![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jul. 17th, 2006
The thing about cons, any con, is...
Jul. 17th, 2006 02:46 amReally, one has to be a little bit manic to enjoy a con, be it a book con/science fiction con, a Mensa Regional Gathering, or a knitting con.
Here's a list of the symptoms of a manic episode in bipolar disorder:
Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
Excessively "high," overly good, euphoric mood
Extreme irritability
Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
Distractibility, can't concentrate well
Little sleep needed
Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities and powers
Poor judgment
Spending sprees
A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
Increased sexual drive
Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Denial that anything is wrong
Now, while it's not 100% the same, you will note that most of that list is EXPECTED, even REQUIRED behavior at a con.
And despite the fact that a knitting/crochet con has a greater percentage of older people, and of women, and of the disabled, than the typical Star Trek or anime con, most of that description still applies. Racing thoughts? Check. More ideas than one can keep track of? Check. Little sleep? Definitely check, especially if you learned a new trick in a class and then stay up all night finishing a project using that technique, just to prove that you are the smartest knitter in town and a master of all you survey. Spending sprees? Most assuredly check, and it's possible to do a LOT more damage in the exhibition hall/yarn market at a knitting con than it is in the typical vendor room at a SF con. Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities? Check, especially "I'll buy this yarn because I'll have time next week to make this pattern" and "sure I can do lace knitting, even though I've previously stated that I hate tiny needles and large projects, sure I can do lace knitting!" Perhaps less of the sexual aspects (although I can't speak for those who brought their spouses along; I didn't, but many people did, and perhaps the presence of all that yarn DID have this effect on them). And I don't think there was that much of a problem with drugs - knitters and crocheters would NEVER waste money on cocaine that could be spent on yarn!! (On the other hand, a certain amount of excessively loud laughter during the Friday evening classes perhaps testifies to a certain amount of alcohol excess during Friday dinner...)
The knitting con did not involve building a Chaos Machine in the hotel lobby. Instead, it involved people using up all the lobby furniture to perch and knit, and then to leave little clipped ends and tails of yarn everywhere - and beads and sequins in the carpeting, and the occasional lost knitting needle, and other hazards to life and limb of the unwary trying to use the lobby. Not to mention all the women shrieking at each other, and shouting the length of corridors, that they MUST have the pattern for whatever someone else at the other end is wearing.
The one area that is significantly different from other cons is the Hospitality Suite/Con Suite and the Food Area, whatever it may be; there is far less of this, because no one wants to get food stains on their expensive yarn. So there are no 24-hour crock pots of chili, no piles and piles of packets of chips or Pocky, no chocolate-and-wine tastings in one of the speaker rooms...
Anyway. That was fun.
Here's a list of the symptoms of a manic episode in bipolar disorder:
Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
Excessively "high," overly good, euphoric mood
Extreme irritability
Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
Distractibility, can't concentrate well
Little sleep needed
Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities and powers
Poor judgment
Spending sprees
A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
Increased sexual drive
Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Denial that anything is wrong
Now, while it's not 100% the same, you will note that most of that list is EXPECTED, even REQUIRED behavior at a con.
And despite the fact that a knitting/crochet con has a greater percentage of older people, and of women, and of the disabled, than the typical Star Trek or anime con, most of that description still applies. Racing thoughts? Check. More ideas than one can keep track of? Check. Little sleep? Definitely check, especially if you learned a new trick in a class and then stay up all night finishing a project using that technique, just to prove that you are the smartest knitter in town and a master of all you survey. Spending sprees? Most assuredly check, and it's possible to do a LOT more damage in the exhibition hall/yarn market at a knitting con than it is in the typical vendor room at a SF con. Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities? Check, especially "I'll buy this yarn because I'll have time next week to make this pattern" and "sure I can do lace knitting, even though I've previously stated that I hate tiny needles and large projects, sure I can do lace knitting!" Perhaps less of the sexual aspects (although I can't speak for those who brought their spouses along; I didn't, but many people did, and perhaps the presence of all that yarn DID have this effect on them). And I don't think there was that much of a problem with drugs - knitters and crocheters would NEVER waste money on cocaine that could be spent on yarn!! (On the other hand, a certain amount of excessively loud laughter during the Friday evening classes perhaps testifies to a certain amount of alcohol excess during Friday dinner...)
The knitting con did not involve building a Chaos Machine in the hotel lobby. Instead, it involved people using up all the lobby furniture to perch and knit, and then to leave little clipped ends and tails of yarn everywhere - and beads and sequins in the carpeting, and the occasional lost knitting needle, and other hazards to life and limb of the unwary trying to use the lobby. Not to mention all the women shrieking at each other, and shouting the length of corridors, that they MUST have the pattern for whatever someone else at the other end is wearing.
The one area that is significantly different from other cons is the Hospitality Suite/Con Suite and the Food Area, whatever it may be; there is far less of this, because no one wants to get food stains on their expensive yarn. So there are no 24-hour crock pots of chili, no piles and piles of packets of chips or Pocky, no chocolate-and-wine tastings in one of the speaker rooms...
Anyway. That was fun.
