(no subject)
as promised!
wednesday afternoon was spent doing the normal pre-departure things: laundry, cleaning, packing, etc. i'm happy to say the packing did indeed go very smoothly, and danny was wonderful in helping me clean up the house so it would be functional when we returned. we packed our bags straight out of the dryer, organized our electronics, and i was in bed around midnight -- not bad at all, considering we were up again at 6:30 am.
thursday morning went very smoothly. we packed up aiden's things, grabbed our suitcases, and drove into san francisco. the wag hotel makes it very easy to check your pets in and out so it didn't take long, and they're also good at ensuring you don't have to suffer through a long, teary farewell. i gave aiden a kiss goodbye and made it all the way to the car before i started crying... it was a messy, pent up, let-out-all-the-anxiety-of-the-past-two-weeks sort of crying. but by the time we got to the airport, it was pretty much over. then it was time to pop medication and go airport shopping for last-minute items, like toothpaste and a sudoku puzzle book. (it turns out sudoku is the perfect airplane activity for me -- requires concentration, but of a very specific sort of detailed, one-track thought. it's perfect for distracting me from the whole airplane thing.) the flight was pretty much flawless and we landed slightly over an hour later.
danny's sister becky picked us up at the airport and we went out for mexican food and ice cream nearby, while waiting for colin and takahiro to land (their flight was about an hour behind ours). once they did, we all crammed in her nissan and proceeded to visit our two hotels; ours was next to the convention center, whereas colin and takahiro's was a bit further away. we dropped off our stuff, at which point i thought we'd go pick up our goody bags and attendance badges, but everyone else apparently had other ideas! the sneaksy group that they are... they whisked me away for a surprise visit to disneyland. it was awesome. i've never done disneyland in 6 hours, and we had to skip a lot of things, but we still managed to get the overall experience in! highlights included walking onto pirates of the carribean, laughing at the thousands of people crowded around learning the fireworks had been cancelled due to winds, watching colin go on the peter pan ride for the first time, disneyland churros (always the best!), getting on space mountain even though they said it was broken, and seeing the haunted mansion decked out in a nightmare before christmas theme. we stayed 'til the park closed, and after last-minute ice cream, we staggered back to the car and returned to our hotels, then crashed.
friday morning we got up early, packed the day bag, and set out to the convention center. there was no wait to get the goodie bags and passes, but the line... omg. the. line. was. huge. last year everyone just sort of crowded around, but that was 6000 people. this year there were at least 12000 and the line stretched from the convention center to the parking lot next door, wrapped around that lot more than a few times, then started doubling back along itself before they finally told everyone to just get inside fast before they ruined traffic. despite the epic length of the line, we didn't wait any longer b/c of it, and we got in only a few minutes after the doors opened. last year we went for the blizzard store, but this year we beelined for Hall C, which had the main stage and all the seating. the welcome ceremony is where they usually make the big announcements; this year was anti-climactic, given that last year they announced the new WoW expansion, but they did announce the new Diablo III playable class, the Wizard (who is awesome, btw). the rest of the day was spent doing various geeky things: watching the various panels, test playing Diablo III, scoping out the professional gamers, taking pictures of the blizzard artwork (the zerg queen statue was particularly impressive), and just generally geeking out. the most rigorous effort of the day was obtaining the best blizzcon souvenier EVER MADE: the plush, talking murloc.
the jinx booth was selling these. when we first saw the line, it stretched from one side of Hall B to the other side. i said, "that's way too long! let's come back!" and so, we did. when we returned, the line stretched from Hall B to Hall C, at which point i carefully re-thought my strategy. we did end up getting in line - i tried to get over wanting the murloc, but just couldn't shake the thought of my own cuddly fish-monster - and we did indeed wait a good long while. but it was worth it - they sold out about 5 minutes after i had Gurgles in my arms! he spent the rest of the convention riding around on my head, so if you see pictures of other people doing that, just be aware *i* started the trend.
