Anime Weekend Atlanta begins in 49 days. In this amount of time, I have to collect $305.52. So far, I have $101.85 (from me and Raven). I need 203.67 from Nikki, Nikki's friend, Stephen, and Alex. I haven't heard from Nikki in forever, and I hope to hear from Stephen this weekend. This room is awesome. It's a 1 King Bed Jacuzzi Suite with 1 King Bed, Jacuzzi Tub, Microwave, and Refrigerator
Features and amenities include:
Free Breakfast
Free Business Center
Free High Speed Internet
Gym/Fitness Center
Meeting Space
Pool
The room specifically has:
Roll-in-Shower
High Speed Internet - Wireless and Wired
Clock/Radio
Coffeemaker
Cordless Phone
Iron and Board
Hairdryer
27 inch Television with Direct TV - HBO, ESPN, CNN, MSNBC
Lounge Chair/Ottoman
Nintendo 64 Video Games
On-Demand Movies
Work Desk
Refrigerator
Microwave
The list goes on and on. Some individuals (who I think are extremely immature) are dead set at staying at the Renaissance Waverly, the con's official hotel. The hotel that my group is staying at is exactly .4 miles to the entrance to the Waverly. Our room is twice the size of most of the rooms that our other friends are getting at the Waverly. To be exact, to get our room at the Waverly (not including the AWESOME JACUZZI!), would be 567.72. DO THE MATH PEOPLE!
I had a very interesting conversation with Raven yesterday about con-goers. A majority live in this fantasy world, and don't take into perspective the time, money, and other expenses that any convention, especially one like AWA, contain. There are some things that most don't really seriously think about until the last minute, which will lead to a serious downfall. So I've come up with part one of a list of what I think everyone who is traveling to a con needs to consider.
Number One: I need to get a ticket. Where/How am I gonna do that?
After deciding to go to a con, you need to consider how you're gonna get a ticket. No ticket=NO CON. You need a ticket to get into the con, and get into all of the stuff you want to do at the con. No ticket=no dealers room, no movies, no concert, no nothing. And why go if you can't do anything? Most sites now have a pre-registration link that you use a credit card or mail in cash, check, or a money order. If you don't/can't do that, there's always a way to do it at the con. The official website is your friend. It will tell what you need to know about everything. Which leads to the the most important aspect of any trip: MONEY.
Number Two: How am I gonna pay for everything?
DO NOT GO TO A CON WITHOUT MONEY!!!! Everyone hates that one person who is begging for money to "go home", "buy some food", or even worse "get that extra special plushie." This is annoying, and shows a lack of maturity. If you go on any vacation (and I personally consider a con a vacation), you need to be prepared. Anime conventions warrant even more attention (costumes, all of the crap YOU WILL BUY, and that oh so important pocky). You need travel money, hotel money, spending money, food money, costume money (if you're gonna wear one), and extra money. You never know what can (and will) happen. Money makes the con go round!
Number Three: Who am I going with?
PICK YOUR TRAVEL BUDDIES WISELY!!!! If you know that "Bubba" never seems to get things together, DON'T INVITE BUBBA! You need mature and responsible people to accompany you. If you won't go to the mall with them, DON'T TAKE A TRIP WITH THEM! Also consider those with monetary restrictions and REMEMBER YOUR OWN. If you can't get things together in time, don't try to go. And if you can't go TELL EVERYONE ELSE IN A TIMELY FASHION!!! I'm sure seasoned con-goers have had that one person bail out at the last minute and completely mess up everything. One way to remedy that is a contract, but it shouldn't have to go that far. STRANGER=DANGER!!!! Get to know people before you go and vacation with them!
Number Four: How am I gonna get there?
Getting to the con has always been something that requires serious contemplation. Are you gonna drive, fly, carpool with someone, ride a bus (the worst possible choice in my opinion)? All of these transportation forms need money (see NUMBER ONE), and they need planning. You have to get the plane/bus ticket (don't forget all those baggage worries), or get your car in shape to travel (PLEASE, don't go anywhere far without getting your car checked out or tuned up). If you're carpooling, you need to get with the people you're going with and have a SERIOUS discussion of how much gas money will be need. Let's be honest, GAS IS NOT CHEAP. Don't expect the driver to take ten bucks for a trip over 50 miles. Even if you're friends, be conscious of the fact that no gas = no go to con! Don't forget kids, DON'T TRAVEL WITH STRANGERS!!!
Number Five: Where am I gonna stay?
