Summer Swan Song
Eheheh....so it's been since something like March since I made a personal update here? I intended to do a little update after Fanime back in May, and then again after my trip in July, but it just never happened. So now I find myself here on the cusp of September, ready to look back on this summer.
In many ways, Summer 2013 kicked off for me with Fanime Con back over Memorial Day weekend. I attended Anime Expo last year - my first con in something like eight years - but I knew that I wouldn't be able to go again this year, so Fanime (a smaller con in the Bay Area) presented itself as a likely choice to fill the gap. In some ways it filled that void, but in others it just didn't come close.
Fanime is billed as a "by fans, for fans" con by the staff, which may explain some why so many things felt so sloppy compared to AX. When you have 20,000 attendees, you need professional help. We didn't pre-register due to scheduling uncertainties, and so got stuck in a four hour registration/badge pickup line. Oh, and most of it was outside so I ended up with a raging sunburn. Suffice to say, that whole experience kind of soured me on this con.
The guest list was dreadful, too, with very few of the Japanese creative talent showing up. And the cosplayers. OMG, the hordes of Homestuck and MLP cosplayers. When did they take over anime cons? And this is coming from someone who likes MLP. The absolute best part of the con was getting to watch the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie with a crowd who was TOTALLY INTO IT. They literally cheered every time one of the characters used their sword techniques. It was glorious.
May was also notable for my experience taking Holly Lisle's "How to Motivate Yourself" workshop. Like all of Holly's classes, these are basically for writers, but the ideas contained therein could have a variety of applications (like weight loss, for instance). It was a fascinating, revealing, illuminating and somewhat harsh look into my brain and what makes me tick. If she offers the workshop again I wholly recommend taking it.
Aside from writing (and finishing, finally!) my Dragon Flyz fanfic, June was fairly uneventful. I'm actually still in the process of cleaning up and posting my fic to FF.net and AO3. I also picked up an old Jewel Riders ficlet from about a year ago and am working a bit on that - hopefully it'll be done soon and posted!
The beginning of July brought my mission trip to Fiji. This was the first time that I had ever gone on a mission trip, and I was definitely unsure of what to expect. I wasn't sure if I could handle the work (and unsure of the whole idea about "working" on my vacation as well). In the end though, those fears proved to be unfounded. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life, and a hugely wonderful bonding experience for me. I haven't made so many new friends in a very, very long time. It's kind of funny - as a kid, you have no problems making friends, but as an adult you kind of wonder if you've forgotten how? The people I went with made it the best trip, and made me eager to travel with them again. I'm definitely looking forward to future excursions with this group.
In terms of our projects, I divided my time probably 80/20 between the medical and water filtration teams. We also had a construction crew and a group that did programs for the local children. The people of Fiji were great too - so warm, friendly, and giving! It was hard coming back to Los Angeles and rude stares after spending two weeks with the friendliest people on Earth.
The facilities were less than what we would expect in America from Motel 6, and several of our people got sick. My good friend actually got super dehydrated and we had to take her into town and find a doctor to give her IV fluids. I actually ended up staying overnight with her in the hospital, which was a strange experience. Even so, the place we stayed was basically right on the beach, and waking up to the ocean was truly awesome. I got some really cool pictures. :)
While I was glad to return by the end, after getting back to the US I found myself mourning my time in Fiji. Specifically, I mourned having friends around all the time, sharing jokes and laughter, and the general convivial spirit that infected us all. I felt super alone after this trip, but thankfully have been able to keep in touch with some of the people through Facebook. :)
After the trip, I ended up with a three-week cold that was pretty miserable. I thought I got out of being sick this year after winter ended, but such was not the case.
And that brings us to Japan Expo USA. This was a brand new con this year, put on by the group from France that runs Japan Expo over there. For a first year con, they had some great guests - including Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (one of the creative forces behind Evangelion), Masahiko Minami (the president of Studio Bones), and most exciting of all to me was Noriyuki Iwadare, composer for the Grandia and Lunar game series! I ended up seeing both of Iwadare's concerts (and I'm glad I did because they did different sets!), along with the J-rock group 1000say (tons of fun!), and the idol singer You Kikkawa (omg so many glow sticks in the audience!). I've never been to so many music acts at a con before, so this was kind of a new experience for me, and I really enjoyed it.
Another interesting thing about Japan Expo was how well organized/how few lines there were. Compared to my four-hour sunburn rage-inducing Fanime line, this was like a dream come true. I would definitely return next year if they decide to hold the con again. Oh, and my brother and I ran into 1000say as they were getting into their car on the last day and gave them all high fives, so it's fun to think we were their final Japan Expo experience. XD
That pretty much brings everything up to speed.
In writing, I've started working through Holly Lisle's "How to Write Flash Fiction That Doesn't Suck" workshop, and it's really fun so far! I've got my first five story beginnings down, and it feels so good to write my own fiction for literally the first time in years. I'll post beta versions here when I'm done with those.
In reading, I just finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire reread - I've been meaning to reread the last four HP books since I reread the first three last year. I forget just how good those books are sometimes. I also picked up City of Bones on my Nook, but I don't have great hopes for it. Oh, and Crown of Midnight just released! Super excited to read that. I picked up two new manga series at Japan Expo - Dawn of the Arcana, and Bride of the Water God. Dawn of the Arcana is good so far (if not totally engrossing, it's at least hooked me to get a second volume).
In watching, I've been on a super Star Trek DS9 binge. Like, the final three seasons in a row. Guh, I'm actually a little tired of Star Trek at the moment, but I'm veyr much looking forward to the last few episodes. I also started watching "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club" at Japan Expo, and look forward to finishing the rest on Crunchyroll.
