We went to California...
And returned, even.
Fanime went pretty well, especially compared to the flavors of unpleasantness (some self-inflicted, some not so much) of last year.
Thursday
Flew to San Jose the Thursday before last. No sleep the night before (staying up to try to finish costumes), some sleep on the plane, some sleep in the hotel. Woke up in time for Saffy and me to pick up badges (a mere hour in line). Wandered about, ate, went back to sleep.
During the wandering, we found a snake statue. I made friends with it. (despite it looking a bit like a pile of poop...)
Me: Good snake. Good boy.
Me: Now... Go forth and destroy!
Friday
Friday 'morning' (past noon), Saffy got into movie-rosebride-Anthy, and we went to register Usha (who had no pre-reg). There was no line. (Shocking, given that our last experience was with Anime Boston.) We went around the con for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to work on costumes some more.
Landon arrived in the evening, bringing his Xbox (and then leaving it at our hotel for the weekend). We went to the con and listened to a panel on medieval weapons, which was okay, but delivered by the leader of what appeared to be a cult. His minions lined up against the walls in matching outfits (with berets), and laughed in unison at his jokes. Landon commented that when we went to leave, he expected a spotlight to come on us, and the leader to query "You're free to leave, but please tell us why," a la The Joy of Sect.
We returned to our hotel room for Halo. After most places were closed, we decided that we were hungry, so were forced into a somewhat more-expensive-than-expected restaurant. Fortunately (as I re-discovered repeatedly over the weekend), having no car meant I was free to imbibe.
Saturday
Around the start of Saturday, Saffy put on her wedding lengha and Usha her new Rin costume.
Saffy met up with her friend onyoukai, and there were photos. Usha and I went for food with a bunch of friends, while Saffy remained, hobbled by her costume. After that, Saffy and I went to a Devil May Cry panel where Saffy swooned over some stunt men. (Not as badly as on the next day, though.)
After that, Saffy changed, and we went out some more.
After that, we went back, and I played Halo. I think Saffy and Usha might have been working on finishing up costumes, but I was too busy killing things (and getting killed) to notice much.
Sunday
Sunday was Lucia time for Saffy, and party time later on.
Those swords are wooden, by the way.
While Saffy & Usha went about the con, Landon came by, and we went to pick up cakes and beer (a delicious combination) for the party. Preparations complete, we went to dinner -- without Saffy -- she could not be pulled away from the second Devil May Cry panel. She did force herself away for the party, though, missing the chance to talk directly to Reuben/Dan. (Those of you who were there ought to be appreciative of her sacrifice.)
Then there was partying. My memories of the night are fragmented, what with the alcohol and all, but I believe Saffy and I had a bet to the sum of $4 going on how many people were going to show up. I bet that there would never be more than 4 in the room (besides me, Saffy, Usha, Landon). Saffy bet some teens would find out about the alcohol and a large group would come knocking.
Let's see who wins...
PresentCountArrivals / Departures
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon0+ bobthetrout (first arrival gets the biggest piece of the cake)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout1+ digitalemerald & intaglio_ink
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink3+ saebel & skooter448 (and a third cake in addition to our two)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink, saebel, skooter4485 (crap)- saebel & skooter448 (oops, they had to get dinner) (they were only there for a moment! It doesn't count!)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink3- bobthetrout
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink2+ saebel & skooter448 (now fed)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink, saebel, skooter4484- digitalemerald & intaglio_ink (tired and in need of sleep)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4482+ onyoukai
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter448, onyoukai3- onyoukai & Saffy & some of the cake (wait, now we're losing the hosts)
I, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4481 or 2, depending on how you count it+ Saffy (returned from taking onyoukai back to his hotel room)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4482- Saffy (off to search for pikminlink / ryuichi)
I, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4481 or 2- saebel & skooter448 (everyone needs to sleep sometime)
I, Usha, Landon (at this point, Usha and Landon are getting ready for sleep)0 or -1!+ Saffy & pikminlink & ryuichi & Mike (trying not to step on Landon, who's sleeping by the door)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, pikminlink, ryuichi, Mike3- pikminlink & ryuichi & Mike
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon0
Okay, well... technically I didn't win, but since saebel and skooter448 only overlapped with bobthetrout for two minutes or so, I still think I should get my $4. Certainly, no teens came knocking on our door. And since I lost a bet to digitalemerald the same night, I say Saffy owes digitalemerald $4. Now, I just need to get a couple of lawyers on my side, and I think I'll be all set.
Monday
We spent most of Monday morning packing, then headed to the con for a few glorious hours of spending money in the dealer's room, meeting up with saebel and skooter448, lunching, and then having pikminlink take photos of Saffy in schoolgirl-Anthy. Oh, and I bought a Goomba t-shirt in the dealer's room.
digitalemerald and intaglio_ink were kind enough to offer us to stay at their place, so we headed off to them (near San Francisco) to drop off our stuff, then to Hapkido (my old martial arts school) (in San Mateo). To my surprise, despite my long absense, the instructor didn't really try to kill me. (It was quite disappointing.)
After that, dinner at BJ's (at Usha's insistence) with Landon, then back to digitalemerald & intaglio_ink's.
Tuesday
Tuesday, Saffy had a photoshoot planned with pikminlink and ryuichi an hour northeast of San Francisco. We spend a bit of time in Japantown J-town, then headed out. Photoshoot went fine; a few hours later, we headed back, drove through the Castro, then packed and spent a bit of time with digitalemerald and intaglio_ink.
After packing, we headed out to Landon's to spend the rest of the night (up till 4am), as he was closer to the airport, and kind enough to take us in. The trip back was uneventful, aside from all our luggage being broken at that point.
Not a bad trip, overall.