we stuck around for the start of the costume contest, but then we had to meet colin, takahiro, and 2 of takahiro's raiding guildmates at Bucca di Beppo's for dinner. just a side note: ask people if they're going to eat before ordering italian-style for 7 people, because if they don't want to eat, you'll regret it. then the guildmates left, so the 4 of us walked over to target and stocked up on essentials (fyi, target's wine in a box isn't half bad, and *way* easier to store in a hotel fridge), then headed back to our respective hotels. danny and i got a huge hotel room for the price of a regular one, so he crashed on the bed while i hung out on the couch and watched tv.
saturday morning was far more relaxed. we woke up slowly, sauntered over to the convention center, and the first event of the day was the WoW pvp panel, during which we learned interesting things about area-wide pvp that results in unlocking faction-specific raid dungeons. very cool! there wasn't a lot of shopping to be done, so saturday was a panel-heavy day, including a visit upstairs to see the cast of The Guild debut the rough cut of the first episode of Season 2. fyi, felicia day is tiny IRL, her hair really is that red, and she really is that geeky (WoW is just her weekly obsession; she plays D&D on the weekends). after that we went back downstairs and carved out seats for the closing ceremony - we got decent ones, which was awesome, because there were at least 12,000 people in that hall before the end of the night, a lot of whom were standing or sitting in the aisles. to kill time i talked with espy about the VERY loud nerds sitting behind us, played my DS and watched a fascinating panel on Diablo III art and lore. danny found food, and then it was time for the closing ceremonies.
the comedian who opened for patton oswalt was really funny, but i've forgotten his name. patton himself was awesome, and was pretty good about bridging the gap between the nerd and non-nerd worlds. level 80 elite tauren chieftan (metal rock band made up of blizzard developers and higher-ups) rocked as usual, even if they did the beat the "FOR THE HORDE" drum to death once again. video games live proved amazing yet again, featuring some solo work that was astounding, including the Lament of the Highborne which always gets to the heart of me. i was severely annoyed that they once again screwed up the videos for the Taverns of Azeroth segment - they got it wrong last year too - but they ended on a high note so i was able to put it out of my mind. it was a good close to a good convention - not mind blowing, but not at all lame. mostly excellent with a few slip ups. but hey, that's pretty much what blizzard is all about.
we went back to the hotel room, at which point danny went off to print out boarding passes, and i got on the phone with room service. our in-room tv options sucked but dumb and dumber was on tv, so the evening was amusing. i had a wee bit too much pinot grigio, so i'm not sure what time i staggered into bed, but i sure did sleep heavy! two days of treading concrete floors will tire you out.
saturday morning was rushed but relaxed. we had to pack 2 goodie bags worth of stuff into our already fairly full luggage, but that went better than expected. once we were done, we got a cab, picked up colin and takahiro, and headed to the airport. their flight left before ours, so we got food (turkey sandwich for danny, danish for me) and danny read the paper while i played sudoku. our flight left on time, and despite a ton of turbulence and a bad stomach reaction to my medication, the flight was uneventful and we landed on time in perfect east bay weather.
it's fleet week in the bay area, so the bay bridge was packed, and the jets flying in formation overhead didn't help. we were about half an hour late picking up aiden, but pick him up we did, and to my amazement and delight, he got a perfect report card from the wag hotel! not only was he well behaved, he had a good appetite and even gave kissies to his handlers! i was so, so relieved. we headed home over a (thankfully) empty golden gate bridge and arrived to a cheerful lara and still-clean house. i made dinner, then it was sleepy time.
all in all, a damn good vacation!
oh, and i tried posting pictures, but livejournal is being a bitch so i'm going to flickr instead.
you can see all the pictures, including Gurgles Epix Adventures Outside Azeroth, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittienumnums/
EDIT: my back is killing me and flickr is also being a bitch, so pix will come along shortly, when i can focus.
