Best. Freaking. GAFilk. EVAR. Period.

I haven't been posting during the weekend as I've been much busier than I expected serving my first-ever stint as Toastmaster at a convention, GAFilk XIII. But it has, with only one or two minor glitches (none of which were the fault of the con or anyone therein), been simply incredible.

It wasn't just the seeing of friends I haven't been able to see in person for a whole year (and missing far too many others who simply couldn't be here for one reason or another...including, sadly, our Super Sekrit Guest, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, who had to cancel at the last minute due to a loved one's medical emergency). It wasn't that we had none other than the literary world's newest fantasy-writing sensation and John W. Campbell Award winner, cadhla, as Guest of Honor (and all us filk types being able to smugly say, "we knew her when..."). It wasn't getting to do a rare hour-long concert with my sweet Songbird and  catalana as well, and to introduce the other guests' concerts and the 2x10 member performances. It wasn't just the extra-long fun of dancing to the faboo-as-always music of Play It With Moxie at the banquet that was the only good thing to come out of Patrick's absence (his concert had been scheduled for immediately following), or the GAFilk-record-breaking amount of money the auction later that evening raised (along with the usual quilting by msminlr and friends, haircuts by msminlr and other stuff) for Interfilk to bring more great talents like this year's guest Howard Scrimgeour to filk fans far from their home regions. (Over $3,800, in case you wondered.) It wasn't just having talents such as Chairman Emeritus bedlamhouse and his delightful wife ladyat and billroper and decadentdave performing in open circles and in a massive ad-hoc backing band for our GoH, working the sound boards, running the auction and generally kicking the weekend up several notches. Or even just the special bonus concert D-Dave did this afternoon as one of the items auctioned off last night.

It was also the scads of people who approached me after my concert and through the remainder of the weekend to tell me how much they enjoyed my songs and the job I was doing (some even offering me gifts in token of their appreciation, such as a free CD of a new member's music and a sterling silver finger-ring), despite the flubs of lyrics and other mistakes I know I made. It was being invited to the con-ops suite this evening for a private schmooze with the committee as one of the main guests before joining the Stray Dead Dog filk. It was the raw recording to CD of my concert (put together by hms42 for the purpose) getting auctioned off last night for a staggering $450 with chorded lyric sheets thrown in. And it was getting some generously offered technical advice from the Grim Roper hisownself to help make that years-awaited CD of my own music a reality at long, long last. And it was finally getting to hear kbeader perform my Pegasus Award-winning song "A Simple Country Doctor" for the first time, as she had in my stead at the Nominees' Concert during the 2004 Ohio Valley Filk Fest when our flight's delayed arrival prevented me being there until late Friday evening (though I did get to collect the award the next night). And her telling me the funny story of how her playing it at a Star Trek con out west resulted in its inclusion in Denise Crosby's documentary Trekkies II, complete with my name in the credits. And, and, and...well, you get the idea.

And to top it all off, it's snowing outside. It'll be tricky as hell driving back across town to get home (assuming the roads are passable), and it did drive off some of our friends early to avoid getting stranded and caused others to get flights home delayed or canceled. But it means we have one last evening of fun before having to resume dealing with Real Life again tomorrow.