Life is so strange when you don't know, how can you tell where you're going to. You can't be sure

[hazelchaz]

My St. Patrick's Day/Early Easter Party (13-Mar-2005) pictures are online, as well as the 2nd 2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational. (They would have called it the 3rd Annual, but they didn't update the graphics on the Grilled Cheese Invitational website.) At my party, an impromptu needlework circle broke out; click on colleency and Janis to see the party pictures. And hey, I'm caught up with the big events! This afternoon I drive down to ConDor, hope to see some of you there.

At animelosangeles we had a "Costume Repair Station." This was a concept I'd seen before; think of a well-run Masquerade green room, or a "Fur Suit Lounge." I wanted to emphasize the pit-stop nature of the place. If you needed a quick repair to your hall costume, this was a place in the main thick of things (very close to the Con Suite) where you could do a little fix and take care of your cosplay malfunction, or touch up your make-up, or just take that big vinyl headpiece off for a few minutes. The four most needed items, in no particular order, were the hot glue gun, duct tape, safety pins, and a black Sharpie marker. And a few people made use of Maria's sewing machine.

Next year we'll open it earlier, and we'll probably close it after the Masquerade/Cosplay instead of having it stay open late. We'll also post a time limit; if it takes you more than 30 minutes to repair your costume, you're overstaying your welcome in the Costume Repair Station and the people in charge may ask you to relocate to your room to finish up.

The Costume Repair Station proved to be well appreciated by those who came by. We had a changing area set up, using art show fixtures as dividers, but it wasn't needed -- people just changed in the bathroom, or in the public restrooms. All in all, it was a keeper of an idea, and we're going to have it in the main function area next year.

More commentary later...