Oh hey, it's time for one of these again! Totally forgot to make a pre-con-meme journal update. Ah well.

Day T-1: I arrived Tuesday. I took the Megabus from LA, which was a mildly positive experience (its primary assets are cheapness, no TSA liquid guidelines, no layovers, and power outlets/unrestricted device use during travel; the Wi-fi is indeed free but very unreliable in terms of sustained connectivity); however, based upon where it stops in relation to my home, I had to get up at 3:45 AM to make the whole day of travel get going properly, for a 1:00-PM-ish arrival time. After arriving (via the newly-discovered, free, DASH shuttle) and waiting in the Marriott's lobby for a while so that housekeeping could ready my room, I was checked in and finally got to put down my luggage. I immediately located the nearest pharmacy (because they are such familiar places for me), procured some supplies there and at Safeway (ginger ale is a must, because there's always somebody I know at a con who has an upset stomach), got a Vietnamese haircut at Great Clips, learned about San Jose's plastic bag ban and homeless problem, and returned to my room. The only sign of anything furry going on was  Walden Wilde's streetlight banners--I felt like some kind of pioneere. A horribly uneventful evening was averted by getting in contact with my buddy who lives a few blocks from the Marriott--he's not precisely a furry, but loves roleplay, so he actually used to be a Beekin on Furcadia. Go figure. I went to his place, hung out with his girlfriend, roommate, and one of said roommate's friends, ate at La Victoria, and played through an entire expanded deck of Cards Against Humanity. Good times. "The only certain things in life are death and survivor's guilt." Fortunately, she was able to give me a ride back to the hotel, because at that hour, walking would have been inadvisable.

Day 0: Wednesday. I ate at Peggy Sue's that morning, and saw  Tsukaza on the way there, making me feel much less like the only furry in downtown San Jose. Having stayed up late, and with no morning plans, I'd slept in somewhat, so it wasn't terribly long before I was getting to greet my dear friend  SunriseFox with no small number of hugs, plus sushi for both of us and his amigo Doc Fox. The furry count was still on the low side for most of the day, but we hung out with his temporary roommates  ranan and  ONightwish, who are great people and totes adorbs with one another. I'm pretty sure some fursuiting also happened that day. Sunrise was super-sleep-deprived, though, so after some scritches-induced napification on his part, I went back to my room to await the arrival of roomies-to-be  Stigmata and  Knuxlight. Stig is a talkative and unique individual, and our entire con experience was like a periodically-interrupted banter stream; it was pretty great. Knux apparently had some issues with planes breakin' down and so forth en route, but eventually arrived in one piece. The three of us stayed up having slumber-party-grade chatter ("Jonathan, tell me your dreams?") until like 3 AM.

Day 1: Thursday started way too early, with Knux's iPad alarm going off at 7 AM with an Owl City song I'd never heard before. Apparently Stig hates Owl City. Since I was awake then, regardless of desire to do so, I went with them to Jack in the Box for breakfast, and learned that there was little there for non-pork-eaters such as myself--and also that the mini pancakes somehow smell like Lucky Charms. Helped Stig go get some demo prints at Kinko's, then hung out with Sunrise and went fursuiting. There were like a bajillion elementary school kids going on some kind of local field trip, and Sunrise and I joined the line of fursuiters that had formed to give them high-fives and brofists/hooves as they walked by, which was actually pretty neat. (I should mention that I was not suiting; I don't own a suit.) I again spent most of the day with Sunrise, including lunch at the super-delish Pizza My Heart (and post-lunch Chocolate Therapy at the Ben and Jerry's next door) and helped him de-funk his suit and move his gear to the room he'd be sharing with an Atlanta fellow whose name I can't recall (Anthran?) for the rest of the con. We went to P.F. Chang's for dinner, as well. Per his admission, though, I showed Sunrise a rather good time, all told--which was indeed the idea! We also stood in the pre-reg line, which moved surprisingly quickly (I forgot to pre-reg last year, which was a mistake I hope I'll never make again). The fourth roommate,  t0ra, showed up late that evening, and the presupposed fifth, a Kiva person who I've never met, never materialized. I also know I ran into  Yasha some time that day, but I can't recall when/how exactly.

