WARNING: IT'S A BOOK.



I should consider it appropriate that my post-IFC journal comes about 2 weeks after the con has already ended. I am, after all, a tiggie. And I run on tiggie time. Always. At the con (before the con, after the con) was no different. [DAMMIT JT, HURRY THE FUCK UP!] ;)

Anyways, this was probably the LONGEST con I've ever been a part of! (not just in sheer days spent up there, but the hanging out with people before and after the con). And that is by no means a bad thing! (My bank account begs to differ, but it was still worth it!)

I hung with so many awesome people, most of which I just met at the con! And due to the size of the con being on the small end, I got to run into the same people A LOT! This made it easier to actually make friends and not just acquaintances, plus bond with some friends I already had! And of course there was the band thing, which for all the preparation and hype, I'd say the show was a success. ^^

Here's a small rundown of what happened. Accuracy may not be 100%, but more or less close.



MONDAY 8/5 (yes, Monday)

THE BEGINNING.

 warrn (bassist for FPRM at IFC) showed up at  katalina and my new house! It was great having him over (and actually being able to host guests without worrying about disturbing my Mom). Sure the place was a mess and full of boxes that we hadn't had time to unpack yet, but at least it was our own place!

I worked that day, then had to go to a birthday dinner for Mom (such timing, heh). Poor Warrn got to my house while Kat and I were at the dinner, so we left the door unlocked and he let himself in. When we did finally get home (with MOM, as she needed to pick something up, and she was my ride after I dropped off the cab at the office), we open the door to this --> http://pic.twitter.com/NJdAgQ7PB2

Good thing my Mom is cool with furries and has seen me in suit, knows about the show, all that. It was cool. ^^

We hung out a bit, Warrn and I practiced the FPRM set together (I had been DYING to do that!) and then bed. I had to get up stupid early in the morning for a rather stupid reason, so we couldn't stay up that long (I think I did anyways... 2 am or something... I dunno, I forget).



TUESDAY 8/6

THE TICKET.

The day we were supposed to leave. Though I had to get up at 8 am and get to Charlotte at 9 am fooooooor...... A court appearance so I could pay a speeding ticket!!! (as if my budget wasn't tight enough already...)

I got up alright... at like 8:45. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to Charlotte from my house. SHIT.

Luckily, I called the court and they said there was another hearing at 1 pm and it didn't matter which one I showed up to. OK GOING BACK TO BED THEN THANKS.

Then I woke up again... at 12:30. FUCK.

Called the court AGAIN. I said I'd be 20 minutes late. They said that should be fine. I was 30 minutes late. I was more than fine. I didn't get my name called til like an hour and a half after that.

No "taking the stand" or talking to the judge. I was happy about that. What I was not happy about was that I had to pay $263... for a fucking speeding ticket. I remember years ago I got a speeding ticket at it cost about $120. Well this is Charlotte. Court costs. Blah blah blah. They did change it to Improper Equipment Use or whatever bullshit so I didn't get points on my license (which, since I drive a cab, I figured that was pretty important). I also had 20 days to pay so I'm like YEAH FUCK THIS I'LL PAY LATER, I HAVE A CON TO GO TO. Good thing too, as I would not have had enough money at the con if I paid the ticket. Just sent in the payment too. Ow my poor wallet. DX

So yeah... that wasn't part of the con, but it all played into the con "experience". Because when I finally got home, I still had to pack. XD

I packed. It took a while, as expected. We loaded the car. That took like 2 hours because we had to Tetris the fuck out of it (and somehow figure out how to fit  ianmj91 and his stuff in on the way back).

By then it was like 10 pm. And frankly, I hadn't gotten to get much uninterrupted sleep in about a week, and was not feeling up to an 8 hour drive. We decided it would be fine to sleep a bit more then take off in the morning. After all, we only really had to be at the hotel by 3 pm so we could make our rehearsal at 4.

And that's pretty much what happened.



WEDNESDAY 8/7

THE DRIVE.

We took  warrn's woefully overloaded station wagon down my jank-ass road from hell (seriously, it's like a miniature mountain range in my dirt road, about a mile long. Pothole paradise) out at like... 6:30am or something. I drove up since Warrn already drove up from Florida and that was an 8 hour drive.

