Thursday:
I arrived at CVG2008 around 6pm. Tiff and Crystal had said to get there about that early so as to secure seating for the opening ceremonies. Totally do-able. I pulled up in the parking lot wearing a white sweatshirt with my green reflecty vest over it. (read, looked like a total dork) Scanning the parking lot, I see this dude with a HUGE sword and really elaborate [anime?] costume on. I think to myself, "Yep, I'm officially at CON."
This was entirely amusing to me, because just two years prior, I had been out on a test drive in a mini-cooper with Rob, Steve and the ex. We drove past CON and LAUGHED our asses off. I remember taking a picture of a group with a lady who had a dragon on her shoulder (a little puppet thing) and titling it "crazy con people". I wonder where that picture is these days...
Back to arriving at CVG, I asked dressed up anime guy if I could park my scooter next to his bad ass motorcycle. He said sure. I just didn't want to look harder for parking, nor did I want to take up a whole spot with my scooter. That's just rude. Two bikes in one spot is better than one. Anime guy and I end up going to registration together, as well as the ATM together. That's the last I would see of him till Saturday night. No biggie.
After opening ceremonies (which was hilarious, including the fact that the video didn't work...DAMN YOU, AUSTIN POWERS!) Tiff and Crystal took me back to el hotel to unload my stuff and get ready for the night. Crystal came through with a garden party hat, we made a name tag out of our hotel key card envelope (it had roses on it) and called it a win. I was transformed into
Sarah Sunderson of the Stepford Garden Society. Too much fun! It was a really simple costume, but got lots of compliments on it. :)
I spent a good portion of Thursday night chilling with Aaron. He's good people.
Friday:
Got up and puttered around the hotel room for a couple of hours. Did some getting ready with Tiff. Also made a beer and store for last minute costume pieces run with Aaron. Tiff and I went out on the floor as
MN Zissou Team Members Pants and Tiff. Nico was nowhere to be found, and the suit was kinda itchy. I ditched it for my
Renaissance outfit.
I can't BELIEVE how many people complimented my costume. To me, the fest garb is totally run of the mill. Nothing is hand made or really true to period, in my opinion. The corset is from
Victoria's Secret for crying out loud! Everyone loved it, though. As the weekend wore on, I even got used to the fact that people thought my scar was makeup, and not a real scar. I was irritated at first, but then realised that I can't get away from it, especially with the costume choices I made. Oh well.
Saturday:
Got up and got ready to GO. I had planned on rocking my
Tank Girl costume ALL DAY on Saturday. Tiff decided to rock her
Six costume all day, too. Good call! Crystal helped me
get into proper Tank Girl form, and she changed into
her signature costume to take CVG by storm!
Our group had a really great time at Masquerade, even if I was
a little sleepy. CON is tiring, yo! :P
Many
beers were imbibed, many
new friends were made, and a jolly good time was had
by all. I spent an inordinate amount of time playing with
glow sticks in Connie's Space Lounge. I ended up with quite a few of them by the time the night was over.
I ended up meeting back up with
that motorcycle anime character guy (the one in the blonde wig) again in the Space Lounge. We ended up playing blacklight mini golf, but I was so toasted by that time (2am?) that I had to go back to the hotel and sleep.
Sunday:
I was hungover. Big time. Like, so BADLY hung over that I didn't want to move. I didn't want to think. I really wasn't ABLE to do much of either activity. UGH. Met up with Dan (the motorcycle guy) and his friend Kent before they left for the day. Turns out, Dan was deployed in Iraq with the National Guard and worked as a medic in a burn unit. He knows a lot about Keloid scarring. This is too cool, because I have a nasty scar that needs to go away...and he can help. :)
After saying goodbye to Dan and Kent,
Ryan and I went to what we thought was Theatre Nippon for some
Chobits. Turned out, we were in Theatre Rex for some
Hero action. That is a fantastic movie. Visually stunning and brilliant. I can't wait to see it again. When you watch that movie when you are hungover as FUCK, it makes things worse. I can't even describe to you how awful the camera angles and movements made me feel. UGH. Still, a great movie.
After CVG, Ryan needed a ride home. No biggie, he came with me on the scooter. We had an adventurous ride home through the construction and closures of all the roads. We hung at his place for a good two hours just talking, BS-ing, and having a good time. That guy is great. Ryan = winnar from CON weekend. Crystal, thanks for introducing us all! :)
After Ryan's place, I decided it was time to fix my hangover. Thanks to the magic of
Taco Bell, my hangover went away. I also had a really lovely walk around
Lake Calhoun. I needed to do some deep soul searching and deciding of things before I went home to face the demons that haunted me there.
For those of you who weren't in the loop, I'll clue you in. This is the night that I broke up with Damian for good. I can't handle him controlling and emotionally/psychologically abusing me any longer. He's got to go. I have less than two months left in my apartment here, and then he'll be gone completely. I don't have contact with him other than when he chooses to come see me at work. And that has to STOP. Thank you to all who have been here for me during the first few make up/break up situations. I really needed your help and support. Now, I'm glad to say that I'm back to my own life and doing great. :)
If you're still with me this far and haven't decided to un-friend me for my lack of lj-cut action, I thank you. Hopefully this will sway all of you into coming to CVG2009. :P