Personal Log: TJ Dragonblade

It's a looong entry, and there are lots of pics.

Uhm...where to start.

Con was a lot of fun, various points of suckiness aside. It's not much as far as cons go from what I can see, but the sense of cameraderie and the people one meets and hangs out with make up for most of that. I can't really convey the sense of...of pride, I guess is the closest word, in seeing the halls and common areas bursting with all manner of geeks, cosplayers, fen and otaku of every ilk. It's a wonderful thing. ^_^

( Thursday )

Thursday Pics (Link to previous post)

( Friday )

( Friday Pics )

( Saturday )

( Saturday Pics )

( Sunday )

( Sunday Pics )

( Monday )

Anyway. No pics for Monday. If you like browsing cosplay pics, though, I'd definitely say go check out Eurobeat King's gallery. There were a lot of good costumes, a lot of fandoms represented, and a lot of pics I just plain didn't get. Like Cobra Commander - I saw him several times over the weekend, and Inyx and I tried to flag him down for a pic at least once, but he either didn't hear or didn't want to be bothered. And as it turns out, he had a whole little COBRA contingent with him that I never saw, but finding the pics induced a little flail of delight that goes all the way back to my gradeschool days watching GI Joe blossom into a hit cartoon show in the after-school hours of the mid-eighties. Ahh, nostalgia. And dedicated cosplay to indulge it. ^_^

Cobra Commander and the Crimson Twins

Joined by The Baroness

There was a Wii remote cosplay, lots of Naruto cosplay, plenty of Saiyuki cosplay; I saw Link wandering around at some point; there was even a Dr. Girlfriend cosplay (if you've never caught CN's Venture Brothers, then nevermind), an impressive Ed Elric complete with automail arm and leg, Macross Frontier, Deathnote, and all kinds of other stuff that I either don't recognize or that's slipped my mind at the moment. If that's your thing and you've got the time, go take a look.

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/128560/

So anyway. In closing, it was a Very Good Time and a lot of awesome people to meet and/or see again. Lots of fun to be had, good for me socially and mentally, and I hope to do it again in another couple years. Or perhaps in another few years - if I'm saving for travel, it really would be nice to take AJ and make a visit back home to AZ again, and a family vacation is overdue (we're thinking SoCal and SeaWorld), and the husband and I would like to take a trip without the kid (Mardi Gras?), so... *shrug* We'll see what works out.

So. There's my report. At last. ^_^

As post-con blues try to set in, I'm finding there's very little that's more depressing than sitting in the empty hotel room after friends have gone. I'll be heading down to catch the SFO shuttle shortly, but in the meantime, since we paid for this internet access I'm damn well gonna use it. Full report and pics later to later-ish; for now:

( 3 pics under here )

This weekend has been awesome; while I'm sad to see it over, I won't deny that it'll be good to get home. The whole back-to-everyday-RL thing, though - that's a bit of a different story. ^_^;

Red-eye flights are not my favorite thing in the world. They're even less of a favorite thing when there's a shortage of the foofy little pillows they usually have out for passengers who want to sleep. Or, in my case, doze with the least amount of fitfullness possible. Lucky for pillowless me, I had a plushie in the carry on. So I dozed on Gaara for the three-hour flight. And yes, I realize it's a grievous misuse of his office and that 'pillow' is not generally counted among the duties of the kazekage excepting for certain persons named Rock Lee. ^_~

( Wednesday )

( Thursday )

Anyone who may be needing it: Our room# is now 5084. I only regret that 5085 was not available. T_T

These could maybe use further re-sizing, but I'm too tired to be bothered with it now. ^_^;

( Pics from today, one not quite worksafe )

Y-con trip log transcript...uhm...4? 4.

( 10/22/06 Sunday 04:00 )

( 10/22/06 Sunday 10:37 )

( 10/22/06 Sunday 20:09 )

( 10/23/06 Monday 12:50 )

( 10/23/06 Monday 14:15 )

( 10/23/06 Monday 15:25 )

...It's 30 frigging degrees here upon landing. That's -1 for the celsius-inclined.

And I left high-summer weather behind in San Francisco.

God.

*headdesks*

So. I am home. A feeling equally as wonderful as it is sad-for-the-ending-of-vacation.