I wouldn't be getting any speeding tickets this time. Not because I was scared to speed, but because Warrn is a stickler for going the speed limit at all times. Well I wasn't really in much of a position to argue (not my car, just got a speeding ticket) so I obliged. Though I will admit it went against every natural tendency in my body. I got warned quite often throughout the trip when I sped (maybe that's why his name is Warrn... I keed I keed. XD)

Went West through NC and the Smoky Mountains. Then Tennessee. Then Kentucky. Then Ohio. Then Indiana. Then Ohio AGAIN (somehow). Then back to Indiana. The whole time we listened to obscure ska and punk, some prog (Gentle Giant ftw) and of course, worked on harmony vocals to the songs in the FPRM set. Ate at Arby's about an hour away from Indy (Arby's became a theme of the con) and finally, around 3 pm, we were at the hotel.

Our friends and roomies,  ianmj91 (Teddy) and  morearty were there to greet us. Absolutely NO OTHER FURRIES were to be seen anyways else in the hotel. Well of course not, it's Wednesday and it's a small con. We took our stuff up to the hotel room (a different room than the actual "band room" we were arranged to have Thur-Sun. More on that later) and had barely enough time to put stuff down before we (me, Warrn, Teddy) had to get to band practice.

I had arranged with a recording/rehearsal studio in Indianapolis (about 4 miles from the hotel) with 5 separate 3.5 hour blocks of rehearsal time Wed-Fri (and we needed every bit of it). The studio was called Music Garage (http://www.mymusicgarage.com/) and the guy who runs it, Chris, is awesome! He even gave us one 3.5 hour block on Friday for FREE! And he has a kick-ass Marshall amp mini-fridge and a vending machine that has $1 beers. ^^ Here's a look at the practice space --> http://pic.twitter.com/So8bWzrfc9 (with a red panda wah).

Took a bit to set up, and we were kinda late anyways, but we started digging into the set list at 6 pm (supposed to start at 4). Because everyone had to learn 21 songs in about 2 months, and we all had other obligations (especially Teddy), I was the only one who knew all the songs. Warrn was almost there, he had about 4 to go. Teddy only knew about 8 out of 21. We had our work cut out for us.

Luckily, Teddy is a fucking bad-ass at drums and was able to get most of the songs down that night, in about 5 hours, having never heard most of them before. Propagandhi's "And We Thought Nation States Were A Bad Idea" was the 8th song, which we spent a lot of time on because it's pretty complicated. I sang all the songs aside from Sum 41's "The Hell Song" and Whole Wheat Bread's "Old Man Samson" (Warrn sang those). We wrote the songs on the whiteboard and checked them off when we played through them once. We renamed Western Addiction's "A Poor Recipe For Civic Cohesion" to "Paula Deen" because... well, they are interchangeable. ^^ I broke a guitar string (good god not again), and Teddy broke like 6 drumsticks (the carnage --> http://pic.twitter.com/kb7zQ471Ss ). It was a long hard day of practice, but I had been looking forward to it for a while and plus I hadn't practiced with a band since I lived in California in 2011, so I was having a blast! By the end of the night, we had played through about 17 of the songs once (but would everyone remember them tomorrow?)

We ended the night by going to Steak and Shake because they were the only thing nearby that was open and not named McDonald's. I had a tasty Blue Cheese Bacon burger or something similar plus way too salty fries (and I love salt).

Went to the hotel room and crashed. The craziest days (Thur and Fri) still lie ahead.



THURSDAY 8/8

THE SCRAMBLE.

Thursday was... rather stressful. XD

I discovered, rather out-of-nowhere (at about 11am), that we had to vacate the hotel room by noon. I didn’t know that this room was not going to be our main room that weekend and was in fact only a temporary room for Tues-Wed night. In fact, the whole room thing became a debacle entirely. I had thought the con staff took care of the reservation (since I was an invited performer at the con) but the front desk was still asking for a credit card with the full amount + $50 for a deposit. None of us had that. Luckily,  pandez swooped in wearing a Superman cape (ok, not literally, but that would have been sweet as fuck) and saved the day.

We did take a trip to the music store so Teddy could buy more drumsticks (that was before the hotel room thing). We then found out that Morearty’s friend in Indy who owned a music shop - and who had agreed to lend us a drum kit for the weekend - completely fucked everything up by taking HIS drums to the music store without any sort of reservation on them for us... so they were rented out to another customer. Me and Morearty (who, like me, was dangerously short on funds) had to plop down $171 on a drum kit rental as an emergency Plan B, as well as a gargantuan deposit (thanks again, Pandez!)... at least we got our 2 extra stage monitors as a result... but still, that pretty much killed any extra funds I had for the con.

