This is gonna end up like AC 2013.

That was my first thought upon arriving to MFF 2019. You see, AC 2013 was my first-ever con, and if you know anything about big cons you know that it's a recipe for disaster to go by yourself. AC 2013 was a sensory overload and left me feeling pretty down on the first day, and I felt similar on the first day of MFF 2019. That's probably because I've been stressed out and worked to the bone at my new job since the end of summer. The con snuck up on me and I couldn't get much time off, so I had to work a full day before beginning my journey to Chicago. That left me super tired and disinterested when I finally got to the Hyatt, just when everybody around was keyed up and ready for con fun. It got even worse that evening, when the macro meet happened. For some reason it's *still* in the hallway, even when it clearly attracts well over a hundred people. I came to meet some friends to perk me up and take a few photos, and instead we were all shuffled from room to room. and left with very little wiggle room. Con staff wasn't really happy with us clogging the thoroughfares and ultimately broke us up. Before that even happened I got fed up and went back upstairs. I felt like a creep standing around with my fursuit paws in hand looking for a friend to chat with and finding nobody. 

An unofficial macro meet later that night turned everything around. I want to wholeheartedly thank Nightraver, Sovrim, Catbot/Sofia, and Ian for their props and photography skills. We had a nice, long, fulfilling shoot with plenty of stompy fun. The con was miles better from then on out.

Highlights of MFF 2019 included:

- Hanging out in a room with a bunch of cool sergs, hosted by  furtherinsanity. They even made me an honorary sergal (comes with badge!)

- Spending an evening just chatting with some friends in Sovrim's place over at the Crowne Plaza. No pretense, no gimmick, just some good, old-fashioned hanging out.

- Eating dinner with Bronze at the Five Roses. They're very cozy, have live music, and most importantly they had space at the bar for us to eat at. The restaurants were packed last weekend! We were lucky, because on our way out there were people waiting for space at the bar(!)

- Playing Jackbox with Ian and a whole host of other macro furs. Always fun, this year lasting from about 10 to 2 am when the game room closed. Yours truly was able to clean up quite nicely on Trivia Murder Party.

- Meeting  Fivel and getting a pic with her fursuit. I have a short "hitlist" of suits I need to take pictures with, and Beep was one!

- Having a successful con without the full suit. This year because of logistics I was forced to take my partial only, so I made the best of it and got creative with my Converse. Nightraver took a bunch of pics you can find on his Twitter (example).

- Spending some quality time with a new friend, Covah!

- Visiting the Christkindlmarket downtown, shopping for new clothes on the Magnificent Mile, and grabbing a pizza from Giordano's on the way out.

I didn't get any art this time, but I did pick up a few goodies from the Dealer's Den. First off, I got a daki of Bea from Night in the Woods. I know, I know, how could such a cool derg get something so nerdy? Well, one it was great art, and two, I wanted to try sleeping with a body pillow to see if it would help me fall into a deeper sleep. I'm glad to report it works very well and is uber supportive. I also got a cool glowy lanyard and an LED badge that has "Watch Your Step" as its trashy marquee. Finally, I snagged a cool print of this gryphon beer sign that I'm trying to find online somewhere so I can link to it. 

Well, that's all I have to say about MFF 2019, and I will be happy to see you in Pittsburgh at AC 2020!