Yay, Allyson!
Dan and I had amych for most of the day! We got to wander around the NAC and watch people being professionally stabby. People! With swords! Everywhere!
It was awesome! When I went out to loading docks for a smoke, I found out I am apparently the doppelganger to Ali's wife, whoever the hell Ali is. But some Texan fencing product vendor greeted me with "Hey, where's Ali?" Dan was a bit nonplussed, but we rolled with it.
Then a large man with a Middle Eastern accent came out and bitched about how long an epee match took to referee, and another ref came out, and told a story about how a fencer stepped on his toes so hard, twice, that a paramedic had to take a scalpel to his big toe under blood geysered out.
Then amych was done with her sabre matches, which were great fun to watch. I asked lots of questions. Y'all, they're basically ROBOTS WITH SWORDS HOOKED UP TO CYBER LEASHES!!
Then we had real BBQ. She got a plate of short ribs the size of her head. KC BBQ passed muster, though, and I think she's in a BBQ/fencing coma at her hotel now.
It was great! I haven't seen a Buffista in the flesh for years now, and there were SWORDS IN THE BARGAIN. FTW!