I don't know what day it is and I can't find my watch. Again.
I really hope I didn't leave it at in DC. I'm pretty sure I didn't, but not 100%. Argh!
So. Thursday. The rental car we got was a black Hyundai Sonata with leather seats and a sun roof. Roomy interior and LOTS of trunk space. It was SWEEEEEET. Though we didn't get to take advantage of the sun roof -- no riding around with our heads sticking out, screaming "SPRING BREAK!" or anything like that. I really enjoyed driving down to DC -- it was a really smooth drive.
I usually prefer not to make any stops, but since we left right after work without eating, we made a quick stop for dinner and that was fine. 4 hours later we were at the hotel and settling in. The hotel really hoses its guests on the parking rate -- $23/night! No Parking rules were Monday-Friday, so I planned to park Friday night and have free parking for the rest of the weekend, but I was so busy that I only went outside to eat and pick up some things at the local CVS.
Friday. Setup took longer than we planned for, really, but it turned out alright. By Sunday we'd cut down the time on it, which was good. Stayed at the booth most of the day and at some point I got to sit in Jim's lap... but there was some unnecessary bitching by an apparently bitter Katsu staff member who slung implied insults and cuss words at me in my role as Cosclips staff. Don't know what that was about, and don't care. Unprofessionalism is unprofessional.
It picked up a bit when we went out for NA:Katsucon Edition later that night. I got a beer (Murphy's Spring Brew, which was delicious, btw -- I think a bit citrusy, but not too light) for $4.50, which isn't too out of the ordinary, but Judy's Gin & Tonic was also $4.50! When the bartender gave us the total, we looked at each other in an unspoken "is he serious?!" Drank for a while outside where we shared a table with an awesome Snape cosplayer with a wand whose tip lit up, and which he wielded with magical grace. ^_~; Very entertaining. He was a funny guy. Also, some guy from one of the peripheral groups was hanging all over Judy (which was unfortunate), but he had a lovely UK accent and was quoting Izzard with me and John, which was also lovely. Izzard quotes are even better when said by cute drunken boys in lovely UK accents.
In any case, we went back to the hotel and hung around the lobby. Violent Judy was violent, which pretty much lasted for the duration of the con. ^^ Met lots of people I've heard about but have never met before -- including Dean Venture's voice actor, who seems to be a really interesting guy, actually, but once Lou started talking no one else was able to get a word in. And others in Chris's Circle of Pain, which was nice, though I didn't get to really talk to them all that much since I was working most of the time. (And Nikki's Lava cosplay was awesome! Even though it was a relatively simple costume, I still think it's even better 'cause it's usually done so badly.) Still, I enjoy working the Cosclips booth, so I'm not complaining. At some point Judy and I disappeared for like 5 minutes and when we got back everyone was gone. Jeez, from all I'd heard about Katsucon I figured people would be out and about til at least 4am every night! So we went to the rave instead, and though they mostly played boring music, I still enjoyed the dancing since I seemed to have an abundance of energy to get rid of.
Saturday. Was very reluctant to get out of bed, but I made it down to the booth to help out with setup. I missed it, but apparently the seamless fell on manga Chris at some point, which reminded me of a dream I had that something huge fell on me and I was trying to hold it up and get out from under it, even while thinking that I really shouldn't be able to hold it up because it really should be crushing me. He called me precognitive. Seems that Brad made a cameo appearance at Katsucon. I did see a Schu cosplayer earlier on Friday, which may have had something to do with it. You know, I kind of miss cosplaying Schwarz.
Judy and I cosplayed Little Sisters that day and I think we looked pretty good. I really adored the Big Daddy plushie that Maryann made for me -- I think Mr. Bubbles was really the star of the show. <3 I'll have to remember to upload some pics later.
I was at the masquerade for all of 7 skits before I had to leave. Two of them were really entertaining, though -- one being that Death Note group including Greg and the married couple whose names I can't remember, but who I'd met at ANEXT two years ago, I think. I knew I'd be missing some really good skits later on (including Mario's group, who won Best In Show), but I just couldn't sit through the stupid crap. Went back and hung out at the booth.