Fanime went pretty well, especially compared to the flavors of unpleasantness (some self-inflicted, some not so much) of last year.
Thursday
Flew to San Jose the Thursday before last. No sleep the night before (staying up to try to finish costumes), some sleep on the plane, some sleep in the hotel. Woke up in time for Saffy and me to pick up badges (a mere hour in line). Wandered about, ate, went back to sleep.
During the wandering, we found a snake statue. I made friends with it. (despite it looking a bit like a pile of poop...)
Me: Good snake. Good boy.
Me: Now... Go forth and destroy!
Friday
Friday 'morning' (past noon), Saffy got into movie-rosebride-Anthy, and we went to register Usha (who had no pre-reg). There was no line. (Shocking, given that our last experience was with Anime Boston.) We went around the con for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to work on costumes some more.
Landon arrived in the evening, bringing his Xbox (and then leaving it at our hotel for the weekend). We went to the con and listened to a panel on medieval weapons, which was okay, but delivered by the leader of what appeared to be a cult. His minions lined up against the walls in matching outfits (with berets), and laughed in unison at his jokes. Landon commented that when we went to leave, he expected a spotlight to come on us, and the leader to query "You're free to leave, but please tell us why," a la The Joy of Sect.
We returned to our hotel room for Halo. After most places were closed, we decided that we were hungry, so were forced into a somewhat more-expensive-than-expected restaurant. Fortunately (as I re-discovered repeatedly over the weekend), having no car meant I was free to imbibe.
Saturday
Around the start of Saturday, Saffy put on her wedding lengha and Usha her new Rin costume.
Saffy met up with her friend onyoukai, and there were photos. Usha and I went for food with a bunch of friends, while Saffy remained, hobbled by her costume. After that, Saffy and I went to a Devil May Cry panel where Saffy swooned over some stunt men. (Not as badly as on the next day, though.)
After that, Saffy changed, and we went out some more.
After that, we went back, and I played Halo. I think Saffy and Usha might have been working on finishing up costumes, but I was too busy killing things (and getting killed) to notice much.
Sunday
Sunday was Lucia time for Saffy, and party time later on.
Those swords are wooden, by the way.
While Saffy & Usha went about the con, Landon came by, and we went to pick up cakes and beer (a delicious combination) for the party. Preparations complete, we went to dinner -- without Saffy -- she could not be pulled away from the second Devil May Cry panel. She did force herself away for the party, though, missing the chance to talk directly to Reuben/Dan. (Those of you who were there ought to be appreciative of her sacrifice.)
Then there was partying. My memories of the night are fragmented, what with the alcohol and all, but I believe Saffy and I had a bet to the sum of $4 going on how many people were going to show up. I bet that there would never be more than 4 in the room (besides me, Saffy, Usha, Landon). Saffy bet some teens would find out about the alcohol and a large group would come knocking.
Let's see who wins...
PresentCountArrivals / Departures
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon0+ bobthetrout (first arrival gets the biggest piece of the cake)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout1+ digitalemerald & intaglio_ink
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink3+ saebel & skooter448 (and a third cake in addition to our two)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink, saebel, skooter4485 (crap)- saebel & skooter448 (oops, they had to get dinner) (they were only there for a moment! It doesn't count!)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, bobthetrout, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink3- bobthetrout
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink2+ saebel & skooter448 (now fed)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, digitalemerald, intaglio_ink, saebel, skooter4484- digitalemerald & intaglio_ink (tired and in need of sleep)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4482+ onyoukai
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter448, onyoukai3- onyoukai & Saffy & some of the cake (wait, now we're losing the hosts)
I, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4481 or 2, depending on how you count it+ Saffy (returned from taking onyoukai back to his hotel room)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4482- Saffy (off to search for pikminlink / ryuichi)
I, Usha, Landon, saebel, skooter4481 or 2- saebel & skooter448 (everyone needs to sleep sometime)
I, Usha, Landon (at this point, Usha and Landon are getting ready for sleep)0 or -1!+ Saffy & pikminlink & ryuichi & Mike (trying not to step on Landon, who's sleeping by the door)
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon, pikminlink, ryuichi, Mike3- pikminlink & ryuichi & Mike
I, Saffy, Usha, Landon0
Okay, well... technically I didn't win, but since saebel and skooter448 only overlapped with bobthetrout for two minutes or so, I still think I should get my $4. Certainly, no teens came knocking on our door. And since I lost a bet to digitalemerald the same night, I say Saffy owes digitalemerald $4. Now, I just need to get a couple of lawyers on my side, and I think I'll be all set.
Monday
We spent most of Monday morning packing, then headed to the con for a few glorious hours of spending money in the dealer's room, meeting up with saebel and skooter448, lunching, and then having pikminlink take photos of Saffy in schoolgirl-Anthy. Oh, and I bought a Goomba t-shirt in the dealer's room.
digitalemerald and intaglio_ink were kind enough to offer us to stay at their place, so we headed off to them (near San Francisco) to drop off our stuff, then to Hapkido (my old martial arts school) (in San Mateo). To my surprise, despite my long absense, the instructor didn't really try to kill me. (It was quite disappointing.)
After that, dinner at BJ's (at Usha's insistence) with Landon, then back to digitalemerald & intaglio_ink's.
Tuesday
Tuesday, Saffy had a photoshoot planned with pikminlink and ryuichi an hour northeast of San Francisco. We spend a bit of time in Japantown J-town, then headed out. Photoshoot went fine; a few hours later, we headed back, drove through the Castro, then packed and spent a bit of time with digitalemerald and intaglio_ink.
After packing, we headed out to Landon's to spend the rest of the night (up till 4am), as he was closer to the airport, and kind enough to take us in. The trip back was uneventful, aside from all our luggage being broken at that point.
Not a bad trip, overall.