Sorry the journal is kinda late. Been dealing with catching up with school work and getting over the major PCD I got when I got back home.

One of the best weekends I've had in awhile. No joke! Some of the most fun I've had in years!

Thursday:
Alarm woke me at 9:00am. and my plane was scheduled to take off at 10:30. Scared me a little but I was able to get to the airport on time. It was also very nice of the TSA to find my favorite long lost pocket knife as I was going through security. It won me a free groping session! yaaaaay..... -_-

Got to Pittsburgh without much more trouble and was greeted with a huge sign saying "Welcome Anthrocon attendees!" I thought that was so cool! X3

I got to the hotel and met up with  Goast  Apari  leasoncre . Our room was awesome! Quite spacious and nice for the money! After waiting in line for nearly 2 1/2 hours for registration (seriously, I'm never registering onsite EVER again) and said hi to  pinyon and  spazzoid I met up with my roommates and  chayce and we decided to walk the convention area, as the con didn't start officially until Friday. We walked the beautiful water front and had a great time. It was at that time that I felt the con was going to be something different. Something special.

Friday:
Woke up at about 10:00am. Grabbed some breakfast with the roomies and headed over to the convention center to attend the opening ceremonies. I had never before attended the opening ceremonies for any con and I thought it was really well put together. The con chair, Uncle Kage announced that the mayor of Pittsburgh had officially declared July 5, 2014 as Anthrocon Day in the city. This was the first time I had seen a city embrace its local furcon in such a manner! Most cities of the cons I've been to treat us with an attitude that's along the lines of "here's the space. Have your fun, then leave". It was a really refreshing change of pace.

After the guests of honor were introduced and the Charity was presented to the con, Uncle Kage declared the con open. Afterwords I goofed around with some friends before attending the "Your First Anthrocon" panel hosted by Uncle Kage and some of the other staff. Was fun seeing some new furs get the downlow about attending cons. lol

I then attended the panel "Myths About Fraternities". Being in a fraternity myself (Phi Kappa Psi for those who are curious) I had a lot of fun particapating with the audience. The host of the panel  Doman_Ryler , a brother of Alpha Tau Omega himself, was kind enough to let me answer some of the audience's questions about the nature of fraternities and fraternity life. Was a good time!

After that I walked around getting a few pictures of suiters and checking out the dealer's den for any potential purchases and saying hi to a few artists that I wanted to meet. After that I peaked in on the Fursuit Construction panel hosted by Mineau the Dolphin.

After that I met up with my roommates and we went to Uncle Kage's Story Hour and laughed our butts off. When Uncle Kage gets some wine in him, you know you're gonna be entertained.

I then met up with my good friend  Chayce and we grabbed some food from the famous Fernando's. I got the lasagna wrap and proceeded to meet God himself while eating it, much to Chayce's amusement.

After goofing around with my suiter friends we all went up to the roof of the convention center and enjoyed some amazing fireworks to finish an awesome first day at the con!

Saturday:
Woke up at about 10:30 am and grabbed some donuts with the roomies. Not much was happening early Saturday con-wise that I wanted to attend so I hung around with my friends for most of the morning and early afternoon. Had awesome fun handling for  Apari , He's already making big waves with his "Mo-Husky" suit!

Eventually The time for the Fursuit Parade rolled around and  Apari Changed into his Tipps the Ferret suit to participate in it. I sat with  Chayce and  spazzoid (who was sadly not feeling well and was unable to suit during the event) and we enjoyed the parade together, getting some awesome video in the process. (I may upload the footage later).

After the parade we grabbed some quick food and after some playing around I went to the "Feline Friendly Furry Fiasco" panel hosted by Mizuhiro Neko. Met some awesome fellow felines. Though someone brought yarn. Big mistake bringing that into a group of cats. XP

After hanging around the Dealer's Den and checking out some of the art in Artist's Alley Me and  Goast checked out the Floor Wars. Probably some of the most incredible dancing I've ever seen. Especially those who were competing in fursuits! I can't imagine the heat! >.<

Me,  Goast and  Pinyon went and ate at Tonic's. An excellent bar and grill. The honey mustard was to die for! X.X

After that we all hit the dance floor. Which was some of the best fun I've had in a long time. Someone had brought a huge play tarp and everyone was goofing around with it. Running under it while others held it up. Truly an awesome memory I wont soon forget!

Me and my friends goofed around the rest of the night before falling asleep around 2:00am

Sunday:
Not much was going on this day and we were tired from dancing the previous night so we all slept in a little. Getting up around noon. After grabbing some brunch we headed over to the con center to watch the dance competition. Wow! So much heart put into these dances. Awesome to see! Sadly, I had to leave it a bit early in order to go to the Greek Life Meetup panel. There I saw  Doman_Ryler again and met some other fellow fraternity and sorority members. Was pretty fun and I hope to catch the next one!

After the meet was over I met back up with  Goast and we went to the Uncle Kage and 2 Gryphon charity show. My gosh, these two make one of the best improv duos I've ever seen. They play off of each other so perfectly. And Foxamoore playing music in the background of their antics made it all the more entertaining!

I also said a surprise hello to  kenson . Always awesome to see him! ^w^

Sadly, after it was over, the end of the convention was drawing near. We played around in the con center as much as we could before heading back for closing ceremonies. The staff reviewed the events of the weekend and concluded that it was the best con in recent years. They then totaled the amount of money made for the con's chosen charity, which came to a little over $28,000. I thought this was incredible news and it moved the charity's representative nearly to tears. But then something even more amazing happened.

I don't know if furries have severe OCD or what but they just couldn't let the money raised be under $30,000. Right then and there, hundreds of those gathered walked up to the stage and emptied their wallets at the staff's feet. Over $2,000 additional money raised in under 5 minutes. This was almost overwhelming to the charity rep. and was a very proud moment for the convention. I was so proud to be a furry at that moment.

After presenting the charity with the big check and a final word from the guests of honor, Uncle Kage declared Anthrocon 2014 a huge success and officially closed for the year. It was sad but they also announced the themes for upcoming years. Next year is Viking Invasion! 8D

After that, we took a short break in our room before heading back out to enjoy the last hours of the con. We headed to the Westin as the convention center was now closed. As we were goofing around,  Goast was in his banana suit, we happened to pass by a photoshoot of Angel dragons. Which  Goast got dragged into and adorably mauled. Luckily, I got it all on film!! --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76d91IGXF8

After rescuing him from the dragons we hung around in the westin "zoo" area for most of the remainder of the con. There was a small Dead Dog party but it was pretty dead sadly. After hanging out till about midnight Me and walked around the con one more time and said hi to again. We then went back to the hotel to end an awesome con experience!

Monday:
Alas, the saddest day of the weekend arrived. Time to go home. :C

was the first to leave so I didn't get to say a proper goodbye sadly. Hopefully next time!

The next to leave was , who took off about 1:30pm I believe. Leaving me and to kill some time at the Omni before I headed out too at 3:00pm. Poor didn't get to leave until midnight that night!! You're a brave person man. I could never do that! X.X

After some traveling I arrived back in OKC and drove home to Norman. Where the PCD REALLLLYYY began to set in. lol

Had an amazing time and I want to thank everyone who helped make it a special weekend for me. Too many to list. You know who you are! X3