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DenFur 2018 Wrap-up
7 years ago
I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.
I'm feeling pretty drained, but I'd like to go over this while it is still very fresh in my mind. DenFur was great, and I can see it becoming my once a year convention.
FRIDAY:
What I hate about setting my alarm clock is that my body seems to anticipate the alarm and wakes up before it goes off. Years ago while I was still in college, it would only be a few minutes before the alarm went off, but now, I end up waking possibly hours before the alarm. I woke around 4:45 A.M. and was in bed for about 15 minutes before realizing that I probably wouldn't be able to get the extra hour of sleep, so I got up and played on the computer until the alarm went off. I showered, played on the computer some more, had breakfast around 7 A.M., prepared a lunch, and headed off around 8 A.M. The drive to Denver took about 60 minutes, so I should have had ample time to get my badge and get ready for opening ceremonies. Except registration wasn't open yet. And when it did open, I had to get out of line twice because I was in the wrong line twice. So I get to opening ceremonies as it was starting, and I pull out my camera to record. But my camera had decided to reset its settings, so I had to set the time and date zone, meaning I missed recording part of the opening ceremonies. I know I should have checked it the day before, but I completely forgot. I also forgot to bring my water bottle, which meant I wouldn't be drinking water as frequently. Still, I was descending about 800 feet to the convention, so it's less of an issue for me. After that, I went to the character design panel, which was interesting. I then caught the fursuiting coveralls panel, which I wanted to do as I'm dabbling in fursuiting with my sort of a partial. I had lunch in the Sponsor Lounge after that, which was nice, because they were also providing snacks and beverages. I then spent a couple of hours in the Dealer's Den, as there weren't really any panels I was interested in at that time. Still, I was able to purchase a bunch of prints that interested me, including a print from DarkNatasha I had wanted to get at RMFC 2016 but had forgotten to do. I also commissioned RitzBitz for a scratch badge. Oh, and I bought a bar of soap from Soap Pony. I went with one that was apparently Bourbon scented. Having tried it now, it has quite an interesting scent. I went to Cooking With Foxes Vulpini after that, which was neat. I should subscribe to their YouTube channel now that I'm thinking about it. They made a fast ceviche, which was quite tasty. I went to dinner at QDoba after that, which was alright. Then I attended the ASL panel, which was neat. I could still use more practice, I'm sure, as I keep forgetting some of the alphabet signs. The packet should help, though. I was thinking of going to the My Wasteland is Better than Your Wasteland panel, but I was running out of energy at that point, so I headed for home at 7:30 P.M.
SATURDAY:
Woke up early again, although I think it was at 5:15 A.M., so I may have gotten a bit more sleep. Still, I played on the computer a bit, showered, had breakfast, prepared a lunch, and headed out around 8:15 A.M. I arrived at the convention around 9:30 A.M., so I hung out for a bit. The first panel I went to was the photography basics, although I missed a bit of it. But from what I caught, it was mostly about using Adobe Lightroom, which I don't have, so I'm not sure I'll be getting much use out of it. It was pretty neat, though. I spent some time in the Dealer's Den again, because I was having some problems adding up how much I had spent on Friday, so I had to backtrack and figure out just how much I had spent. But the math did add up, so there were no real problems. I went and bought some books from both Furplanet and Rabbit Valley, as well as two t-shirts and an art book from Michelle Light. I also went to the Artist's Alley and picked up some prints from Art of the Animal. I headed for Memoirs of a Yellow Doggo next, although I went to the wrong room at first and caught part of the So Your Kid is a Furry panel. Still, the story format of the panel was neat and the unstructured part afterwards with the audience was also neat. I again took my lunch in the Sponsors Lounge, and then went to set up for the Fursuit Parade. Considering the issues with the parade at RMFC in 2016, I think the parade turned out well. Granted, I could have had a better position for recording. Plus, it would have helped a little to know the route ahead of time, so I wouldn't have had to make a quick pan at the start of the recording. After that, I went to Writing and Publishing Your First Novel, which turned out interesting. The people who were supposed to be leading the panel didn't show up, so one of the attendees ran the panel instead. I went to the Fursuit Handling panel afterwards, although I accidentally caught part of the Mecha Furs panel because I went to the wrong room again. There was some information about handling that I hadn't realized before, which should help me in the future. I had to duck out near the end, because I had received notification that my badge was ready for pickup. After getting my new badge, I went to A World Without Us, which discussed possible apocalyptic events, as well as prior extinction events that have happened in Earth's history. I had dinner at Subway afterwards, and I was thinking about attending the Improv show, but I was running low on energy around 7 P.M., and the panel had been pushed back to 7:30 P.M., so I decided to head home.