Then, band practice again. Another 7 hours. Another 1.5 hours late arrival. Teddy set up his NEW drums, and we got to it. We had to see if we all remembered the stuff we learned the day before. The answer (for Teddy, who just learned it all) was ‘more or less’. XD

Warrn then had to learn 2 Green Day songs - “Welcome To Paradise” and “Westbound Sign”, both tuned a half-step down (GODDAMMIT) - as well as “Stickin’ In My Eye” by NOFX. That took a little bit, but we eventually got it down. Then came the finale... “So Long, Farewell” by the Vandals... a complicated as fuck song that we had slotted for the show closer... that we DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO PLAY! ;__; I practiced the riffs for a month straight, and we didn’t play it. But that’s ok, more on that later.

 TwitchDaWoof strolled into town around 8 or 9 and showed up at the practice at 10 with Morearty. We then banged through the first half of the set totally punk rock garage band style before we had to quit for the night. I think that practice session may have rocked even harder than the actual show! Guitars cranked, loud and noisy as fuck! I enjoyed every grueling second of it. ^^

Steak n’ Shake happened afterwards... again. Mmm, red velvet cake milkshake...

After getting back, I probably should have gone to bed, but it was the only night possible for us to go down in suit and hand out flyers for the show. Warrn and I got in suit and went downstairs, where we handed out a total of maybe 3 flyers before getting invited to go upstairs and drink with the guys we handed out flyers to! XD

That’s where we met  k0mplex  ryoxi  ~wesley~  keeatah and a few others! Awesome peeps, every single one of them! (if I forgot to include you here and we met Thursday in the room party, say something and I’ll include you! I did drink so I didn’t remember everyone. ^^)

Went to bed at 5am... the night before our big show. It was so worth it. <3


FRIDAY 8/9

THE SHOW

So even though  furrypunkrockmassacre had a show at 10:30 pm that night, we still weren’t done practicing! We had barely touched “So Long Farewell”, and we hadn’t gotten the vocals down on most of the songs. So at 4:00 we were back in the rehearsal room. I honestly don’t remember what we did before 4. I think we got Arby’s and they didn’t give Warrn his sandwich so he had to go all the way back (they gave him another one free though so it’s all good!) Oh, we also probably suited some... unless that was Saturday. Wait no, we went around putting flyers and business cards everywhere, and I had to get my con badge! Yes, that’s right. ^^

And I almost forgot about the whole “No Fursuiting In The Lobby Before 6” rule that threatened to ruin the entire IFC experience for many and became the butt of many a joke on twitter. There was even a staged fursuiter protest at 6 (which I wasn’t a part of due to being at practice). It was pretty ridiculous, but I think the hotel staff pretty much had their hands tied by the other fucktard meeting going on (can’t determine if it was the sorority or the business meeting that forced the furries to remain sequestered on the 2nd floor for their convenience). The hotel staff, despite this, was still awesome to us and worked with the staff on an immediate solution. Their willingness to work with us pretty much saved the con in this hotel going forward as far as I can tell. :3

Anyways, we finished getting the songs down (as much as we were gonna anyways), I practiced with paws and the head on for the first time that weekend (it’s harder than playing normally... by FAR) and we had to stop a little bit early so we could load up and make it back on time to get ready for the show. But before we went, we put our sticker on the wall of fame! (far right, 4th one up --> http://pic.twitter.com/NHJGquv7ah )

We got a hotel cart, lugged all our shit up to the 2nd floor and waited for Uncle Kage to finish his story hour. Then we moved our stuff in, around 8:30, and started setting up. As predicted, it took longer than expected (even though we had 2 full hours to set up, suit up and sound check).

By 10:20 (and a couple Yuenglings later), we were mostly soundchecked, but still had to get guitars down and vocals fully set. Some ...overzealous staff member who will not be named... kept rushing us in a very stern and agitated manner, leading to some of the sound settings not being perfect (and the soundboard recording settings not being ideal). But at 10:30, ready or not, the fans (I guess they were fans) started to pour in.

Alright, fuck the intro and stage entrance we had planned, let’s just fucking DO IT!

We plowed right into Dead Kennedys’ “California Über Allies” and the crowd, amazingly, started going nuts! The mosh pit was excellent, people were having a good time, even  bucktowntiger was there dancing and moshing (and I don’t picture him a veteran of the punk rock scene. XD) It just really was perfect.