love kittie
wednesday afternoon was spent doing the normal pre-departure things: laundry, cleaning, packing, etc. i'm happy to say the packing did indeed go very smoothly, and danny was wonderful in helping me clean up the house so it would be functional when we returned. we packed our bags straight out of the dryer, organized our electronics, and i was in bed around midnight -- not bad at all, considering we were up again at 6:30 am.
thursday morning went very smoothly. we packed up aiden's things, grabbed our suitcases, and drove into san francisco. the wag hotel makes it very easy to check your pets in and out so it didn't take long, and they're also good at ensuring you don't have to suffer through a long, teary farewell. i gave aiden a kiss goodbye and made it all the way to the car before i started crying... it was a messy, pent up, let-out-all-the-anxiety-of-the-past-two-weeks sort of crying. but by the time we got to the airport, it was pretty much over. then it was time to pop medication and go airport shopping for last-minute items, like toothpaste and a sudoku puzzle book. (it turns out sudoku is the perfect airplane activity for me -- requires concentration, but of a very specific sort of detailed, one-track thought. it's perfect for distracting me from the whole airplane thing.) the flight was pretty much flawless and we landed slightly over an hour later.
danny's sister becky picked us up at the airport and we went out for mexican food and ice cream nearby, while waiting for colin and takahiro to land (their flight was about an hour behind ours). once they did, we all crammed in her nissan and proceeded to visit our two hotels; ours was next to the convention center, whereas colin and takahiro's was a bit further away. we dropped off our stuff, at which point i thought we'd go pick up our goody bags and attendance badges, but everyone else apparently had other ideas! the sneaksy group that they are... they whisked me away for a surprise visit to disneyland. it was awesome. i've never done disneyland in 6 hours, and we had to skip a lot of things, but we still managed to get the overall experience in! highlights included walking onto pirates of the carribean, laughing at the thousands of people crowded around learning the fireworks had been cancelled due to winds, watching colin go on the peter pan ride for the first time, disneyland churros (always the best!), getting on space mountain even though they said it was broken, and seeing the haunted mansion decked out in a nightmare before christmas theme. we stayed 'til the park closed, and after last-minute ice cream, we staggered back to the car and returned to our hotels, then crashed.
friday morning we got up early, packed the day bag, and set out to the convention center. there was no wait to get the goodie bags and passes, but the line... omg. the. line. was. huge. last year everyone just sort of crowded around, but that was 6000 people. this year there were at least 12000 and the line stretched from the convention center to the parking lot next door, wrapped around that lot more than a few times, then started doubling back along itself before they finally told everyone to just get inside fast before they ruined traffic. despite the epic length of the line, we didn't wait any longer b/c of it, and we got in only a few minutes after the doors opened. last year we went for the blizzard store, but this year we beelined for Hall C, which had the main stage and all the seating. the welcome ceremony is where they usually make the big announcements; this year was anti-climactic, given that last year they announced the new WoW expansion, but they did announce the new Diablo III playable class, the Wizard (who is awesome, btw). the rest of the day was spent doing various geeky things: watching the various panels, test playing Diablo III, scoping out the professional gamers, taking pictures of the blizzard artwork (the zerg queen statue was particularly impressive), and just generally geeking out. the most rigorous effort of the day was obtaining the best blizzcon souvenier EVER MADE: the plush, talking murloc.
the jinx booth was selling these. when we first saw the line, it stretched from one side of Hall B to the other side. i said, "that's way too long! let's come back!" and so, we did. when we returned, the line stretched from Hall B to Hall C, at which point i carefully re-thought my strategy. we did end up getting in line - i tried to get over wanting the murloc, but just couldn't shake the thought of my own cuddly fish-monster - and we did indeed wait a good long while. but it was worth it - they sold out about 5 minutes after i had Gurgles in my arms! he spent the rest of the convention riding around on my head, so if you see pictures of other people doing that, just be aware *i* started the trend.
