Tuesday: Made the mistake of not going to sleep the night before I had to leave for Lewiston and catch my bus. But, I managed to stay surprisingly alert during the car ride down thanks to the parents of my roommate Nick. Got to the terminal right on time, thankfully. Ended up with a little surprise commentary because on the patches on the bag of holding, seems the guy was a big Nine Inch Nails fan. (Which I happen to have playing as I write this.) At around 0740 the bus showed up, on time for once. Last year it was insanely late. So I just boarded up, had my livebag stashed under the cabin and just went along for the ride down to Boston. Once there, we oddly were asked to de-board and step into the terminal for a 30 minute layover, even though many of us were just going right back onto the same hull. But after re-boarding it was a smooth run down to NYC. While I've been that terminal 9 times in the past decade, nothing ever really prepares me for just how fucking much I hate being there for more that an hour. This time, it was four and a half hours inside that cancerous station. Not to mention I inadvertently sat in some scumbag's discarded gum on the floor. Really, that terminal is just foul. So after four hours of that stupid shit, I was finally able to re-board for the Philadelphia leg of the trip. Even more boring until an unexpected and seemingly unplanned bus change in Philly. The replacement was still programmed with a Denver destination tag.

Wednesday: Rather uneventful at this point until arriving in Pittsburgh about 25 minutes late at 0630. Not that bad since I knew that and would be waiting for me in the terminal, which they were. Got in my first warm hugs of the trip and just kinda wandered around the Pitt. Shax was able to get into his room early, we couldn't without most of the party there. So Jesteen and I just camped out in the lobby with a few trips to the attached 7-11 before heading down to the Westin to pay a short visit. By around 1030 and showed up to the DoubleTree. Alty got checked in for the suite that he'd snatched up just as all of the other rooms in that hotel were vanishing. So we all went up into his room for a little while before choosing to get lunch over at Fernando's (Otherwise known as the Furryland Cafe). Then, in proper naval fashion, we stopped into the liquor agency on Liberty... Right next to Fernando's and Hanlon's. Grabbed up a retarded amount of booze, just really retarded. There was shit left over when I was leaving on Monday that got dumped. (I did save the Ryan's and Disarono however.) So we just waited around a bit for Cyn to arrive later that evening. While we waited, Alty unveiled the MK1 LulzMarine armor. I've got to say I can't wait for the MK2. The MK1 is massive, bulky, restrictive, hot, heavy, and complex. It also requires a team of two handlers to assemble around the wearer... Not good. I'll be drafting a few schematics for the MK2 when I get home... After finding out that the Zoo had opened early, Alty figured we may as well suit him up and give it a walk test. Let's just say that Lulz were had and that we found a few flaws in the suit that took Alty and Jesteen the better part of a night to repair/mitigate. 's flight got in around midnight, leaving myself and our friend to pick her up to avoid the rape fee of the shuttle. The ride in was pretty uneventful except for a few hugs and a lot of kisses on my part. More affectionate hugging from the whole group and a check in later put us in our own suite, sadly 12 floors below Alty since the hotel was fucking packed for Anthrocon. We just hung out in the room for a bit before we all chose that showers and sleep were in order.

Thursday: We all started waking up around 1000ish to just walk around the Pitt, waiting for registration to open up. A bit of a boring day since the convention wasn't truely kicking off, not all of the events and panels had started off. So a few of us went to the zoo or hung out in the room. After a few hours of that, Alty wanted to give the suit yet another test run down to the Zoo. This time it went a little bit easier, but ended up with the suit being out of commission until Saturday for a heaping load of repairs and painting. At this point, we were starting to get a little worried, as our 4th roommate was incommunicado and late. Turns out was delayed by idiot pilots and broken planes, but got in around 0130 while I was washing up. So finally, we were all at the hotel and ready to have a lot of fun for friday.

Friday: Got up around 1000 to help Cyn get her stuff carried down to the Dealer's Den for setup. Ran into while heading back in for the massive clusterfuck line to get into the Den. Talked a little bit as we knew that it was going to be a while. After all, just look at the records for attendance... 5100+ furs/dealers... Gods damn. Once inside, I knew there was a few places I needed to go. Cyn's table, 's table to ask about my troll bridge (Failed that, for the record), 's table for a copy of '11 Laws', then to 's table for my adorable test tube. Found out that Lizardbeth partially recognized me and let me know that Drake had swung by already and picked up the clusterfuck of badges he'd bought for his friends. Ended up running into Drake over near Cyn's table and met , gave him a hug for a little something that he did for Cyn back in march. Actually grabbed a can of Pringles for as a bit of a joke, I just wanted to give him a little inspiration for the mountain of sketchbooks he's working on. Got to do a little more running around the Den and actually picked up a tail for Bethany while I stuffed quarters into Mossy's gumball machine, winning a free sketch (It's fucking adorable, by the way). Though we were sad to see that it was kinda coming apart on the belt-loops, crummy single stitching. Though her tail is now with Cyn being fixed up when work and classes permit it. Found out that just before I was due to leave for the show with Jesteen, that Cyn had gotten a timeslot for a tattoo with , so I sadly didn't get to see it being done. I really really wanted to see it though. Thankfully it was recorded so that I could at least get to watch, but I really just wanted to be there for Cyn while it was being done.

Saturday: A bit of an uneventful day with a few outstanding events. Ran into a fox trying to get people 'to swallow his seed', as he had a Fernando's bowl filled with sunflower seeds. Went up to the roof with Bethany for a little while, just taking pictures of what was around the convention hall. Played a few games of Magic with Beth. What really set this night apart was the sushi party that Cyn holds every year over at the Original Fish Market. I knew a few people that were showing up like and Bethany. I was also told that was going to be there too. What I didn't know was everyone else that was going to be here. This list isn't exhaustive, just what I remember: Das Bo Schitt, , , . I can honestly say I was laughing my ass off at every single turn and leave here the words 'Endangered Bird Mating Season' and just watch the fun.

Sunday: Blah... It's a sunday, last day of the con and honestly the most boring of them. Nothing really eventful happened aside from Alty having to go home a day early. His leave chit expired on Monday, so being back before then was a good idea. Everything was winding down at the con, we were all kinda burned out and tired, but we got in a little more mayhem. Went down to the pool with Bethany for a little more swimming, just needing to clear my mind a little before I went to sleep.

Monday: Woke up around 1000 again and got packed up, Bethany and Jesteen both having set out earlier in the morning. We thought Scappo was going to be gone too, but he goofed up his departure date. After extending the hotel an additional day, I pretty much spent the time talking with him about a few topics of interest and hitting up the Subway. 2130 rolled around and alas I had to get going, after a heartfelt hug and send-off, I was on my way home to Maine. One last tweet in Pittsburgh from me read: "Good bye, vstpgh but alas my job needs me. As much as I'd like to stay where I feel most at home. But I will come back next year. ~Turk-E"