We did bullshit and banter a lot on stage (to some people’s chagrin, I’m sure) but it seemed very natural and for the most part entertaining. I was actually worried I wouldn’t have anything to say, when in all actuality I was a motormouth. ^^

There were a few unwanted mishaps... my mic came out of my mouth at least 4 times and I had to go backstage to get it reattached... My belt came undone (as has become common at previous cons... I need a new belt) and I almost rocked my tail off (LIKE IN PRACTICE! --> http://pic.twitter.com/0yEiNNlWGH ). Also, I will never EVER again play a Green Day song at a show... Twitch’s guitar malfunctioned before the show (he played 2 songs on guitar) so my guitar that I had tuned and ready for the Green Day’s half-step down bullshit had to be used for Twitch’s part, and I had to tune mine down live to play GD... and tuned back again. Tuner was giving me problems because it tunes by vibrations, and there were A LOT of vibes going on in that room, so that was difficult and time consuming. But we got a lot of “DAMMIT, JT” quotes out of Warrn for that. XD

But even though we flubbed some parts of the songs and Twitch forgot some words (ok, a lot of words... “It’s punk rock, what do you want, perfection?” XD) we made it through all the songs, and the crowd ate it up! Seriously, the crowd fucking ROCKED! This is why I love furries and furry cons! I’ve played 8-10 shows with various bands at bars, clubs, schools, and NONE of them (save for 1) had a mosh pit that big, had every single person headbanging and getting into the music so much. I know furries aren’t the premiere demographic for punk rock, but everyone there seemed to have a great time, and all the compliments we received, and signing the set lists for charity, and everyone who congratulated us afterwards and told us they had a kick-ass time, it just meant so much! I’ve heard nary a bad word about our show, despite some of the flaws. Overall, not bad for learning 21 songs in 2 months and practicing as a band for 2.5 days right before the show. ^__^

We also ran like 30 minutes long because of all the bullshit (and bullshitting) but the IFC crew (and Firr in particular) was nice enough to let us keep playing, even though at the hour mark we still had like 6 songs to go. We finished up "Stickin' In My Eye", the 3rd to last song, and they came up and told us we had to stop. BUT WE HAD TO PLAY ONE MORE SONG... Luckily, it only took a second... literally! "ALL" by The Descendents is a one second song! After that, we put down our instruments and jumped off stage, believing the show to be over.

But it WASN'T over... Firr started a ONE MORE SONG chant... then the crowd joined in! And... that was so damn amazing to hear! We did NOT think we were going to get an encore request, and I was genuinely floored by the response! So we got back on stage, and got immediately off (with our wireless instruments. ^^) and played "Dammit" by Blink 182. The crowd went nuts, and the three of us not tied to a drum set played right in there amidst the chaos and cheering and singing and moshing (we actually moshed while playing a few of our songs)... it was probably the most amazing, wonderful concert experience I've ever been a part of (as the performing act). The furs that were there, their response made my night and probably my whole year. It was everything I was hoping it would be. ^___^ (we didn't get to play "So Long, Farewell", as I mentioned, but I was worried we might mess that one up anyways... and we literally could not have ended on a better note than playing the über-popular "Dammit" inside of a screaming throng of dancing furs. ;) )

I also gotta thank  pandez  kristofur  firr  speed_wolfy all the stagehands and everyone else at the con who helped us get set up and got us to sound awesome! We absolutely could not have done it without you! :)

A few little tidbits of Furry Punk Rock Massacre goodness.... more to come after the videos emerge! :)

pic.twitter.com/6Hs9NO4w7h (preshow)

pic.twitter.com/VpEgji50J3

twitpic.com/d7f0du

vine.co/v/hh6OFJg3rvY (VIDEO)

https://vine.co/v/hh6eQr5i0KF  (more VIDEO... 3 seconds is still something!)
http://tiny.cc/tere2w (from the IFC Facebook page [1/5])
http://tiny.cc/jire2w
http://tiny.cc/1jre2w
http://tiny.cc/nlre2w
http://tiny.cc/gnre2w
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11340512/

http://www.furaffinity.net/full/11351715/

After the show, I... think we went out suiting. Or was that Saturday? Man, I can’t fucking remember. Pretty sure I suited drank and partied in suit after the show... or perhaps I partied out of suit. Whatever, I partied dammit! We just played a FULL HOUR PUNK ROCK SHOW IN FURSUIT so you bet your sweet, voluptuous furry asses we partied! (well... I partied... I think Twitch fell asleep. XD)



SATURDAY 8/10

MORE SUITING

With the show out of the way, a lot of the rest of the con blended together honestly. I believe me and Warrn tried to wake up for the fursuit parade, but we were about 30 seconds late... that’s about how long the parade lasted. It started on time, and by the time we got downstairs, it was over.

