Welcome to JAWC v3.0 : I should really get some sleep... Well, AnthroCon is over... I met some really cool peeps, some I haven't seen in a long while, others I never knew... it was a lot of fun, makes me realize I have to start planning now just to make it come next year... This was the first year I was in charge of the hotel room, and well, hotel fees are a bitch... especially when you try to make certain things easier on others... but eh, I shouldn't bitch about it too much... but then again, it's not like anyone is really gonna read this... so bwahhaha... stayed at the omni... the omni.... what should I say about the Omni... IT FUCKING ROCKED!... I will never stay at the Westin ever again, because the omni just kicks it's ass... and not like punt, ha ha... but a full fledged dragged the westin's ass around the ground while kicking it and making it it's bitch. seriously though, if you don't mind the walk to the convention center, the omni is so much better, I plan on being there every year I go to the con, just because of the awesome time I had this year. moving on, I roomed this year with Amber and Zina... it was fun, stayed up late, learned that vodka shouldn't be consumed by anyone, seeing that it makes people ... well.. regardless... I'm a possessive bastard... we'll leave it at that... but had a lot of fun during the convention... I think... actually... the convention itself sucked... I mean seriously, I don't go for the convention though, I go to see the few peeps I don't see during the year... and then make money off the peeps I don't know or care about... bwahahhaha suckers! I had my own table with Amber as my assistant... that failed... failed brilliantly... I couldn't have asked for a better failing... seriously... it was like sitting next to the empire state building and I was just a corner store that was attempting to compete... eventually, I became the assistant telling people to move off and that her queue was full... just fending off fans with nothing buy my unmitigated rage!!!... some of her fans were downright creepy too... This one guy says to me that once he gets her AIM addy, that he'll keep bugging her until he gets a sketch... FUCKING LEECH!... shit, sum bitch pissed me off, I started yelling at him right then and there... other fans that actually knew who I was, developed that it was okay to call me benny... THIS IS NOT COOL... I allow about... hmm... 3 people to call me that, and only one I actually like it when she calls me that, otherwise, I tolerate it... I don't like being called benny, it's a term of endearment, not a tool to make it seem like we're all pallsy wallsy... Anyhow, I don't mind it when certain females call me benny, but if you're a guy... just call me ben... unless... well, you're effeminate and hot... in which case, I think I could make an exception... Anyhow, the con was fun, I made some cash, but nothing to break even.. or even recoup my room costs entirely... but I had fun and when you think about it, isn't that all that matters? and the answer to that is "no"... money makes the world go round, and I like going 'round the world... I think I love money too much... seriously... I stay at a crappy job because it pays me... I've essentially become a whore... I do something that makes me feel degraded for money... and I justify staying because of it... if I had the ability to make money through donations and commissions, enough to support myself... I'd quit that damn job... leave it behind and say fuck you to them all... but I can't cause I need money cause I'm not popular or prolific enough to live off of my art earnings... Fail is my middle name. Anyway... where was I.. ah yes.. AnthroCon... the days before the con were fun, I had a breakdown cause I ran myself ragged the days prior to the official start of the con and pushed away someone I love because I felt all overwhelmed and anxious... I regret that... I rarely get a hug... and well... anyway... the con starts and I'm being blocked by fans... now don't get me wrong, I think it's cool to have amber sit next to me, it's fun, and I think the odd crap that goes back and forth is hilarious... but her fans are so damn annoying... wait.. what?... I already said this?... well it bears to repeat itself then... damn straight... they're a creepy lot... and they all have no sense of space or courtesy... I yelled at them to move away from my part of the table... when the whole damn table is mine... no respect... none whatsoever... they just come towards her like moths to a flame... I seriously was on the verge of standing up and yelling at them to fuck off and die... cause... gyah!!! Disregarding the fans of Amber... I still managed to have a good time, met some cool peeps, first and foremost is beowulf, who is the uber-sweetie... I can only say that he makes everyone around him feel like they're on cloud nine, he's that wonderful a man... he just taps into a pleasure root