DRAGON*CON!!!
Well, Dragon*Con was like a beautiful affair-- so gorgeous in its perfection that it could only be experienced a short time (four days to be exact). But such an experience, in the fashion of Titanic or Bridges of Madison County, will forever remain beautiful and perfect and whole in the realm of memory...
Ah, and such a whirlwind romance it was! (Yes, I'll continue this for as long as I want to). Crowded beds, late nights, hardly any food or sleep at all- toss in some risque clothing and alcohol and you have a veritable orgy of everything incredibly awesome and missing from the day-to-day lives of the geek- initiated. Dragon*Con is a Four-Day extravaganza of nerd-dom, all things fantastical or scientifically fictitious, the goths and bondage lovers, anyone who grew up in the 80's, knows what being Rick-Rolled means, cosplayers/costumers/Ren-Faire enthusiasts/those handy with fiberglass. Oh, and pretty much anyone else.
Having been home for nearly a week now, looking around at the blank stares of my 8am Fashion Drawing students in their ordinary-ness, and me, NOT in my Wasp costume, trying to look business-like and not like I'm only 6 years older than they are... you realize that D*C was heaven, and also... if ANY of those students knew what I'd been doing just a scant few days ago... they might think of me a little differently. Yes, life is mostly boring, and D*C reminds us all just how much our lives might suck 98% of the year, but at least we've got that 2%, and that 2% will be enough to get me through another year until the next time I'm again in Atlanta.
Something that struck me this year was how nice everyone was. The Owly comic artist was incredibly sweet and smiley as Katie got a signature. A man named Justice from the League of Heroes forums wasn't afraid to pull me out of my shell a bit (he was also very nice about the fact that I crashed their photo session):
...Hm, that's the potatoes burning, be right back. ...Yes, I'm having delicious and nutritious, albeit crispy, sautéed potatoes for lunch. They are left-over from before D*C and my roommate and I have exactly NO money, not even for groceries, until about next Friday. I even had to ask for a little loan from one of my more responsible friends so I could get by until then, and I now feel extremely humble. I put lemon-pepper seasoning on my potatoes. You should try it, it is good. I found that out when I was making a recipe for Cod and potatoes and the seasoning went so well that I now use it for only-potato use too. Back to D*C... I met several very nice guys from the League of Heroes, who had some nice costumes. I was also pulled to a Disney photo session (Cody's heaven) and got to see a lot of amazing costumes there too. I got my photo with an incredibly good Prince Edward from Enchanted. He liked my fan, see picture:
Although I'm very happy with how my costumes turned out, seeing such amazing costumes made me realize I really need to step it up and try for more elaboration. Although my Wasp outfit was popular, I realize now how incredibly simple it was. It still had its share of "How the hell do I make this work?" to it, but not compared to this guy:
Or this guy:
How do people make these things?? I'll be quick to admit that my specialty is not robotics, and although I have bought the makings for fiberglass crafting, I haven't had the balls to try it.
Here's a pic of us girls in costume:
On the Left, Katie as Stormer from Jem, I as Wasp from the Avengers, and Stacy in an original fantasy. Here are some more Wasp pics:
Here's a close-up pic of my woefully inadequate Steampunk costume:
Katie found a Jem group!! How amazing is that?? She was so unbelievably happy. These girls looked fantastic.
We all had such a good time in costume this year. Having people recognize you and want to take pictures is really nice because it kind of takes a boosted level of confidence to walk around in strange outfits in front of strangers. Haha, my confidence was a little too high maybe, since I did flirt with some strangers and took lots of pictures with amazing costumed men. The walk of fame:
This guys costume was made from recycled materials found around his house. I certainly do like an environmentally-conscious man!
IRON-man from Starch Industries. Takes the cake in outrageous crowd-squealing at the Masq, me included. I love nerdy insider-humor. Seriously.
Stacy and I might have to fight over this one. I got to hold his gun. It was heavier than I expected. ...Have I ever mentioned that I really love long hair on my guys?
These pictures make me laugh so hard:
Did I mention we were Rick-Rolled at the Masquerade? What an amazing piece of engineering and deviousness that was.
Cody getting blessed by Popetine. God, he's scary looking.
A Yip Yip from Sesame Street. All of us were looking at him going, "Why does he look/seem so familiar??" and it's because we were Sesame Street kids. He's on Youtube if anyone's interested in reminiscing. "Yip Yip Yip! BurrrrrrINGGG!!"
All of us together laughing so hard after a few too many drinks. Especially Stacy and Katie, though they were absolutely hilarious. Meeting Terrence and Brian was great, they had some great stories and jokes. I already miss being a part of a group.
I'm so sad that D*C is over...! So what is there to do for 360 or so days? WELL. Make more costumes, of course! Already planned for next year: Hexadecimal from Reboot, and Dr. Blight from Captain Planet:
And this time, they're going to be complex and impressive and perfect. :)
I'll probably be adding another entry with more pics, but this is quite long enough for now.
