TFCon: in which I am kidnapped to Canada and drove there of my own volition.
So after losing my job and having to move back in with my parents and all the other loveliness that has happened since February, I was not expecting to be able to do much of anything this summer. I'd already written cons off for the summer as BotCon was two weeks before my sister's wedding and TFCon was two weeks after it. But then I remembered that I can obtain an enhanced driver's license because I live in a border state, and it costs very little extra compared to a regular license. (And dramatically less than a passport card, which is $50, or a passport proper, which is $80, and I'd still need a driver's license if I want to, y'know, drive.) So I started thinking about TFCon, and threw the idea out there if anybody wanted to sponsor me, as my bills are far too high for me to just throw money at a convention.
Then Wayward happened.
She asked how much it would cost to get me to Canada, and when I pulled $250 out of my ass, she was like, "Okay, that's doable," and fronted me the money. I then had the idea that, if she would let me sell at her table, I could probably make the money back and then some, making the entire trip justifiable to my parents. She was cool with that, so I got busy making about seventy million pieces of jewelry and picking up various displays that would be useful while there.
I drove up on Thursday, and despite Google Maps telling me the trip took about 4.5 hours, not including whatever time it took to cross the bridge, it took me 7.5 hours. Because I live in Michigan, of course the Michigan portion of the drive was full of construction. I then spent an hour and a half sitting on the Blue Water bridge itself, waiting to go through customs, where I had the scariest customs person ever. The beginning of the drive through Canada I was able to go a reasonable speed (though the KM half of my speedometer is nearly impossible to read with sunglasses on) but as soon as the 403 combined with the QEW, it was solid traffic. They have lit up signs like in Cincinnati that will tell you of traffic backups, and these amused me, as they were incredibly polite, and told me that traffic from point A to point B was "rather slow." I also discovered that Canadian traffic is also extremely polite, and everybody gave each other reasonable space, rather than trying to climb into other vehicle's trunks like in the States. The only rude drivers I ran into was one group of teenagers in a Honda acting like idiots, and a couple of people from the States. Wayward ended up calling me to figure out where I was, as I was three hours late and she was worried I was lost, and when I told her I was sitting next to the IKEA (in Toronto) she thought I was by a different one that I later discovered when I was actually lost. My navigational abilities are legendary.
Wayward and knave_iespyk are lovely hosts, and were remarkably tolerant of the fact that I am incapable of shutting up, ever, when I am excited. Friday Wayward and I figured out the table layout and generally spent the day finishing things, though mostly I poked at her resin stuff and gave the cats a hard time. Nim and Mak are nowhere near as cuddly as my grumpy Chihiro, though Nim eventually let me pick him up, and he checked on me repeatedly at night, which was sort of hilarious. I picked up Mak and I picked him up wrong so he was very suspicious of me the rest of the visit. >_> Wayward and I had contemplated going to the Rock Lords movie showing at the convention, but then decided to download it and heckle it privately instead, as Wayward still had many things left to do. Some time around 11 she realized she'd not sent one of her convention prints to the printer, so it was sent to a Staples by the convention center, so I could run and get it at some point on Saturday.
Saturday we both had to be up at stupid o'clock to get there, and I was a hysterical mess all night and got about three hours of sleep. Wayward only got about three hours of sleep too, so we were both... interesting, all day. Nim kept coming in to check on me, as I was doing the "I'm so tired I'm hysterical and crying" thing and I think it was freaking him out. Of course, petting him made me think of Chihiro so I cried harder. He let me cuddle him a while before deciding that was Quite Enough, Thank You, though he continued to check on me until I managed to fall asleep. Wayward had gotten an email from TFCon that wanted all dealers to be set up by 8:30, which she figured was addressed to her and others that had little set-up and thus showed up about four minutes to nine to set up. We were actually there early by some miracle, and got everything set up. I was manning the jewelry side of the table, while Wayward was managing the prints, buttons/magnets/keychains, and toys she was working on unloading. I was not allowed to touch the button maker as I am very, very good at breaking things that don't belong to me, and Wayward rarely left the table for more than about ten minutes at a time, so I didn't even get the "teach me how to do it for when you're gone" excuse. ravynfyre came by, and she was helping at a booth behind us, so there were quick hugs and then she was off doing things. oasis_pink_peng was doing staff things and popped by real quick, as well. Later she had a fancy walkie talkie, though I don't know if that was Saturday or Sunday. An Impactor came by early in the morning, and Wayward and I were both asking her if it was lunatron and rather than answering, we were both handed presents. I got SOCKS! They had green flamingos on them. XD I definitely wore them Sunday to show off. Luna's costume was amazing.