in your mind and strokes it by talking to you.. I don't know how he does it, but he's a fabulous man and I adore him... also I should mention that he's also a kick-ass artist that draws so well, it puts the rest of us artists to shame. yeah, I went there and I said it... you don't like it... tough.. .it's true... Got to meet Darc and gear from codename:Hunter... wonderful people this couple... fun and wonderful to be around, even when you think you're filled with fail, it's cool with them, and they're cool like that... fun peeps... just awesome. Got to meet up with mags, gabi, gorn, wildy, and the rest of them... it's nice to see the peeps I don't see... especially since it's just once a year... and that sucks actually... AnthroCon is like christmas... how it should be... you meet up with people you like, you hang around, you joke, goof and shoot the breeze and then you all leave on good terms in hopes to see everyone the next year... it's fun like that... it's social and warming. Anyhow... let's see...after the convention was over, stayed another day and a half at the omni, v.kyrie and mischa came to stay due to circumstances beyond their control, so I'm glad I had the room that extra night, really came in handy... it was fun... but then headed out with amber, stayed with her "brother" mike and his wife amber... and due to this, amber I roomed with will now be called by her more common name of "Mab"... anyhow, so at mike and ambers' it was cool, cats were overly friendly, never been around cats before so it was kinda weird for me... but it worked out well, played my first RP, I was Waffle Ramirez the Life of the Party... a merchant that was able to quell back the army that threatened the castle keep with my powers of persuasion and an angry "get off my lawn you punks!"... never RP'd before but it was cool to try... This was the second time I was in Indiana, and I gotta say, indiana is looking better and better all the time... I remember going to a coffee bar my first time called stoked's... best banana shake ever... hands down... this year it was just relaxing and trying the spicy and hot buffalo wings... my lips felt like they were on fire and just... hehe.. it was cool... went to my first cracker barrell which was fun too... a lot of firsts for me happen when I'm with Mab... and they're always a lot of fun. I miss having that kind of fun. I miss a lot of things. Anyhow, that saturday I went to the airport, hopped on three flights to JFK and went to visit my parents, that was a lot of fun too... it was nice to helen keller and be my old self again, no worries, angst ridden and surly... it was good to see my folks again... granted there wasn't a lot to do, but that's the point... sometimes it's just really nice to be with someone and just do nothing, cause there's no need to do anything at all... just relax, kick back and watch some jeopardy. Time to wrap up this rant... On the 26th of July I headed back to SLC and utah county... took a flight to long beach as my connecting, and got stuck on the plane for two hours while the bombsquad took care of a suspicious package left in the terminal. it would't have been so bad, except these two mothers... literally, I'm not being clever with cursing... two mothers, with there children... I'm gathering at this point that they were of the lesbian variety, had there children yelling "mama" several times at them and ignoring them... and then it gets worse... I was living through a charlie the unicorn bit, but the mothers didn't know the joke... in charlie, they other unicorn repeat his name and then he yells back, "I'm right here! whaddya want!?"... but the mothers wouldn't say what do you want, they would ignore the child... and worse off, the children didn't know anything beyond the word "mama"... as if there whole language base was one word... like that southpark episode with the people of marklar... it's that kinda fucked up... now it was bad enough on the 6 hour flight, but I figured I could escape... but nope... two extra hours of this crap... I started talking to myself to rationalize the stupidity next to me, even to say to myself that backhand shouldn't just refer to tennis... I said that the children must be retarded.. why else couldn't they say anything other than "mama"... usually parents teach their children words... beyond something so damn benign... eventually they all moved to the other row, cause let's face it, huge hulking guy talking to himself getting pissed off at children?... that's just creepy... and thank god for my creepy, kept me sane a while longer to deboard. Eventually with 2 hour delays in tow, I make it to my next flight, get to SLC, bro and roommate pick me up and I get home... and then I go shopping... and it's 2am in the morning and I should be asleep... so fuck y'all, I'll be back at AC next year if all goes as planned... and until next update... good night and welcome to it. - Tiki Man