Got home from a fun weekend at Ohayocon, got a good amount of pictures, froze my @$$ets off doing photoshoots outside in the freezing cold all weekend, and now have 10 days until Katsucon to post the majority (if not all) of my Ohayo pictures..

Good seeing friends again, some I've not seen since last year, since 2007, and one friend since 2004!! Good weekend overall, and now there won't be any rest for me until that Valentine's Day weekend comes, and even LESS when it's all over.. haha

I decided to return to Anime Los Angeles (ALA) last weekend, with 2007 being the last time I attended. Let's just say that this year my faith has been restored to this convention, as I had a lot of fun, got a lot of nice pictures, and will definitely return to ALA in 2011. ^_^

Here are the pictures I took from the convention, sorted by day:

Anime Los Angeles 2010

Friday, January 8th

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/172135/

Saturday, January 9th

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/172220/

Sunday, January 10th

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/172589/

I hope you like the pictures, and see you all next time!


Now, switching to a different subject, before I went to ALA, i made a long LJ post and I wanted to clarify some things. As you can see from the links above from ALA, I am still posting my pictures on cosplay.com and will continue to do so throughout the year. All these years of posting pictures there, I am used to my method of getting my pictures online, and while it's not the best method, it's what I'm familiar with.

The only difference is that I do not call myself a "Staff Photographer" for the site anymore, something I decided by my own choosing, which means that I'm not obligated to take pictures for the site. That also means I have the choice to get whichever cosplayers, gatherings, etc. that I want to take. If cosplayers post after the con "EBK didn't take my picture" or "EBK didn't go to my gathering" while it may be because I was busy taking other pictures or elsewhere, hopefully they will understand. But I can't be everywhere, can't get everyone, but now I don't have to be and can take my time, take it easy, etc. I post my pictures on cosplay.com because I enjoy taking pictures and showing them to people. This is what I do as a hobby, and I do it for myself at my own pace and choosing.

ALA was a good test for me. I ended up taking pictures of cosplayers that I saw, did photoshoots of friends, and relaxed a little when I could. When there were huge, overcrowded gatherings, I avoided those and took pictures of smaller groups or individuals. While some of my friends may have been participating in those big gatherings, I'd rather not fight the crowds and just stay away from that cluster-cuss of people and find other cosplayers to take pictures of.

Saturday late-afternoon/evening it did get a little hectic, and I was running around, trying to find friends that I missed earlier, and the craziness that happened before caught up to me, and my emotions seemed to be noticed by some friends, and I later apologized for my behavior. I calmed down, and then continued to take pictures at an easier pace. The Saturday-night Masquerade I didn't attend, again not being obligated to take pictures for cosplay.com, so I spent that time taking pictures of cosplayers & friends who didn't go either.

While ALA was fun, the real test comes with the next 2 cons: Ohayocon and Katsucon. I feel like there are more people there who I've upset/offended, so this is a new year and a new chance to try and ammend my mistakes.

In my last post, I mentioned that there were friends & cosplayers that were avoiding me or politely (they were very polite) in declining for me to take their pictures. I have not yet actually talked to any of my friends in-detail about why they don't want to pose for me as much/at-all, but I feel that it's not necessary to do so. I was going to just listen to what they had to say and ask if there was any solution, but in the end it's their decision. Cosplayers have the right to say no to any photographer, myself included. I will accept that and move on. I hold no ill-will towards anyone, and will continue to be their friend (I have not cut anyone on LJ, Twitter, Myspace, facebook, etc.) Going to these next two cons I will be busy enough all weekend taking a lot of pictures, and I will miss friends' costumes. I don't look for drama and most of the time I never encounter drama (it's nice to be drama-free, right?) so I'm excited to see my friends in-general, regardless if they don't let me take their picture. To those who read this, please don't blame my friends that don't pose for me as-much/no more. Their decision is due to something that i've done/caused, so there's nobody to blame but me. I'm alright with it. ^_^

I'm off to a good start this year, and with one con complete, I am anxious for the next. Ohayo & Katsu will be tough, but I welcome the challenge! See you there!

didn't sleep at-all tonight, save for a short nap.  But I guess thinking about and posting my previous entry, and replying to those who've commented, has given me the energy to stay awake.  Thankfully i will sleep on the shuttle-ride to the airport, and the quick flight to LAX.