But that was ok, it gave me and Warrn another chance to fursuit and be silly. ^__^ So we did, and pictures were taken!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11350057/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11349410/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11341853/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11337521/ (nuuuu, don’t thwop me! ;__;)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11357897/


We got to give lots of hugs, pretend rock out (cuz our instruments weren’t plugged in), played with a little kid (who LOVED all the suiters!) and just had fun in general. ^^

Later on, we went to a pizza place (whose name I can’t remember) and had some AWESOME combo pizzas! (Jamaican Jerk pizza and a crazy Meat Loves pizza) and that night we did manage to catch Twitch on Match Game. That was pretty damn hilarious! ^^

http://pic.twitter.com/PKnrak4n9H

Also that day is when I met  Sasha_Tanaka ... and I think earlier I met and he used me and Warrn and armrests because he’s like 7 feet tall. ^__^

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e.....ps7e866966.jpg



After match game, I went upstairs, took some shots from Morearty’s rainbow cock shotglasses (that I gave him ^^) and was ready to go downstairs and fuck shit up (metaphorically). However, some shit happened on our floor... apparently some fur got drugged and tore a light fixture out of the wall in the hallway, then had to be restrained by security and taken to the hospital... I won’t say who out of respect for that person, but that was a bit scary that such a thing would happen at a con we’re at, much less our floor. :/

Anyways, the situation was handled nicely by con staff and security, and festivities continued! I went downstairs in suit and soon found my way to a weenie roast happening in the freaking parking lot! Someone brought a little grill down and made hotdogs for everyone! It was... fucking... AMAZING! <3

Ate a bunch of those and hung out with folks, in suit of course. ^^ Then we noticed a giant bus pull up to the hotel... it was the tour bus for muthafuckin’ STYX!!! Styx was at our hotel! Holy Damn! :O

Took some pictures, but didn’t see the guys that night... nope, that was Sunday. ^^

Oh, and I finally met (AKA Telephone)... she’s fucking adorable. X3



SUNDAY 8/11

“DICK FOREST”

I am not sure why, but these are the words that stood out the most about Sunday, even though it was only a very brief moment. X3

I didn’t wake up until like noon because we stayed out til about 6 am eating hot dogs and being drunk, sweaty balls of fluff. I wanted to go to fursuit games at 1 pm (which is a very reasonable time to wake up for) but because it takes me forever to get in suit and I was still pretty lethargic, I ended up skipping it and opting to eat leftover pizza in the room instead.

Then, because we were too drunk to try it Saturday night, Warrn and I got suited up and took our guitars (which had been plastered with FPRM buttons and a sign that said “Buttons and Stickers for IFC charity”) downstairs to try and raise some money for the charity and promote the band. I strapped a tiny little guitar amp to my belt so I could be heard, and down we went, along with Morearty as our official handler/sticker-getter-outer/money-receiver.

I don’t know how many things we sold, but it was a fair amount. In the end, we ended up giving I think $60 to charity from what we had raised, plus a couple of FPRM packages with signed set lists, signed flyers, business cards, pins and stickers raised like another $30 (I think). Not too bad! ^__^

After a short break in the room, we went out in suit to the Closing Ceremonies! Wasn’t sure if they were going to mention the band or have us come take a bow or what, so had to be prepared. ;) They did mention us for a second, and we got some applause, so that was cool. ^^

Then we went downstairs to the front desk to settle our hotel room bill between the 5 of us. Of course 3 of us were in suit, so that made it interesting for the hotel staff, doing business with a bunch of giant talking animals with cash and debit cards. XD The ladies at the desk were super cool though, and they took a couple of pictures with us!

