So what happened, Axel? I hardly saw you at FC if not, at all?

Well, I got sick. Soon as I departed from my house. I felt a cough coming on but I usually get that when I haven't slept in a while but on the trip down riding with Flinters, Tibo, ShawnTheGirl, Panda Phil, and my roommate Tyrnn, things started to go downhill and the rest was history.

However, with a good nights rest, I was confident I would be able to recover however the Motel 6 in Redding, CA had other ideas and the receptionist made sure we were roomed next to a family whom talk aloud like they're the only ones in the motel with paper-thin walls blocking no sound, and of course a youngster hell-bent on crying through the middle of the night with parents hell-bent on ignoring the tyke's needs for comfort. Mind you, I'm not blaming the baby- that's what they do at that age- Its an around-the-clock thing but ignorant parents, I very much blame them. So to the hole-ridden, and apathetic Motel 6 in Redding, CA, 2#$% you!

Unable to get some good rest, the cold got the best of my just in time for the con. I made a point not to hang around the dealers den like I do traditionally and just get in, get stuff, and get out. I had a feeling if I did, the rest of the gang would catch it during the con. Better later than sooner in this case.

The 2nd problem was with trying to rest at the con in the Marriot. I was staying with a good friend, Aphinity and Rainrat. Both are wonderful fursuiters and I love them very much so I'm not going to growl at the them because no one really intends to snore in order to keep people up but my goodness, they do snore. It doesn't help that my ears are the keenest parts on me as compared to my eyes but none the less I had to sleep through the day while they were out to get some meaningful rest. So to my friends, thank you for sharing a room with me but to sleep apnea and other sleep related disorders, @#$% you! I just can't seem to escape them whenever I go to FC and alas, at near point-blank range, ear plugs didn't work too well.

With my energy cut in half, I decided to mentor Jacfox and Turbobunny into first-time suiting instead of suiting up myself and I'm happy they both a good time especially with Jacfox in the fursuit parade. Most of my time was spent with "my boss" (term of endearment) Takumori, the one I make inflatable fursuit designs for. I even got to romp round in an inflatable dragon suit for half an hour. Its during that time I learned that I am no kind of breath-play person at all (cold doesn't help). I need to be able to breathe unrestricted in order to stay comfortable in these suits but the good news is that these suits with the small breathing tubs is just a preference of Taku and that these suits can easily be made with my ideas for ventilation in mind. Still it was a good experience in terms of self-discovery.

When I felt good enough, most of my time was spent at the artists tables in the convention center hanging out and working on art or more suit concepts. Those were the most relaxing times for me. There were some people like  deezlberries in and out of costume whom I wanted to chat with but I decided to keep my distance because I rather not send a "gift" back across the pond so sorry to those who wanted to chat but I felt it would be better not to take the risk.

My big Thank You! goes to the new artists I met at the tables and the kind exchanges.

My big @#$% YOU! goes to the ignorant (possibly deaf) arses playing on their Game Boys, iPads, and Android devices with the music and sound fx full blast and the same repeating background music for hours- drove me up the wall. Seriously, you come to a con to do that same crap you do at home except you get to shove it down everyone else's ears? How about next time, you give me your con registration money. stay home and watch me make much better use of it even with a cold. Is your imagination that stagnated in pop culture that this all you can do to express yourself? Video games? Even artists here half of which love videos games at the least have their own artistic take on video games and that's good enough. Blasting your gaming devices however while people nearby are trying to concentrate on their own artistic endeavors... no- that's not expression- that's just annoying and belligerent. Stay home until your true imagination thaws out. Hopefully sooner than later or worse, never.

I wish I was able to do more but alas, illness can happen at least wanted times such as this but hey, I don't have to take any time off to attend  vancoufur so why the heck not? Many thanks to the Marriot and their cleaning staff and their awesome job keeping our room tidy. Its the best I've seen to date. No one got trapped in the elevators as far as I know so that has to be a good point.

The best day was on the trip back as those were the days I was able to get some genuine rest. The Motel 6 in Rice Hill, Oregon reminded my that not all Motel 6's are cheap cardboard buildings with shady belligerent occupants and it was the best sleep I had at a Motel 6- in some ways better than the Marriot. Because of them I'm now in the phase of fighting this garbage off hopefully before this weekend when work starts back up. Hopefully many of you will be attending Vancoufur so I can meet and greet with you without health issues this time. See ya soon if the stars align.