Belated updates before I fall prey to quizes and memes
Life has settled back into routine for me which is why this is probably long overdue.
So, for the good of SnS and my own paycheck I went to a store opening in Wisconsin. It was a good experience overall, I met good people, worked with new faces which made me appreciate my home store all the more. Flew for the first time ever and also my first adventure in a strip club ever. Other than my cellphone getting stolen it was all good. The hotel was nice, the shiny new store was great, the hours weren't bad only 10-12 hour days instead of the 12 to 14 I was warned about. It was a slow opening I was told by those who'd been on several of these adventures. I luckily didn't have anything stolen from my hotel room, just at work, though others did have things taken by the housekeeping staff. After the nightmare Sat. night for me, was when we walked across the street to Silks, the strip club. Right across the street how convienent was that? The male strippers were fun, it was a small show only 5 of them but was worth the overpriced beer to see them, and for 5 bucks you could get your picture taken with them afterwards and I had to have a souvenir of the night. The fact that I was pleasantly buzzed probably helped aid the economic decision. The flight home was much less stressful than the flight out, prolly because I was coming home. Also I don't think I'll have as much fear of QSC and Bob's visits as I did before I worked with the man. I don't think I'll ever do one of these again, but it was an experience well worth having, and treating myself to a Nintendo DS with the extra money was definitely worth it.
An even better experience was getting to go to an actual anime convention. Now don't get me wrong Archon will always be my con of cons because it was my first one and the one I attend with regularity, but it is a sci-fi convention. It was nice to be immersed in a crowd of anime fans and know they are all anime fans, rather than meeting the random person who shares the interest.
Downsides first, weren't a lot of panels that screamed at me, you must attend. But I didn't attend a lot of panels my first few years of Archon either. It took me a while to get comfortable going and speaking up in them. The yaoi dealer was terribly annoying though by avoiding his corner except for twice once for an initial browse and once on Sun to buy what caught my eye I was successful in avoiding his sliminess. If I hadn't been sick of Naruto before without seeing or reading the series, the con prolly clinched that. I got to add a new word to my fan vocabulary, Narutard, and yup that came from one of the older cosplayers in the fandom, one of the ones not running around screaming their little heads off and making a nuisance of themselves in the Hilton. I swear the idea of writing up a con etiquette pamplet was probably one of the best ideas I've ever heard suggested. (That would be Mish's idea and a damned good one.) Running around screaming and tackling people in the lobby of a Hilton frequented by pilots, flight crew, military boys and higher class mundanes, not a great way to insure your con has a home next year. I want to know where the *HELL* their parents were.
Upsides: The dealers room was awesome, even if I avoided most of the furry cat tail selling booths. Also most of the anime/manga dealers I easily passed by. I did buy 3 anime poker decks, 3 soundtracks, and one artbook that I am still all squealy over.
One of the panels I did go to Voice Actors and You led me to a second panel hosted by Greg Ayers that originally was titled Sub vs Dub, but turned into one superlong teaser for the anime Beck that Greg does a voice for. I have decided due to the clips and the VA's rabid support of the anime, that I must have it. It looks like it shall totally rock, and I do mean that literally since the actors themselves have to sing in it.
Greg Ayers himself is an awesome person. Good with his fans, and a great DJ. He was handing out burned disks of his Fri. night set to anyone who asked. I asked now I have a one hour mix of awesome techno dance music. He DJed part of the rave both Fri and Sat night. I spent a lot of time on the dance floor and have the pinched nerve to prove it was too much. And here's one more thing that has cinched me as a fan (as if I wasn't fan enough already) despite his acute case of shiny things syndrome when the Sun. autograph signings rolled around and I got my stuffed signed by everyone in the little room he remarked on remembering seeing me on the dance floor. That I thought was awesome. Also my fangirl squeeness now involves the fact that I have *both* my Saiyuki decks with an autographed card of Goku in them. To me, that is I must say it... *SQUEE*
On a more personal note, I got to see Mishaela after what is it now? Two, three years since she moved back to Kansas? She was cosplaying the 'wicked' Sanzo priest, and it was very much a spot on costume. Her friend did an amazing job on the sutra, very few people there had costumes as close to perfect as that. (Though the PoH Medusa was startling too, I never thought to see one though I always thought it'd be awesome) We talked about animes and manga. She recced some title to me that I'd only heard of on release mls, so now I must hunt them up. It was refreshing to be able to talk to someone about yaoi in person and not get the funny look of 'What in God's Name are You Talking About?'. So I think connecting again with an old CoMo friend pretty much tops off the list of upsides of the con.
