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01/15/17: Church
Posted 9 years agoFor this new year, I decided to try and make an effort to go to church every Sunday. So far, I’ve done this and have gone to the First Baptist Church. For those that don’t know, I’m a Lutheran. I must say that there really isn’t that much of a difference from what I can tell at least. For the most part, the sermons are nothing more than music, a sermon, the meal, and that’s it. For one hour, that’s pretty good. Plus, there are so many young people there now too.
01/14/17: I…got a $3,500 USD Raise…
Posted 9 years agoAnd in all honesty, I am not too happy about it at all. I literally worked my butt off last year picking up the slack of an ex-employee, dealing with five (5) bosses who wanted their clients finished with NOW, and dealing with a lot of general.
You know; I got screwed over last year by people that I thought were my friends. I’m not getting screwed over again. I promise you that.
01/13/17: Well, This News was a Punch to the Face
Posted 9 years agoIt turns out that my tax season starts Monday, January 16, 2017. That means I’ll be working from 7:30 AM until 7:30 PM Monday through Friday and then 7:30 AM to 12:00 PM Saturday for now. If last year was any indication, Saturday will be until 2:00 PM.
I was kind of hoping to be further ahead of this. With this news, I’ll be rolling back my regular update schedule to one (1) per day instead of the normal two (2) until I can better manage the workload.
01/12/07: Dog Has Been Found
Posted 9 years agoOkay, for those that don’t remember, my brother told my mother awhile back that he lost his dog the day after freaking Christmas back on Saturday, January 7, 2017. After spending 6 hours going to 38 different vet, animal clinics, and shelters in the county, my brother received a phone call from the animal tracker about finding his dog. My mother picked him up, paid the $20 finder fee, and then took the dog back to my brother’s house once he got home from work.
Before you ask, YES I am happy that we found his dog. I am NOT happy that the dog is now back with him as he (1) didn’t bother to look for him for 8 freaking days, (2) didn’t bother to tell us that the dog was missing for 8 freaking days, and (3) never thanked us for finding him.
My mother really wants that dog and plans on speaking to my brother today sometime. I’ll let you know how that goes in the next update.
01/11/17: A New Idea…
Posted 9 years agoYou know folks; since I’ve been chatting with quite a few people as of late, I’ve been getting more into these collaboration commissions. I mean seriously, some of my more recent collaboration commissions have been really sweet with the character interactions. Plus, to be fair, they are quite cheap when costs are split evenly.
So here is what I’m proposing. Effective today, I will be open for collaboration commissions. Basically, if you like to team up and get one of your OCs drawn with one of my OCs, I’ll be happy to split the cost based on SFW & NSFW rates. But you must contact me first for that to take effect so that we can talk about the idea, the price, and the artist. My two available at the moment are…
AMP http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15712993/
Ms. AMP http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22129095/
01/10/17: It Is Going to be One of Those Weeks
Posted 9 years agoYeah, after hearing my bosses get into a fight with one another over tax season hours, my folks at each other’s throat over my idiot brother, and me working 24/7 on pretty much everything, I know it’s going to be one of those hard weeks. But with that being said, I’m looking forward to it. You see folks, I admit that life often sucks here and there; however, if you always focus in on the bad in the world, you’ll never see the good in it. For example, while on my drive home today, I saw an elderly couple help out a homeless person on the street. I also enjoyed a nice jog across the neighborhood and saw a beautiful sunset. I finally had the good news of finding my brother’s dog. What will happen to him is still unknown.
01/09/2016: How NOT to be a Parent and Person
Posted 9 years agoNormally, I would go into great detail about my church experience yesterday; however, I think this needs to be said more so than anything else in general, especially given what happened late Saturday night going into Sunday morning. My apologies in advance for the rant.
While I was attending an art gallery and chatting it up with the artist around 7:00 PM CST, I received a text message. Don’t worry; I excused myself. I had to leave right away as it was from my mother who told me that she’s in the ER with my brother’s wife and my niece. According to the phone call, my niece had not urinated since Thursday night. I’m not kidding you here. She literally has not gone number one or number two since Thursday night. She’s two years old by the way.
Because my dad was down there with her, I went to their house to babysit their dog and two cats. Here is what I gathered from the various phone calls and text messages.
• My mother helped my brother’s wife with holding and caring for the baby while waving down ER personnel.
• My mother helped the nurse insert a catheter into my niece.
• My father had to deal with a derelict in the ER room since a woman covered in a baby blanket, messy hair, and dirty all over was trying to attack him. Police were called over to arrest this deranged woman.
• My mother contacted my brother, who had to go to a camp in the air to pick up his step son.
• My brother did eventually make it to the ER two hours later and was kind of rude to both his wife and my mother as he was not kept in the loop. Keep in mind folks that she was rather busy trying to help the nurse with the catheter while helping his wife deal with the emotional trauma of all this and waving down the primary doctor.
• Upset, my mother was about to leave; however, before doing so, my brother dropped the bombshell that his dog, who my mother loved like her own dog, escaped/kidnapped from the house, saw a Facebook post about it, and didn’t bother to mention it to her two weeks ago when it happened.
• My mother didn’t receive an update on my niece’s status until Monday morning at 6:00 AM. Turns out my niece was fine all day Sunday and Monday as the doctors gave her medicine for her urinary tract infection.
So to recap…
• My father was attacked by a derange woman;
• My mother was irate at my brother yelling at her about not keeping him in the loop and for how he treated his own wife in front of the nurses in addition to becoming saddened when she learned of his dog;
• I had to forgo the rest of my evening to take care of the pets, which was okay with me as the art show ended at 8:00 PM CST;
• My brother’s wife waited two freaking days to take her own daughter to the ER for not peeing; and
• My brother disrespected and hurt everyone.
Folks, I’m not trying to be that guy here, but if there is anything from this whole ordeal you should take away, it’s that you should never help out a jerk that is unappreciative of the time you’re sacrificing to help that person out.
01/08/2017: When a Bit of Stuff Hits the Fan
Posted 9 years agoOkay, yesterday was a mixed of excitement and horror.
Excitement:
I went to an art gallery for 2 hours yesterday and had a blast talking to quite a few people, including the artist herself.
Horror:
My niece had to go to the emergency room as she had a urinary tract infection. Their parents decided not to take her to the doctors despite the fact that this was going on for two days now. Additionally, I learned that their dog had gotten out TWO WEEKS AGO and that someone adopted it. My mother is devastated as she loved that dog. She's also equally pissed off the big one.
Excitement:
I went to an art gallery for 2 hours yesterday and had a blast talking to quite a few people, including the artist herself.
Horror:
My niece had to go to the emergency room as she had a urinary tract infection. Their parents decided not to take her to the doctors despite the fact that this was going on for two days now. Additionally, I learned that their dog had gotten out TWO WEEKS AGO and that someone adopted it. My mother is devastated as she loved that dog. She's also equally pissed off the big one.
