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W00t! I went to my first con! Seeing as how it was only a stone's throw away from home, it wasn't hard to convince my parents to let me go. This was called EXPCon, and it took place in the World Golf Village (that's St. Augustine, USA, for those who don't know). It's specifically for anime and video games. I found a card with information for it in my school's library and immediately started making plans; for buttering up the overseers as well as the weekend. For the record, yes, I'm in college and I live at home. Sue me.

So, it actually wasn't hard to get them to say yes, and I was even more excited when I found out a group of friends from high school were going. They had booked a hotel I'd hoped that I could room with them; it would cut down on costs for everyone. However, all of them are girls, and even though I only ever dated one of them, apparently the minute we were alone we'd get into a huge orgy. Back to the drawing board. To be honest, I was thinking about asking out my ex again, ironically. Yes, she's on Gaia, but she never logs on, so I doubt she'll ever read this anyway.

Since the first hotel idea had crashed and burned, my mother and I looked on the Internet for some deals at those random sites (Hotels.com, Priceline, etc.) and we found one for around $85. In that area, at that weekend, it was a steal. Of course, there were problems with this idea too. While the con lasted three days and two nights, Friday through Sunday, we could only get one night at the hotel with this price. On top of that, she was now coming with me. I can't spend the night in a hotel room with the opposite sex, nor can I do it alone. Yes, she is that overprotective.

So, I looked over the schedule of events online. This seemed to be the only convention Gaia didn't go to... stressed , but I found out later that this is its first year, so I guess it's not popular enough yet...? Anywho, I decided on Saturday and Sunday, and sat home Friday wishing I was down south with my friends.

Come Saturday, we couldn't leave fast enough. Then we got lost. I think it was about 11:00, 11:30 when we finally found the resort and a parking space; the entire thing opened at 10:00 each morning. I know, an hour doesn't mean that much, but I was practically biting my nails and watching the clock every second it passed 10.

So, I walk in and the first person I recognize is not in my group but a random person from school. And now, my "cool points" with her go up. The way things were set up were, after you signed in, got your badge and T-shirt, and paid money, were a couple of hallways lined with tables of amateur artists desperately trying to sell goods. These ranged from straight pictures to buttons, magnets, keychains, stickers, and anything else you can think of. I'm not sure if this is the way it always is and I'm being naïve; I'm just explaining what I saw. Myself, I bought a keychain of Link (from the Zelda series) standing in the grass, sword out, Navi floating by his side, with a huge moon behind him; it all looks pretty damn cool. I also got a sticker of a chibi Link trying desperately to pull out the Sword of Time and clearly straining himself, and finally a picture that I don't have on me. It was drawn by a girl who goes by Sakura02; she has a deviantART account with that name and a website (www.sakura02.com) and does amazing work. I'd say tell her Kumizu sent you but she'd have no idea who you're talking about.
*By the way, the sakura02 on Gaia is not her.

Along with that were five different rooms. Four were on the official schedule, but another was set up just to play video games ( whee ). One room held the main events, from panels to AMVs. Another was where parties took place, so it was also regularly visited... especially the night I was there. The third room was huge, with random people selling anime, manga, collectibles, video games; if it could some way be tied to the con, it was being sold there. I even got a copy of Blue Sub No. 6! You can't waltz into Best Buy and pick that up! As for the fourth, it was just a huge movie room. It continually played anime. When I was bored, or there was an anime that I had never seen before and wanted to watch (like Ah! My Goddess!), I sat down and watched the couple of episodes that were played.

There were a couple of panels that I missed, like a Zelda one, but there were reasons I chose Saturday and Sunday over Friday and Saturday. For example, there was a Cowboy Bebop panel on Sunday with the two voice actors who played Spike and Jet. They talked about the series, other cast members, things they did before and after Bebop, and answered a lot of questions. And even though I think Spike is dead, Spike says he isn't. He's gone through a lot worse and come out alive. But with Julia and Vicious dead... I'm not going to get into it. There was a contest at the end of it to test your CB knowledge. Four questions, four signed copies of the first DVD. The volunteers were split into smaller groups who would get a certain question instead of everyone shouting at once for all four. Our question came and I drew a complete blank. But it was so simple: a lobster. Spike put a lobster in the fridge which he then forgot about. I already have the entire series, so I'm not feeling too bad, but I wanted to impress Spike and Jet more than I wanted the extra copy.

Alas, I got a chance to redeem myself, partially. Right after the panel was the AMV showing; this time, only the winners of each category (best romance, action, horror... you get the idea). As we were waiting for everything to set up, one of the main workers in the convention got out a bunch of cards and a basket of lollipops and quizzed us to keep us busy. She made sure that we raised our hands, like we were back in school, and started asking questions. When she asked for Spike's final words, my hand shot up so fast I think it hurt. I knew it was "Bang" mostly because I imitated it throughout middle school when trying to look cool. The flavor of the candy is disgusting, so I haven't even unwrapped it. I'm just going to keep it, and I'll call it my Bang Lollipop.

Of course, staying Saturday night meant I got to see the most exciting event of all. It wasn't even on the schedule. That's right, it was a fight between some closed-minded douche-bag and the boyfriend of one of the ladies in my group from high school. Here we go: the con itself took place in a resort, so obviously there were other things there; including a small cafe. In said cafe was a piano, which was open for anyone to play. The girl and her boyfriend were having dinner while an older man was playing. He finished, and the boyfriend got up to take his place. Immediately he asked him what song he was about to play, and when he answered, the man's response was "Nobody wants to hear that s**t." Nonetheless, he played for a little while, then they left. They were coming to the main entrance when the man caught up with them, punched him, and then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air. His girlfriend called for help while my mother, who was outside having a smoke, spotted this, ran in, and pried him loose. Seeing more people coming, like me, the man fled.

Naturally, the police were called. And naturally, they did nothing. I don't trust the cops to do anything in the city I live in and I'm not surprised they did nothing here. They took statements from my friend and her boyfriend, looked around outside a bit, and left. That's it. Yes, even though my mother was the one who called, they completely ignored her.

So, everyone in the group ended up leaving early. Surprisingly, the head of the resort was cool about it; he understood that it was some random a*****e started it and not one of the... con... goers.... But what surprised me most was, aside from this entire incident, my mother had a good time. She's a people watcher, and found the cosplaying fascinating. Now if only I can get her to do it.


*Holy hell is this entry long...