Some con-goers, I know, were reading porn on their planes home. I managed to write some. And not just the average run-of-the-mill garden-variety yaoi porn, either, no. I of course get hit with a few paragraphs' inspiration for the full-on dragon!sex porn. Which may well have been legible to passengers behind and across the aisle, depending on eyesight and attention. ^_^;

I had such a good time, though. And met many wonderful people. Had issues with my wireless-ness while there, so I kept a written 'log' of con-reporting that will have to be typed up when I'm a bit less tired. The last entry, though, on the plane...eh. I got a bit...emo, I guess is the word, and...it'll probably remain un-typed and un-posted. It was good stuff to work through in writing for myself, though; I just don't know that I want to put it out there for anyone else to see. I had my little breakdown, I wrote through it while crying silently on a crowded plane, I dried up with the little napkin and I went on to write my porn.

It is good to be home, though, for the sake of being home. My boys missed me. All of 'em. I got more and bigger AJ hugs than I have in awhile. Jeff is more Zen and serene than I've seen him in awhile. And he tells me that Nataku and Goujun and Mordred are more excited now than they were the whole time I was gone. He tells me that Nataku specifically spent the entire weekend sitting at the bottom of his tank, but the little dear has been abso-frigging-lutely psycho-spastic ever since I fed him tonight. ^_^ And Goujun's been doing the fluttery-hovering thing in the corner nearest my seat on the couch. ^_^ Makes me feel quite loved, that. All of it. Not just the fish babies.

Now if only my ears would just pop already, I'd be good.

So yes. I'm home safe. To all the folks I met this weekend, here's wishing you the same whether your journey home is over, in progress, immediately forthcoming, or weeks more in the making. ^_^

I so have to do this again next year. OMG I have to. Yes.

Yey Y-con!

And yes I know it's spelled 'yay', but...the very-specific pronunciation bouncing about in my head demands it be spelled with an 'e' instead. *shrug*

Yey, Y-con! I'm having such a good time. I finally thought to re-boot my PDA and lo & behold, I can connect! Too much for con-reporting on the soft keypad, though. I've been hand-writing updates everyday and will type them up on a full-sized keyboard at home.

Such fun, though, and so many people. ^_^ Yey!

Leaving for our Alcatraz tour soon, so. Later!

Okay. So. Yes, I lost my little Konzen a couple of days ago, and the betta-brood now numbers only three. Thank you, everyone, for the condolences. It's helped. Yes, dammit I am very attached to my fish.

Mordred is still alive, and still appears quite healthy. Still very put-out with his 'hospital stay', but I wanted him quarantined long enough to be sure he's okay. Tomorrow I'm going to move him into his new quarters; the old split-tank is trashed. I've replaced the plants, too, but the rocks should be alright if I boil them.

Goujun and Nataku are also doing well, for the record. But I do miss having Konzen alongside them. T_T

In other news, we spent a good half the day today moving father-in-law's stuff out of the unfinished utility/laundry room into a storage shed in the backyard. So god-awfully damn much junk, but heaven forbid we should throw any of it away, oh no. -_-x Feh. So. Despite wearing a filter-mask throughout the entire operation, it seems I couldn't help inhaling a bit of dust regardless. Consequently, I feel like crap. And give small thanks that it's only this bad instead of how utterly incapacitated I'd be had I not had that mask. I feel like I may be running a fever, and my lungs...feh. I need to go talk to my doctor about asthma, I think. But at least we've got the beginnings of what will eventually be More Usable Space.

Aaaaanyway. I did manage to make it over to Value Village in search of Tenpou clothes. I'll be returning again tomorrow, now that I'm a little more certain of my size in men's clothing eheh. Good thing to know before shopping for clothes, yes? ^_^; Though I may have to go with the Chibi-Tenpou design as far as shirt color, since I've got one near that reddish shade already and haven't had any luck getting my paws on a more traditional Tenpou shade. I mean...his shirt's not the same color in every single pic I've referenced, so maybe I can get away with it. And I've got a few other things that need doing to be ready for yaoi-con. Procrastination, thou art the bane of my existence. Yea, verily. Forsooth.

Ahem. ^_^;

Music to be posted shortly.