01/06/17 & 01/07/17: Wine Tasting
Posted 9 years agoThat’s right folks! #TGIF!!! Now that it is, it’s time for this guy to do something special.
You see folks, starting in 2017, I plan on doing three activities a weekend offline. This weekend, I plan on going to a wine tasting (Friday), an art gallery (Saturday), and church (Sunday). This is due in part to make some new, local friends and to unplug more from the internet.
==========================================
I got back from wine tasting the other day and must say it was actually pretty good. Here's a breakdown of the four wines:
Wine #1: Orange colored. Smelled like citrus. Had a tangy taste to it. 6/10
Wine #2: Red colored. Smelled like some kind of raspberry. Had somewhat of a raspberry taste to it. 4/10
Wine #3: White colored. Had no real smell to it. Had no real taste to it. 2/10
Wine #3: Yellow colored. Smelled like cinnamon. Had a smooth taste to it. 5/10
Lesson learned: I'm not a wine guy.
You see folks, starting in 2017, I plan on doing three activities a weekend offline. This weekend, I plan on going to a wine tasting (Friday), an art gallery (Saturday), and church (Sunday). This is due in part to make some new, local friends and to unplug more from the internet.
==========================================
I got back from wine tasting the other day and must say it was actually pretty good. Here's a breakdown of the four wines:
Wine #1: Orange colored. Smelled like citrus. Had a tangy taste to it. 6/10
Wine #2: Red colored. Smelled like some kind of raspberry. Had somewhat of a raspberry taste to it. 4/10
Wine #3: White colored. Had no real smell to it. Had no real taste to it. 2/10
Wine #3: Yellow colored. Smelled like cinnamon. Had a smooth taste to it. 5/10
Lesson learned: I'm not a wine guy.
01/05/17: Dedication to Success An Observation
Posted 9 years agoOkay folks, I read an article from one of my few favorite webcomic artists. I’m not going to name names here as I kind of disagree with what she said and the reason she’s leaving the art scene for now.
Now I’ve seen this artist’s work, and I will not lie, it’s really great. I absolutely enjoy this artist’s digital style. This particular artist started a webcomic. About a couple of years later, the artist did a universal reset because it was getting too dark. During this reset, another webcomic was created to be more reader interactive with comments. That one too was scrapped. On the reset comic, the artist reintroduced new and old characters to the series. Due to the amount of time employed on the main comic, the artist decided to put it on a hiatus and start a new webcomic based on traditional medium. The artist eventually put that comic on a two week hiatus. Just the other day or two, the artist announced that both comics are now officially done with until certain life events occur.
Look, before anyone says anything, I know we all have our own issues that we have to deal with in life whether it be family, friends, or professionalism. I get that. Please trust me when I say that. What kind of irks me a little bit is the fact that the artist started one webcomic and reset said webcomic after several years due to it being too dark rather than say adjust the tone of it, started a second webcomic only to end it a few updates later, restart the first webcomic only to cancel it after reintroducing all the characters, and then starting a fourth webcomic only to end it after less than 30 updates. It almost felt like the artist was kind of dragging the readers along so to speak. In my eyes, this is one of those instances in which the artist should sit down and think whether the artist was meant to be a webcomic/comic artist or a commissioner artist.
Now I’ve seen this artist’s work, and I will not lie, it’s really great. I absolutely enjoy this artist’s digital style. This particular artist started a webcomic. About a couple of years later, the artist did a universal reset because it was getting too dark. During this reset, another webcomic was created to be more reader interactive with comments. That one too was scrapped. On the reset comic, the artist reintroduced new and old characters to the series. Due to the amount of time employed on the main comic, the artist decided to put it on a hiatus and start a new webcomic based on traditional medium. The artist eventually put that comic on a two week hiatus. Just the other day or two, the artist announced that both comics are now officially done with until certain life events occur.
Look, before anyone says anything, I know we all have our own issues that we have to deal with in life whether it be family, friends, or professionalism. I get that. Please trust me when I say that. What kind of irks me a little bit is the fact that the artist started one webcomic and reset said webcomic after several years due to it being too dark rather than say adjust the tone of it, started a second webcomic only to end it a few updates later, restart the first webcomic only to cancel it after reintroducing all the characters, and then starting a fourth webcomic only to end it after less than 30 updates. It almost felt like the artist was kind of dragging the readers along so to speak. In my eyes, this is one of those instances in which the artist should sit down and think whether the artist was meant to be a webcomic/comic artist or a commissioner artist.
01/04/17: Tax Season Not Here…Yet
Posted 9 years agoYeah, I’m going to level with you here folks. I thought my bosses would’ve started tax season already, but I’m not complaining as I can still get caught up with a ton of stuff here and there. See, that’s the beauty of actually understanding technology and your work’s security measures. I can hide files here and there that are personal so I can work on it during my coffee breaks.
01/03/2017: Uploading Schedule and Some Goals for 2017
Posted 9 years agoI could have sworn I mentioned this sooner and what not, but here’s the deal. Some of you might have noticed that I’m posting two artworks up a day. Here’s the deal on that. Starting back in December, I made a promise to myself that I would upload TWO (2) ART PIECES A DAY!!! Additionally, I’ll be making a new journal EVERY DAY!!! I’m also planning on commenting on five (5) new pieces of art per day and following two (2) new artists per day. Additionally, three (3) of those five (5) new pieces will be pushed through my Tumblr and subsequently Facebook and Twitter just because.
So here’s the deal folks. If you know of any cool artists with SFW artwork, leave their name in the comment below!
01/02/17 Journal: New Year’s Resolution
Posted 9 years agoI’m a day late and an hour short after all. XD
But in all due seriousness, I completely forgot to ask you folks what your New Year’s Resolutions are for 2017. Seriously, I would like you all that read this to personally list out each one.
For me, I’m pretty much going to do better in everything I touch this year, from art to relationships to even going and staying at church each Sunday. I also plan on helping my folks finally move out of their old house once and for all.
01/01/17 Journal: AH SNAP! I forgot.
Posted 9 years agoI just realized something today as I woke up…
It’s January 1, 2017. That means that tax season is starting soon!!!
For those that don’t know, I’m a CPA. So that pretty much means that I’ll be having no life for the time being as I work from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM. But no worries folks, that will not stop me from posting, commenting, and updating my art galleries.
12/31/16 Journal: Heading Out for New Year’s Eve!
Posted 9 years agoHe Folks! Thanks to some kind of miracle, I was able to score a seat at the Backdoor Theater show! So I’ll be heading out there with family and friends for a hilarious New Year’s extravaganza. But before I leave, I would like to take a moment and wish you all a…
HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!
12/30/16 Journal: It’s FRIDAY 12/30/16!!!
