Saturday July 28th. Ai-Kon. The Second Day.

The day started pretty late for myself, when I woke up at noon. Possibly a little bit after that. Having no ride due to sleeping in, Shawn Swan and I departed on a bus and headed not to the convention directly but to my mother’s, to pick up the digital camera (we had used up our film in the disposable on Friday) and to see my daughter and drop off a few snacks for her that I had purchased the day before.

After this was all squared away, and having given my daughter a hug, it was back to the public transit busses and we were on our way to Ai-Kon. The crowds proved to be bigger, and even more people were dressed up. This could be attributed for the fact that Saturday was the day the Cosplay event would occur. With camera in hand, I wandered around to the various groups of cosplayers, snapping photos in creative angles.

Sadly I didn’t watch any anime, but I did get to socialize quite a bit with some old friends from previous conventions, and snapped a few photos of them. In fact, I guess you could say not much happened, but for myself it seemed like a lot did. There was still so much to do, which included actually going back into the dealer’s room to exchange a manga I had bought, without realizing that I had already bought it the year before. Luckily, the store owners granted me this exchange, saying that normally they don’t do this, but just for me they would (as long as it wasn’t a repeated issue). Thankfully I took the right issue, and they took back the other still sealed. So I’d like to thank Reece and Chau Do of Little Star Gifts, for granting me that one-time offer.

As the day wore on, my feet started to feel sore, so I took a lot of frequent breaks sitting down and chatting with friends old and new. At one point I even got to talk to Greg Ayres as he wandered into the registration hall.

I remember clearly what had happened, it was like a blur to be honest. I ran down the hallway like a paparazzi, armed with my camera. I then quietly asked for a photo as a keepsake. For myself this is a huge thing, as I am rather shy, and often have trouble speaking around complete strangers, even famous ones. I was very suprised when he asked if I’d like to be in the picture. Smiling like a goof, with sticks in my hair, wearing a Ren Faire dress I was dared to wear, I stood next to this man with purple dyed hair as the photo was taken by a convention staff official.

I happily skipped back to the table our huge group of friends were at, and beamed like an idiot for several hours, waiting for Shawn to return from the games room. As soon as he returned I babbled like a git about getting a photo with Greg. It was then that Shawn wated to know where he was.

Gleefully I led him to the area where he was last seen, and we got a few more shots of Greg, who was now showing off his “I hate babies” T-Shirt. Soon after it was time for myself to kick off my heels and relax reading my newly aquired manga and chat about costumes. After a while a crowd of people were around Greg, who was then giving out autographs. Not having anything for him to sign, I took out my pass and asked him if he wouldn’t mind signing the back of it. He gladly did, cracking a joke: “If anybody asks what I’m doing, I’m selling poison.”

The dance took place after the Cosplay Contest. Now I usually love dances; however, as with every other year I’ve ever gone, I’ve never actually had the chance to dance. In 2004 I was asked to help guard the doors to the dance; in ‘05 I didn’t have enough money to go to the convention, period; and last year my daughter had gone with me for just the Saturday and she had crashed on one of the convention couches. This year? I was the bag watcher, guardian of peoples’ prized trinkets from the dealers room.

I didn’t mind so much though, considering I had been on my feet quite a bit. So I took this chance to have a conversation about pictures I took during 2004, and oddly enough the size of my chest. I was told by a female friend that it was a very “huggable” chest, given its size and that it was lovely. One can only imagine my suprise, as I tend to complain about it a lot.

As the night wore on, it became aparent that our ride back to my place was not going to pick us up. Having no bus fare, and no ride, Shawn and I realized we were stuck for the night. Tracking down friends with hotel rooms was difficult, as it seemed most had vanished into thin air. So, resigned to our fate, we broke in a new deck of playing cards and played a game of Crazy Eight Countdown till roughly 2 AM.

Afterwards, we took a walk outside, only to realize that I had blisters on my feet. Once we got back, I changed into my normal street clothing and we just sort of hung out with a few friends. I even went as far as recording it on the digital camera. By then it was really early in the morning, and all of us were extremely tired.

Little did we know that Sunday would prove to be the higlight of the entire convention, even if we were lacking sleep, and on the verge of passing out.

If you liked that, try...

1. Adventure at Ai-Kon Part Three.
2. Adventure at Ai-Kon 2007. Part One.
3. Big Mean Flash Gamer reviews Fancy Pants Adventure 2
4. Comic Rundown: Free Comic Book Day Edition
5. Simpsonize Me!

No Comments »

No comments yet.

Leave a comment