Ah, and such a whirlwind romance it was! (Yes, I'll continue this for as long as I want to). Crowded beds, late nights, hardly any food or sleep at all- toss in some risque clothing and alcohol and you have a veritable orgy of everything incredibly awesome and missing from the day-to-day lives of the geek- initiated. Dragon*Con is a Four-Day extravaganza of nerd-dom, all things fantastical or scientifically fictitious, the goths and bondage lovers, anyone who grew up in the 80's, knows what being Rick-Rolled means, cosplayers/costumers/Ren-Faire enthusiasts/those handy with fiberglass. Oh, and pretty much anyone else.
Having been home for nearly a week now, looking around at the blank stares of my 8am Fashion Drawing students in their ordinary-ness, and me, NOT in my Wasp costume, trying to look business-like and not like I'm only 6 years older than they are... you realize that D*C was heaven, and also... if ANY of those students knew what I'd been doing just a scant few days ago... they might think of me a little differently. Yes, life is mostly boring, and D*C reminds us all just how much our lives might suck 98% of the year, but at least we've got that 2%, and that 2% will be enough to get me through another year until the next time I'm again in Atlanta.
Something that struck me this year was how nice everyone was. The Owly comic artist was incredibly sweet and smiley as Katie got a signature. A man named Justice from the League of Heroes forums wasn't afraid to pull me out of my shell a bit (he was also very nice about the fact that I crashed their photo session):
...Hm, that's the potatoes burning, be right back. ...Yes, I'm having delicious and nutritious, albeit crispy, sautéed potatoes for lunch. They are left-over from before D*C and my roommate and I have exactly NO money, not even for groceries, until about next Friday. I even had to ask for a little loan from one of my more responsible friends so I could get by until then, and I now feel extremely humble. I put lemon-pepper seasoning on my potatoes. You should try it, it is good. I found that out when I was making a recipe for Cod and potatoes and the seasoning went so well that I now use it for only-potato use too. Back to D*C... I met several very nice guys from the League of Heroes, who had some nice costumes. I was also pulled to a Disney photo session (Cody's heaven) and got to see a lot of amazing costumes there too. I got my photo with an incredibly good Prince Edward from Enchanted. He liked my fan, see picture:
Although I'm very happy with how my costumes turned out, seeing such amazing costumes made me realize I really need to step it up and try for more elaboration. Although my Wasp outfit was popular, I realize now how incredibly simple it was. It still had its share of "How the hell do I make this work?" to it, but not compared to this guy:
Or this guy:
How do people make these things?? I'll be quick to admit that my specialty is not robotics, and although I have bought the makings for fiberglass crafting, I haven't had the balls to try it.
Here's a pic of us girls in costume:
On the Left, Katie as Stormer from Jem, I as Wasp from the Avengers, and Stacy in an original fantasy. Here are some more Wasp pics:
Here's a close-up pic of my woefully inadequate Steampunk costume:
Katie found a Jem group!! How amazing is that?? She was so unbelievably happy. These girls looked fantastic.
We all had such a good time in costume this year. Having people recognize you and want to take pictures is really nice because it kind of takes a boosted level of confidence to walk around in strange outfits in front of strangers. Haha, my confidence was a little too high maybe, since I did flirt with some strangers and took lots of pictures with amazing costumed men. The walk of fame:
This guys costume was made from recycled materials found around his house. I certainly do like an environmentally-conscious man!
IRON-man from Starch Industries. Takes the cake in outrageous crowd-squealing at the Masq, me included. I love nerdy insider-humor. Seriously.
Stacy and I might have to fight over this one. I got to hold his gun. It was heavier than I expected. ...Have I ever mentioned that I really love long hair on my guys?
These pictures make me laugh so hard:
Did I mention we were Rick-Rolled at the Masquerade? What an amazing piece of engineering and deviousness that was.
Cody getting blessed by Popetine. God, he's scary looking.
A Yip Yip from Sesame Street. All of us were looking at him going, "Why does he look/seem so familiar??" and it's because we were Sesame Street kids. He's on Youtube if anyone's interested in reminiscing. "Yip Yip Yip! BurrrrrrINGGG!!"
All of us together laughing so hard after a few too many drinks. Especially Stacy and Katie, though they were absolutely hilarious. Meeting Terrence and Brian was great, they had some great stories and jokes. I already miss being a part of a group.
I'm so sad that D*C is over...! So what is there to do for 360 or so days? WELL. Make more costumes, of course! Already planned for next year: Hexadecimal from Reboot, and Dr. Blight from Captain Planet:
And this time, they're going to be complex and impressive and perfect. :)
I'll probably be adding another entry with more pics, but this is quite long enough for now.