Posted 9 years agoAnd you know what that means right folks? Only one more day until the end of 2016. I don’t know about you folks, but while 2016 had its downs with the recent deaths of celebrities, politics, and so much more, it had some upsides to it. Remember folks, you have to stay positive. Yes, it’s sad when we lose a few good people in life, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world so to speak. I hope I don’t come off callous, but this is the time for new actors, actresses, politicians, and the everyday person to go out there and make an impact in the world. This is the time for new role models, new comedians and new leaders to step up to the plate and hopefully make a positive impact on the world. So when you think about your New Year Resolutions for 2017, remember that you should do one important thing…
Try…
Try to make a world a better place…
Try to help your fellow man or woman in any way you can…
Try to be a positive influence on the world through your own talents…
12/29/2016 Journal: Appreciation
Posted 9 years agoYou know folks; I would like to take a moment and talk to you, the readers of this journal, on an important topic.
I recently chatted with a friend in regards to his birthday earlier this month. I’m afraid that he wasn’t too happy on his birthday. It turns out that, outside of me and one of my close art buddies, he virtually got nothing for his birthday. And let me tell you that I personally know that he helped out quite a few people this year. In fact, he personally gave not only money but birthday gifts to quite a few people. What did he get in exchange? Nothing. I tried to cheer him up by saying that people may be waiting until Christmas to give him a gift. Christmas came. Guess what he got? Outside of me and my close art buddies, nothing online. He still had a stellar birthday and Christmas as he spent it with his family and friends.
Before anyone throws out the whole argument that it’s better to give than it is to receive, trust me when I say I told him that. But really, in all honesty, the sting kind of hurts a little bit. Now I’m not certain if this trend is with the whole furry community, but please remember folks to always show appreciation to your friends, especially when they have your back. Even if it’s just a simple sketch, it’s still better than nothing.
I recently chatted with a friend in regards to his birthday earlier this month. I’m afraid that he wasn’t too happy on his birthday. It turns out that, outside of me and one of my close art buddies, he virtually got nothing for his birthday. And let me tell you that I personally know that he helped out quite a few people this year. In fact, he personally gave not only money but birthday gifts to quite a few people. What did he get in exchange? Nothing. I tried to cheer him up by saying that people may be waiting until Christmas to give him a gift. Christmas came. Guess what he got? Outside of me and my close art buddies, nothing online. He still had a stellar birthday and Christmas as he spent it with his family and friends.
Before anyone throws out the whole argument that it’s better to give than it is to receive, trust me when I say I told him that. But really, in all honesty, the sting kind of hurts a little bit. Now I’m not certain if this trend is with the whole furry community, but please remember folks to always show appreciation to your friends, especially when they have your back. Even if it’s just a simple sketch, it’s still better than nothing.
12/28/2016 Journal: A New Start
Posted 9 years agoStarting today, I will be posting one journal per day. Before anyone says anything, I’m well aware of the fact that I’ve said this in the past, but I mean it this time. In fact, I’ve prepared 10 journal topics ahead of time just in case.
Commission Update Plus Shout Out
Posted 9 years agoHey there all you cool cats out there! Sorry for not updating this as of late, but I’ve just been chilling, enjoying life, art, and work. There’s really nothing to report new outside of work, but I thought I’d pose this out here.
If you’re interested in a collaboration commission with any of my OCs, let me know via NOTE and we’ll make an arrangement.
Other than that, that’s pretty much it. Take it easy and stay awesome.
=============================================
Copy from
Lei-Lani
The UK Brexiteers are having their own hands full with riots and massive demonstrations over the past few months, and they've hit upon a fantastic idea that is taking shape in America right now.
It's called the Safety Pin Movement, and it's becoming a nationwide craze.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry.....b0c4b63b0c11a9
Basically, it's as simple as this. Wearing a single safety pin on your shirt, blouse, jacket, or wherever it can be made visible, is sending a heartwarming, incredible message.
It means others are safe around you.
It means you will respect everyone's rights around you.
It means you will do no harm to anyone, nor ridicule or persecute anyone.
It also means you will stand in solidarity with others, and will intervene when anyone's God given rights in our nation are violated.
I wore one tonight while I was out getting pizza for us and guess what happened?
An older black man saw it - and smiled. He smiled so big and bright, it filled the room.
"Yeah, it was a tough week, huh?" he chuckled at me.
I laughed softly and agreed and we spent the next ten minutes just talking.
Like we were old friends. And the fellow in line next to him, another black man, college age, smiled and actually bowed his head to me kindly. *^^*
IT WORKS, PEOPLE!
DO THIS!
Show this entire country that HATE WILL NOT RULE US.
If we can just get enough people talking, laughing, and caring...as the Grateful Dead song goes, "we will get by, we will survive."
PASS THIS ON! PLEASE!
Leilani smiles brightly and points to a safety pin nestled in the lei around her neck, hardly covering her bare breasts.
Um...L-Lani? I don't think you'll have any complaints... *^^*
My deepest thanks to the amazing Tristan Blackwolf, who clued me in on this. *otter hugs and kisses*
COLLABORATION COMMISSIONSIf you’re interested in a collaboration commission with any of my OCs, let me know via NOTE and we’ll make an arrangement.
Other than that, that’s pretty much it. Take it easy and stay awesome.
=============================================
Copy from
Lei-LaniThe UK Brexiteers are having their own hands full with riots and massive demonstrations over the past few months, and they've hit upon a fantastic idea that is taking shape in America right now.
It's called the Safety Pin Movement, and it's becoming a nationwide craze.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry.....b0c4b63b0c11a9
Basically, it's as simple as this. Wearing a single safety pin on your shirt, blouse, jacket, or wherever it can be made visible, is sending a heartwarming, incredible message.
It means others are safe around you.
It means you will respect everyone's rights around you.
It means you will do no harm to anyone, nor ridicule or persecute anyone.
It also means you will stand in solidarity with others, and will intervene when anyone's God given rights in our nation are violated.
I wore one tonight while I was out getting pizza for us and guess what happened?
An older black man saw it - and smiled. He smiled so big and bright, it filled the room.
"Yeah, it was a tough week, huh?" he chuckled at me.
I laughed softly and agreed and we spent the next ten minutes just talking.
Like we were old friends. And the fellow in line next to him, another black man, college age, smiled and actually bowed his head to me kindly. *^^*
IT WORKS, PEOPLE!
DO THIS!
Show this entire country that HATE WILL NOT RULE US.
If we can just get enough people talking, laughing, and caring...as the Grateful Dead song goes, "we will get by, we will survive."
PASS THIS ON! PLEASE!
Leilani smiles brightly and points to a safety pin nestled in the lei around her neck, hardly covering her bare breasts.
Um...L-Lani? I don't think you'll have any complaints... *^^*
My deepest thanks to the amazing Tristan Blackwolf, who clued me in on this. *otter hugs and kisses*
Update and Collaboration Commissions
Posted 9 years agoHey there all you cool cats out there! Sorry for not updating this as of late, but I’ve just been chilling, enjoying life, art, and work. There’s really nothing to report new outside of work, but I thought I’d pose this out here.
