Dragon*Con 2013: the Mostly Victorious Return
Mostly! Because we returned nearly a week ago and I'm still fighting off a heinous sinus cold, a.k.a. the Wrath of Con. ...seriously, it's horrible. I had to go home sick from work on Friday thanks to this. I haven't gone home sick from work since 2005.
But the 'con was awesome. There are parts of it I hardly remember, which is the sure sign of a good trip. ^_^ Not because I was drinking or sleep-deprived - I only drank once and got enough sleep most nights - but because there was a ton going on, and after a while it all kind of blurs. But here's the con report, with pics to follow at the end:
Things didn't start off well, though - there was a miscommunication that left me without a hotel room. @_@ Fortunately, I found a place to stay thanks to the 'con message boards, and met some damn cool people because of it. Toya, a woman from the Washington DC area, got a hotel suite, and I was one of four other people who answered her posting. I was nervous about sharing living space with a bunch of people I'd never met, but Toya was awesome, really easy to talk to, into video games and anime and all that. She'd never been to D*C before, so I showed her around some when we went to get our badges. We also went to the aquarium on the night the 'con took it over; more on that later. The other people showed up the next day, a married couple (whose names I can't remember for the life of me) and their friend Dean, who was hilarious and spent most of the 'con in leather armor and a kilt. So everything was nifty on that end.
I went to a lot of writing panels - my Saturday had me at those panels from 10 to around 4, with a single break for a panel doing a satirical look at WoW's history. It was bloody hilarious, believe me. But the writing panels were very interesting, famous authors giving all kinds of good advice. I took down a lot of things for making changes to my current book, and I feel like I learned a great deal. I also joined Rena for some panels, one with agents and editors talking about what they were looking for, and one really damn funny panel about rejections - basically, an hour of things you shouldn't do when you're querying an agent or editor. The advice that sticks with me the most is don't send a box of chocolates along with your query letter, especially if you're mailing it to New York in August, and printing your book on die-cut paper really doesn't work unless you print the words only within the cut shape. Oops. And then there was the story about someone writing an entire 100,000 word novel all by hand in crayon. Yeah.
I only went in costume one day, and wore my outfit of Jesse Custer from "Preacher". The trouble was, while the hotel suite I was in was nice, it was a ways away from the 'con - I had to take the subway to get there. So it was really inconvenient to go back and forth. I was going to wear my costume of Chamber from "Generation X" on Saturday, but I realized I was going to be at a bunch of writing panels wherein I might want to ask questions, and having my face wrapped up in cloth might not help with that. @_@ But I did get recognized a few times as Jesse; there's something really rewarding about the whole thing when someone calls you out by the character's name because they're surprised to see someone in that outfit. And we're planning to be back at a closer hotel next year, so I won't have this problem. And I swear, next year, I'll get that damn Sandman costume to work...
Jim Butcher was at the 'con, so naturally, I tried to get some books signed. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in. But! Rena, Heidi, and I caught "An Hour with Jim Butcher", a Q&A panel with the man himself. What was pretty cool was that he came out when the panel started, no introduction or anything, just walked out onto the stage, and people went nuts. His first line to the crowd was something like "Are you all here for me?" Mr. Butcher is ridiculously funny, and I swear, it's no surprise that he has such an easy time writing Harry Dresden. I think could have come in costume and done the panel in-character without too much trouble. Granted, if he'd done that we wouldn't have heard the story of how his son's tiny dog saved them from a bear, but still. He said that the Canim in "Codex Alera" were inspired by the kind of dog that dog thinks he is, and to no one's surprise, said the Vord were inspired by the Zerg from StarCraft. This panel was easily one of the highlights of the 'con for me, and I swear, next time he's at D*C, I'm going to get something signed.
The 'con night at the Atlanta aquarium was ridiculously cool. They had a DJ there playing suitable music - I heard "White and Nerdy" as well as "Pac-Man Fever", if you can believe that last one - and all the exhibits were open. I crawled through a tunnel in the penguin exhibit, which would have been better if they were actually awake, but hey, penguins. ^_^ Also: they had whale sharks! Those things were enormous, and I had no idea they could even survive in captivity. Toya and I took a moving walkway down the tunnel through that massive tank, and we just stared in amazement at the whale sharks and massive stingrays. It was utterly amazing, such a great addition to the trip. I also learned that Toya was deathly afraid of frogs, but she believes in facing her fears, so we walked through the frog exhibit. It was... oddly entertaining.
Also part of the trip: tons of people in costume, to say the absolute least. I don't have the time tonight to note every single picture, as I want to get this done tonight and I knew if I didn't get it done tonight I might never do it, but here's the gallery, all 130 pictures of it. Unfortunately, Photobucket got the pics somewhat out of order and doesn't display some as having their orientation corrected, but I think I'm the only person who's going to care.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Cindy, Kate, and Sasha: party elves are in the house tonight! ...that's what the note on their door said. ^_^
Na naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa na na na na na na na, Katamari Damacy...
Lots of Street Fighter cosplay this year.
Only at Dragon*Con: sleepytime superheroes, Deadpool at the aquarium.
Ariel, fresh out of the ocean. Thought this was a pretty damn creative thing to do.
Molly, from "Runaways". I was the only person who'd recognized her, totally made her day.
Okay, this guy was crusing through Atlanta on a tricked-out motorcycle with "Funkytown" blaring. He single-handedly made everything around him cooler with his mere presence. Just sayin'.
Hulk... want to smash... but...