Saturday's sales went well, and I sold a ton of Wayward's amazing resin necklaces, where she took micro machines, made a mold, and cast them in resin, painted them as various characters, and then there was more resin to seal it in. I was totally geeking out over them and pushing them hard, and not so much my own creations. I left the table a couple times, to get Dick Gautier and Jack Angel's signature for myself and for raisedbymoogles on her Ultra Magnus and Rodimus toys. Rodimus got signed on the spoiler, and Ultra Magnus ended up getting "Jack" on one arm and "Angel" on the other, because he does not have very much in the way of grand expanses of smooth surfaces. I told Jack Angel that Ramjet is one of my favorite characters and I've wanted to meet him for a long time, which was met with a "what a coincidence, I've wanted to meet me for a long time too!" Also, while we were waiting in line, Dick Gautier was brought down from his panel by staff in a wheelchair, and he pretended to kneecap people in line as he passed them, so... Rodimus Prime tried to kneecap me at TFCon 13. It was surreal.
I later got into line for Venus Terzo and Marilyn Lightstone. I'd made Venus Terzo a Black Arachnia bracelet, as BA is pretty much the reason I am a Transformers fan today. She thought it was beautiful and gave me a hug. ^_^ Marilyn Lightstone was the voice of Crasher in GoBots, and when we actually watched the movie later on that weekend, she definitely was my favorite character. She had never been to a convention, but she was geeking out about it. All of the VAs were acquiring a ton of swag in the form of plushies, art, and other shiny things from their fans. Wayward had made magnets for both Venus and Marilyn to give to them, and I got Marilyn's autograph for Wayward on one of her prints, which she thought was amazing. I thanked her for coming to the convention, and she said "I'm happier I came every minute, people are giving me stuff!" Someone behind me asked Venus Terzo to say something on camera, and she said "Black Arachnia, Terrorize!" and followed it up with an EXTREMELY sultry "Oh, Silverbolt" which made me blush. While I was still back a ways in line, she laughed, and the two guys I'd been talking to couldn't decide if she was deliberately doing Black Arachnia's cackle, or if that is her real laugh.
Wayward and I were both exhausted after the dealer room closed, as I had eaten a grand total of four poptarts throughout the day, Wayward was people'd out, and neither of us had slept, so we went searching for friends in small groups who preferably wanted to get food and then lie around. Ravyn told us she was going with a group of about 12 to get sushi later, which seemed a bit too involved for us. We then ran into fly_buggy_fly and her friend who were going to get Chinese and come back, so we joined them for dinner. Hilarity ensued. I was tired and don't remember most of it, just the EXTREMELY comfortable chairs in the hotel lobby, and a lot of giggling on my part.
Sunday we kicked ASS at the table. I told Wayward that jewelry sells better the second day, as people have found their toys and are now looking to just get shiny things, and I was definitely right. I made enough to repay her Saturday, so Sunday was alllll gravy. I sold $100 worth before the dealer room opened. Out of the 45 character bracelets I brought, I sold 11. People were looking for an Airrazor and a Tigatron, who were literally the next two bracelets on my "to make" list, so if I hadn't run out of time, I would've sold them. I sold my only Arcee and someone wanted one later, too, so I should make more of her, as well. Wayward kept the books and extremely detailed notes, which is why she was in charge of monies. I had brought American change with me, as the exchange rate is just about equal right now, so we took both American and Canadian, which made a difference. After the dealer room closed, we went looking for friends to say goodbye to, and while looking for lunatron, I glanced over and saw her parents, so we sat and talked to them until she was out of the customization class. We then went home and tried to get fish and chips at the really good place a couple doors down, but they were closed Sunday, so we instead had pizza. I continued to terrorize cats and tried to placate Mak with sausage.
