Less than a week to 21 days to 221B Con.

Sometimes I blog just to put a particular phrase in the title, like "to 21 days to 221B Con."

But the run up to 221B Con is still something worth writing about, as the month before has a level of Sherlockian fun to it all its own. This is the point I always wish I was better at working up cosplay or clever badge ribbons or any of those things I so admire in the other attendees. (Besides all the the raw and refined ideas, concepts, and perspectives that are the lake one swims in at the con.) The panel assignments have yet to come out, and, as with any 221B Con, there's a general excitement at the unexpected delights that await. Every 221B Con brings something I didn't see coming, and a happy surprise will forever be one of my favorite things.

This year's 221B Con holds all sorts of possibilities for the unexpected. How will Season Four of BBC Sherlock affect the panels, cosplay, and general spirit of the affair? What's first-time guest Curtis Armstrong going to bring to the mix? How can Three Patch Podcast top all of their previous successes at room decor? (And is that even possible?) What will people want Lyndsay Faye to sign since her claim that she will sign anything put in front of her? And, oh, the dealer's room. That never-the-same twice, never-enough-cash-to-get-everything-you-want dealer's room.

What to expect, what to prepare for . . . there are some people out there working very hard on those things right now. But whatever gets done between now and when the hotel check-ins start, once Sherlockians get settled into the Marriott Perimeter Center, it's just a matter of hanging on and enjoying the ride.

Because it'll be over far too soon, and Sunday night will see non-Sherlockians taking back the hotel. (The first time you step into an elevator and realize you have nothing in common with the other folks in there with you that night can be a shock.) For now, however, the anticipation is building, and I can't wait.