If you’re interested in a collaboration commission with any of my OCs, let me know via NOTE and we’ll make an arrangement.
Other than that, that’s pretty much it. Take it easy and stay awesome.
COLLABORATION COMMISSIONSIf you’re interested in a collaboration commission with any of my OCs, let me know via NOTE and we’ll make an arrangement.
Other than that, that’s pretty much it. Take it easy and stay awesome.
Commission Collaboration Project Idea
Posted 9 years agoHey there folks, I know it has been some time since I updated this, but I decided to try something with 
xinikas-Capitol Check out his journal for more details at http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7795535/ .
So thought to make one of these so be easier to explain how the parlor works, and a list case anyone wants to visit the parlor.
Bunneh Paw Massage Parlor
🐾Catalog🐾
(\_(\
(=' :')
(,(')(')
♂Open to both Male & Female Clients!♀
You have your choices of Masseuse here
Jok: Hoping to deliver the best service and provide a relaxed soothing
environment to rid your body of any aches and mind of any worry.
Being a weaponsmith helps with the strength and steadiness with each sessions provided including a simple back rub to full body, artist special
for the arms, wrists, back, and butt, pressure point for those wanting to open their blocked talents, and hot stone for those of even scaly skinned.
'Extra' sessions of the NSFW variety can be provided if asked and discussed, mainly for Females at this time
though as Jok isnt one to mess with ze dong. (Apologies gents)
All sessions are free, so if you would like a massage just come on by and hop on the list :3
[Examples of Previous Sessions]
Amp:A temporary hire, AMP provides a relaxing massage
to the women of this world with his majestic hands and enormous body.
Don’t let the clothed version full you; AMP spends most of his time working out and practicing his sexy innuendos meant
for your enddo ladies. Sorry guys, but AMP is into women. Despite his inexerpience in the massage world, he does know
how to do the proper back massage.
Sessions must be split 50/50 with the client
[No examples yet]
☞The Waiting List☜
Clients can give a preference of who they would rather get the art done by which could allow their session
to be done sooner, but what also helps is if they wish to split it to get it done faster
Just fill out the form here
Char:
Preferred artist:
Wing it or idea:
SFW or NSFW:
Masseuse of choice:
?]-Ryagon-> Mrawl Preference
?]-Kisharra-> Mrawl Preference
Jok]-Flame1989-> Skidd Preference: wing it/nsfw
Jok]-Rouroni-> Zeliv Preference: wing it/nsfw
Jok]-Hypnotickitten->Multiple preference: Idea/either
xinikas-Capitol Check out his journal for more details at http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7795535/ .So thought to make one of these so be easier to explain how the parlor works, and a list case anyone wants to visit the parlor.
Bunneh Paw Massage Parlor
🐾Catalog🐾
(\_(\
(=' :')
(,(')(')
♂Open to both Male & Female Clients!♀
You have your choices of Masseuse here
Jok: Hoping to deliver the best service and provide a relaxed soothing
environment to rid your body of any aches and mind of any worry.
Being a weaponsmith helps with the strength and steadiness with each sessions provided including a simple back rub to full body, artist special
for the arms, wrists, back, and butt, pressure point for those wanting to open their blocked talents, and hot stone for those of even scaly skinned.
'Extra' sessions of the NSFW variety can be provided if asked and discussed, mainly for Females at this time
though as Jok isnt one to mess with ze dong. (Apologies gents)
All sessions are free, so if you would like a massage just come on by and hop on the list :3
[Examples of Previous Sessions]
Amp:A temporary hire, AMP provides a relaxing massage
to the women of this world with his majestic hands and enormous body.
Don’t let the clothed version full you; AMP spends most of his time working out and practicing his sexy innuendos meant
for your enddo ladies. Sorry guys, but AMP is into women. Despite his inexerpience in the massage world, he does know
how to do the proper back massage.
Sessions must be split 50/50 with the client
[No examples yet]
☞The Waiting List☜
Clients can give a preference of who they would rather get the art done by which could allow their session
to be done sooner, but what also helps is if they wish to split it to get it done faster
Just fill out the form here
Char:
Preferred artist:
Wing it or idea:
SFW or NSFW:
Masseuse of choice:
?]-Ryagon-> Mrawl Preference
?]-Kisharra-> Mrawl Preference
Jok]-Flame1989-> Skidd Preference: wing it/nsfw
Jok]-Rouroni-> Zeliv Preference: wing it/nsfw
Jok]-Hypnotickitten->Multiple preference: Idea/either
A New Approach
Posted 9 years agoHey there all you fine folks that still read my journal. I do apologize for not being that active on the journal posts as of late, but I've been rather busy with some unique projects, one of which I'm starting now. Effective immediately, my goal is to be more active on the DeviantArt. I'll be uploading more commissions, commenting more, and following more people.
Akon27 Report
Posted 9 years agoHey there all you cool Katbox Folks!
This is Mr. AMP reporting to you in regards to my trip to A-Kon27. That’s…why I haven’t been around to take care of a few things here and elsewhere or responding to any messages. I’ve been rather swamped in all honesty with catching things up.
Well, that aside, time to get this taken care of. Before anyone asks, the pictures are at the end here. I decided to do it that way as this is going to be a short report.
I took Friday off from work and drove down to Dallas at 6:30 AM. I arrived at the Hilton at 9:30 AM and spent an hour waiting to retrieve my ticket and t-shirt I bought online earlier. Unfortunately, it was rather busier than normal on Friday; therefore, I decided to go ahead and attend some panels to pass the time. I went to How to Not Write Bad Fan Fictions for two hours. It was still busy for a Friday. Instead of waiting in line for two hours, I decided to walk around. I remembered to check Facebook and found several Cosplay Gatherings. I took a TON of pictures of Steven Universe and Homestruck and Disney.
After that, I finally decided to head out to Artist Alley. It was…
VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!
I’m not kidding here. It was just awful. The same artist were there selling the exact same merchandise from last year. If I had to add a percentage to it, nearly 90% of the merchandise was old stuff and 10% of it was new stuff. I only saw two tables that did Overwatch.
I then went to the Vendors Room and was equally disappointed with all the overpriced merchandise there. I didn’t find Antarctic Press at all the first time around.
Upset, I decided to attend Cosplay Chess. That was a freaking blast. The character battles were hilarious along with the commentary and personas employed.
Thanks to [USER=206]@UStudios[/USER], I actually did find the Antarctic Press. There table was rather small because of A-Kon27’s screw ups in both management and contacting them.
Around 7:00 PM, I invited UStudios to a meal at the Spaghetti Warehouse. After taking him back to the Hilton, I retired at my room at Best Western Inn.
Saturday was even busier than Friday. There was a TON of stuff to do. I attended four panels back to back, specifically How to be a Voice Actor, Antarctic Press Industry Panel, Writing 101, and Undertale: Whose Line Is It Anyway. That last one was freaking hilarious.
