Anthrocon 2009, Day 3
A couple addendums to the Thursday entry:
I woke up and laid out my plans for the next few hours. First, I'd get breakfast (at Fernando's again). Second, I'd go to the opening ceremonies... in my fursuit.
After breakfast, I put the fursuit on and made my way to the Spirit of Pittsburgh ballroom in the DLCC. I didn't want to be trapped in the middle of a row, so I let others get their seats before I took mine. A lot of people came, so I had some time to kill. So, I walked around the ballroom and surveyed the audience as they took their seats. As I was walking near the front stage, I was stopped a couple times to take photos. One person even commented, "wow, you look so cool! I need to take a picture with you!" When she said that, well... if you could've seen the look on my face, then; I was beaming from ear to ear. But wait, I'm a big, strong lion! Strangers should be intimidated by my very presence! So, I coolly posed with her for the photo, thanked her, then continued on my way. Most of the people were seated, and I took my seat at the end of the third row (near the door).
Opening ceremony was a lot less formal than I thought it would be, and that was a good thing. I was worried I'd be out of place walking around in a fursuit there, especially since I didn't see many other fursuiters in the audience. But it wasn't bad at all, and despite the heat buildup from sitting still for so long, I was able to sit back and enjoy the show. And I did enjoy it, especially the special video link. :)
After the ceremony ended, I went to the headless lounge to cool off for a bit, and headed back my room for a shower and a change of clothes. After going back to the DLCC (dealer's den) to pick up my BADASS F.I.B. badge from Cooner (seen in the lower left of this photo), I attended the So, This Is Your First Anthrocon? panel. I knew what to expect from the panel, and I didn't go there because I wanted/needed information. Instead, I just wanted to see how other first-timers would enjoy it, and to take photos (of course). I enjoyed the panel, and it seemed everyone else did, too. When the panel ended, I had some time to kill before the next panel, Fursuiter Meet and Greet. I wandered around to take more photos, and went back to my room to change into the fursuit after that.
YappyFox hosted the panel in place of Rory, who couldn't attend the convention because of an unfortunate death in his family (I hope he got through that okay). There weren't a ton of suiters there, but those who were there weren't shy about introducing themselves. There was even an attempt to start a tail-grab line, but it didn't get larger than maybe four or five suiters. Later, perro, Yippee, and a couple other veteran fursuiters showed up and chatted for a bit, and the panel ended soon after that.
I went back to my room to clean myself up, and afterward, I ran into Pakrat and Foxote again, and joined them for dinner at Fernando's. When that ended, I wandered between the Westin and DLCC for a while to take photos to kill time before the next big event (for me), the Fursuit-friendly dance.
As I put on my suit, I began thinking (and having reservations) about dancing. I never was much of a dancer; rhythm is not an issue for me, but I don't know a lot of dance 'moves'. On top of that, I was gonna dance in my new fursuit. That's a lot of activity... a lot of sweat, and maybe some aches and pains. But as I made my way downstairs, all of my concerns faded away. I wanted to do it, and I was gonna have fun doing it. I got there, and antimon started his set. I was a bit surprised at how up-tempo/speedy it was; I expected a fursuit dance to be much slower and less hyper than the normal dances. After I started dancing, though, I stopped worrying about it. I danced for about an hour straight before I needed to take a short break. And after I cooled off in the headless lounge, I went back for more dancing, again, for about an hour straight. When it ended, I was drenched in sweat, and my feet were aching like mad. But I didn't complain about any of that. I had so much fun just doing it. tastyeagle, Scape the Goat, and Cornwall were there, too, and they seemed to enjoy it (and made it a bit more enjoyable for me, too).
And that was the end of Friday, which was my most active day at the con, at that point. I went back to my room for a shower and some much-needed sleep. Friday was a 'busy' day (and night) for me, but I knew Saturday would have even more for me to do.