Monday Wayward and I had planned to go on a bead tour of the city, bake the cookies we didn't get around to on Friday, and watch GoBots. The first store was best accessed by public transportation, as parking in the area was iffy at best, so we took the subway and then Wayward said it was a "short walk" from there. Her definition of short walk and mine do NOT jive, as I think the walk was more like two miles, AND it started raining, so I was soaked. The shop was TOTALLY worth it, though. I think I spent like $90 there, buying charms, findings, and beads, most of which glow in the dark. I made the executive decision that I definitely did not need to go to the other bead stores because I had already spent waaaaaay too much money. We caught the trolley to go back to the subway, and by the time we got back to the house I was passing out. Wayward said she does not begrudge people their naps, so I passed out for about three hours, to discover cookies had been baked while I was out cold. Wayward's cookies are AWESOME. We then ate random leftovers, cookies, and watched GoBots. GoBots was dramatically more progressive than Transformers, as most of the plot was driven by four female characters, which sort of blew my mind. We looked up toys later, as nobody was ever referred to by name, so we had no idea who anyone was. The toys were mostly just depressing. Only Solitaire, the lady rock lord, had a really pretty toy, but she also goes for about $60, so I think I'll be passing on that.
Tuesday I was going to drive back, though I decided that I wanted to go to the other bead stores anyway. XD I didn't spend nearly as much money this time, though I pretty much thought I had died and gone to heaven when we went to BeadFX. Discussions were had about shipping to Canada and I jokingly agreed to be a shipping mule, though I definitely would do it for shiny things. I headed back after that, and once again found myself taking 7.5 hours to drive back home. This time it was entirely Toronto traffic, as I left at about 3:30 so I hit ALL OF THE TRAFFIC. I crossed the bridge in record time and broke multiple laws once I got into my own country, because I was tired and just wanted to get home.
I managed to go to a convention and only caught a mild case of Con Crud, so I spent most of yesterday sleeping and shambling around the house as I did laundry. Staying at Wayward and Knave's definitely helped, as I was exposed to a lot fewer random bugs, and much less drama, and I was getting (mostly) sufficient sleep. I slept pretty well aside from Friday night when I was busy panicking about the convention. I had a lot of fun, and am very thankful that Wayward and Knave let me stay at their house. It was nice to FINALLY get to a convention again! Wayward decided I will be kidnapped forever, as I am good with people, and I'm ok with that. :)
Then Wayward happened.
She asked how much it would cost to get me to Canada, and when I pulled $250 out of my ass, she was like, "Okay, that's doable," and fronted me the money. I then had the idea that, if she would let me sell at her table, I could probably make the money back and then some, making the entire trip justifiable to my parents. She was cool with that, so I got busy making about seventy million pieces of jewelry and picking up various displays that would be useful while there.
I drove up on Thursday, and despite Google Maps telling me the trip took about 4.5 hours, not including whatever time it took to cross the bridge, it took me 7.5 hours. Because I live in Michigan, of course the Michigan portion of the drive was full of construction. I then spent an hour and a half sitting on the Blue Water bridge itself, waiting to go through customs, where I had the scariest customs person ever. The beginning of the drive through Canada I was able to go a reasonable speed (though the KM half of my speedometer is nearly impossible to read with sunglasses on) but as soon as the 403 combined with the QEW, it was solid traffic. They have lit up signs like in Cincinnati that will tell you of traffic backups, and these amused me, as they were incredibly polite, and told me that traffic from point A to point B was "rather slow." I also discovered that Canadian traffic is also extremely polite, and everybody gave each other reasonable space, rather than trying to climb into other vehicle's trunks like in the States. The only rude drivers I ran into was one group of teenagers in a Honda acting like idiots, and a couple of people from the States. Wayward ended up calling me to figure out where I was, as I was three hours late and she was worried I was lost, and when I told her I was sitting next to the IKEA (in Toronto) she thought I was by a different one that I later discovered when I was actually lost. My navigational abilities are legendary.