Day 2: Friday--when the con really kicked into full gear. Thursday had seen quite a few furries in the Marriott lobby, but nothing compared to Friday. First on the agenda was breakfast, of course, which I took with Tora at the nearby Bijan Bakery/Cafe (a really good place, for those of you who haven't been). Then I hightailed it over to the Dealer's Den, because I didn't want to repeat the AC experience of missing out on slots from people I wanted to commission. Snagged ones from Gideon, Spelunker_Sal, and Vantid, who I'd literally missed out on at AC (the latter two were take-homes, so you'll have to wait to see them), plus badges from  LauraGarabedian and  Arupaka (a button badge!). These people have such cool business cards! Crossed paths with hypnobeast and picked up my textbook from him, from last year's FC. Returned to the room and found Knux not feeling well. Nursed him back to health with some ginger ale (see?) and we went to  BuckHopper's Voice Acting Workshop. Knux had to leave partway through for another panel, but both of us got some recording in; the files should appear in http://furrybasketball.com/VAW/ after Buck finishes his editing and so forth. Neat guy! Went to Subway for dinner--but not before briefly running into  lyonlover for a hasty introduction, and thus losing the rest of the crew ( BongoQueen, dago, Lumaberry, and Dragoninja, rounding out the San Diego crew with Tora and Sunrise) and accidentally going to a Subway further away in the confusion. (Further Confusion, perhaps? Eh? Eh?) Found out Tora had a headache, and gave him one of my magical neck rubs while we watched The Regular Show with Knux (who was sick again--apparently the Zebra Balls from Psycho Donuts really didn't agree with him...twice). After he felt better, I stood in the epic line for the FCDC with Tora for a while, but wasn't particularly interested in attending per se, what with how it turned DarkShift off to dancing last year, and ran into Yasano again. After taking all 15 flights of stairs back up to my room far too quickly, we sat and chatted for a good long while, and were eventually joined by Stig and Vet...something, Alex, who apparently also knew Yasano, making things a weird little small world (as they usually are at furry cons). Knux later showed up, evidently drunk, and crashed in my bed for 5 hours after doing some very amusing inebriated antics. Eventually got to bed very late, on account of awaiting Tora's fursuited dancing posterior so that I could justifiably evict Knux's drunken lionbutt from the shared bed.

Day 3: Saturday. Initially skipped breakfast on account of groggily sleeping in until nearly 11, so that I could nip down to the Dealer's Den and pick up my finished commissions, as well as select a few more. Queued up a watercolor badge from  Skulldog, which turned out awesome, as well as a post-con Certified badge commission from marymouse, and information from melociraptor and zhivago for future commissions (I'm looking forward to the "Being a shapeshifter means..." sheet). Then went to Bijan again for breakf...brunch, which I had solo--though the bakery was much busier, on account of the volleyball tweens having arrived. (You'd think they'd learn to schedule their tourney some other time...or place...) Watched pretty much everybody I know in the Fursuit Parade, while standing next to three Mexican housekeeping ladies who were videotaping it on their phones. Attended Hypnobeast's Become Your Fursona panel, which was interesting stuff, and laid down plans for collaborating with him on next year's panels. Connected with the whimsical  iron_fox21, since he'd been at both of the panels I'd been to thus far, and had quasi-dinner with him at Iguanas, which is rather more purple than I'd expected. I wish him all the best in his brewing endeavours. Gave Sunrise a neck rub while we hung out near the fursuit photography area. Went hot-tubbing and swimming with Tora and  Hallet, which proved surprisingly pleasant (normally I don't enjoy swimming very much). Showered up while Tora used my computer to peruse some of the Blotch's Scratches collection, then went to the party floor to see what that even was. Turned out to be made of lines, plastic wrap, and people who were already behaving badly, so I just said hi to Lucky (since he didn't seem to think I'd ever show up to one of his Communist Parties) and Tremorwolf, who was waiting in line for the Klingon party, and helped Tora get suited up so we could hit the dance. Some of the San Diego crew (now including  Shoyo and  silentstorm ) were contemplating hitting up Frolic, but word on the street was that some kind of water was involved, and Tora was worried about getting his Tobasco suit's low-hanging tail wet and/or muddy, so we stayed at the con and just got our feet in gear for the music. Turned out not to go so well, what with not enjoying Moombahton as much as Kihu apparently does, plus the whole Dipset thing souring a lot of non-AdventureCru moods. Eventually Kihu was replaced by someone else, the music got a lot more danceable, and we got our groove on until the dance closed.

