Otakon (and on and on).
It never fails. (Or, perhaps, it is fail.) A event happens and I decide that I want to write about it. Then, when I get a chance to write, I don't feel like writing about it at the moment. However, since I think I "should" write about it, I just don't write anything at all, and the journal goes unupdated for long stretches of time.
In this case, the event is Otakon, which happened a good two-and-a-bit weeks ago. I've actually written some entries since then to cover things that happened before it, but never got to its entry, which kept me from any subsequent ones.
Anyhow, it was fun. I hadn't been in years. I can't quite remember how many, but I suspect it's been at least four or five. It didn't feel like that long. I was worried that I was going to feel old and out of place, but it was pretty much the same as it always had been.
It didn't start off so well, as we got there Saturday afternoon just as the fire alarm incident happened, but once we got back in and I had time to soak up the atmosphere for a bit, I enjoyed myself. I tend to want to wander around a lot during a con, checking out the costumes, visiting the artists' area and the dealers' room, and pretty much doing everything except watching anime. I don't like sitting in a room away from all the action. I swap over to being an extrovert at cons.
Whether or not I go back next year depends on my vacation schedule, but if it fits, then I'd like to do it. I should remember to bring my DS again, too, as I had The World Ends With You going in Mingle mode, and I got tons of hits from people with active DS, including seven our so people also playing TWEWY. I nabbed four rare pins, including some hard-to-find ones from bosses on higher difficulty levels. In exchange, I made sure I had some of my rarer pins equipped so people could get copies.
The Friday after Otakon, August 6, I went to the Spoon/Arcade Fire concert at Merriweather Post Pavillion. Spoon was pretty good, but they fell into the category of "reasonably entertaining opening band that I'm unfamiliar with so I could only enjoy it so much." I was also fairly exhausted from the previous weekend (Distant Worlds and Otakon) and having a really busy week at work, so I was having trouble concentrating anyway. I'm tempted to track down some of their songs now. Arcade Fire was a lot of fun. Sadly, I couldn't get a CD of their new album beforehand to familiarize myself with the new songs. (I could have done iTunes, but I have physical copies of their other CDs, so I wanted to get a physical copy of the new one.) Still, I liked what I heard of those and I had a great time singing and clapping along to the songs that I did know. They had one mishap with the drum machine on one of their new songs, although after the concert was ending I overheard someone saying that the singer had messed up and was blaming it on the machine. Since I didn't know the song, I can't say what actually happened.
On Saturday the 7th, my brother and his girlfriend got engaged. I knew he was planning to ask her, but I got to see it become official. I will not gush here. ;p
Sunday the 8th, I went to the Orioles game with grysar, his mom, my parents, my brother, and his now-fiancee. It was a lot of fun, as the O's have really turned it around under Buck Showalter and now have a reasonable chance of winning a fair amount of games. Their record is still abysmal, but they're a lot more enjoyable to watch.
Last weekend, Greg was out of town so I took the chance to relax and not do terribly much since the past two weekends had been so busy. I did manage to get the PS3 and XBox hooked up to the new TV, and they look fantastic. FF13 is like an entirely different game now. Rock Band looks awesome, too. I'm not sure why I stopped playing most of my games. It's not like FF11 has taken up all my gaming time. Admittedly I've been trying to give my eye a rest, but according to the save file, the last time I played FF13 was June 1, which was well before the trip to Colorado. I guess I've been so busy and stressed at work that I've come home really tired and not wanting to do much of anything. Luckily, work seems to be easing up a bit.
In this case, the event is Otakon, which happened a good two-and-a-bit weeks ago. I've actually written some entries since then to cover things that happened before it, but never got to its entry, which kept me from any subsequent ones.
Anyhow, it was fun. I hadn't been in years. I can't quite remember how many, but I suspect it's been at least four or five. It didn't feel like that long. I was worried that I was going to feel old and out of place, but it was pretty much the same as it always had been.
It didn't start off so well, as we got there Saturday afternoon just as the fire alarm incident happened, but once we got back in and I had time to soak up the atmosphere for a bit, I enjoyed myself. I tend to want to wander around a lot during a con, checking out the costumes, visiting the artists' area and the dealers' room, and pretty much doing everything except watching anime. I don't like sitting in a room away from all the action. I swap over to being an extrovert at cons.
Whether or not I go back next year depends on my vacation schedule, but if it fits, then I'd like to do it. I should remember to bring my DS again, too, as I had The World Ends With You going in Mingle mode, and I got tons of hits from people with active DS, including seven our so people also playing TWEWY. I nabbed four rare pins, including some hard-to-find ones from bosses on higher difficulty levels. In exchange, I made sure I had some of my rarer pins equipped so people could get copies.
The Friday after Otakon, August 6, I went to the Spoon/Arcade Fire concert at Merriweather Post Pavillion. Spoon was pretty good, but they fell into the category of "reasonably entertaining opening band that I'm unfamiliar with so I could only enjoy it so much." I was also fairly exhausted from the previous weekend (Distant Worlds and Otakon) and having a really busy week at work, so I was having trouble concentrating anyway. I'm tempted to track down some of their songs now. Arcade Fire was a lot of fun. Sadly, I couldn't get a CD of their new album beforehand to familiarize myself with the new songs. (I could have done iTunes, but I have physical copies of their other CDs, so I wanted to get a physical copy of the new one.) Still, I liked what I heard of those and I had a great time singing and clapping along to the songs that I did know. They had one mishap with the drum machine on one of their new songs, although after the concert was ending I overheard someone saying that the singer had messed up and was blaming it on the machine. Since I didn't know the song, I can't say what actually happened.
On Saturday the 7th, my brother and his girlfriend got engaged. I knew he was planning to ask her, but I got to see it become official. I will not gush here. ;p
Sunday the 8th, I went to the Orioles game with grysar, his mom, my parents, my brother, and his now-fiancee. It was a lot of fun, as the O's have really turned it around under Buck Showalter and now have a reasonable chance of winning a fair amount of games. Their record is still abysmal, but they're a lot more enjoyable to watch.
Last weekend, Greg was out of town so I took the chance to relax and not do terribly much since the past two weekends had been so busy. I did manage to get the PS3 and XBox hooked up to the new TV, and they look fantastic. FF13 is like an entirely different game now. Rock Band looks awesome, too. I'm not sure why I stopped playing most of my games. It's not like FF11 has taken up all my gaming time. Admittedly I've been trying to give my eye a rest, but according to the save file, the last time I played FF13 was June 1, which was well before the trip to Colorado. I guess I've been so busy and stressed at work that I've come home really tired and not wanting to do much of anything. Luckily, work seems to be easing up a bit.