Wayward and knave_iespyk are lovely hosts, and were remarkably tolerant of the fact that I am incapable of shutting up, ever, when I am excited. Friday Wayward and I figured out the table layout and generally spent the day finishing things, though mostly I poked at her resin stuff and gave the cats a hard time. Nim and Mak are nowhere near as cuddly as my grumpy Chihiro, though Nim eventually let me pick him up, and he checked on me repeatedly at night, which was sort of hilarious. I picked up Mak and I picked him up wrong so he was very suspicious of me the rest of the visit. >_> Wayward and I had contemplated going to the Rock Lords movie showing at the convention, but then decided to download it and heckle it privately instead, as Wayward still had many things left to do. Some time around 11 she realized she'd not sent one of her convention prints to the printer, so it was sent to a Staples by the convention center, so I could run and get it at some point on Saturday.
Saturday we both had to be up at stupid o'clock to get there, and I was a hysterical mess all night and got about three hours of sleep. Wayward only got about three hours of sleep too, so we were both... interesting, all day. Nim kept coming in to check on me, as I was doing the "I'm so tired I'm hysterical and crying" thing and I think it was freaking him out. Of course, petting him made me think of Chihiro so I cried harder. He let me cuddle him a while before deciding that was Quite Enough, Thank You, though he continued to check on me until I managed to fall asleep. Wayward had gotten an email from TFCon that wanted all dealers to be set up by 8:30, which she figured was addressed to her and others that had little set-up and thus showed up about four minutes to nine to set up. We were actually there early by some miracle, and got everything set up. I was manning the jewelry side of the table, while Wayward was managing the prints, buttons/magnets/keychains, and toys she was working on unloading. I was not allowed to touch the button maker as I am very, very good at breaking things that don't belong to me, and Wayward rarely left the table for more than about ten minutes at a time, so I didn't even get the "teach me how to do it for when you're gone" excuse. ravynfyre came by, and she was helping at a booth behind us, so there were quick hugs and then she was off doing things. oasis_pink_peng was doing staff things and popped by real quick, as well. Later she had a fancy walkie talkie, though I don't know if that was Saturday or Sunday. An Impactor came by early in the morning, and Wayward and I were both asking her if it was lunatron and rather than answering, we were both handed presents. I got SOCKS! They had green flamingos on them. XD I definitely wore them Sunday to show off. Luna's costume was amazing.
Saturday's sales went well, and I sold a ton of Wayward's amazing resin necklaces, where she took micro machines, made a mold, and cast them in resin, painted them as various characters, and then there was more resin to seal it in. I was totally geeking out over them and pushing them hard, and not so much my own creations. I left the table a couple times, to get Dick Gautier and Jack Angel's signature for myself and for raisedbymoogles on her Ultra Magnus and Rodimus toys. Rodimus got signed on the spoiler, and Ultra Magnus ended up getting "Jack" on one arm and "Angel" on the other, because he does not have very much in the way of grand expanses of smooth surfaces. I told Jack Angel that Ramjet is one of my favorite characters and I've wanted to meet him for a long time, which was met with a "what a coincidence, I've wanted to meet me for a long time too!" Also, while we were waiting in line, Dick Gautier was brought down from his panel by staff in a wheelchair, and he pretended to kneecap people in line as he passed them, so... Rodimus Prime tried to kneecap me at TFCon 13. It was surreal.
I later got into line for Venus Terzo and Marilyn Lightstone. I'd made Venus Terzo a Black Arachnia bracelet, as BA is pretty much the reason I am a Transformers fan today. She thought it was beautiful and gave me a hug. ^_^ Marilyn Lightstone was the voice of Crasher in GoBots, and when we actually watched the movie later on that weekend, she definitely was my favorite character. She had never been to a convention, but she was geeking out about it. All of the VAs were acquiring a ton of swag in the form of plushies, art, and other shiny things from their fans. Wayward had made magnets for both Venus and Marilyn to give to them, and I got Marilyn's autograph for Wayward on one of her prints, which she thought was amazing. I thanked her for coming to the convention, and she said "I'm happier I came every minute, people are giving me stuff!" Someone behind me asked Venus Terzo to say something on camera, and she said "Black Arachnia, Terrorize!" and followed it up with an EXTREMELY sultry "Oh, Silverbolt" which made me blush. While I was still back a ways in line, she laughed, and the two guys I'd been talking to couldn't decide if she was deliberately doing Black Arachnia's cackle, or if that is her real laugh.
