..Do you remember how it all began, it just seemed like heaven, so why did it end?...

Photos now online:
FanimeCon 2009 part 1: Over the Grapevine (21-May-2009) et seq.
FanimeCon 2009 part 8: Friday Morning (22-May-2009) et seq.

FanimeCon report part 1. ( We stopped three or four times going to Bakersfield... )

We were northbound out of Bakersfield by about 3-something. We then stopped at the Coalinga-Avenal rest stop where Sarah opened up the graduation present that missmea made for her. (right) You can't see it clearly in the picture, but it's a scrunchy made with Nepalese sari wool that Maria had lying around. Sarah was especially touched, because her parents met in Nepal.

( Lynn and I traded off driving all the way up to San Jose... )

On the drive up, Melissa had been working on finishing a scarf for Nikki. It was ready, we ran into Nikki in the Swap Meet (Gaming Room), and Nikki loved it. (right)

In fact, the Swap Meet and the Concourse in general was the place to meet lots of the usual suspects. We drive hundreds of miles to hang out with people we know from back home, such as magi_sammy, little_serenity, and SanjiCat (left).

Nikki and her boys helped me shop for some used PS2 video games, to get our video game equipment collection started. I ended up with 12 games that wouldn't be automatic if-you-sit-down-you'll-be-playing-for-two-hours time sinks. Thanks for the help!

( We learned that FanimeCon has two kinds of advance registration: ''Pre-Registration'' and ''Early Registration.'' Snarky comments behind the cut... )

We went off-site, to buy peanut butter, jelly, and eight loaves of bread. We came back, got our badges, and headed down to Artist Alley.

( Artist Alley setup was announced to run from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Mildly snarky comments here... )

I was very glad to have Caitlin and Julia helping me, in addition to Sarah. They really pulled their weight. Artist Alley was open until 8:00 pm, so there were some long hours for us to man the table. They committed to working two two-hour shifts a day, which was just amazing. (left)

tenkuudragon also showed up and put in a lot of hours at the table. We were giving away postcards, selling memberships, giving away snacks, and selling badge ribbons to raise money for the ones we give away at the convention.

( It was a good day for people-watching... )

( After dinner, we came back and started setting up our Peanut Butter and Jelly Party on the concourse... )

By being out on the concourse so late, I did get to see a bunch of folks as they came back for dinner or went to the dance.

Such as travel_valenti. (left) Her report is up, by the way -- go check it out.

divine_sage and neo_serenity were having a bonding experience -- Carolyn's joined the ranks of the legal adults, so no 10:00 pm curfew for her anymore. (right)

Sheri "SanjiCat" Jordan was out late, too, in her red loli dress and with her dollfie. (left) We talked quite a bit -- she wanted to videotape me answering the question "Why did you start Animé Los Angeles?" The problem with that question is the answer is long and involved, and it's a speech I haven't figured out how to edit down into a manageable, YouTube-appropriate sound bite...

(Continued...)

...Do you remember back in the fall, we'd be together all day long...

( Photos now online: FanimeCon 2009 Saturday, through Masquerade Entry 25... )

Saturday at FanimeCon. The furry ear people were at the end of the row from us -- Bay Area Animation Society, I think -- so we shopped for new fuzzy ears for library_lynn. We ended up buying one pair (above right), and special-ordering another pair with fur that Lynn liked.

That morning, I'd gone on the shopping run by myself, to get more bread, peanut butter, and jelly. I stopped at Las Flamas, a Mexican restaurant on Market/Monterey, to get a chorizo and egg burrito to go. It was very tasty. (left)

( I'd managed to talk to the Masquerade Assistant Director on Friday about giving some Anime Los Angeles memberships as masquerade prizes for some of the winners... )

Evan James, our Creative Director, was serving as one of Julia's seconds. Julia Ha is our animelosangeles Events Division head, and she has a similar post (Extravaganzas Director, I believe) for FanimeCon. Our new status as a Masquerade sponsor got me and Hillel a special perk -- we got to sit in the reserved seating area. (Row 3, to be exact.) Evan, Julia and Jinni (Julia's other assistant) were outside the auditorium, and showed us to our seats. (right)

The emcee for the event was Ric Meyer, who kept snagging props from masquerade entries to hold for a while, by grabbing one before the appropriate ninja was able to remove it. (left)

( Something that FanimeCon does is put the entries with the larger costumes or props towards the beginning of the evening... )

In any event, one of the entries that I wanted to make absolutely sure I didn't miss was the one that little_serenity and magi_sammy put together. (right) Unfortunately there was a lighting miscue, and I wasn't able to get a picture of divine_sage who played the part of their punchline!

(Continued...)