we stuck around for the start of the costume contest, but then we had to meet colin, takahiro, and 2 of takahiro's raiding guildmates at Bucca di Beppo's for dinner. just a side note: ask people if they're going to eat before ordering italian-style for 7 people, because if they don't want to eat, you'll regret it. then the guildmates left, so the 4 of us walked over to target and stocked up on essentials (fyi, target's wine in a box isn't half bad, and *way* easier to store in a hotel fridge), then headed back to our respective hotels. danny and i got a huge hotel room for the price of a regular one, so he crashed on the bed while i hung out on the couch and watched tv.
saturday morning was far more relaxed. we woke up slowly, sauntered over to the convention center, and the first event of the day was the WoW pvp panel, during which we learned interesting things about area-wide pvp that results in unlocking faction-specific raid dungeons. very cool! there wasn't a lot of shopping to be done, so saturday was a panel-heavy day, including a visit upstairs to see the cast of The Guild debut the rough cut of the first episode of Season 2. fyi, felicia day is tiny IRL, her hair really is that red, and she really is that geeky (WoW is just her weekly obsession; she plays D&D on the weekends). after that we went back downstairs and carved out seats for the closing ceremony - we got decent ones, which was awesome, because there were at least 12,000 people in that hall before the end of the night, a lot of whom were standing or sitting in the aisles. to kill time i talked with espy about the VERY loud nerds sitting behind us, played my DS and watched a fascinating panel on Diablo III art and lore. danny found food, and then it was time for the closing ceremonies.
the comedian who opened for patton oswalt was really funny, but i've forgotten his name. patton himself was awesome, and was pretty good about bridging the gap between the nerd and non-nerd worlds. level 80 elite tauren chieftan (metal rock band made up of blizzard developers and higher-ups) rocked as usual, even if they did the beat the "FOR THE HORDE" drum to death once again. video games live proved amazing yet again, featuring some solo work that was astounding, including the Lament of the Highborne which always gets to the heart of me. i was severely annoyed that they once again screwed up the videos for the Taverns of Azeroth segment - they got it wrong last year too - but they ended on a high note so i was able to put it out of my mind. it was a good close to a good convention - not mind blowing, but not at all lame. mostly excellent with a few slip ups. but hey, that's pretty much what blizzard is all about.
we went back to the hotel room, at which point danny went off to print out boarding passes, and i got on the phone with room service. our in-room tv options sucked but dumb and dumber was on tv, so the evening was amusing. i had a wee bit too much pinot grigio, so i'm not sure what time i staggered into bed, but i sure did sleep heavy! two days of treading concrete floors will tire you out.
saturday morning was rushed but relaxed. we had to pack 2 goodie bags worth of stuff into our already fairly full luggage, but that went better than expected. once we were done, we got a cab, picked up colin and takahiro, and headed to the airport. their flight left before ours, so we got food (turkey sandwich for danny, danish for me) and danny read the paper while i played sudoku. our flight left on time, and despite a ton of turbulence and a bad stomach reaction to my medication, the flight was uneventful and we landed on time in perfect east bay weather.
it's fleet week in the bay area, so the bay bridge was packed, and the jets flying in formation overhead didn't help. we were about half an hour late picking up aiden, but pick him up we did, and to my amazement and delight, he got a perfect report card from the wag hotel! not only was he well behaved, he had a good appetite and even gave kissies to his handlers! i was so, so relieved. we headed home over a (thankfully) empty golden gate bridge and arrived to a cheerful lara and still-clean house. i made dinner, then it was sleepy time.
all in all, a damn good vacation!
oh, and i tried posting pictures, but livejournal is being a bitch so i'm going to flickr instead.
you can see all the pictures, including Gurgles Epix Adventures Outside Azeroth, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittienumnums/
EDIT: my back is killing me and flickr is also being a bitch, so pix will come along shortly, when i can focus.
love kittie