After all that, I hit up Facebook once again and got in on a ton of Cosplay Gatherings. Final Fantasy and Undertale were the largest by far. There were also miscellaneous ones around the halls.
There was even a meeting of fursuits. I chatted with quite a few of them. They were nice folks.
After getting back from lunch, I decided to hit up Artist Alley and the Vendors Room at 5:00PM to buy what I wanted and to get one commission. The other commissions couldn’t be done in the allotted time because of reasons I’ll go into later.
I went to the Cosplay Contest at 8:30 PM and left one hour later because it was just awful. I mean quite literally it was a waste of one hour. There were 3 malfunctions in the first five minutes that delayed the show for twenty minutes, all the introduction music was the same, and the opening skit was the same from last year.
Sunday, I went to the convention after checking out of the hotel, bought one or two prints, picked up my one commission, and talked to the folks at Antarctic Press before leaving. I wasn’t there for more than two hours.
As you can see, the vast majority of stuff I purchased came from Antarctic Press. And I completed my series of @Mastergodai’s Overwatch images.
$589.49
Yeah…as you can probably tell, I’m not too thrilled about spending roughly $600 at this con. Seriously, I spent only 1/3 the amount at A-Kon27 while the other 2/3 went into food, hotels, and travel. Overall, it wasn’t that great of a convention.
The primary negatives would be Artist Alley and Disorganization. Artist Alley would definitely be the major one as (1) all the merchandise was the same as last year, (2) the artist didn’t really do that many commissions or had like ridiculous limitations (no tails, not butler outfits, etc…), and (3) overpriced prints that you can find in their DeviantArt accounts.
The only thing this convention had going for it would be the Cosplay and the Panels. Seriously, the cosplay was AMAZING at this convention, much better than MegaCon in my opinion.
After talking with a few people that also attended the convention, I learned three items of interest. First, Dallas Comic Con was happening the exact same weekend as A-Kon27. My money is on the theory that Dallas Comic Con wants to take over or deter A-Kon as the primary convention. Either way, the vast majority of people had to pick one convention over the other. Second, management within A-Kon changed, thus ruining its normal traditions. Finally, I went to MegaCon first. It’s like eating your dessert first and then trying to finish the main course. Yeah, dessert is great and everything, but then you don’t want to eat the main course because you’re full and there’s really no reason to.
If, and that’s a big if, I return to this convention, I may do so on Saturday only. Basically, I would leave at 6:00AM to head up, pay the $20 in parking, get all the commissions I want, take pictures, attend panels, and so much more before leaving at 6:00PM Saturday to head back home.
If you like to see some pictures, head on over here at ... http://forums.katbox.net/threads/mr.....a-kon27.13130/
This is Mr. AMP reporting to you in regards to my trip to A-Kon27. That’s…why I haven’t been around to take care of a few things here and elsewhere or responding to any messages. I’ve been rather swamped in all honesty with catching things up.
Well, that aside, time to get this taken care of. Before anyone asks, the pictures are at the end here. I decided to do it that way as this is going to be a short report.
FRIDAY
I took Friday off from work and drove down to Dallas at 6:30 AM. I arrived at the Hilton at 9:30 AM and spent an hour waiting to retrieve my ticket and t-shirt I bought online earlier. Unfortunately, it was rather busier than normal on Friday; therefore, I decided to go ahead and attend some panels to pass the time. I went to How to Not Write Bad Fan Fictions for two hours. It was still busy for a Friday. Instead of waiting in line for two hours, I decided to walk around. I remembered to check Facebook and found several Cosplay Gatherings. I took a TON of pictures of Steven Universe and Homestruck and Disney.
After that, I finally decided to head out to Artist Alley. It was…
VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!
I’m not kidding here. It was just awful. The same artist were there selling the exact same merchandise from last year. If I had to add a percentage to it, nearly 90% of the merchandise was old stuff and 10% of it was new stuff. I only saw two tables that did Overwatch.
I then went to the Vendors Room and was equally disappointed with all the overpriced merchandise there. I didn’t find Antarctic Press at all the first time around.
Upset, I decided to attend Cosplay Chess. That was a freaking blast. The character battles were hilarious along with the commentary and personas employed.
Thanks to [USER=206]@UStudios[/USER], I actually did find the Antarctic Press. There table was rather small because of A-Kon27’s screw ups in both management and contacting them.
Around 7:00 PM, I invited UStudios to a meal at the Spaghetti Warehouse. After taking him back to the Hilton, I retired at my room at Best Western Inn.
SATURDAYSaturday was even busier than Friday. There was a TON of stuff to do. I attended four panels back to back, specifically How to be a Voice Actor, Antarctic Press Industry Panel, Writing 101, and Undertale: Whose Line Is It Anyway. That last one was freaking hilarious.
After all that, I hit up Facebook once again and got in on a ton of Cosplay Gatherings. Final Fantasy and Undertale were the largest by far. There were also miscellaneous ones around the halls.
There was even a meeting of fursuits. I chatted with quite a few of them. They were nice folks.
After getting back from lunch, I decided to hit up Artist Alley and the Vendors Room at 5:00PM to buy what I wanted and to get one commission. The other commissions couldn’t be done in the allotted time because of reasons I’ll go into later.
I went to the Cosplay Contest at 8:30 PM and left one hour later because it was just awful. I mean quite literally it was a waste of one hour. There were 3 malfunctions in the first five minutes that delayed the show for twenty minutes, all the introduction music was the same, and the opening skit was the same from last year.
SUNDAYSunday, I went to the convention after checking out of the hotel, bought one or two prints, picked up my one commission, and talked to the folks at Antarctic Press before leaving. I wasn’t there for more than two hours.
[u]SWAG[/u]As you can see, the vast majority of stuff I purchased came from Antarctic Press. And I completed my series of @Mastergodai’s Overwatch images.
EXPENSES
$589.49
EXPERIENCE
Yeah…as you can probably tell, I’m not too thrilled about spending roughly $600 at this con. Seriously, I spent only 1/3 the amount at A-Kon27 while the other 2/3 went into food, hotels, and travel. Overall, it wasn’t that great of a convention.
The primary negatives would be Artist Alley and Disorganization. Artist Alley would definitely be the major one as (1) all the merchandise was the same as last year, (2) the artist didn’t really do that many commissions or had like ridiculous limitations (no tails, not butler outfits, etc…), and (3) overpriced prints that you can find in their DeviantArt accounts.
The only thing this convention had going for it would be the Cosplay and the Panels. Seriously, the cosplay was AMAZING at this convention, much better than MegaCon in my opinion.
After talking with a few people that also attended the convention, I learned three items of interest. First, Dallas Comic Con was happening the exact same weekend as A-Kon27. My money is on the theory that Dallas Comic Con wants to take over or deter A-Kon as the primary convention. Either way, the vast majority of people had to pick one convention over the other. Second, management within A-Kon changed, thus ruining its normal traditions. Finally, I went to MegaCon first. It’s like eating your dessert first and then trying to finish the main course. Yeah, dessert is great and everything, but then you don’t want to eat the main course because you’re full and there’s really no reason to.