- While navajo and I were out for breakfast at Fernando's, 2 and Grandma Kage showed up. That was a treat. :)
- I spotted nerfcoyote in the lobby during the afternoon, I and ran downstairs to take photos. He's always fun to watch, and that time was no exception.
I woke up and laid out my plans for the next few hours. First, I'd get breakfast (at Fernando's again). Second, I'd go to the opening ceremonies... in my fursuit.
After breakfast, I put the fursuit on and made my way to the Spirit of Pittsburgh ballroom in the DLCC. I didn't want to be trapped in the middle of a row, so I let others get their seats before I took mine. A lot of people came, so I had some time to kill. So, I walked around the ballroom and surveyed the audience as they took their seats. As I was walking near the front stage, I was stopped a couple times to take photos. One person even commented, "wow, you look so cool! I need to take a picture with you!" When she said that, well... if you could've seen the look on my face, then; I was beaming from ear to ear. But wait, I'm a big, strong lion! Strangers should be intimidated by my very presence! So, I coolly posed with her for the photo, thanked her, then continued on my way. Most of the people were seated, and I took my seat at the end of the third row (near the door).
Opening ceremony was a lot less formal than I thought it would be, and that was a good thing. I was worried I'd be out of place walking around in a fursuit there, especially since I didn't see many other fursuiters in the audience. But it wasn't bad at all, and despite the heat buildup from sitting still for so long, I was able to sit back and enjoy the show. And I did enjoy it, especially the special video link. :)
After the ceremony ended, I went to the headless lounge to cool off for a bit, and headed back my room for a shower and a change of clothes. After going back to the DLCC (dealer's den) to pick up my BADASS F.I.B. badge from Cooner (seen in the lower left of this photo), I attended the So, This Is Your First Anthrocon? panel. I knew what to expect from the panel, and I didn't go there because I wanted/needed information. Instead, I just wanted to see how other first-timers would enjoy it, and to take photos (of course). I enjoyed the panel, and it seemed everyone else did, too. When the panel ended, I had some time to kill before the next panel, Fursuiter Meet and Greet. I wandered around to take more photos, and went back to my room to change into the fursuit after that.
YappyFox hosted the panel in place of Rory, who couldn't attend the convention because of an unfortunate death in his family (I hope he got through that okay). There weren't a ton of suiters there, but those who were there weren't shy about introducing themselves. There was even an attempt to start a tail-grab line, but it didn't get larger than maybe four or five suiters. Later, perro, Yippee, and a couple other veteran fursuiters showed up and chatted for a bit, and the panel ended soon after that.
I went back to my room to clean myself up, and afterward, I ran into Pakrat and Foxote again, and joined them for dinner at Fernando's. When that ended, I wandered between the Westin and DLCC for a while to take photos to kill time before the next big event (for me), the Fursuit-friendly dance.
As I put on my suit, I began thinking (and having reservations) about dancing. I never was much of a dancer; rhythm is not an issue for me, but I don't know a lot of dance 'moves'. On top of that, I was gonna dance in my new fursuit. That's a lot of activity... a lot of sweat, and maybe some aches and pains. But as I made my way downstairs, all of my concerns faded away. I wanted to do it, and I was gonna have fun doing it. I got there, and antimon started his set. I was a bit surprised at how up-tempo/speedy it was; I expected a fursuit dance to be much slower and less hyper than the normal dances. After I started dancing, though, I stopped worrying about it. I danced for about an hour straight before I needed to take a short break. And after I cooled off in the headless lounge, I went back for more dancing, again, for about an hour straight. When it ended, I was drenched in sweat, and my feet were aching like mad. But I didn't complain about any of that. I had so much fun just doing it. tastyeagle, Scape the Goat, and Cornwall were there, too, and they seemed to enjoy it (and made it a bit more enjoyable for me, too).
And that was the end of Friday, which was my most active day at the con, at that point. I went back to my room for a shower and some much-needed sleep. Friday was a 'busy' day (and night) for me, but I knew Saturday would have even more for me to do.