My First QuakeCon. Awwwwww!

I once heard a song ask "Have you ever seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night?" It's evidently a totally different experience from seeing Dallas from an Airbus at noon. it's kind of a brown spot with a central spiderweb of roads. It doesn't resemble a jewel or a beautiful sight so much as a dust caked windshield that got hit with a rock. Hopefully I'll get a better chance to compare the city to its lyrical description on the flight back. I have a feeling that having it behind you is a significant part of the city's charm.

But until then I'm stuck in the middle of the friendly chaos of QuakeCon. There's a significant difference in atmosphere between things that end in -Con vs. -Expo. Mostly the fact that people are here not so much for spectacle, a first look at anything, or inflatable damn swords, but just for the general camaraderie and common interest. Yeah, there's a pretty good share of sweaty fatbeards, but they're not driven, greedy, pushy fatbeards. For the most part, anyway.

It does seem increasingly inaccurately named, though. I've seen as many people playing Warcraft 3 or Super Mario War or whatever else about as often as I spot them Quaking.

Fun bit of smug condescension overheard at the hotel bar: "They're playing videogames. I kind of got over that when I was... twelve." "Sixteen, here. Loved Space invaders, though."

Thank hell for death of old age. May we never find a cure for it.