As we started heading back, who did we happen to run into but the stage manager and the keyboard tech for STYX just chillin’ in the lobby! Teddy had talked to them before on Saturday, so luckily it wasn’t just like walking up randomly in suit and talking to them for no reason. ^^

We all hung out and chatted for like 20 minutes, we talked about the band (STYX knows about FPRM now, and they have a business card XD) and eventually, the actual keyboard player for STYX came down, chatted a bit and took a picture with the band (and too!) Also, the keyboardist gave some of us a STYX guitar pick! I didn’t get one, but Teddy got one for me from one of the guys Monday morning! ^^)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRbIOSoCAAAX1Ef.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e.....ps4c39e6d6.jpg

Also took a pic with because, man... we COULD NOT have made this happen without his help! And because right after this, he took us ALL to Cheesecake Factory plus some of the AV staff and treated us to some damn good food!

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e.....ps8ec2bc56.jpg (all the win!)

At the Cheesecake factory, I had a giant-ass plate-bowl of GUMBO! It actually was a lot of damn gumbo, and pretty tasty!

http://pic.twitter.com/bj3FNmOYS3

Also, BIG ASS CHEESECAKE!!! http://instagram.com/p/c5WptNtE6A/#
#LOL

Sadly, upon leaving, we came across the remains of Combustible Hobo Joe. All that remained were these rachet-ass sandals. ;__; So to honor his memory, we posed next to them like gangstas. (it’s and ) http://pic.twitter.com/a9a87i2cKp

And so with bellies full of grub, we sauntered back to the hotel. I went upstairs and for a while, Morearty and I were taking cock-shots together (that is... shots from the cock shotglasses) #foreveralone

Later, much to my great pleasure, Pandez made good on his invitation and came up to our room to hang out some! We all smashed through a bottle of Rum-Chata, Frooty Loops rum, Baileys, Cap’n Morgan, multiple Yuenglings, and even choked down a couple of Guinness Extra Stouts (bleck!)... Ok, this happened throughout the weekend, not just Sunday, but still, we were DRUNK!

At some point, wandered through our open door in suit and chilled with us, and emerged out of thin air and dropped THIS in my lap (oh sweet heaven... I’m STILL working on this at home O_O) --> http://pic.twitter.com/D8fVNyW9qZ

We watched the “Girl That’s A Booty Hole?” video about 100 times ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aahPUCyS5Qo ) and then me and Warrn went to our buddy ’s room to continue partying.

No play by play action here >,> But somehow pretty much everyone removed their shirts [including one girl PRAISE JEBUS! ( o Y o ) ] I got to feeling a little... sick, so I visited the little tiggie room and ... expelled my sickness. >//> I was fine, it didn’t feel bad, and it made my stomach feel a lot better immediately, but people started to gather around the door and were getting concerned.

When I finally came out, there were like 7 people standing there looking at me. And then, they decided to make me feel better the best way they knew how... by unzipping their flies and letting their wangs unravel out in front of me, one by one. o///o

#DICKFOREST #TMI

It didn’t really make me feel better physically, but I got a pretty good chuckle out of it. ^__^

Then, at like 4 am, we went back to our room, drunk and sleepy. Packing would not happen til morning.



MONDAY 8/12

THE TETRISING

Twitch left at like 9 am, so when I woke up, Teddy, Warrn and Morearty were up packing. I started packing, but I had to take my morning crap too (it’s a ritual) and the guys were impatient enough to pack most of my shit for me (and by pack I mean throw into totes and bags however they fit. XD)

Went and got a cart, got stuff downstairs, saw one more time (congrats girl, you are the person I ran into the most throughout the whole con! ^^) and stood guard over our stuff for a bit while Warrn got the car around to the front.

Then came THE TETRISING...

With much sweat and effort (and to the amusement of one hotel staff member in particular) we loaded up the station wagon in such a way as to use every single available inch of space... every space between items, between the stuff and the windows, doors, ceiling, space between the two front seats... EVERY SPACE. It took a good 2 hours of arranging. Though when we tried putting Teddy’s drum cart on the roof with roof, we couldn’t get it to stop sliding around. So we had to have it hovering over Teddy as he sat in the backseat.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e.....ps4783a8db.jpg (red panda is displeased)

And Teddy drowning in stuff on the drive home! http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e.....ps3e826a0b.jpg

Well, after finally finishing packing of the car, the remaining band members (me, Teddy, Warrn) went inside and chilled in the lobby. We didn’t really want to hit rush hour traffic in Louisville, KY. :X

I ate my now 18 hour old cheesecake... well, some of it (that is some rich shit!) and a good chunk of my leftover gumbo. I had a debacle with the soda machine (three different ones) because I kept trying to get Sprite and Cherry Coke. When I pressed Sprite, I got Diet Coke, and Cherry Coke gave me regular Coke. One time I wanted Dasani, and THAT’S when it finally gave me my Sprite. :/ I changed out the offending beverages in the little shop behind the front desk.