This is the escalator into subway hell I had to take every day to get back. @_@
And the landmark to know I'd reached my hotel... the sex shop next door! Figured this entry should go out with a bang.
:P
But the 'con was awesome. There are parts of it I hardly remember, which is the sure sign of a good trip. ^_^ Not because I was drinking or sleep-deprived - I only drank once and got enough sleep most nights - but because there was a ton going on, and after a while it all kind of blurs. But here's the con report, with pics to follow at the end:
Things didn't start off well, though - there was a miscommunication that left me without a hotel room. @_@ Fortunately, I found a place to stay thanks to the 'con message boards, and met some damn cool people because of it. Toya, a woman from the Washington DC area, got a hotel suite, and I was one of four other people who answered her posting. I was nervous about sharing living space with a bunch of people I'd never met, but Toya was awesome, really easy to talk to, into video games and anime and all that. She'd never been to D*C before, so I showed her around some when we went to get our badges. We also went to the aquarium on the night the 'con took it over; more on that later. The other people showed up the next day, a married couple (whose names I can't remember for the life of me) and their friend Dean, who was hilarious and spent most of the 'con in leather armor and a kilt. So everything was nifty on that end.
I went to a lot of writing panels - my Saturday had me at those panels from 10 to around 4, with a single break for a panel doing a satirical look at WoW's history. It was bloody hilarious, believe me. But the writing panels were very interesting, famous authors giving all kinds of good advice. I took down a lot of things for making changes to my current book, and I feel like I learned a great deal. I also joined Rena for some panels, one with agents and editors talking about what they were looking for, and one really damn funny panel about rejections - basically, an hour of things you shouldn't do when you're querying an agent or editor. The advice that sticks with me the most is don't send a box of chocolates along with your query letter, especially if you're mailing it to New York in August, and printing your book on die-cut paper really doesn't work unless you print the words only within the cut shape. Oops. And then there was the story about someone writing an entire 100,000 word novel all by hand in crayon. Yeah.
I only went in costume one day, and wore my outfit of Jesse Custer from "Preacher". The trouble was, while the hotel suite I was in was nice, it was a ways away from the 'con - I had to take the subway to get there. So it was really inconvenient to go back and forth. I was going to wear my costume of Chamber from "Generation X" on Saturday, but I realized I was going to be at a bunch of writing panels wherein I might want to ask questions, and having my face wrapped up in cloth might not help with that. @_@ But I did get recognized a few times as Jesse; there's something really rewarding about the whole thing when someone calls you out by the character's name because they're surprised to see someone in that outfit. And we're planning to be back at a closer hotel next year, so I won't have this problem. And I swear, next year, I'll get that damn Sandman costume to work...
Jim Butcher was at the 'con, so naturally, I tried to get some books signed. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in. But! Rena, Heidi, and I caught "An Hour with Jim Butcher", a Q&A panel with the man himself. What was pretty cool was that he came out when the panel started, no introduction or anything, just walked out onto the stage, and people went nuts. His first line to the crowd was something like "Are you all here for me?" Mr. Butcher is ridiculously funny, and I swear, it's no surprise that he has such an easy time writing Harry Dresden. I think could have come in costume and done the panel in-character without too much trouble. Granted, if he'd done that we wouldn't have heard the story of how his son's tiny dog saved them from a bear, but still. He said that the Canim in "Codex Alera" were inspired by the kind of dog that dog thinks he is, and to no one's surprise, said the Vord were inspired by the Zerg from StarCraft. This panel was easily one of the highlights of the 'con for me, and I swear, next time he's at D*C, I'm going to get something signed.
The 'con night at the Atlanta aquarium was ridiculously cool. They had a DJ there playing suitable music - I heard "White and Nerdy" as well as "Pac-Man Fever", if you can believe that last one - and all the exhibits were open. I crawled through a tunnel in the penguin exhibit, which would have been better if they were actually awake, but hey, penguins. ^_^ Also: they had whale sharks! Those things were enormous, and I had no idea they could even survive in captivity. Toya and I took a moving walkway down the tunnel through that massive tank, and we just stared in amazement at the whale sharks and massive stingrays. It was utterly amazing, such a great addition to the trip. I also learned that Toya was deathly afraid of frogs, but she believes in facing her fears, so we walked through the frog exhibit. It was... oddly entertaining.
Also part of the trip: tons of people in costume, to say the absolute least. I don't have the time tonight to note every single picture, as I want to get this done tonight and I knew if I didn't get it done tonight I might never do it, but here's the gallery, all 130 pictures of it. Unfortunately, Photobucket got the pics somewhat out of order and doesn't display some as having their orientation corrected, but I think I'm the only person who's going to care.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Cindy, Kate, and Sasha: party elves are in the house tonight! ...that's what the note on their door said. ^_^
Na naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa na na na na na na na, Katamari Damacy...
Lots of Street Fighter cosplay this year.
Only at Dragon*Con: sleepytime superheroes, Deadpool at the aquarium.
Ariel, fresh out of the ocean. Thought this was a pretty damn creative thing to do.
Molly, from "Runaways". I was the only person who'd recognized her, totally made her day.
Okay, this guy was crusing through Atlanta on a tricked-out motorcycle with "Funkytown" blaring. He single-handedly made everything around him cooler with his mere presence. Just sayin'.
Hulk... want to smash... but...
This is the escalator into subway hell I had to take every day to get back. @_@
And the landmark to know I'd reached my hotel... the sex shop next door! Figured this entry should go out with a bang.
:P