If, and that’s a big if, I return to this convention, I may do so on Saturday only. Basically, I would leave at 6:00AM to head up, pay the $20 in parking, get all the commissions I want, take pictures, attend panels, and so much more before leaving at 6:00PM Saturday to head back home.
If you like to see some pictures, head on over here at ... http://forums.katbox.net/threads/mr.....a-kon27.13130/
MegaCon Report
Posted 9 years agoSalutations all!
I must apologize for not updating this thread as of much. There's a reason for that, but before that, let me give you a break down of what happened...
Despite her best efforts and creativity, Socks (the cat in the image) could not come with me.
Yeah, that's my loyal cat Socks there. She was devastated whenever I told her that I was going on vacation to the point where she wouldn't get out of the bag. So I lifted up the bag and turned it upside down. After that, it was smooth sailing in regards to driving. Since I split the driving with my dad, I had some time to take pictures here and there.
For the most part, the drive was mostly country and forests since I was taking the Interstates. The images above were from the Texas area and Dallas. Fortunately, I didn't hit that much traffic since I took the Express Press for a fee of less than $5.
Louisiana was nothing but forests and swamp lands. I did stop at Monroe to visit Duck Commander. They had some newer stuff up there from last time as seen in the images below.
I kicked myself last time for not buying an autograph figurine there for $50, which I intended to remedy this time. Sadly, they no longer have them autographed. Fortunately, my luck turned around as they offered a grand tour of the warehouse where they tape the show, a view of the duck call building room, the opportunity to make your own duck call, and a hat and figurine all for $20. As for the proof, well, a picture is worth a thousand words...
The tour guide was quite nice and informative. He actually explained what the Duck Commander Crew has been doing all this time when not filming four times a week.
Mississippi was BORING! Again, because I took the Interstate, all we saw was forest areas and several small towns that caused the speed limit to drop down to 45 MPH.
Alabama was nothing more than a one hour drive. We came across an economically devastated community near Mobile.
We actually reached Florida on the first day. Thanks to a Waffle House employee, we managed to stay on Naval Air Station Pensacola. Sadly, because my dad decided to NOT CALL SOMEONE, we spent nearly an hour and a half looking for gate in the dark.
I DID IT!!! I FINALLY DID IT!!!
This was actually one of my life long goals: to go to the beach, swim in the ocean, and throw sand into it.
After a quick breakfast, my dad and I headed out and into another economically devastated area before finally driving onto the Interstate. I wasn't able to take that many photos as I was navigating the whole way. Plus, taking pictures of the forest over and over again is kind of boring. Nothing much interesting happened with the exception of Steak and Shake.
Driving...Driving...More Driving...And finally reached my grandmother's house. It was nice seeing her again as I haven't spoken to her in three years. My dad occasionally speaks to her once every two months or so. We took them out to a nice Italian restaurant before going the back way to our hotel. After complaining about the filth and decay, we got upgraded to a new room free of charge.
Okay, I must say a “My Bad” here as I’ve been awfully busy on the vacation. Heck, I had some phone issues to the point where I couldn’t update social media. Now that I’m back, it’s time to finish this.
Thursday started off pretty well actually. The hotel that I stayed at offered free continental breakfast. In fact, I pretty much had waffles sprinkled with chocolate chips for breakfast everyday as that was the one food that they couldn’t mess up. Don’t get me wrong; they did have like French toast, biscuits, gravy, sausage, and so much more. I just felt that waffles were a safe choice.
Anyway, the convention didn’t start until 2:00 PM (Really, it was 4:00 PM, but I could gain access to it as I was a Premium Member). I chilled in the room with my dad and prepared a special print for signatures. Fortunately, I found a local print shop and made a copy for of it.
I left the hotel around 11:45 AM and scouted the surrounding areas. The hotel was in the middle of all the major attractions like Universal Studios, Sea World, and Disney. Saying that the roads were busy would be a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!! We did find the convention center. It was…rather large.
As you can see, this convention center spanned quite a bit of land; however, MegaCon itself was centralized in the West Section. Before I went there, I grabbed a quick hamburger from the world’s largest Checkers.
At 12:00 PM, I went to MegaCon. I planned it out in advance to have my father pick me up at a location a mile away from the actual convention itself just in case. Surprisingly, it was easy to travel to it on foot thanks to the elevated walkway. Side note aside, it took me 30 minutes to retrieve my ticket. It only took that long because I was pointed to 15 different locations for it. Once retrieved, I traveled another mile to finally reach the Premium Bag Pickup Area, which consisted of a new lunch box (not the old one mentioned in the ad), a Frank Miller Batman print, a lanyard, and a Civil War II comic book. I then proceeded to the MegaCon sales booth for a t-shirt. I normally buy a t-shirt; however, I expanded that into two comic books as they were MegaCon exclusive variant prints.
I had to wait until 2:00 PM to actually head into the convention area itself. I talked it up quite a bit with some friendly folks in line. Once inside the actual convention, I took my time to scout out all the areas, specifically the Celebrity Alley, Charity Alley, Cosplay Alley, Artist Alley, and Vendor Alley.
For fun and as an experiment, I did leave temporarily to try Sci-Fi Speed Dating. I did not though as (1) it was an additional $10 on top of the ticket price ($50 for Friday and Saturday) and (2) the ratio of men to women was 5 to 1 (10 to 1 on Friday and 15 to 1 on Saturday).
Yeah…I hate to be that guy, but it’s kind of a bad sign when the women hosting the panel are actually hotter than the women participating in the event. Also, the vast majority were kind of there for the attention.
After that fiasco, I decided to attend a screening of the first four episodes of Neo Genesis Evangelion. After that, I returned to Artist Alley and found Mastergodai and Nekonny’s booth. I hung with them for an hour or two before heading out at 7:00 PM to Perkins. On a side note, I would not recommend eating at Perkins due to poor management and waitress services.
I had waffles before heading to the convention at 9:30 AM. The first item on my agenda was to head to a Sketch Duel to see if I could win a sketch. I did not. I then spent the next five hours and thirty minutes walking up and down Artist Alley, checking out some cool prints, chatting it up with the artist, and collecting business cards. I found several amazing artist there that do some pretty sweet work. Plus, the vast majority of folks were as friendly as could be. Heck, I got two new Skype folks to chat with now. And before you ask why it took so long to walk through Artist Alley, check out the below image…
And don’t think that’s all I did that day; I also went down Celebrity Alley to add Adam West and Christopher Lloyd to my autograph collection. But those two were nothing to what I received from the very own…
At the end of the day, I took my dad out to eat with the Katbox crew. Unfortunately, due to a mix up with the addresses on my end, I went to the wrong Bahama Breeze.