I look forward to seeing everyone there, and hope to get a lot of pictures this weekend.

If you are attending ALA, and have my #, please TEXT ME to get a hold of me.  Call if you prefer, but i usually get texts better.  It's going to be busy but I'll do my best to get your costume(s)  I appreciate your time and can't wait to see all of your costumes!

Have a safe trip to the con!   ^_^

(This might be my most serious post yet, so thanks for reading)

As mentioned in my last post, I am excited about going to a lot of conventions in 2010, with the same amount of conventions planned like last year, but that # may add or drop, always depending on funds and getting time-off for work.  But there will be a significant-change.  Here it is:

As of tomorrow (January 8th) starting with Anime Los Angeles (and continuing with Ohayocon, Katsucon, Sakuracon, etc.) i will no longer be taking pictures as a staffer for cosplay.com, meaning that I won't be one of the main photographers for the website.  When you see me at conventions, I will be taking pictures, but you won't see me with a press-badge for the site, and the business card I usually carry won't be on the other side on my convention badge.  For most of you who know me, you know where to find my pictures.  And if I meet people who haven't heard of cosplay.com or myself, I will show them the card and give details about how to find the pictures. 

I can't really get into too many details, but I am not quitting cosplay.com.  I will still be a moderator on the forums, as I enjoy posting there and helping out with whatever I can whenever I can.  I have a lot of respect for admin and the staff, and like my current job, will continue to do my duties until I am let-go.  Again, I am NOT leaving the site. 

As for where I post my pictures I take at conventions, they will still be uploaded into my Eurobeat King gallery, but you may also find them posted on American Cosplay Paradise (ACP), Flickr, Photobucket, etc.

As for the type of pictures I take, since I'm not acting as staff-photographer for cosplay.com, I'm not obligated anymore to go around and try to get a lot of cosplay pictures of hall-cosplayers, gatherings, masquerades, etc.   Since I enjoy taking pictures, I will still take pictures of various cosplayers when I see them, and will be doing a good amount of photoshoots so I can improve on my photography-skills.  Example: I'll start a morning at a con and take pictures of cosplayers wandering around, but when it's time for a photoshoot, I'm off to do that.  And then the process repeats.   Overall, I don't want to rush myself at cons, trying to get thousands of pictures per day (I still may, depending on the # of cosplayers there are) and take it a little bit easier. 

So if you don't see me at a gathering, or see me too much at a con, I'm around but possibly elsewhere.  But if you do see me, feel free to say hi and ask me to take your picture.  I won't say no (unless I'm extremely busy) and will be happy to take your picture.  ^_^

Continuing on to a more personal subject, I know that throughout the years, I've made a lot of people dislike me, because of the pictures I take, the pictures I don't take, the friends I hang-out with,  the way I act sometimes at cons, etc.  It's because of this that has made people uncomfortable, or that they feel the need to criticize me or spread rumors about me on sites like 4chan, Cos-Fu, etc.  Maybe I deserve it, maybe I don't.  I know a lot of people have said "Ignore those sites", "Don't let it get to you", or "you don't need to defend yourself", etc. and i don't let it get to me.  Since I don't post anything to bash other people in a public-forum or here in LJ, if they want to keep bashing me until the day I die (and after), that's their choice.  The friends who know me know that most of the stuff that is said about me isn't true.  If someone wants to ask me something, I'll tell them honestly (unless it's too personal.)