SUNDAY:
I woke up twice during the night; once at 12:00 A.M. and once at 4:00 A.M. The second time I laid in bed for a while before deciding to get up. Same routine: played on computer, took a shower, had breakfast, prepared a lunch, and headed off to the convention. I managed to remember my water bottle this time, as I had forgotten it again the previous day. I also brought my duster and one of my brother's painted NERF guns as a bit of a cosplay. I went to the Fursuit Making for Beginners panel to start. I don't think I will be trying to build a fursuit myself any time soon, but it is an interesting subject. I think I wandered around for a bit, but I then caught part of the Nocturnal Furs panel, which was sort of a trivia session. I knew some of it, but I let other people answer the questions. I left a bit early to have lunch. After lunch, I went to the Dae's Luck Test panel, which was interesting. I ended up being one of the first participants, and it seems that my luck was good, because I ended up winning the first round, and received a large plush dog as a prize. The rest of the panel was also fun, with other people participating in various games. I went to the Improv workshop panel after that, which was something I think I had done at the last RMFC, but was still neat. Perhaps next time I'll participate more. I then went to make some last minute purchases in the Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Den, including a print from Kenket. After that it was time for closing ceremonies. Still, that ended up taking a while, partly due to the convention chair being busy and partly due to a lot of stuff going on during the closing. I decided to head home after that, as I didn't want to go to the dances, and I didn't bring any darts with the gun, so I couldn't do the NERF war. Plus, I had planned dinner at home.
So, I feel like this was a great convention. Maybe next time I'll be able to get a room at the convention, so I can spend more time at events. Plus, I could bring my tripod then, as holding up my camcorder for extended periods got tiring for my arms.
Well, that's all for now. I'll see you next time.
FRIDAY:
What I hate about setting my alarm clock is that my body seems to anticipate the alarm and wakes up before it goes off. Years ago while I was still in college, it would only be a few minutes before the alarm went off, but now, I end up waking possibly hours before the alarm. I woke around 4:45 A.M. and was in bed for about 15 minutes before realizing that I probably wouldn't be able to get the extra hour of sleep, so I got up and played on the computer until the alarm went off. I showered, played on the computer some more, had breakfast around 7 A.M., prepared a lunch, and headed off around 8 A.M. The drive to Denver took about 60 minutes, so I should have had ample time to get my badge and get ready for opening ceremonies. Except registration wasn't open yet. And when it did open, I had to get out of line twice because I was in the wrong line twice. So I get to opening ceremonies as it was starting, and I pull out my camera to record. But my camera had decided to reset its settings, so I had to set the time and date zone, meaning I missed recording part of the opening ceremonies. I know I should have checked it the day before, but I completely forgot. I also forgot to bring my water bottle, which meant I wouldn't be drinking water as frequently. Still, I was descending about 800 feet to the convention, so it's less of an issue for me. After that, I went to the character design panel, which was interesting. I then caught the fursuiting coveralls panel, which I wanted to do as I'm dabbling in fursuiting with my sort of a partial. I had lunch in the Sponsor Lounge after that, which was nice, because they were also providing snacks and beverages. I then spent a couple of hours in the Dealer's Den, as there weren't really any panels I was interested in at that time. Still, I was able to purchase a bunch of prints that interested me, including a print from DarkNatasha I had wanted to get at RMFC 2016 but had forgotten to do. I also commissioned RitzBitz for a scratch badge. Oh, and I bought a bar of soap from Soap Pony. I went with one that was apparently Bourbon scented. Having tried it now, it has quite an interesting scent. I went to Cooking With Foxes Vulpini after that, which was neat. I should subscribe to their YouTube channel now that I'm thinking about it. They made a fast ceviche, which was quite tasty. I went to dinner at QDoba after that, which was alright. Then I attended the ASL panel, which was neat. I could still use more practice, I'm sure, as I keep forgetting some of the alphabet signs. The packet should help, though. I was thinking of going to the My Wasteland is Better than Your Wasteland panel, but I was running out of energy at that point, so I headed for home at 7:30 P.M.
