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Reflections on Furnal Equinox
2 years ago
I promise I’ll try to keep this brief.
Those of you who glanced at my previous journal know that I attended Furnal Equinox in Toronto this past weekend. This marked my first trip outside the US since 1977 and with only a slight misunderstanding on my part at the border, the trip went well. Now I know the drill and any future travel should be as smooth as butter.
My dear friend,
DaiCymru arrived at the convention hotel after me. I met him in the lobby and, after settling his stuff in the room, we went to The Fox for dinner, and then registered for the con.
Friday was a busy day at the convention and thanks to Dai, I finally met some good online friends face to face. I was especially excited to meet Valerie Gershman, a.k.a.
Spiderdragon, and 
S00T who both contributed art to my Long Division project. I also met 
Kindle_Wolf, 
WolfPsalm, 
ChewyTheWolf, 
TheLivingShadow, 
HBruton, 
SandySchreiber, and others. Dinner that night at Storm Crow with Soot and Kindle was fantastic.
I took some time away from the con on Saturday to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and spent a considerable amount of time there. Thanks to Dai, I was invited to join him and a few others for dinner at The Original Spaghetti Factory. Among those in attendance were
Fulminar and 
MatthiasRat. Matthias lives near my old stomping grounds around Pittsburgh and it was great meeting these folks.
Sunday was another day away from the convention for me.
DHLawrence1985 met me at Little Canada and showed great patience as I shot photo after photo. Dan introduced me to a great little diner called Fran’s and then accompanied me to the Toronto Railway Museum. We parted ways after that with him returning to the con hotel and me headed for Ripley’s Aquarium. The Aquarium was packed so I abandoned those plans and headed back to the con as well, stopping for a Beaver Tail on the way.
I made it back in time for the closing ceremony and one final round of the dealers’ den. There, I bumped into Strypes, the zebra referee. Since I am a real-life referee, I asked and he graciously posed for a photo with me.
I was invited along to a convention wrap-up dinner, arranged by
catmonkshiro and attended by several of my other new acquaintances. I’m now confident that I can use the Toronto metro system to get around if I need to again.
I’ll close this long (I really did try to keep it short) ramble by reiterating my thanks to Dai and Dan for playing tour guide, to Soot and Valerie for their outstanding art, to Shiro and all the others who helped this FE newbie feel at home.
Those of you who glanced at my previous journal know that I attended Furnal Equinox in Toronto this past weekend. This marked my first trip outside the US since 1977 and with only a slight misunderstanding on my part at the border, the trip went well. Now I know the drill and any future travel should be as smooth as butter.
My dear friend,
DaiCymru arrived at the convention hotel after me. I met him in the lobby and, after settling his stuff in the room, we went to The Fox for dinner, and then registered for the con.Friday was a busy day at the convention and thanks to Dai, I finally met some good online friends face to face. I was especially excited to meet Valerie Gershman, a.k.a.
Spiderdragon, and 
S00T who both contributed art to my Long Division project. I also met 
Kindle_Wolf, 
WolfPsalm, 
ChewyTheWolf, 
TheLivingShadow, 
HBruton, 
SandySchreiber, and others. Dinner that night at Storm Crow with Soot and Kindle was fantastic.I took some time away from the con on Saturday to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and spent a considerable amount of time there. Thanks to Dai, I was invited to join him and a few others for dinner at The Original Spaghetti Factory. Among those in attendance were
Fulminar and 
MatthiasRat. Matthias lives near my old stomping grounds around Pittsburgh and it was great meeting these folks.Sunday was another day away from the convention for me.
DHLawrence1985 met me at Little Canada and showed great patience as I shot photo after photo. Dan introduced me to a great little diner called Fran’s and then accompanied me to the Toronto Railway Museum. We parted ways after that with him returning to the con hotel and me headed for Ripley’s Aquarium. The Aquarium was packed so I abandoned those plans and headed back to the con as well, stopping for a Beaver Tail on the way.I made it back in time for the closing ceremony and one final round of the dealers’ den. There, I bumped into Strypes, the zebra referee. Since I am a real-life referee, I asked and he graciously posed for a photo with me.
I was invited along to a convention wrap-up dinner, arranged by
catmonkshiro and attended by several of my other new acquaintances. I’m now confident that I can use the Toronto metro system to get around if I need to again.I’ll close this long (I really did try to keep it short) ramble by reiterating my thanks to Dai and Dan for playing tour guide, to Soot and Valerie for their outstanding art, to Shiro and all the others who helped this FE newbie feel at home.
Thanks again for rooming with me, and for a superb weekend. ^__^