Wayward and I were both exhausted after the dealer room closed, as I had eaten a grand total of four poptarts throughout the day, Wayward was people'd out, and neither of us had slept, so we went searching for friends in small groups who preferably wanted to get food and then lie around. Ravyn told us she was going with a group of about 12 to get sushi later, which seemed a bit too involved for us. We then ran into fly_buggy_fly and her friend who were going to get Chinese and come back, so we joined them for dinner. Hilarity ensued. I was tired and don't remember most of it, just the EXTREMELY comfortable chairs in the hotel lobby, and a lot of giggling on my part.
Sunday we kicked ASS at the table. I told Wayward that jewelry sells better the second day, as people have found their toys and are now looking to just get shiny things, and I was definitely right. I made enough to repay her Saturday, so Sunday was alllll gravy. I sold $100 worth before the dealer room opened. Out of the 45 character bracelets I brought, I sold 11. People were looking for an Airrazor and a Tigatron, who were literally the next two bracelets on my "to make" list, so if I hadn't run out of time, I would've sold them. I sold my only Arcee and someone wanted one later, too, so I should make more of her, as well. Wayward kept the books and extremely detailed notes, which is why she was in charge of monies. I had brought American change with me, as the exchange rate is just about equal right now, so we took both American and Canadian, which made a difference. After the dealer room closed, we went looking for friends to say goodbye to, and while looking for lunatron, I glanced over and saw her parents, so we sat and talked to them until she was out of the customization class. We then went home and tried to get fish and chips at the really good place a couple doors down, but they were closed Sunday, so we instead had pizza. I continued to terrorize cats and tried to placate Mak with sausage.
Monday Wayward and I had planned to go on a bead tour of the city, bake the cookies we didn't get around to on Friday, and watch GoBots. The first store was best accessed by public transportation, as parking in the area was iffy at best, so we took the subway and then Wayward said it was a "short walk" from there. Her definition of short walk and mine do NOT jive, as I think the walk was more like two miles, AND it started raining, so I was soaked. The shop was TOTALLY worth it, though. I think I spent like $90 there, buying charms, findings, and beads, most of which glow in the dark. I made the executive decision that I definitely did not need to go to the other bead stores because I had already spent waaaaaay too much money. We caught the trolley to go back to the subway, and by the time we got back to the house I was passing out. Wayward said she does not begrudge people their naps, so I passed out for about three hours, to discover cookies had been baked while I was out cold. Wayward's cookies are AWESOME. We then ate random leftovers, cookies, and watched GoBots. GoBots was dramatically more progressive than Transformers, as most of the plot was driven by four female characters, which sort of blew my mind. We looked up toys later, as nobody was ever referred to by name, so we had no idea who anyone was. The toys were mostly just depressing. Only Solitaire, the lady rock lord, had a really pretty toy, but she also goes for about $60, so I think I'll be passing on that.
Tuesday I was going to drive back, though I decided that I wanted to go to the other bead stores anyway. XD I didn't spend nearly as much money this time, though I pretty much thought I had died and gone to heaven when we went to BeadFX. Discussions were had about shipping to Canada and I jokingly agreed to be a shipping mule, though I definitely would do it for shiny things. I headed back after that, and once again found myself taking 7.5 hours to drive back home. This time it was entirely Toronto traffic, as I left at about 3:30 so I hit ALL OF THE TRAFFIC. I crossed the bridge in record time and broke multiple laws once I got into my own country, because I was tired and just wanted to get home.
I managed to go to a convention and only caught a mild case of Con Crud, so I spent most of yesterday sleeping and shambling around the house as I did laundry. Staying at Wayward and Knave's definitely helped, as I was exposed to a lot fewer random bugs, and much less drama, and I was getting (mostly) sufficient sleep. I slept pretty well aside from Friday night when I was busy panicking about the convention. I had a lot of fun, and am very thankful that Wayward and Knave let me stay at their house. It was nice to FINALLY get to a convention again! Wayward decided I will be kidnapped forever, as I am good with people, and I'm ok with that. :)