We chilled with Voz and a dragon dude whose name escapes me at the big table in the lobby. It seemed like we were the last attendees at the con, and Voz and dragon dude were the last fursuiters left.

After being lazy and procrastinating as much as we could, we left the Sheraton in Indianapolis.

Drive home was... long. Not much of note happened, except for this --> http://pic.twitter.com/AG02AybSyr (a free me with my order! ^^)

And this --> http://instagram.com/p/c7vXd0tE7A/# (yay White Castle!)

Oh, and we got stopped at a random police checkpoint on a hick-ass backcountry road as soon as we hit my county. That’s how you know you’re in Iredell county. >,<

I did have to pick up my cab for work, and that was a hassle because ... it wasn’t there. I had to take another cab from the back. Oi...

Then, we crashed. Into the bed. With our bodies. And were immediately transported to Dreamland Center for the Zzzzz.



TUESDAY 8/13
IT CONTINUES?!

Well, yes... but I’ll be brief. ^__^

I got to enjoy the company of Teddy and Warrn for a bit longer, as they stayed at my house for one more whole day!

I also had to work... and ship Teddy’s happy drumming ass to a recording studio in Lincolnton, like an hour away each way. X__x

I also had to take Kat to work. And pick up food. And switch out my cab. And pick Teddy back up. And take someone to the airport. Did I mention I had 40 minutes of sleep before all this?

I had to pull over into a parking lot to sleep for 20 minutes on the way to get Teddy. I couldn’t get the food for dinner (everything was like 40 minutes away from each other thing). I had to come home and get out of the car before I plowed through the grill of another car, a stone wall, tree, elderly couple or some asshole on a bike.

But for dinner... Barbeque Brisket! NOMNOMNOM! ^__^

Teddy’s Greyhound left Charlotte at like 2 am. To my EXTREME GRATITUDE, Warrn took Teddy to the station at like 1 am so I could actually get something resembling sleep and go to work the next day.


THE REST OF THE WEEK

Yes, the social activity didn’t stop. It wasn’t part of the con, but it felt like an extension of it. :P

A couple days after Teddy and Warrn left,  bluehayze showed up at my door, swinging down for a visit from Tennessee on his way to Baltimore. It was great seeing my lion bro again. ^^

That Sunday, we had a furmeet with like 12 people at our house, including Blue. HOLY GOD... katalina TheDiverseZabuza goddessofthedead dragoncores ryusyro kurotama_kei013 cracked58 magnificentmimzy gjdolphin christianwolf Blue and myself. (wow, 12 exactly, lol!)

We played keep-away frisbee, had MAC-N-CHEESE OF DEATH ( http://instagram.com/p/dKr_p0y1HL/# ), played New Super Mario Wii ( Cracked is a team killer XD) and CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY! And then I had to do another airport run.

Blue stayed over for about 2 or three days after the meet was over, and we chilled and played video games and watched YouTubePoops and PonyMusicVideos (while in an... enhanced state of mind... aka EVERYTHING-IS-SHINY-AND-AWESOME MODE... >,>)

And yes, I did go to work during the day throughout all this. Because by that point I was one poor, broke-ass tiggie. :C

And when Blue left... the weeklong extension of the awesomeness that was IFC was finally over!


Man... now THAT was a CON EXPERIENCE!!! ^___^


Will definitely consider again next year! Though this year, being so close after AC and having to pay for the band things in a few different ways, it left my bank account absolutely smashed to pieces. Hopefully, if I do it next year, I’ll have a bit more warning and be more prepared.


But yeah, that was my epic IFC experience! The band’s first full concert! And seeing tons of awesome friends and making new ones. ^^ YAY!


Lastly, if you haven’t done so (and you want to), go watch my band’s FA FURRY PUNK ROCK MASSACRE and their twitter (@FPRMband) and hell, YouTube too ( http://www.youtube.com/user/FPRMband ). We were so happy and honored to rock out for IndyFurCon! ^__^

And if you were there and you have pics or videos of the performance (or of any of us in general) please let me know! Send them over in a note, email (furrypunkrockmassacre@gmail.com) or if they aren’t ready, at least note me or comment and let me know you have some! :)


Thanks again, IFC, for the awesomeness! :3

*out of breath*

*thwump*

-JT