I'm back from what will probably be the last SDCC I'll be able to go to for the immediate future...probably for the best, since I seem to have the uncanny knack to be everywhere the action ISN'T. Still, it was a load of fun, especially since this was the first one where my son was able to enjoy it as more than just a giant Swap Meet for rare toys.

It was a bit of a rough start, what with the connecting flight from Denver to San Diego first being cancelled then being reshuffled onto a smaller plane due to a hailstorm critically damaging most of Frontier's jets, resulting in our luggage getting lost and not arriving in SD until 3am the following morning. As a result, we missed both Wednesday Preview Night and (due to staying up since the airport said the luggage would be delivered by 11) Thursday entirely; not a major loss, since I got a bit of unrelated stuff done (still waiting on the college transcripts I was supposed to have waiting for me when I got back). After learning about the new policies regarding purchasing next year's passes (detailed on the previous journal which apparently only two of you read...thanks for the support and feedback on that, too, you friggin'...), we ultimately decided to just use the money for this trip, at least partially because my dad did NOT want to drive me down to the Gaslamp Quarter at 4AM for a CHANCE to get tickets for next year which we might not be able to use anyway.

Lines were horrible as always, but the panels were definitely worth the trouble, especially the ones with John DiMaggio (voice of Bender, Jake the Dog, etc.) on them. We managed to catch mainly the Cartoon Network ones, netting some good laughs and free swag from them (a "Moustache Cash Stash" coin purse from "Regular Show," a "Ben 10/Generator Rex" crossover keychain...hey, guess which two toons are having a crossover special, by the way?..and a Finn the Human hat from "Adventure Time"). Despite standing in line for 2 hours (literally standing, too...the guards refused to let anyone sit down in line), we missed the "Thundercats" premiere but got into the "Phineas and Ferb" panel after it, which was fun regardless (best moment: when a young fan had to catch his breath while asking when the title characters would ever kiss their girlfriends, making in it sound like he was asking when THEY would kiss, prompting the voice of Phineas to ask him, in-character, "What show are YOU watching?!"). My son, despite his trick ankles causing him pain the entire trip, was a real trooper, but for his sake, I kinda tried to keep line-waiting to a minimum as usual (we had to sit through a panel on inhuman romances in order to get to the "Adventure Time" panel...I did feel really sorry for the authors in it, though, because NOBODY was there for their panel AT ALL).

It was, really, kind of a bittersweet trip in general, because it was also my little sister's last Con and, possibly, the last time I'd see her in person, too; she's moving to Virginia to marry her longtime boyfriend. We...seldom got along as adults, even less as teens (she's where I got Maisy's shtick about refusing to be acknowledged as the younger sibling from), but I wish her health and happiness in her new home. On a lesser note, I also got a blunt reminder of how I probably totally flubbed ever using my years of visiting the Con to any advantage when, in the middle of one forum, I actually watched a group of cosplayers hook up with Cartoon Network execs right beside me; 24 years of going, and this was the closest I'd ever come to breaking into anything, watching someone else get THEIR shot. I tried to follow, but it wasn't like I was a part of it...great, now I'm an outcast at the fucking SDCC. I'm seriously running out of places to be run out of here.

Still, I got some swag, including a copy of Poser 8 for dirt cheap, some good memories, and I guess that's good enough.