But this past summer and beyond, I noticed that a good amount of friends that I've known for a few years, wouldn't pose for pictures for me.   Many reasons could've been the case: they weren't feeling well, they weren't comfortable in their costumes, or they had private photoshoots set-up with other photographers and would only pose for them.  All the reasons above were perfectly fine, and I accepted that.  But I won't lie to say I didn't feel hurt, like my work is no longer appreciated.  I know I don't have a fancy camera and expensive equipment, I know that I chose Sony to be my first SLR, and I know I'm getting older and that maybe I'm not as agile as I used to be.  You know how the flight attendants say after a plane lands "We thank you for choosing ____ today.  We know you have a choice in airlines, but we appreciate your business."  That's similar to my case.  I know cosplayers have a choice in photographers to pose for, and I respect that, so I would ask for a couple of pictures at-most, and to decline even that simple request when I politely ask, it kills me inside.  I enjoy flying to cons on the east coast, but i go there, happy to see friends and take their pictures, only to get denied pictures from friends who've had no problem posing for me in the past??

There are many reasons why people don't pose for me, but I won't list them.  All i can say is that I'm sorry, and I never mean to offend anyone.  I try to be sincere and polite to people, but perhaps it's the bad stuff about me that they've heard makes them avoid me.  Again, I apologize.  I want to establish my friendship with cosplayers that I used to know better, and hopefully they will give me the opportunity to take pictures of again.  Which is why I can't help but apologize, because I value their friendship.  While it's nice to meet new cosplayers and take their pictures, when going through all the CD-R's of pictures I've taken from 2000-2009 (see my other entries) I look back at the fun-times I had with them and miss that.  If they're still cosplaying, I want to be able to take their pictures that they enjoyed posing for. 

Here's what I propose to do.  If cosplayers pose for me and they tell me don't want their pictures posted on cosplay.com or another site , I won't post them.  (if it's because they don't want their pictures to be posted on 4chan, then that's fine.)  I can still take the pictures if they let me and I'll email (or IM) the pictures to them.  If people don't want to pose for me at all, then I will respect their decision.  Only thing I can do is accept it, and understand that I've caused problems for them which can't be resolved.  I move on, as does time.  Hopefully in the future at another con they will be more receptive to me and pose for me, because getting their pictures is something that I want to do, for everyone involved.

I've said a lot, and there's more to be said, but it can wait until I return from ALA.  This weekend will be a good test for me, and what I learn from here will continue on at Ohayocon and Katsucon and SakuraCon.  In-closing, I appreciate your comments, and ask that you not bash cosplay.com and don't blame them for my decisions, and understand what I'm going to do in 2010 from now on.  I'm still about taking cosplay-photography, and my interest for going to conventions is still strong as ever, but just different. haha

Take care everyone, and thank you.    -A.

So 2010 is upon us now, and with it begins another year of anime/sci-fi/comic conventions.

I'm excited to have the opportunity to go to good # of conventions this year, but it will definitely be an interesting year. How so? here's a few changes that affect me, but not necc. the other cosplayers/attendees:

• my return to Anime Los Angeles since 2007 (due to the way the staff treated my friends)
• Katsucon is being held at a brand-new, bigger, venue  (that makes it harder to find people!)
• might consider going to MegaCon which would be my first trip to a Florida convention (and Florida itself!)
• WonderCon is being held on Easter-weekend (it's usually held in February)
• Missing my first WonderCon since it's the same weekend as SakuraCon (which I chose over my local convention)
• Going to Anime Expo for 2-3 days only, due to my younger brother getting married on July 3rd in San Francisco
• may be crazy and go back to AX on 4th of July, or just work (meaning I'll miss 1/2 of AX)
• didn't get a 4-day pass to SDCC that includes Preview Night, so i'll be there on Day 1 (Thursday)

That's as far as I've planned for 2010 conventions, even though I do plan to attend DragonCon and Nan Desu Kan in the fall.

I'm anxious for this new year of conventions, but also nervous since it's a different year.  (that'll be explained in my next post.)

Whichever conventions you all decide to go to, i hope to see you there! ^_^

-A.

Happy belated New Year to everyone!