I hate it when I'm at a con and someone asks, "You got any extra room where you're staying" or "Can I stay with you?" Why go somewhere of an extended amount of time and not have a definite place to sleep at night and keep your stuff? Once you have a group that you're near positive is going, you need to figure out where you're gonna "live". The most obvious (and sometimes most expensive) choice is the con hotel. Staying with friends or at one of the overflow hotels (like what my group's doing) are two other choices. When staying anywhere, the size of your group can really affect your experience. If your staying with friends, be courteous; IT ISN'T YOUR HOUSE! You are a guest, so act like a good one. Getting kicked out will suck. A standard hotel room (2 twin beds, one bathroom) with TEN PEOPLE can suck, yet be a pretty good time. It just depends on what type of person you are. No matter where you're staying remember to stay with PEOPLE THAT AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN THE GROUP KNOWS. NO COMPLETE STRANGERS! People you trust are a good idea too. You never really know everyone. Also make sure that everyone can afford the room. Don't get $500 suite if you don't have a way to pay for it!
Part Two is coming soon!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Leaving it all behind me
I’ve recently gotten really serious about cosplaying. Spurred on by my BBF Whitney (Raven to those who haven’t know her as long), I have started planning for the conventions that I will attend for the rest of this year and next year. Considering the price tag on some of this stuff (about $500 in all for my proposed Jedi cosplay), I will be dressing up as various anime/ Star Wars/ Steampunk characters for the next couple of years. Which brings me to a very important point: Do I really want to be dressing up and going to cons when I’m 35?
I love anything anime/ fantasy/ sci-fi related (except D&D and card related stuff. Even I have my limits), but I don’t want to be that nerd that’s living in my parents’ basement. Okay, so the probability that I’ll be a basement reject at 35 is slim to none (especially since my parents don’t have a basement), but I’m worried about “growing up” and leaving all of those things behind, losing a bit of me in the process. Loving this stuff is what makes me unique. Being able to quote most of the Star Wars saga and give completely useless, but hard to find trivia at the drop of a hat is what makes me special. Standing in line at Walmart for the midnight release of some epic video game is the kind of thing that thrills me. Staying up all night to read the latest installment of my favorite fantasy novel is what I do. Having intense arguments about who shot first (IT WAS HAN!!!) or which movie in the saga was the best (Empire Strikes Back) is what makes life worth living.
My real worries begin with the prospect of having children. Genetically speaking, I’ve got the DNA to push out an average of FIVE KIDS even if I don’t want one. My father also put a CURSE on me, and while I’m not superstitious, it was kind of scary to hear about. Something tells me that I’ll end up having some kids. I don’t want to be one of those weirdo moms that my hypothetical children will have a reason to be embarrassed about, and I don’t want to be talk show fodder or end up on an episode of True Life.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not ready to fully “grow up.” I don’t want to be some stuffy old lady that knits and bakes stuff (although I kinda do that now). I don’t want to have to give up what interests me to fit in with the adult world. But I don’t want to be a weirdo creeper either.
I love anything anime/ fantasy/ sci-fi related (except D&D and card related stuff. Even I have my limits), but I don’t want to be that nerd that’s living in my parents’ basement. Okay, so the probability that I’ll be a basement reject at 35 is slim to none (especially since my parents don’t have a basement), but I’m worried about “growing up” and leaving all of those things behind, losing a bit of me in the process. Loving this stuff is what makes me unique. Being able to quote most of the Star Wars saga and give completely useless, but hard to find trivia at the drop of a hat is what makes me special. Standing in line at Walmart for the midnight release of some epic video game is the kind of thing that thrills me. Staying up all night to read the latest installment of my favorite fantasy novel is what I do. Having intense arguments about who shot first (IT WAS HAN!!!) or which movie in the saga was the best (Empire Strikes Back) is what makes life worth living.
My real worries begin with the prospect of having children. Genetically speaking, I’ve got the DNA to push out an average of FIVE KIDS even if I don’t want one. My father also put a CURSE on me, and while I’m not superstitious, it was kind of scary to hear about. Something tells me that I’ll end up having some kids. I don’t want to be one of those weirdo moms that my hypothetical children will have a reason to be embarrassed about, and I don’t want to be talk show fodder or end up on an episode of True Life.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not ready to fully “grow up.” I don’t want to be some stuffy old lady that knits and bakes stuff (although I kinda do that now). I don’t want to have to give up what interests me to fit in with the adult world. But I don’t want to be a weirdo creeper either.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The beginnings of an epic quest
A year ago today, I was sitting in the office of Dr. Peeples, the dorkiest/coolest pharmapsychologist certified by the state board of Georgia. While our usual discussion was going in the direction of "blah blah, worried about college, blah blah, my extended family is crazy", He asked my a question that I still can't answer affirmatively. "Are you happy with your life up to this point?" As I sat there with my confused faced (that oh so attractive grimace that makes me look like a chimp), I felt a panic attack coming. I had no idea if I was content, much less happy.