Later that night I got drunk on Judy's gin (now there's an alliteration for you) and joined the congregation in the lobby, with more violence (part of which included Judy stepping into my bondage straps and toppling us both over and into someone who was talking with Carlo, the ANEXT Con Chair, which was, you know, exactly how I want him to remember me), more PROMOTIONS, and some very Blades of Glory-like moves involving Chris and Ben!!! Heh.
There was lots of shoving girls together and photos being taken, which I suppose isn't all that unusual at cons. And yet again, at some point after Judy and I were talking for a while, I looked around and saw that everyone had left! Finally went to bed at 4am.
Struggled to get out of bed on Sunday. I was so glad I packed light for this con! Setup went very smoothly by this third morning. Which was pretty impressive, I think, considering we hadn't really had any setup rehearsals or anything. Did the photobooth thing until around 2pm, when the hotel started kicking people out. Over the next few hours people left in groups and finally we were ready to be on our way back to NYC. It was really awesome to be able to pack into a car and get on the road instead of waiting for a bus. Though, as I said to Sean, I'm sure the line at the DC bus station was nothing like the 4-hour line at the Baltimore Greyhound station on end-of-Otakon Sunday.
We made a stop somewhere along 95N for a super-late lunch (it must have been 5:30 or so by this time, and none of us had eaten yet all day), then got back on the road to NYC, which was pretty straightforward and without traffic. I also really enjoyed the conversation in the car on the way back to NYC! Manga Chris is into some music that makes me want to introduce him to Alex, and is also into Japan and knows a good deal of Japanese, which makes me want to introduce him to Yoshi. ^^
Got in at around 9pm and went over to eat at an OISHIIII ramen shop in the East Village. Drove everyone home (stopping in every borough but Staten Island!) and finally got home at 2am. Thankfully I had no work on Monday, so I slept til 2pm! It was heavenly. Then, of course, I had to go return the car. But all turned out well, and ended the day with an episode of House.
House certainly has the power to get me out of my head when I have a lot on my mind.
Overall: I enjoyed the con immensely. It wasn't my most favorite con EVAR, but I felt like it was definitely up there. I've had more fun at cons in the last couple of years than I ever have before. nerd_avengers, I love you guys! *sniffles*
And btw, gin tastes so much better without the tonic.
So. Thursday. The rental car we got was a black Hyundai Sonata with leather seats and a sun roof. Roomy interior and LOTS of trunk space. It was SWEEEEEET. Though we didn't get to take advantage of the sun roof -- no riding around with our heads sticking out, screaming "SPRING BREAK!" or anything like that. I really enjoyed driving down to DC -- it was a really smooth drive.
I usually prefer not to make any stops, but since we left right after work without eating, we made a quick stop for dinner and that was fine. 4 hours later we were at the hotel and settling in. The hotel really hoses its guests on the parking rate -- $23/night! No Parking rules were Monday-Friday, so I planned to park Friday night and have free parking for the rest of the weekend, but I was so busy that I only went outside to eat and pick up some things at the local CVS.
Friday. Setup took longer than we planned for, really, but it turned out alright. By Sunday we'd cut down the time on it, which was good. Stayed at the booth most of the day and at some point I got to sit in Jim's lap... but there was some unnecessary bitching by an apparently bitter Katsu staff member who slung implied insults and cuss words at me in my role as Cosclips staff. Don't know what that was about, and don't care. Unprofessionalism is unprofessional.
It picked up a bit when we went out for NA:Katsucon Edition later that night. I got a beer (Murphy's Spring Brew, which was delicious, btw -- I think a bit citrusy, but not too light) for $4.50, which isn't too out of the ordinary, but Judy's Gin & Tonic was also $4.50! When the bartender gave us the total, we looked at each other in an unspoken "is he serious?!" Drank for a while outside where we shared a table with an awesome Snape cosplayer with a wand whose tip lit up, and which he wielded with magical grace. ^_~; Very entertaining. He was a funny guy. Also, some guy from one of the peripheral groups was hanging all over Judy (which was unfortunate), but he had a lovely UK accent and was quoting Izzard with me and John, which was also lovely. Izzard quotes are even better when said by cute drunken boys in lovely UK accents.