So far the year is off to a nice start, with work being busy and earning 1.5x pay for the Christmas & New Year's holidays, and with Anime Los Angeles (ALA) coming up in 5 days, I decided to organize the pictures I've taken throughout the years.

And here they are:



From 1999 (scanned from 35mm pictures) to 2002, before the days of cosplay.com & EBK, those pictures are from all the conventions & events I've been to save for a few that were lost due to my older laptop being stolen at AUSA 2006.

Call me old-fashioned (I don't own an iPod or iPhone and I still video-tape TV-shows) but maybe i'll get a portable hard-drive sometime this year and transfer all those pictures (and upcoming 2010 con pics) onto that drive.

I wonder exactly HOW many Gigs of space are on all of those CD-R's?!! hehe

After Christmas, my present to me was getting a new laptop (my current one still works and i use it still (and will accompany me to cons) and I picked-up this model which thankfully was in-store at a BestBuy within reasonable driving-distance. Ta-da!








it seems like everything i own is made by Sony, save for my cell-phone. haha

Best part about this laptop is that it's the first laptop to play Blu-Ray DVDs!  So since I've bought it, I've slowly begun starting to collect Blu-Ray DVDs, but not going crazy and buying everything out there. haha  So far my collection consists of:

District 9, Hot Fuzz, and Die Hard Collection.  

Other titles I want to get are: Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted, Wall-E, Taken, and more.

I'm up for suggestions if anyone wants to suggest any good movies that are available on Blu-Ray, including anime titles. 

Thanks! 

It's sad that she passed away today, at the age of only 32.. i loved her in "Clueless" and "Sin City"

she will be missed.. R.I.P

Decided to watch the 12:01am showing of Avatar and it was awesome!!  Glad I chose to watch it since I'll be busy with work from now until Xmas, so getting home at 3am was worth it.  ^_~ now to try and get some rest for the upcoming weekend o' work.

My theater last weekend got a film that was in very limited release for one week, but now it's opening in more theaters this weekend and then nationwide on Christmas Day. That film is "Up In The Air" starring George Clooney, and I saw it this week on my off-day, and then since then I've been watching it during my breaks, and other opportunities when possible. I love this film!!

In a nutshell, Clooney plays a downsizing-expert who flies around the country, firing people from different companies & corporations, and so he spends most of the year flying. His goal is to reach a certain amount of miles, but when he's called back to his base of operations, his work tries to implement a new system that will no longer have him "up in the air" and just when he is happy earning his miles and just when he met a woman who also spends a lot of time flying everywhere. It's a great romantic-comedy/drama that I recommend people see when they can. ^_^

Watching the film reminds me of my trips to anime/comic conventions each year, and even though I'm a looong ways off to earning 10,000,000 miles in my one airline account, the film has given me incentive to go to cons in 2010, and flying to those cons like Anime LA, Ohayocon, Katsucon, Sakuracon, Otakon, when possible (funds and getting time-off.)

I don't mind being "grounded" for now, but once these holidays are over, i'm ready for the new year of cons!

Looking at airfares tonight, I saw a one-way fare from SFO to Seattle for only $39, so i bought it, confirming that SakuraCon 2010 is a GO!!

Once again, I'm sorry that i won't be able to make it to WonderCon this year, but you will have fun there, and I will have fun at SC, yesh?

I'll arrive into Seattle around 9:00am on Thursday and should be at the con by 10:30am.

Now to figure out WHERE i'm going to stay, but at-least this is a good start in planning for one of my favorite cons each year.

See you in the Spring in Seattle at Sakura!

As much as I've enjoyed going to Ohayocon since 2002, I may have to skip this year, even though I don't want to break my streak of attending for 8 consecutive years. If the convention were at the beginning of January, then I'd go but this year I'm attending Anime Los Angeles (ALA) and then originally going to Ohayocon at the end of January, and then Katsucon 2 weeks later.

