By Leigh Strother-Vien: Sasquan, the Spokane World Science Fiction Convention, has magic sofas! Nonsense, you say?

Ah, but whenever my body has informed me that I MUST take a break, lo, there are sofas (& sometimes easy chairs) to rest said body.

My favorites are the ones near Site Selection & Exhibits, but the ones in the hallways on the Long March between there and the Ballrooms and other meeting rooms are nice, too.

But just Being There is not what makes them Magic. They’re Magic, because, Every Time I’ve availed myself of the comfiness – Voila! Someone I’ve wanted to see/talk to shows up and sits down, too! Old friend, new friends, people who have Become new friends! MAGIC!!!

Mind you, I didn’t realize they were magic right away – my first day here (Wednesday) the first time I stopped for a rest, there were already people around the sitting area (on the Long March) – and they were old friends from my LASFAPA days [for you young’uns, an APA was a bit like a paper-based, Post
Office-broadcasted Facebook, … kinda]. And then a couple more from LASFAPA came by. Wow.

The point I Realized the sofas were magic, though, was after I’d been to the Dealer’s Room, to look around at the Marvelous Market (and buy a purty from my favorite jeweler [Hi, Laurie!]). My feet and legs yelled ‘Rest!’, so, even though I’ve been (unsuccessfully) on the lookout for my new favorite writer, I go find a sofa.

Fifteen minutes later, said New Favorite Writer, a.k.a. Jean Johnson, whom I met last year at LonCon, sits down on the opposite sofa. Like WOW. And Yay!

But two events aren’t sufficient to determine magicness (magicality? … um, whatever “having the characteristics of being magical” is the appropriate descriptive).

The THIRD event (on the same day, mind): I’m resting my self on a sofa, and get to talking to a couple who have sat down, and it turns out he’s someone I knew back when we were all Much Younger; he’s just begun to reconnect (hello, Facebook). We didn’t recognize each other until we read our name badges!

Since, each time I sit on a sofa, the person next to me or across from me is someone I knew OR someone I clearly Should know – old friends I’m just meeting this lifetime.

MAGIC!!!

Blessings, Leigh Strother-Vien

“Moderation in all things — including Moderation!”