Reflecting on that life changing question, I can't say that I've ever been truly happy. I’ve gone through life laughing off or raging about the misfortunate parts of living as Timeeka Bruton. Dr. Peeples, being a Tibetan Buddhist sage trapped in the body of a 37 year old white man from South Carolina, said that happiness is a relative state of mind. Well I have never truly felt it. I wasn’t a happy baby, a happy child, or a happy teenager (but happy teenager sounds like a paradox). I’m afraid that my adult life is going to follow the same course.
My grandmother (granny for those who know her) once said that one is never truly happy and that we all live in a toss-up between contentment and discontentment. Looking her life, it seems as though she has lived in discontentment for the past 30 years. The only one of her birth children to succeed in life (stable job, married, “healthy” family, her OWN house) was my mother. The rest are perfect pictures of what you can do to completely your life and of those around you. Their failures pushed my mother and grandmother to try to do the best with my generation. And when my oldest cousin failed to make something of his life, all of that hope was transferred to me.
Being the model child of my entire family (nuclear and extended) is the reason why I am physically and mentally afflicted. The panic attacks, the cysts, and my immune system are responding to the pressure I’ve put on myself to succeed. I HAVE TO SUCCEED. I CANNOT end up like my grandmother, my mother, my father, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and even my older brother. I have spent my entire life up to this point in a constant state of panic, and I know that I can’t live the rest of my life this way.
There was a point in January of this year that I decided that I would try to put myself into a coma. I didn’t want to die (it seemed too cliché to attempt suicide), and I didn’t want to physically harm myself (because I am a chicken). I thought if I spent maybe a week or two completely disconnected from the rest of the world, I would be able to calm down and figure out what is was that I was looking for in life. Instead, I ended up falling out of my loft after taking two really strong pain killers that my doctor prescribed for dealing with my cyst. After that really awesome month of back pain, I realized that the only way I would manage to even begin to figure things out would be to cut myself off from friends and family, which only led to more therapy.
So a year after being handed the question that will drive my life, I haven’t even cracked the surface. I am still hanging out in the darkness of my own psyche. But who knows? A year from now, I might have part one figured out.
Reflecting on that life changing question, I can't say that I've ever been truly happy. I’ve gone through life laughing off or raging about the misfortunate parts of living as Timeeka Bruton. Dr. Peeples, being a Tibetan Buddhist sage trapped in the body of a 37 year old white man from South Carolina, said that happiness is a relative state of mind. Well I have never truly felt it. I wasn’t a happy baby, a happy child, or a happy teenager (but happy teenager sounds like a paradox). I’m afraid that my adult life is going to follow the same course.
My grandmother (granny for those who know her) once said that one is never truly happy and that we all live in a toss-up between contentment and discontentment. Looking her life, it seems as though she has lived in discontentment for the past 30 years. The only one of her birth children to succeed in life (stable job, married, “healthy” family, her OWN house) was my mother. The rest are perfect pictures of what you can do to completely your life and of those around you. Their failures pushed my mother and grandmother to try to do the best with my generation. And when my oldest cousin failed to make something of his life, all of that hope was transferred to me.
Being the model child of my entire family (nuclear and extended) is the reason why I am physically and mentally afflicted. The panic attacks, the cysts, and my immune system are responding to the pressure I’ve put on myself to succeed. I HAVE TO SUCCEED. I CANNOT end up like my grandmother, my mother, my father, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and even my older brother. I have spent my entire life up to this point in a constant state of panic, and I know that I can’t live the rest of my life this way.
There was a point in January of this year that I decided that I would try to put myself into a coma. I didn’t want to die (it seemed too cliché to attempt suicide), and I didn’t want to physically harm myself (because I am a chicken). I thought if I spent maybe a week or two completely disconnected from the rest of the world, I would be able to calm down and figure out what is was that I was looking for in life. Instead, I ended up falling out of my loft after taking two really strong pain killers that my doctor prescribed for dealing with my cyst. After that really awesome month of back pain, I realized that the only way I would manage to even begin to figure things out would be to cut myself off from friends and family, which only led to more therapy.
So a year after being handed the question that will drive my life, I haven’t even cracked the surface. I am still hanging out in the darkness of my own psyche. But who knows? A year from now, I might have part one figured out.
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