Again, I had waffles. Again, I went to the convention at 9:30AM. That was a mistake as it was packed to the freaking wall! For those that don’t go to conventions, Saturday is the busiest day of any convention as (1) people are off from work, (2) it’s a weekend, and (3) it’s a fun activity to do with family and friends. I should note that conventions aren’t only for the youth. Conventions like these are open to all ages young and old. You’ll see that later.
Due to the fact it was packed to the walls, I decided to spend the day taking pictures of as many cosplayers as I could.
I also spent four hours going through Vendors Alley.
I did attend one panel featuring the creative team of Dark Knight. I originally went to the panel as they were doing some kind of raffle. I, along with several other people, picked the blue ticket and won a free autograph from the very own Frank Miller.
Look him up. I guarantee you’ll like it.
I had to forgo two additional panels and spend two and a half hours waiting in line to get an autograph from him. Unfortunately, I was unable to snag a picture of him due security. Seriously, security was not kind to anyone who tried to take of picture of him. Five people had their phones confiscated and broken on site. That’s why I read the legal agreement via the back of the stamp. I would’ve taken a picture of it, but I thought it best NOT to do that. You know, because of the broken phone threat and what not.
After that, I spent some more time going through Artist Alley and Venders Alley before heading on back to the Katbox Crew and making new dinner plans. This time I wrote the address down. I ate at the red lobster with my dad, Nekonny, Mastergodai, and his wife. Went back to the hotel and relaxed.
I forgot to mention this, but the primary reason I go to conventions is to meet new people and chat it up. I also enjoy my time at these events in Artist Alley and Venders Alley. I actually met some cool people there. Really, people will be nice to you if you’re nice to them in return. After chatting with a woman for nearly thirty minutes, she gave me a free Premium Ticket for my dad. It turns out that her mother couldn’t make it. So I called up my dad and invited him over. He always wanted to see one of these events. I showed him all over before taking him to the general area. He…he was confused as to why men were dressing up as hot women. He laughed here and there.
Yeah…I dropped him outside and got some last minute goodies from the Artist Alley and Venders alley. I met up with the guys one last time before I said my goodbyes at 1:30 PM.
You might be wondering why I left so soon. As much as I enjoyed the convention, I came down here to also spend some time with my grandma. I spent four hours with her Wednesday and decided to do the same for Sunday. I arrived at her house at 3:00 PM. She cooked us a great meal with her husband. We ate, laughed, and talked for four hours. We hit the road at 7:00 PM and drove for nearly two hours before heading off to bed.
MONDAY
Thanks to a combination of driving, eating at some fast food restaurants, and frappes, I made it home at 11:00 PM at night. I would NOT recommend doing that at all. I would also not recommend eating at Wards. You know a restaurant is bad when the advertisements have 80s characters on them.
Okay, I’m not going to lie, but conventions aren’t cheap, but if you plan ahead, you can cut some costs here and there. As evidence, I’ve provided the following tables.
Without any discounts, the grand total of the convention is $2,142.58.
With the credit card discounts of 3% on gas and 1% on all other, the discounted grand total of the convention is $2,124.10, a savings of $18.49.
With the promotional offers for the Chase Unlimited Credit Card and the Bank of America (I essentially had to spend $500 on each card to receive $100 or $150 cash back), the total out-of-pocket is $1,849.10!
I must apologize for not updating this thread as of much. There's a reason for that, but before that, let me give you a break down of what happened...
TUESDAYDespite her best efforts and creativity, Socks (the cat in the image) could not come with me.
Yeah, that's my loyal cat Socks there. She was devastated whenever I told her that I was going on vacation to the point where she wouldn't get out of the bag. So I lifted up the bag and turned it upside down. After that, it was smooth sailing in regards to driving. Since I split the driving with my dad, I had some time to take pictures here and there.
For the most part, the drive was mostly country and forests since I was taking the Interstates. The images above were from the Texas area and Dallas. Fortunately, I didn't hit that much traffic since I took the Express Press for a fee of less than $5.
Louisiana was nothing but forests and swamp lands. I did stop at Monroe to visit Duck Commander. They had some newer stuff up there from last time as seen in the images below.
I kicked myself last time for not buying an autograph figurine there for $50, which I intended to remedy this time. Sadly, they no longer have them autographed. Fortunately, my luck turned around as they offered a grand tour of the warehouse where they tape the show, a view of the duck call building room, the opportunity to make your own duck call, and a hat and figurine all for $20. As for the proof, well, a picture is worth a thousand words...
The tour guide was quite nice and informative. He actually explained what the Duck Commander Crew has been doing all this time when not filming four times a week.
Mississippi was BORING! Again, because I took the Interstate, all we saw was forest areas and several small towns that caused the speed limit to drop down to 45 MPH.
Alabama was nothing more than a one hour drive. We came across an economically devastated community near Mobile.
We actually reached Florida on the first day. Thanks to a Waffle House employee, we managed to stay on Naval Air Station Pensacola. Sadly, because my dad decided to NOT CALL SOMEONE, we spent nearly an hour and a half looking for gate in the dark.
WEDNESDAYI DID IT!!! I FINALLY DID IT!!!
This was actually one of my life long goals: to go to the beach, swim in the ocean, and throw sand into it.
After a quick breakfast, my dad and I headed out and into another economically devastated area before finally driving onto the Interstate. I wasn't able to take that many photos as I was navigating the whole way. Plus, taking pictures of the forest over and over again is kind of boring. Nothing much interesting happened with the exception of Steak and Shake.
Driving...Driving...More Driving...And finally reached my grandmother's house. It was nice seeing her again as I haven't spoken to her in three years. My dad occasionally speaks to her once every two months or so. We took them out to a nice Italian restaurant before going the back way to our hotel. After complaining about the filth and decay, we got upgraded to a new room free of charge.
Okay, I must say a “My Bad” here as I’ve been awfully busy on the vacation. Heck, I had some phone issues to the point where I couldn’t update social media. Now that I’m back, it’s time to finish this.
THURSDAYThursday started off pretty well actually. The hotel that I stayed at offered free continental breakfast. In fact, I pretty much had waffles sprinkled with chocolate chips for breakfast everyday as that was the one food that they couldn’t mess up. Don’t get me wrong; they did have like French toast, biscuits, gravy, sausage, and so much more. I just felt that waffles were a safe choice.
Anyway, the convention didn’t start until 2:00 PM (Really, it was 4:00 PM, but I could gain access to it as I was a Premium Member). I chilled in the room with my dad and prepared a special print for signatures. Fortunately, I found a local print shop and made a copy for of it.
I left the hotel around 11:45 AM and scouted the surrounding areas. The hotel was in the middle of all the major attractions like Universal Studios, Sea World, and Disney. Saying that the roads were busy would be a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!! We did find the convention center. It was…rather large.
As you can see, this convention center spanned quite a bit of land; however, MegaCon itself was centralized in the West Section. Before I went there, I grabbed a quick hamburger from the world’s largest Checkers.
