riding in the afterglow of multiple musical orgasms.  Plus, I'm also aching from laughter.  I hope tollers won't take this the wrong way, but I only knew "Alligator in the House" from her.  When she does it, it's a fun little song, but with s00j's schtick, it's oh my god I think I'm going to die funny.  The Jewish mother alligator just has to be experienced to be believed.  However, that hilarity paled to insignificance compared to a number she did in the circle after the concert, "Don't Lick My Toes", in which the singer belabors in excruciating detail how that particular kink just does not work for her.  There was a line in there about how it felt like being flossed with warm liver.  I laughed very nearly as long and hard as I at DucKon for the Howl for Mayor McCheese.

Absolutely the only thing wrong with the concert was that it was too short.  But any more wonderful would probably have burned my brain out entirely, so maybe it's for the best.  Even though some people who had said they would be there weren't there, we had a good song circle after the concert.  I got to sing some of my moldy old crap filk classics that I don't believe s00j had heard before, starting with Chris Weber's "Beware of the Sentient Chili" in response to her song about the salad of doom.  I also got more hugs at the concert/party than I had at the con, and I got to snuggle exapno too.

EDIT: corrected the title of "Don't Lick My Toes" -- I plead lack of sleep when I originally posted.