In any case, we went back to the hotel and hung around the lobby. Violent Judy was violent, which pretty much lasted for the duration of the con. ^^ Met lots of people I've heard about but have never met before -- including Dean Venture's voice actor, who seems to be a really interesting guy, actually, but once Lou started talking no one else was able to get a word in. And others in Chris's Circle of Pain, which was nice, though I didn't get to really talk to them all that much since I was working most of the time. (And Nikki's Lava cosplay was awesome! Even though it was a relatively simple costume, I still think it's even better 'cause it's usually done so badly.) Still, I enjoy working the Cosclips booth, so I'm not complaining. At some point Judy and I disappeared for like 5 minutes and when we got back everyone was gone. Jeez, from all I'd heard about Katsucon I figured people would be out and about til at least 4am every night! So we went to the rave instead, and though they mostly played boring music, I still enjoyed the dancing since I seemed to have an abundance of energy to get rid of.
Saturday. Was very reluctant to get out of bed, but I made it down to the booth to help out with setup. I missed it, but apparently the seamless fell on manga Chris at some point, which reminded me of a dream I had that something huge fell on me and I was trying to hold it up and get out from under it, even while thinking that I really shouldn't be able to hold it up because it really should be crushing me. He called me precognitive. Seems that Brad made a cameo appearance at Katsucon. I did see a Schu cosplayer earlier on Friday, which may have had something to do with it. You know, I kind of miss cosplaying Schwarz.
Judy and I cosplayed Little Sisters that day and I think we looked pretty good. I really adored the Big Daddy plushie that Maryann made for me -- I think Mr. Bubbles was really the star of the show. <3 I'll have to remember to upload some pics later.
I was at the masquerade for all of 7 skits before I had to leave. Two of them were really entertaining, though -- one being that Death Note group including Greg and the married couple whose names I can't remember, but who I'd met at ANEXT two years ago, I think. I knew I'd be missing some really good skits later on (including Mario's group, who won Best In Show), but I just couldn't sit through the stupid crap. Went back and hung out at the booth.
Later that night I got drunk on Judy's gin (now there's an alliteration for you) and joined the congregation in the lobby, with more violence (part of which included Judy stepping into my bondage straps and toppling us both over and into someone who was talking with Carlo, the ANEXT Con Chair, which was, you know, exactly how I want him to remember me), more PROMOTIONS, and some very Blades of Glory-like moves involving Chris and Ben!!! Heh.
There was lots of shoving girls together and photos being taken, which I suppose isn't all that unusual at cons. And yet again, at some point after Judy and I were talking for a while, I looked around and saw that everyone had left! Finally went to bed at 4am.
Struggled to get out of bed on Sunday. I was so glad I packed light for this con! Setup went very smoothly by this third morning. Which was pretty impressive, I think, considering we hadn't really had any setup rehearsals or anything. Did the photobooth thing until around 2pm, when the hotel started kicking people out. Over the next few hours people left in groups and finally we were ready to be on our way back to NYC. It was really awesome to be able to pack into a car and get on the road instead of waiting for a bus. Though, as I said to Sean, I'm sure the line at the DC bus station was nothing like the 4-hour line at the Baltimore Greyhound station on end-of-Otakon Sunday.
We made a stop somewhere along 95N for a super-late lunch (it must have been 5:30 or so by this time, and none of us had eaten yet all day), then got back on the road to NYC, which was pretty straightforward and without traffic. I also really enjoyed the conversation in the car on the way back to NYC! Manga Chris is into some music that makes me want to introduce him to Alex, and is also into Japan and knows a good deal of Japanese, which makes me want to introduce him to Yoshi. ^^
Got in at around 9pm and went over to eat at an OISHIIII ramen shop in the East Village. Drove everyone home (stopping in every borough but Staten Island!) and finally got home at 2am. Thankfully I had no work on Monday, so I slept til 2pm! It was heavenly. Then, of course, I had to go return the car. But all turned out well, and ended the day with an episode of House.
House certainly has the power to get me out of my head when I have a lot on my mind.
Overall: I enjoyed the con immensely. It wasn't my most favorite con EVAR, but I felt like it was definitely up there. I've had more fun at cons in the last couple of years than I ever have before. nerd_avengers, I love you guys! *sniffles*
And btw, gin tastes so much better without the tonic.