At 12:00 PM, I went to MegaCon. I planned it out in advance to have my father pick me up at a location a mile away from the actual convention itself just in case. Surprisingly, it was easy to travel to it on foot thanks to the elevated walkway. Side note aside, it took me 30 minutes to retrieve my ticket. It only took that long because I was pointed to 15 different locations for it. Once retrieved, I traveled another mile to finally reach the Premium Bag Pickup Area, which consisted of a new lunch box (not the old one mentioned in the ad), a Frank Miller Batman print, a lanyard, and a Civil War II comic book. I then proceeded to the MegaCon sales booth for a t-shirt. I normally buy a t-shirt; however, I expanded that into two comic books as they were MegaCon exclusive variant prints.
I had to wait until 2:00 PM to actually head into the convention area itself. I talked it up quite a bit with some friendly folks in line. Once inside the actual convention, I took my time to scout out all the areas, specifically the Celebrity Alley, Charity Alley, Cosplay Alley, Artist Alley, and Vendor Alley.
For fun and as an experiment, I did leave temporarily to try Sci-Fi Speed Dating. I did not though as (1) it was an additional $10 on top of the ticket price ($50 for Friday and Saturday) and (2) the ratio of men to women was 5 to 1 (10 to 1 on Friday and 15 to 1 on Saturday).
Yeah…I hate to be that guy, but it’s kind of a bad sign when the women hosting the panel are actually hotter than the women participating in the event. Also, the vast majority were kind of there for the attention.
After that fiasco, I decided to attend a screening of the first four episodes of Neo Genesis Evangelion. After that, I returned to Artist Alley and found Mastergodai and Nekonny’s booth. I hung with them for an hour or two before heading out at 7:00 PM to Perkins. On a side note, I would not recommend eating at Perkins due to poor management and waitress services.
FRIDAYI had waffles before heading to the convention at 9:30 AM. The first item on my agenda was to head to a Sketch Duel to see if I could win a sketch. I did not. I then spent the next five hours and thirty minutes walking up and down Artist Alley, checking out some cool prints, chatting it up with the artist, and collecting business cards. I found several amazing artist there that do some pretty sweet work. Plus, the vast majority of folks were as friendly as could be. Heck, I got two new Skype folks to chat with now. And before you ask why it took so long to walk through Artist Alley, check out the below image…
And don’t think that’s all I did that day; I also went down Celebrity Alley to add Adam West and Christopher Lloyd to my autograph collection. But those two were nothing to what I received from the very own…
STAN LEE
At the end of the day, I took my dad out to eat with the Katbox crew. Unfortunately, due to a mix up with the addresses on my end, I went to the wrong Bahama Breeze.
SATURDAYAgain, I had waffles. Again, I went to the convention at 9:30AM. That was a mistake as it was packed to the freaking wall! For those that don’t go to conventions, Saturday is the busiest day of any convention as (1) people are off from work, (2) it’s a weekend, and (3) it’s a fun activity to do with family and friends. I should note that conventions aren’t only for the youth. Conventions like these are open to all ages young and old. You’ll see that later.
Due to the fact it was packed to the walls, I decided to spend the day taking pictures of as many cosplayers as I could.
I also spent four hours going through Vendors Alley.
I did attend one panel featuring the creative team of Dark Knight. I originally went to the panel as they were doing some kind of raffle. I, along with several other people, picked the blue ticket and won a free autograph from the very own Frank Miller.
Look him up. I guarantee you’ll like it.
I had to forgo two additional panels and spend two and a half hours waiting in line to get an autograph from him. Unfortunately, I was unable to snag a picture of him due security. Seriously, security was not kind to anyone who tried to take of picture of him. Five people had their phones confiscated and broken on site. That’s why I read the legal agreement via the back of the stamp. I would’ve taken a picture of it, but I thought it best NOT to do that. You know, because of the broken phone threat and what not.
After that, I spent some more time going through Artist Alley and Venders Alley before heading on back to the Katbox Crew and making new dinner plans. This time I wrote the address down. I ate at the red lobster with my dad, Nekonny, Mastergodai, and his wife. Went back to the hotel and relaxed.
SUNDAYI forgot to mention this, but the primary reason I go to conventions is to meet new people and chat it up. I also enjoy my time at these events in Artist Alley and Venders Alley. I actually met some cool people there. Really, people will be nice to you if you’re nice to them in return. After chatting with a woman for nearly thirty minutes, she gave me a free Premium Ticket for my dad. It turns out that her mother couldn’t make it. So I called up my dad and invited him over. He always wanted to see one of these events. I showed him all over before taking him to the general area. He…he was confused as to why men were dressing up as hot women. He laughed here and there.
Yeah…I dropped him outside and got some last minute goodies from the Artist Alley and Venders alley. I met up with the guys one last time before I said my goodbyes at 1:30 PM.
You might be wondering why I left so soon. As much as I enjoyed the convention, I came down here to also spend some time with my grandma. I spent four hours with her Wednesday and decided to do the same for Sunday. I arrived at her house at 3:00 PM. She cooked us a great meal with her husband. We ate, laughed, and talked for four hours. We hit the road at 7:00 PM and drove for nearly two hours before heading off to bed.
MONDAY
Thanks to a combination of driving, eating at some fast food restaurants, and frappes, I made it home at 11:00 PM at night. I would NOT recommend doing that at all. I would also not recommend eating at Wards. You know a restaurant is bad when the advertisements have 80s characters on them.
COST
Okay, I’m not going to lie, but conventions aren’t cheap, but if you plan ahead, you can cut some costs here and there. As evidence, I’ve provided the following tables.
Without any discounts, the grand total of the convention is $2,142.58.
With the credit card discounts of 3% on gas and 1% on all other, the discounted grand total of the convention is $2,124.10, a savings of $18.49.
With the promotional offers for the Chase Unlimited Credit Card and the Bank of America (I essentially had to spend $500 on each card to receive $100 or $150 cash back), the total out-of-pocket is $1,849.10!
Back and In Action with Commissions
Posted 9 years agoSalutations folks!
Man, I’m not going to lie, but January was just awful with the whole stock market crashing here and there in certain sectors in addition to working tax season hours. Normally, tax season isn’t too much of a hassle for me; however, one of my coworkers called out his boss using rude language. Long story short, I’m now doing his work since he got terminated. So…yeah…fun times for me I guess. :(
But besides work and helping folk with their house cleaning up, I decided to go ahead and open up for commissions!
Man, I’m not going to lie, but January was just awful with the whole stock market crashing here and there in certain sectors in addition to working tax season hours. Normally, tax season isn’t too much of a hassle for me; however, one of my coworkers called out his boss using rude language. Long story short, I’m now doing his work since he got terminated. So…yeah…fun times for me I guess. :(
But besides work and helping folk with their house cleaning up, I decided to go ahead and open up for commissions!
