It’s that time of year again! Yes, another Katsucon has come around.
Thought about taking the whole day off from work, but decided not to.
Half will do. It was another con where I made more preparations than
entirely necessary, but that’s better than not enough preparation.
Yet another drive to Crystal City...
Woke up, went to work, fought to stay awake, and left after lunch. Grabbed my stuff, noticed that Sarah and Dave had already left. Off I went on a comparatively short trip to the hotel, despite the elevated security in the capital area. As I drove by the Pentagon, the side of the road was dotted with state troopers. Made one stop at a convenience store to pick up some Jolt.
So I finally rolled into the parking lot, got a space rather close to the hotel. Hm, I think they lowered the parking rates. Tossed all my goods onto my cart, and proceeded to get my hotel room, then found RTeker and then got my registration.
Got some stuff, and a goodly amount of it was stuff I was looking for. There are still a couple things on my list that I probably won’t find easily, but I’m ok with that. Got myself a nice little nap. No word from Sarah or Dave. In the meantime, I grow hungry, but I’m not interested in leaving the hotel just for McDonald’s.
Is today some kinda holiday, or what?
Anyway, made an attempt to get into the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel, but they were so busy they were only going by reservations. So much for that. Went back to the room, ordered some buffalo wings, and grabbed some munchies from Yamiko-chan’s trunk.
Looking over the video schedule, it leaves much to be desired. A lot of commercial stuff that I’ve already seen, or don’t have an interest in seeing. Initiated the sign-up list for Cosplay taping, so I should be ok for tomorrow evening. There’s a Dual Jewel concert about to start, but it’s not something I’m really into. J-rock doesn’t particularly float my boat, same goes for most of the guests. Yeah, I know they’ve done some impressive stuff, just not what I came here for. Had my wings and fries, so I’m grabbing a bottle of Jolt and heading out.
Hung out in the art show, as @ndrew was doing some spinning. Lent
him some of my CDs, then eventually went back to my room, plugged in an
Onegai Teacher cd that I got and passed out.
Basic stuff, really.
Got in a lot of sleep, then a shower. Afterwards, got some food from the lunch buffet. Somehow I got into the dealers room, and bought some more stuff that I had been looking for. Some girl dressed as someone from Star Ocean remembered me for my work at AUSA; it’s always nice to be recognized by people I vaguely remember. Then, helped out at the AUSA table for a bit, and right after that, finally found Dave, and Sarah in her naguri school girl outfit, and found out why even though they left Baltimore before me, they didn’t get here until half an hour after. Laughed heartily at Dave for getting directions from Mapquest.
Deposited my stuff back in my room, and mellowed, played with some of my toys. My bed is littered with junk, and I love it!
Do I need to do this next year?
Another trip to the dealers room yielded a little bit more stuff, then grabbed my camcorder for the Cosplay. Apparently, they’re not honoring the signup list, as my badge isn’t press. So I sat in line and snagged a seat in the far back. I’m not the only one, there’s a fellow here doing the same thing. We’ve both been using the same methods for the past few years; met him at Otakon 2000. Ugh, lighting sucked, so I had to constantly fiddle with my camcorder settings. After that, went back to the room and ordered up some more wings. Yumminess.
Saturday night is something I usually stay up late for. There’s a lot of activity on Friday, but there’s a lot of traveling and settling in, so it wears me out early in the evening. Going to work the same day doesn’t help. But Saturday is different, I get my full night’s rest, wake up in the late morning, and I’m ready to go the whole day, and keep going, even into the wee hours of the night.
Warning needed: “Watch for flying glo-sticks”
After I finish my late dinner, I set out to wander. Said a quick farewell to Star Ocean girl, and headed for the dance. I liked the music in there, but there were too many flying glo-sticks to encourage me to stay. Chatted with one of the artists for awhile, then found Sarah and Dave. Dave was still going, but Sarah looked wiped out. They must’ve been to the dance, which is something I only go to for the sake of hearing loud and fast music. One of these days I’ll have to take my laptop, cd burner, and a bunch of cds over to @ndrew’s place.
Still have yet to set foot in the video rooms. Dunno what I’m still doing awake, but here I am, 2 in the morning, hanging out with total strangers. I don’t know these people, but at anime conventions, there’s a connection somehow. Maybe not much of one, but it’s still there. But at the same time, I can’t relate to many here, we’re all on our own levels. We all have our own reasons for being here, which is good. Otherwise the lack of individuality would eliminate any fun that would come up.
“I make every con I go to good, but this one’s HARD!”
Such a true statement, overheard by someone simply walking by.
It’s not impossible, but this one does need some work. Despite a
competent and experienced staff, and some good events, Katsucon seems to
be a tired old bird as of late.
“Ok, I’m awake now.”
Half drowsy when Mike said “You need to look outside.” So I did, and saw a lot of snow on the ground, with no signs of quitting. Uguuuuu... Showered, then got my stuff together and wheeled it out to Yamiko-chan. Lots of snow. This does not look good. I want to go to closing ceremonies, I really do. But if I want to get home at all, I have no choice but to get going really soon. So, checked out of the hotel, and ran a few final errands. Found out that all of Sarah’s art works were bid on, with three of them going to auction, much to her delight.
Snagged a Kanon CD in my last trip in the dealers room, then said my goodbyes to my friends. It had become time for me to leave, and I had a small amount of doubt as to whether leaving now was a sound decision, instead of staying another night.
Yamiko-chan of the Yukon!
There was a lot of effort involved in just getting out of the parking lot, but once on the road, I was ok as long as I pointed straight and didn’t do any sudden maneuvering. Saw a lot of cars that had wiped out, on the sides of the road and in the middle. I wasn’t feeling too good about what I was doing, but by the time I really started to have doubts, I was already past the halfway mark and there was no point in turning back. Finally parking my car was indeed a chore, but once parked, I was finally home. Shortly after I got home, found out the roads were declared closed, and the snow was only supposed to get worse tomorrow. And it did. Later on I discovered that Katsucon had continued itself, due to most of the staff and guests being snowed in. I could have stayed for that, but maybe I was better off not. I don’t know. Oh well.
And so ends another Katsucon. At the rate things are going, I
suppose I’ll go again next year. Just maybe not for the entire weekend,
though.
Attendance: Not sure, but due to the poor weather, it was likely less than last year.
Highs:
got a lot of stuff that I was looking for
good room service food
hanging out with total strangers like it’s no big deal
non-interest in big-name guests leads to less crowding in smaller events
for me
Lows:
nasty drive home
they called that a video schedule?
needed press badge for decent seating in most events
Edibles:
Buffalo wings, fries, Jolt, other munchies
Cost overview:
Nowhere near what I spent last year, but didn’t set any low-end records.
A wee bit over $500.
Next year: I dunno, at the rate things are going, I may feel inclined to put less personal priority on this one. I’ll still go, but I might not do things like pre-register, or get a hotel room, things like that. It’s difficult to justify the level of effort that I had put forth in going, but I won’t say that it was a waste. There’s enough conventions in North America now that there is one almost every weekend; that may have something to do with current situations regarding Katsucon as well as myself.
But, as it stands, go I shall.
Up next: Tekkoshocon!