But calculating costs for Ohayocon, it's around $275 currently round-trip from SFO to CMH, and then an additional $100+ for hotel (rooming with friends), $50 for registration, and food & transportation, total cost is about $450+/- And then the costs for Katsucon would be about the same, so i'd rather use the $$ to go towards Katsu, and possibly towards my next con in March, either AnimeLand Wasabi or MegaCon.

I'll miss seeing friends I only see once per year at Ohayo, and meeting new cosplayers, but costs & asking for time-off from work are more important. I hope everyone who goes understands my situation, and has fun at Ohayocon 2010!

It's not 100% certain that I'm cancelling on Ohayo, but chances aren't looking good.

When I found out a while back that my theater would be getting Twilight : New Moon during the same weekend, I said like what many people said about san diego comic con in that "Twilight Ruined Comic Con!" or in my-case "T R AUSA!" I've enjoyed going to AUSA and would've liked to have gone, but again, work had given me the time-off for EVERY convention I've asked for this year, and so sacrificing AUSA wouldn't be as bad as if i had missed say, Sakuracon, Anime Expo, Fanime, Otakon, etc.

As it turns-out, the weekend went smoothly, although it was crazy as anything, but it's better when it's busy rather than being slow & boring. The crowds were good, and I was able to watch the midnight-showing on Thursday night. Not having to work that evening OR work on that opening-Friday, i was able to get some well-deserved rest. And the movie was quite enjoyable, imo, and i'll def. watch it again sometime. ^_^

I've heard a lot of good and meh-stories from AUSA, but did i really miss the con? not really. while it would've been nice to see some friends onelasttime for 2009, i am patient to wait until Katsucon 2010 to see the East Coast cosplayers again. I needed to save $$ for the holidays and upcoming cons in the beginning of 2010, including Anime LA, Ohayocon, and Katsucon. To those who went, i hope you had fun!

Which now brings me up to another Twilight-moment. At work on Saturday, i saw the new poster for Twilight : Eclipse and then i saw the date for when it'll be released: June 30th, 2010. 0_0 That's the week that Anime Expo takes place, and for those who don't already know, my original plan is to go to AX from June 30th to July 2nd, and then fly home for my brother's wedding on the 3rd, and MAYBE fly back to AX on the 4th and spend the day there and get pictures of cosplayers on the final day. With T:E coming-out on that week, like with T:NW, my boss didn't want anyone asking for time-off that weekend due to how busy it was, so that may throw my entire AX plans out the fn' door, save for my bro's wedding..

The only saving factor would be if my theater DIDN'T get T:E that week. Recently my theater went through what they call a "Sequel Switch" with the theater down the block, so if the other theater gets one movie, then my theater would get the next sequel, and then the other theater would get the next sequel. That usually isn't always the case as my theater didn't get either Transformers movie, none of the Harry Potter movies, and yet we got both James Bond 007 movies, and (i hope not) both Alvin & the chipmunks movies. So for Twilight, we didn't get part 1, got part 2, and may or may not get part 3. We'll just see come the summer..

The title of this thread is what I'm saying to myself, but it's wayyy too early to tell if I have to cancel on AX, or will i be lucky-enough to escape from Twilight for the weekend. All i know is that the 4th of July weekend 2010 is going to be a crazy holiday..

Last night at midnight i went to the Best Buy that was a few miles away and bought Left 4 Dead 2 for the 360. Kinda wished the Best Buy right down the street from me had the 12:01am pre-sale, but no worries. Picked up that as well as the 2-disc set of the new Star Trek and then went home and began playing it.

The game is really fun, and challenging, with more stages than last time (and they're a lot longer than usual) along with new characters, new enemies, new weapons (both guns & melee-weapons), it adds to the game that we've played before to make it better. (btw, the carnival-stage of the game is what should've happened more in Zombieland which is.. killing more frickin' zombies!! haha)

I'm glad I beat Borderlands before this game came out, and I onceinawhile will take a break from L4D2 and try to finish Magna Carta 2 which is a really fun RPG, save for some really horrible AI.. Still, it's good to get back into video-games now that my con-season is over for 2009.