Oh, and after this do be warned of the memeage, because it is coming I swear.
So, for the good of SnS and my own paycheck I went to a store opening in Wisconsin. It was a good experience overall, I met good people, worked with new faces which made me appreciate my home store all the more. Flew for the first time ever and also my first adventure in a strip club ever. Other than my cellphone getting stolen it was all good. The hotel was nice, the shiny new store was great, the hours weren't bad only 10-12 hour days instead of the 12 to 14 I was warned about. It was a slow opening I was told by those who'd been on several of these adventures. I luckily didn't have anything stolen from my hotel room, just at work, though others did have things taken by the housekeeping staff. After the nightmare Sat. night for me, was when we walked across the street to Silks, the strip club. Right across the street how convienent was that? The male strippers were fun, it was a small show only 5 of them but was worth the overpriced beer to see them, and for 5 bucks you could get your picture taken with them afterwards and I had to have a souvenir of the night. The fact that I was pleasantly buzzed probably helped aid the economic decision. The flight home was much less stressful than the flight out, prolly because I was coming home. Also I don't think I'll have as much fear of QSC and Bob's visits as I did before I worked with the man. I don't think I'll ever do one of these again, but it was an experience well worth having, and treating myself to a Nintendo DS with the extra money was definitely worth it.
An even better experience was getting to go to an actual anime convention. Now don't get me wrong Archon will always be my con of cons because it was my first one and the one I attend with regularity, but it is a sci-fi convention. It was nice to be immersed in a crowd of anime fans and know they are all anime fans, rather than meeting the random person who shares the interest.
Downsides first, weren't a lot of panels that screamed at me, you must attend. But I didn't attend a lot of panels my first few years of Archon either. It took me a while to get comfortable going and speaking up in them. The yaoi dealer was terribly annoying though by avoiding his corner except for twice once for an initial browse and once on Sun to buy what caught my eye I was successful in avoiding his sliminess. If I hadn't been sick of Naruto before without seeing or reading the series, the con prolly clinched that. I got to add a new word to my fan vocabulary, Narutard, and yup that came from one of the older cosplayers in the fandom, one of the ones not running around screaming their little heads off and making a nuisance of themselves in the Hilton. I swear the idea of writing up a con etiquette pamplet was probably one of the best ideas I've ever heard suggested. (That would be Mish's idea and a damned good one.) Running around screaming and tackling people in the lobby of a Hilton frequented by pilots, flight crew, military boys and higher class mundanes, not a great way to insure your con has a home next year. I want to know where the *HELL* their parents were.
Upsides: The dealers room was awesome, even if I avoided most of the furry cat tail selling booths. Also most of the anime/manga dealers I easily passed by. I did buy 3 anime poker decks, 3 soundtracks, and one artbook that I am still all squealy over.
One of the panels I did go to Voice Actors and You led me to a second panel hosted by Greg Ayers that originally was titled Sub vs Dub, but turned into one superlong teaser for the anime Beck that Greg does a voice for. I have decided due to the clips and the VA's rabid support of the anime, that I must have it. It looks like it shall totally rock, and I do mean that literally since the actors themselves have to sing in it.
Greg Ayers himself is an awesome person. Good with his fans, and a great DJ. He was handing out burned disks of his Fri. night set to anyone who asked. I asked now I have a one hour mix of awesome techno dance music. He DJed part of the rave both Fri and Sat night. I spent a lot of time on the dance floor and have the pinched nerve to prove it was too much. And here's one more thing that has cinched me as a fan (as if I wasn't fan enough already) despite his acute case of shiny things syndrome when the Sun. autograph signings rolled around and I got my stuffed signed by everyone in the little room he remarked on remembering seeing me on the dance floor. That I thought was awesome. Also my fangirl squeeness now involves the fact that I have *both* my Saiyuki decks with an autographed card of Goku in them. To me, that is I must say it... *SQUEE*
On a more personal note, I got to see Mishaela after what is it now? Two, three years since she moved back to Kansas? She was cosplaying the 'wicked' Sanzo priest, and it was very much a spot on costume. Her friend did an amazing job on the sutra, very few people there had costumes as close to perfect as that. (Though the PoH Medusa was startling too, I never thought to see one though I always thought it'd be awesome) We talked about animes and manga. She recced some title to me that I'd only heard of on release mls, so now I must hunt them up. It was refreshing to be able to talk to someone about yaoi in person and not get the funny look of 'What in God's Name are You Talking About?'. So I think connecting again with an old CoMo friend pretty much tops off the list of upsides of the con.
Oh, and after this do be warned of the memeage, because it is coming I swear.