Day 4: Sunday. The mood was noticeably different on Sunday around the con, with people already beginning to leave (Sunrise was on a plane back to Florida by 11, e.g.), and the rest trying to cram in as much fun as they could before it all came to an end. Had breakfast at Bijan with my mom, who just sort of voluntarily came to San Jose once she heard I'd be there, in hopes of seeing me, and showed her around the con area--had some bubble tea from Hydration while we were at it. Picked up my remaining non-post-con commissions, contemplated but ultimately decided against getting a custom plushie from...from...I can't remember her name now, and did some tarot reading for myself in the lobby--all of which has so far turned out to be eerily accurate. Also hung out with Vivi and Yumi (I don't know their FA names), Anaheim locals, who are fun conversationalists and another totes adorbs couple. Lacking much to do thereafter, and with most people off getting in last-minute activities, I spent some time working on stories in anticipation of Sofawolf's evening Getting Published panel, which was informative and encouraging--expect an author profile from me soon. Helped Tora get his luggage to the light rail station in preparation for his imminent departure, and hugged him goodbye, which made me all kinds misty, even though he only lives like 40 minutes away from me these days. Couldn't seem to find anyone who hadn't already had dinner or exclusive plans in the works, so I went to dinner with my mom at Tandoori Oven, and then desserted at Bijan (finally tried that guava mousse that had been making eyes at me every morning at breakfast! So worth it.). My mood had soured considerably, so I continued to work on textual things, and Knux and Alex and Stig eventually showed up in the room at various times and we hung out a while, talking about all manner of things. Got to bed quite late, after spending hours trying to see if anyone was interested in doing anything more substantial (but no dice).

Day 5: Monday. A somber day if ever there was such a thing. The frenetic last-minute energy of the con had vanished, leaving behind all kinds of wistful feels--but then, what would one expect, with so many goodbyes going on? Packed up my stuff, had Stig and Knux do the same, went to McD's for breakfast with my local quasi-furry bud mentioned above (yay hotcakes!), collected the stuff Tora inadvertently left behind, used the video checkout feature (isn't technology amazing?), and hung out with my local bud for a while, shooting the breeze and watching him try to fit a Twister mat back into its box. A quick ride to Diridon Station later, and I was on the Megabus headed back to LA.

Lots to do, of course, and the con wasn't short on fun--but I did often find myself disappointed by how few people were willing to make time for me--particularly individuals who'd previously committed to doing so. Granted, I wasn't even that eager to see my mom, what with her just crashing the Fairmont and everything, but I did even make time for her, so it kinda stung when I was left out by others.
I still don't regret going, all the same. Getting to finally hang out with Stig in a non-Artist's-Alley setting was neat, since he's a very unique individual and fun to interact with. I missed Sunrise like the dickens, too, so seeing so much of him was great. Knux is also a cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything, and previously I'd only ever like bumped into him at cons or haunted his streams or what-not. Tora's one of my best buds, so I can always do with more of him in my life. The panels were also totally not a waste of time, which was one skepticism I'd had about many furry con panels in the past (despite running one myself)--they definitely provided insights I plan to utilize going forward. This con also constituted the most money I've ever spent on commissions at a con (as well as the largest overall number of commissions)--amazing what getting a job can do! I'll have to be more specific with badge commissions in the future, though--while Laura and Arupaka's badges were technically very capable and well-made pieces, I probably was ill-advised in giving them so much artistic freedom, since neither one is immediately recognizably Terra. Skulldog's, which was specified more closely, was every bit as well-made, but much more representative.

I realized, too, that cons tend to be a place of magnified emotion--perhaps it is because we are all able to be much more open about ourselves in such a setting, creating more transparency. For this reason, a good time becomes a great time, but things which are not positive also become similarly exaggerated. Still, what is a magnifying glass good for, if not providing clarity and granularity? I'll be making some changes, in light of my insights from FC.

I'm sure I've missed some people, and I know some furs prefer not to have the large-scale recaps, but I'm not one of them! If I missed you, feel free to holler; you are not intentionally omitted. (:
Take care, all! My next con will probably be Califur, and I'm also planning for AC, so I may see some of you at one of those. Elliott's is also a possibility, depending. Cheers!