by Gideon Marcus

My, what a pleasant surprise this weekend turned out to be!  The group known as the North Escondido Rarities Devotees (NERD) put on a little gathering at a local venue.  It was supposed to be an informal party, but attendance ended up over several dozen!  It was essentially a little convention — NERD-CON, if you will.  It looks as if there are far more weirdoes in my town than I thought… 

I met a lot of wonderful people.  There was Angel, the flautist; Chris, the camera collector; Jay, the photographer; and many, many more.  The highlight of the event (for me, anyway, and perhaps a few others) was my hour-long presentation.  I talked about the state of science fiction, and which of our current predictions might become future realities.  It was something of a Mort Sahl stand-up routine, and by the end of it, I was both elated and exhausted. 

I can't wait to do it again!

If there is anything that unites us fans beyond an abiding love for the genre (one charming fellow buttonholed me to discuss the comparative virtues of Space Opera legend, Doc Smith, versus the offerings of today), it is our love of dressing up in bizarre costumes.  I've developed my film and hereby devote the rest of this article to the outrageous cast of characters that brightened up my weekend.

Trotting out an old dress.  Her name was "Peggy"

I think their names were "Cheryl" and "Pam"

Local belly dancing troupe

The Man of Steel

Snow White

His name was "Milo"

Representative for the Western Science Center.  Called herself "Brittney" (which must have been some kind of pseudonym)

Aladdin and Peter Pan!

An Aztec jaguar warrior!

Mrs. and Mr. Traveler at the station.

I look forward to seeing all of my new friends in the near future.  Drop me a line!  I'd love to hear from you.