lillian13 | And another NTIF fades into the sunset... (Reply)

Well, it was crowded and noisy and they really screwed the pooch on the layout, since the city of Dallas is redoing the Automotive Building. We asked for a corner booth away from the stage and got put on a wall about 50 feet from the stage (nothing between us and the music).

Ah...the music. It's safe to say we were not near the A-List stage. Or even the B-List. The later it got, the more feedback we got to hear from the speakers. (Either they were giving the sound man too much Guinness or not enough!) I am hoarse from yelling to be heard above said mediocre* music.

They added 57 more vendors this year, most of whom are either companies trying to get your information so they can sell it (sign up for a chance to win a vacation/golf clubs/whatever), or were jewelers. I kid you not, one of the other buildings--the one with the Irish Dancers in it, yay!--was like 70% jewlery vendors. Sheesh. Then they didn't let anyone start loading out until almost 9pm. On Sunday. Thankfully I was able to leave early, since I had a 3 hour drive back to Austin.

However...I saw many, many lovely dogs. Everything from teeny Papillons to enormous Wolfhounds, Grand Pyrenees, and Great Danes. The dogs were generally better-behaved than the people, frankly. I saw a grown man glomp another, which made me boggle. I got to work with

alycorn , who is always fun, and saw

vickita a couple of times.

....and it's over 'til next year.

Going to see Watchmen tonight with the World's Best Niece. Screw doing laundry!

* I did buy CDs from The Next Chapter as well as Loescher & Kenneth (which is actually a flash drive!). They were worth it. The others....not so much, sorry.