Anyway, I ought to update here more frequently! Cheers all.
In many ways, Summer 2013 kicked off for me with Fanime Con back over Memorial Day weekend. I attended Anime Expo last year - my first con in something like eight years - but I knew that I wouldn't be able to go again this year, so Fanime (a smaller con in the Bay Area) presented itself as a likely choice to fill the gap. In some ways it filled that void, but in others it just didn't come close.
Fanime is billed as a "by fans, for fans" con by the staff, which may explain some why so many things felt so sloppy compared to AX. When you have 20,000 attendees, you need professional help. We didn't pre-register due to scheduling uncertainties, and so got stuck in a four hour registration/badge pickup line. Oh, and most of it was outside so I ended up with a raging sunburn. Suffice to say, that whole experience kind of soured me on this con.
The guest list was dreadful, too, with very few of the Japanese creative talent showing up. And the cosplayers. OMG, the hordes of Homestuck and MLP cosplayers. When did they take over anime cons? And this is coming from someone who likes MLP. The absolute best part of the con was getting to watch the Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie with a crowd who was TOTALLY INTO IT. They literally cheered every time one of the characters used their sword techniques. It was glorious.
May was also notable for my experience taking Holly Lisle's "How to Motivate Yourself" workshop. Like all of Holly's classes, these are basically for writers, but the ideas contained therein could have a variety of applications (like weight loss, for instance). It was a fascinating, revealing, illuminating and somewhat harsh look into my brain and what makes me tick. If she offers the workshop again I wholly recommend taking it.
Aside from writing (and finishing, finally!) my Dragon Flyz fanfic, June was fairly uneventful. I'm actually still in the process of cleaning up and posting my fic to FF.net and AO3. I also picked up an old Jewel Riders ficlet from about a year ago and am working a bit on that - hopefully it'll be done soon and posted!
The beginning of July brought my mission trip to Fiji. This was the first time that I had ever gone on a mission trip, and I was definitely unsure of what to expect. I wasn't sure if I could handle the work (and unsure of the whole idea about "working" on my vacation as well). In the end though, those fears proved to be unfounded. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life, and a hugely wonderful bonding experience for me. I haven't made so many new friends in a very, very long time. It's kind of funny - as a kid, you have no problems making friends, but as an adult you kind of wonder if you've forgotten how? The people I went with made it the best trip, and made me eager to travel with them again. I'm definitely looking forward to future excursions with this group.
In terms of our projects, I divided my time probably 80/20 between the medical and water filtration teams. We also had a construction crew and a group that did programs for the local children. The people of Fiji were great too - so warm, friendly, and giving! It was hard coming back to Los Angeles and rude stares after spending two weeks with the friendliest people on Earth.
The facilities were less than what we would expect in America from Motel 6, and several of our people got sick. My good friend actually got super dehydrated and we had to take her into town and find a doctor to give her IV fluids. I actually ended up staying overnight with her in the hospital, which was a strange experience. Even so, the place we stayed was basically right on the beach, and waking up to the ocean was truly awesome. I got some really cool pictures. :)
While I was glad to return by the end, after getting back to the US I found myself mourning my time in Fiji. Specifically, I mourned having friends around all the time, sharing jokes and laughter, and the general convivial spirit that infected us all. I felt super alone after this trip, but thankfully have been able to keep in touch with some of the people through Facebook. :)
After the trip, I ended up with a three-week cold that was pretty miserable. I thought I got out of being sick this year after winter ended, but such was not the case.
And that brings us to Japan Expo USA. This was a brand new con this year, put on by the group from France that runs Japan Expo over there. For a first year con, they had some great guests - including Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (one of the creative forces behind Evangelion), Masahiko Minami (the president of Studio Bones), and most exciting of all to me was Noriyuki Iwadare, composer for the Grandia and Lunar game series! I ended up seeing both of Iwadare's concerts (and I'm glad I did because they did different sets!), along with the J-rock group 1000say (tons of fun!), and the idol singer You Kikkawa (omg so many glow sticks in the audience!). I've never been to so many music acts at a con before, so this was kind of a new experience for me, and I really enjoyed it.
Another interesting thing about Japan Expo was how well organized/how few lines there were. Compared to my four-hour sunburn rage-inducing Fanime line, this was like a dream come true. I would definitely return next year if they decide to hold the con again. Oh, and my brother and I ran into 1000say as they were getting into their car on the last day and gave them all high fives, so it's fun to think we were their final Japan Expo experience. XD
That pretty much brings everything up to speed.
In writing, I've started working through Holly Lisle's "How to Write Flash Fiction That Doesn't Suck" workshop, and it's really fun so far! I've got my first five story beginnings down, and it feels so good to write my own fiction for literally the first time in years. I'll post beta versions here when I'm done with those.
In reading, I just finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire reread - I've been meaning to reread the last four HP books since I reread the first three last year. I forget just how good those books are sometimes. I also picked up City of Bones on my Nook, but I don't have great hopes for it. Oh, and Crown of Midnight just released! Super excited to read that. I picked up two new manga series at Japan Expo - Dawn of the Arcana, and Bride of the Water God. Dawn of the Arcana is good so far (if not totally engrossing, it's at least hooked me to get a second volume).
In watching, I've been on a super Star Trek DS9 binge. Like, the final three seasons in a row. Guh, I'm actually a little tired of Star Trek at the moment, but I'm veyr much looking forward to the last few episodes. I also started watching "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club" at Japan Expo, and look forward to finishing the rest on Crunchyroll.
Anyway, I ought to update here more frequently! Cheers all.