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Li's Otakon 2006 Convention Report

After skipping a year, I make my way to Otakon again.

Shout outs go to the usual gang: Mookie, Hawk, Ananth, and Katie from The Applegeeks , Shawn from Staccato, Dave Lister from Paradox Lost, Trish and Damien from Novablade/Mine's Bigger, and Brian of Hookie Dookie Panic.

Thursday

Drove down to Santinaeo's place and helped her pack and finish up making some things while we waited for Jon and MC to join us. Then we over-stuffed the car and made our way down to Baltimore, somehow surviving the heat despite having no AC.

At the hotel, we met up with Morlock and crew and eventually made our way to the con center to pre-reg. Amazingly, we got throw pre-reg with very, very little wait, and were soon enough on our way to dinner.

It was Santineao's birthday, so we decided to go to a nice place for dinner. There was a 2-hour wait for the Cheesecake factory, so we agreed to eat at Uno's instead. Much fun and good food was had by all.

Friday

The artist alley wasn't open until 2, so there was plenty of time for a slow morning. MC and I did a bit of a walk-about while T'eao slept in and Jon and Autumn went to get their at-con registration.

MC and I first stopped off at CVS, and then went on a quest to find some breakfast. The Dunkin Donuts had a long line, so we figured we'd find some place else. As we walked down to the little mall by the harbor, we found a pile of cash and a hotel card. We figured we'd do our best to return these items after getting food.

After wandering around the little mall, we got ourselves some Starbucks, then walked back to the hotel. We stopped at the front desk and they were able to help us get directions to the hotel where the key card came from.

Naturally it was right back down where we were by the CVS. So we walked back down the 7 blocks in the broiling heat and turned in the card and cash to the front desk. We both agreed that we ought to have good money karma for this good deed.

Back at our hotel room, MC and I joined Nelly and Jim while they worked more on the headbands as we ate our breakfast (and let T'eao, Jon, and Autumn get some more sleep). I changed into my costume (an 'interpretation' of a Maneki Neko statue), and then made my way down to Artist Alley.

Amazingly to me, I found that Sketch was already awake and set up. I had apparently not made myself clear when I said I was going to steal some of his table space, so he was a bit surprised, but let me take a corner anyway. I think it worked out for him in the end, as my presence at the table freed him up to wander around a lot more.

I got a chance to say hi to my con friends before the artist alley opened up, and then spent the rest of the day. When the Alley closed we all got together in the hotel room and ordered some pizza and chatted a bit before going to bed.

Saturday

I woke up early and got into my Akabane costume. I spent most of the day at the table, chatting here and there with friends.

Oh, and turkey smut.

No really. Turkey smut. Don't ask. You really don't want to know. I wish I didn't know.

Sunday

I woke entirely too early but I didn't want to disturb my roommates so I packed up and headed out to seek my fortune or something. If I had been smart, I probably would have just found myself a cafe for an hour or two, but instead I just walked over to the con center and waited the 45 minutes for it to open, and then another half hour before the artist alley opened for the artists. (and another hour after that before the Alley opened to the public).

After the Alley closed up, we went back to the Morlock room and ordered ourselves room service before the Divine Renderings crew and I headed back north.

Monday

Was just bad. A very long story short, it started with a flat tire, and ended with my car (which some might have heard I got into a car accident the day after Ctcon) was still not ready for me so I would have to rent a car again, except none of the car rental places had a car. It was a long day and after a weekend of too little sleep and entirely too little food, it was not good.

Overall, Otakon was a bust. It was nice to see my con friends, whom I don't get to see very often, but the weekend is very expensive, and I just didn't do well enough to cover expenses. And then the horrible mess of getting home on Monday, it just wasn't worth it. Unless there is another guest that I really, really need to see (like L'arc en Ciel again or someone like them), I won't be going back to Otakon.