Thankfully the fortune cookie I got a week or two ago which said "You will soon take a very pleasant and successful trip." was not just talking out its ass.

Drove in with Shou Lung on Thursday, with the confidence in my previous travel experiences thwarted for the second year by highway 279 no doing what it used to do years ago. Gotta remember that stuff, or at least not assume I always know better than Google maps.

I stayed at the Omni again this year. Nifty hotel, but involves a lot of walking over the course of the con weekend, which is getting rougher on my heavy 40-year-old frame. I find I'm not bouncing back from the late nights and miniscule amounts of sleep involved with con-going the way I used to. I quoted a lot of movies over AC, and all the quotes were "I'm getting too old for this shit."

This year Cory's cheesesteaks across the street from the Westin was replaced with Lesvos Gyros, which was a step up in my opinion. Tasty stuff too (OK, not the soggy fries) - I'm a total lesvian for their gyros. This year I finally got to go to 'Sushi Kim' with Shou and Ken Singshow, and enjoyed some very nice Korean food. Shou attempted suicide by spicy squid. (failed, but liked the meal regardless)

As usual, I spent long stretches trapped behind a dealer table. This year was a little different with my Femisapien robot as 'booth babe', waving around flyers and business cards, decked out in her hastily-produced fursuit made out of stickers and napkins. A common quote among passers-by was "Wait, did that thing just move?" followed by staring to see if it moves again. I sold and signed several copies of my new hardcover Sabrina Online book, enough to make me wish I'd brought along more than I did.

Pittsburgh public perception of furries and Anthrocon is getting more interesting from year to year. I saw a couple local news stories regarding the con, one being the standard "Furries and Anthrocon are here again", and the other being about F(e/u)rnando's being helped out by furries' donations, both very positive in tone. This year I'm seeing more folks being all touristy, taking pictures of the 'suiters, families practically throwing their kids at them for more photos. More panhandlers hanging around to capitalize on the con-goers too.

There was a little confusion with the Omni hotel this year. When checking in I was made an offer to trade my in-high-demand two-bed room reservation for one with a king bed for a discount. Fifty bucks off in exchange for little-to-no added inconvenience worked for me, so I took it. Apparently one hand didn't know what the other was doing, as the room was unknown to housekeeping and other staff through Friday. When the bill came at stay's end, the proposed discount was missing, but then so was one entire day, so... that worked out.

Thanks again to eveyone who stopped by to buy, say hi, talk for a while, draw something for me, have something drawn, just hang out, and everyone else in my not-playing-favorites way. Despite my previous grousing, a great time, all-told. Oh, and congrats to  ebonyleopard and  kayla-na

P.S. Seeing 'Asteroids' played on a convention center wall is pretty awesome.