Just two more days until work gets realllly hectic with Twilight : New Moon and I'll be working Thursday in the morning, but then come back for the 12:15am showing on our brand-new X-D (Extreme Digital) screen. No work on that opening Friday, so i shall sleep in.

Oh yeah, AUSA happens this weekend.. well, have fun, everyone who's going!

Usually on Halloween I like to host the Winchester Mystery House Cosplay Gathering in San Jose, CA but didn't get to do so this year because Yaoi-con happened to take place on that weekend. Still, there's always next year to have the WMHCG ^_^

Yaoi-con 2009 was a lot of fun, as it always is for me, and it was a good way to end the year of conventions. I took a lot of pictures, and here they are:

Yaoi-Con 2009 Cosplay Pictures

Day 1 : Friday
http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/166809/

Day 2 : Saturday
http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/167235/

Day 3 : Sunday
http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/167655/

Please enjoy the pictures, and if you find pictures of your costume(s), you may post them wherever you like, and any credit you can give me is appreciated. ^_^

I look forward to next year's Yaoi-con and all the conventions in 2010!

I kinda want to go to Anime USA next weekend, but again, work will be super-crazy with Twilight : New Moon opening-up, and i don't mind making one-small sacrifice to help out work which has been gracious to let me have the time-off for EVERY convention I've asked for this year (and the last 2 years too, i believe) so missing AUSA will be sad and yet a good-thing too.

The last cosplay event for 2009 for me will be the gathering on Dec. 12th in Golden Gate Park, thanks to Bart Boy for putting it together, and i hope to see the Bay Area cosplayers there for one last hurrah.

I will be attending Anime Los Angeles (ALA) in the beginning of January, and hopefully Ohayocon at the end of January. If you're going to either of those, see you there!

Thanks to everyone who posed for my pictures at all the conventions of 2009 and see you next con!

-Al

This past weekend I went to Anime Destiny which was held at the UC Berkeley campus, taking place inside the Valley Life & Sciences building. Being in there brought back memories from the last time AD took place there.. in Fall 2004. That was the first year the convention started and again in 2005 (different building on the campus) but then stopped until its return this year.

Anime Destiny is a small con, using up about 7 rooms in the building for Artist Alley, Dealers Room/Swap Meet, video-games, main events (concerts, cosplay fashion show), and registration. For me, it was mainly taking pictures of cosplayers and seeing friends. There were a few surprise show-ups at this con in-terms of friends and cosplayers, not expecting to see them until Yaoi-con at the end of the month. ^_^

Oh yes, here are the pictures that I took from this weekend:

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/165133/

Back in 2004, I participated in the Swap Meet all day, so i wasn't able to take too many pictures. Jump forward to 5 years later, and I did some nice photoshoots outside the building. Good weather helped get some nice photos too.

If there is an Anime Destiny in 2010, i will definitely return.

Since I have funds now, and the cost for airfare is cheap, I bought my ticket GOING to Anime Los Angeles (ALA) 2010 in January.  Thankfully the con is the weekend after New Year's Day weekend, so that makes it easier for me to ask for time-off from work, and allows me to work on NYE/D weekend (time-and-a-half baby!!) and then go to the con.

I haven't gone back to ALA since 2007, as that year was most memorable for the staff being badge-nazi's, pestering people to show their badges all the time, even when I was doing a private photoshoot they would come over and demand to see my friend's badge.  Best part was when there was a Bleach gathering, a staffer stood in-front of the group, and  told all the cosplayers to SHOW THEIR BADGES in the big-group picture.. WTMFH?!!  I've never seen that before at a gathering, so ALA gets the kudos for being the first con to ask for such an absolutely-redonkulous thing.  XD

The con has gotten better since then so I've heard, but I've chosen to go to the East Coast for Ohayocon in 2008 and 2009 as my choice for a con in January.  Still, there's 3 weeks in-between ALA and Ohayo and I figured I'd give ALA another chance.   With them changing locations the last two years and now with it being at the LAX Marriott, it's right at the airport, making transportation to/from the con a snap.  And considering this may the only time I see a lot of So.CA cosplayers until AX (which I may go for half of the con or miss it completely) or San Diego Comic Con in the summer. 

