I'm sure that some of the people reading this are already aware of this fact, but last weekend (May 31st to Jun 2nd 2013) was Califur IX - Furtual Reality.  Moonstar27 and I managed to get schedules and other considerations worked out so that we could get there.

I was quite looking forward to getting to CaliFur as I'd never been to a con before of any sort, truthfully. The closest I'd ever gotten to were a few events at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston and a Magic: the Gathering - Stronghold pre-release/rollout tournament. So this was going to be pretty much an all new experience for me!

A few things didn't quite go according to plan (a run for batteries turned out to be like a 3 mile hike, we missed the fursuit parade because they started early, we nearly didn't get our Sponsor benefits due to a mix-up at the registration desk), but in the grand scheme of things, it still went quite well, and we had a great time!

Moonstar was really looking forward to the rave on Friday, and he got to show off his moves pretty well; I've got some cell phone video of him flowsticking with a few of the other flowstick performers down on the floor, haven't gotten to watch it yet to see how well it came out.

One of the things I was looking forward to was a series of writing classes hosted by the guest of honor, Maxwell Alexander Drake ( https://www.maxwellalexanderdrake.com ), a noted fantasy author. I haven't yet read any of his works, though I picked up an anthology he wrote in. Seems like an interesting man, though I would NOT want him editing my work! He seems really strict about the craft of writing; which may be why he's a published author and I'm not. :P Still, got some useful techniques from him, if I have the discipline to actually USE them.

I also want to point out two artists that I met that both seemed really nice and could use some extra publicity. I got more than a few prints and other goodies from Patricia Peterson (located at https://www.facebook.com/ratgirlproductions or www.ratgirlproductions though she's having some website issues right now). If anyone reading this is a Disney's Gargoyles fan, she's also a pretty big fan and does the art style pretty well! I'm considering having her draw my Gargoyle (or Gargoyles!) later on. I also ran into FA's own  Thornbane at the canine meet-up; she's not taking commissions right now, but keep an eye out, as that may change fairly soon and her art is really good! I also got to meet Terrie Smith and Megan Giles, so a little bit of celebrity 'squee' on my part. :D

Looks like the next stop on the road to furrification is the Big One: ANTHROCON!

Much, much too late to do anything for AC, of course, but I'm also considering taking another big step: Getting at least a partial fursuit based off Occam; if anyone wants to recommend a realistic artist, I'll totally take a look. I just don't like the idea of looking like a high school sports team's mascot, so I don't want to go for the toony style. I'm certainly going to check with Mallory ( http://fun-fur-all.com/ ), the artist that did my ears and tail, but I want to keep options open. ^-^