Gooncon Chicago 2006

Gooncon is a meetup for users of the SomethingAwful forums. I thought exploring a new city with new people sounded like a great time, so I signed up right away. I'm so very glad I did! I made three incredible friends whom I foresee hanging out with many more times this year. I also got to visit Chicago, which is an amazing city. I love it! I'll definitely be back for a longer stay so I can explore more of its charms.

I've never met anyone from SomethingAwful, so I was essentially heading there friendless and on my own. I had agreed to share a room with three other guys, but I had no idea if they'd be cool or annoying. Fears of being stuck for the weekend with computer geeks haunted me on the flight into Chicago.

I lucked out. My roommates and everyone I befriended turned out to be great.

 

My weekend ended up being spent in the company of this fearsome threesome. You can tell how cool they are just by looking at them :) I loved these guys. They are so much fun and I am incredibly lucky I fell in with them the moment I got there. I'll definitely try to room with them again next time I go to a goon meet. The shorter guy in front is Alex, but everyone calls him Dave because he looks like Dave Attel. The blonde guy is Kris, and the tall guy is Stas. They are the sweetest, nicest, funniest guys ever. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard and for so long. My cheeks were aching by Sunday.

 

Friday we all walked down to Lake Michigan. There was even a beach! I didn't go out on it because I hadn't brought my swimsuit and it was too hot for jeans, so I sat in the food area and had my first Chicago-style hotdog. What the hell is a sport pepper?!

 

Look at these studs! Hehe, they were so funny.

 

 

I don't know why, but I didn't realize the river winds right through the middle of downtown. Wow, downtown Chicago is so awesome. The buildings are gorgeous, a mix of traditional stone and modern glass. I was walking around with my mouth hanging open. It reminded me of a cleaner, less claustrophobic New York City. There were a lot of homeless people (especially on the night of the club crawl!!) but none of them were hostile or aggressive, so I felt completely safe.

 

Here's one of my other roommates on the left, Dave. He's going to work in Japan as an English teacher next month. Stas is on the right. Stash wears pink because he thinks it's the new black. In other words, he's a Goth. But you could probably already tell, right?

 

Here we are on Damen Street during the Friday night pub crawl. We went to four different bars and had a great time. We would've gone to more places but most closed at 4 am.

It was damned humid. I've never been so hot and sweaty simply from standing in one place. And once we started walking, I'd break out in a flush. It was gross. (Alex2 on the left, Alex1, Stas, and Kris)

 

Posing with two people we met on the street.

 

At Riptide, someone played "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on the jukebox so Dave and Kris felt obligated to serenade me. It's as bad as you're assuming.

 

"Hey, Tricia, what did you think about the guys singing?"

 

On State Street, heading back to the hotel since everything's closed.

 

Behold the giant bean at Millennium Park. The guys went here on Saturday afternoon while I slept.

 

 

More cool stuff I didn't see because I was sleeping.

 

 

Stas is a pretty princess.

 

Saturday night started out super windy so I borrowed Alex's cap for the walk to our destinations. Tonight was the club crawl. Or at least, it was supposed to be. We wanted to go to Smartbar, but somehow we ended up going to Rush Street. We hit LuxeBar, a place called P.S. (which was the only place with a dance floor), the piano bar next door, some country bar, then we grabbed a slice of pizza, hit up Dunkin Donuts, Walgreens, and then we were broke and went back to the hotel for a room party.

 

Kris would turn out to be my drunken make-out buddy for the weekend, which was nice. I think if we weren't so tired every night we probably would have hooked up but I passed out first on Friday night and he passed out first on Saturday. He had the misfortune of passing out in the middle of a party so people smeared lotion all over his chin and opened his mouth and took photos of him, lol.

 

Alex, showing me how much he respects me. I love the crazy lady in the back. I was really surprised at how many older people were out at these clubs. Maybe it was that specific area.

 

Kris can touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.

 

 

Sunday morning a big gang of us headed out for lunch. Here I am outside the bistro where we had an awesome New Orleans-style brunch. I had a mimosa, salmon carpaccio, Eggs Louisiana (poached eggs on top of crab cakes, with hollandaise and tomato coulis) and creme brulee.

 

Waiting for food. I have to say it was a nice experience going to all the restaurants and clubs that we did with a group that all worked in computer-related jobs. It meant that everyone had money and could afford to eat and do whatever we wanted.

 

The guys were so open with their feelings. It was very touching.

 

I think we walked something like 20 miles all weekend. You should see the blisters on my feet. Alex tried to give me a foot massage but I kept screaming in pain.

 

Aw, it's over. I have to go home :(

The guys were really nice and walked me to the subway. I appreciated that a lot since I didn't know where it was and probably would have gotten lost and missed my flight.

I will miss my new friends a lot. But as long as the dates don't overlap with YaoiCon, I'll be seeing them again at SAGoonNY in Niagra Falls in October, and perhaps at another goonmeet elsewhere. I can't wait!!

--Tricia July 3, 2006