Lodging-wise, I'll need to figure out a place to stay.  If anyone's going and has room for me for Friday & Saturday night, please let me know.  I'm willing to pay my share for those two nights.  Thanks!    Else, I'll stay at a motel a short distance away.  It's the same place I stayed during PMX last year, but this time the Marriott is a little further (PMX was at the LAX Hilton) but i should be okay. 

So i look forward to seeing my friends and cosplayers and taking a lot of nice pictures.

See you all in January! 

Finally finished posting ALL of my Dragon*Con and Nan Desu Kan pictures, and it's now October 2nd.  I have about 4 weeks from now til Yaoi-Con. 

During that time, I plan to clean-up my Private Message inbox on cosplay.com, as I'm almost full (at 500) and need to get rid of a lot of messages, some dating back to 2005, to see if I need them or not.   Looking through them, I can see that there are some members who don't go to conventions anymore, some aren't as close anymore, or some who asked me to fix something on the forums and i forgot the delete it.. haha  

There are also those who have asked me for pictures from conventions, and I will now do my best to look for those pictures that I have somewhere on cd-r's and dig them out.  A friend even asked for pictures from 2004, so that may or may not be too difficult to find.

I have time now, so hopefully I'll be able to get the pictures emailed to everyone before Y-con arrives.  ^_^

Looking at the dates for WonderCon 2010, i saw that they're having the con later in the Spring, on April 2-4.  That's late considering it's usually in late-February or March.  OK, so no problem.. until i checked another con..

SakuraCon in Seattle, WA is happening.. the same f'n weekend!!  0_0  sonofab--

Immediately I knew which con I was going to..  SakuraCon.  

I like going to WonderCon because it's cheap, local, and a fun mini-version of San Diego Comic Con.  However, SakuraCon is the only time I go to Seattle and see my cosplayer-friends there, and i usually take a lot more pictures in the 3 days (and Day Zero) rather than the 3 days of WC, and the first day there aren't as many cosplayers there..

Still, I normally go to both but this RARE occasion has forced me to give-up one of them, and there's no-point in me going to Sakuracon for Thursday-Saturday, and then come home on Sunday for WonderCon because there are still a lot of cosplayers on S-con Sunday, while WC-Sunday doesn't have as many cosplayers.

Only problem with missing WC is that if my friends from So.CA decide to come-up here again, I will miss them.  And if Lionboogy decides to bring a Transformer to the con, I'll miss out on the fun being his handler again..  ;_; 

But I've made commitments already at Sakuracon, so i can't back out on those.

This just bites..  Sorry to those Bay Area cosplayers who'll be attending WonderCon, but there's always the Cherry Blossom Festival later that month and then FanimeCon in May.  Hopefully I'll see you there.  ^_^

I must be mistaken when I thought two conventions, Ani-magic 2009 and Anime LA 2010 were on these dates:

Ani-Magic 2009  October 2-4  when it's actually October 9-11

Anime LA 2010 January 1-3  when it's actually January 8-10

I can understand how Animagic wouldn't want to have it October 2-4, as that's the weekend Long Beach Comic-Con is happening.  And ALA wouldn't want to have it on New Years Day, cos travel would be a nightmare and people would still be recovering from NYEve.  haha

My bad for thinking those two cons were on those days, but I may still not go to either because of timing.  I've already decided to go to Anime Desitny at UC Berkeley on Saturday October 10th, and then the next con would be Yaoicon 3 weeks later.  And as for ALA, it's 3 weeks before Ohayocon, which I usually prefer going to as my January-con. 

But there's still time to ponder ALA, since it's not on NYDay weekend, which work would probably not give anyone time-off for, so i'll think about it as the months go by.