SATURDAY:
Woke up early again, although I think it was at 5:15 A.M., so I may have gotten a bit more sleep. Still, I played on the computer a bit, showered, had breakfast, prepared a lunch, and headed out around 8:15 A.M. I arrived at the convention around 9:30 A.M., so I hung out for a bit. The first panel I went to was the photography basics, although I missed a bit of it. But from what I caught, it was mostly about using Adobe Lightroom, which I don't have, so I'm not sure I'll be getting much use out of it. It was pretty neat, though. I spent some time in the Dealer's Den again, because I was having some problems adding up how much I had spent on Friday, so I had to backtrack and figure out just how much I had spent. But the math did add up, so there were no real problems. I went and bought some books from both Furplanet and Rabbit Valley, as well as two t-shirts and an art book from Michelle Light. I also went to the Artist's Alley and picked up some prints from Art of the Animal. I headed for Memoirs of a Yellow Doggo next, although I went to the wrong room at first and caught part of the So Your Kid is a Furry panel. Still, the story format of the panel was neat and the unstructured part afterwards with the audience was also neat. I again took my lunch in the Sponsors Lounge, and then went to set up for the Fursuit Parade. Considering the issues with the parade at RMFC in 2016, I think the parade turned out well. Granted, I could have had a better position for recording. Plus, it would have helped a little to know the route ahead of time, so I wouldn't have had to make a quick pan at the start of the recording. After that, I went to Writing and Publishing Your First Novel, which turned out interesting. The people who were supposed to be leading the panel didn't show up, so one of the attendees ran the panel instead. I went to the Fursuit Handling panel afterwards, although I accidentally caught part of the Mecha Furs panel because I went to the wrong room again. There was some information about handling that I hadn't realized before, which should help me in the future. I had to duck out near the end, because I had received notification that my badge was ready for pickup. After getting my new badge, I went to A World Without Us, which discussed possible apocalyptic events, as well as prior extinction events that have happened in Earth's history. I had dinner at Subway afterwards, and I was thinking about attending the Improv show, but I was running low on energy around 7 P.M., and the panel had been pushed back to 7:30 P.M., so I decided to head home.
SUNDAY:
I woke up twice during the night; once at 12:00 A.M. and once at 4:00 A.M. The second time I laid in bed for a while before deciding to get up. Same routine: played on computer, took a shower, had breakfast, prepared a lunch, and headed off to the convention. I managed to remember my water bottle this time, as I had forgotten it again the previous day. I also brought my duster and one of my brother's painted NERF guns as a bit of a cosplay. I went to the Fursuit Making for Beginners panel to start. I don't think I will be trying to build a fursuit myself any time soon, but it is an interesting subject. I think I wandered around for a bit, but I then caught part of the Nocturnal Furs panel, which was sort of a trivia session. I knew some of it, but I let other people answer the questions. I left a bit early to have lunch. After lunch, I went to the Dae's Luck Test panel, which was interesting. I ended up being one of the first participants, and it seems that my luck was good, because I ended up winning the first round, and received a large plush dog as a prize. The rest of the panel was also fun, with other people participating in various games. I went to the Improv workshop panel after that, which was something I think I had done at the last RMFC, but was still neat. Perhaps next time I'll participate more. I then went to make some last minute purchases in the Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Den, including a print from Kenket. After that it was time for closing ceremonies. Still, that ended up taking a while, partly due to the convention chair being busy and partly due to a lot of stuff going on during the closing. I decided to head home after that, as I didn't want to go to the dances, and I didn't bring any darts with the gun, so I couldn't do the NERF war. Plus, I had planned dinner at home.
So, I feel like this was a great convention. Maybe next time I'll be able to get a room at the convention, so I can spend more time at events. Plus, I could bring my tripod then, as holding up my camcorder for extended periods got tiring for my arms.
Well, that's all for now. I'll see you next time.
