This was supposed to be written weeks ago, when I had more fresh memory available to me. Let's pretend that I waited until I could ponder, put meaning to my final thoughts on Worldcon. And forgive the occasional lapse into ee cummings but I seem to have problems with the shift key of late.

I don't know if I'll be going to Worldcon in the next few years; I liked a LOT about this year, but location clearly made a huge impact on me. So 2012 in Chicago? I've been to Chicago. I survived the TrekCon in Chicago. I went to a Bouchercon in Chicago. There is little about the city when it comes to a convention. A huge plus is finding good restaurants. I have found good food in dozens of places. Stu and I still tell the story of the really good Mexican place in Racine - a place we simply did not expect to find.

Access is a huge issue. i had no problem getting around downtown Chicago and only some trouble with transit. I'll know this time what to look out for.

What is unique to Chicago that appeals? I'm sorry that i never got to the Peace Museum (yes Chicago had a Peace Museum). I had wanted to go there from the day I heard of it.

So the Art Institute it is. You see for nigh on, what, 25 years, i've wanted to visit the Art Institute of Chicago to see a special collection there. It would have been vastly simpler if I'd been able to go before ending up using the wheelchair. And it's all the fault of Leslie Turek and Alex Layton who gave me a book on this collection. The Thorne Miniature Rooms have captured my imagination and love since the day they learned that I had a passion for dollhouse miniatures and gave me this book. Seeing the 68 rooms would probably take me all day. So should I go to Chicago, the idea of taking an extra day - even to the extent of calling the AIC and asking about how to view the collection from a wheelchair - is a huge huge attraction. http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/thorne

The other attraction to attending Worldcon is both the planned and unplanned getting to hang out/catch up with people. To see friends from years past. To find out that I've been wrong about something for 20 plus years but that it doesn't matter. To find people from days gone by and to talk about, you know stuff.

Dinner with friends. Oh man. To sit for a while and talk to that guy you've always liked but, you realize, don't know well. To "ohmigods" when you realize someone is who they are, and you know that name but.... To hear from someone on Facebook who was there and whom I knew when her name was... To talk with people who like me and have things to tell me. To be recognized after lots of time has gone by. To watch Stu give an award (ok, ok, it's possible that won't be an annual event). To find out there's a possible project to get involved with. Most of that can and does happen at a convention. Hoping to catch up with those people I didn't see, or didn't have time to catch up with. so that's my thinking 11 months before the next Worldcon. That's what makes Worldcon worth thinking about.

I'm posting this the afternoon before we head off to Bouchercon. Yikes! Happily these cons are weeks apart but I have to wonder about my travel stamina - which sorta sucks these days. I get there, I have fun, I get home and...SPLAT! Big time splat. I used to hope that having the wheelchair would help me not exhaust myself. It does help, but still, those airplane rides, those stressful "are we gonna get there on time" the occasional "oh, no, THAT's not accessible" situations I face with almost every/any trip wears on me.

So in the words of Roland Hedley, "time will tell". Thank you, and good night. Or something.