I originally started writing this a couple weeks ago. However, since I didn't get back to it, it never got posted. I don't feel up to finishing it right now, but I figure I'll at least get the portion I did write up so that I can finish it at work. Unfortunately, it's also not a full report like so many people have been asking for. It's more just a straight description of what happened at the con. There was no drama, so if you're looking for drama, you'll be disappointed. Anyway, here's part 1. Keep in mind it was written a couple weeks ago, in case that matters.

Anime USA is generally my favorite anime convention of the ones I go to. In some respects (stress) it would be better if I wasn't on staff. Fortunately this year I stepped down from the board of directors, gave up my director position and my publications, and only did signs and forum administration. I don't mind the forum part. It gives me something to do at work. The signs can be a bit stressful, especially when it's 11:00pm the night before the con and you realize that Kinko's didn't print all the files on the CD you gave them, which means you're going to be up until 4am tonight and have to get up and back to the convention by 10am. Yay, fun!

Yeah, I'm not writing a full report. I tried to write a full report for... some convention some time ago, but it didn't work out. Nothing I wrote was funny. I try to write humorous reports, but that one was dead dry after about 4 pages. So, I stopped writing it until I felt I could write something better. So far, I've made no progress. So, I'm just writing these short reports until such a time I feel I can do the good ones again.

So, Friday until about 3:00pm saw me running around frantically putting up signs. I even enlisted Amber and a random gopher who didn't have anything else to do (if you were that gopher, please email me) to go put up some of the signs for me. I got all the necessary signs up in time, and then I went around putting up the directional signs. While I was running around, I saw a really cute girl who also seemed to be running around. We passed so often that we eventually got to talking, although each time only briefly. I saw her again later in Con Ops talking with Christian. It looked like he was briefing her on something. I said hi to her. Christian then said "Don't talk to that guy. He's bad news." I think she smiled at me when he said that. Funny, I think Christian achieved the opposite effect he was going for there. I replied with "What, is she your sister?" The misheard words aren't all that amusing, but ultimately, she was his assistant at the con. Ah, if only I were to have such a beautiful assistant at the con. Unfortunately, the only time I saw her after that was coming out of the dance. At least, I think it was her. It was at some distance. She said hi to me, but seemed to be getting ushered away by two guys. I don't know which night that was, but I'm guessing Saturday night because I remember the guys wearing masks, and that was the theme of saturday night's dance.

Yeah, so there were two dances. Friday was the "rave" dance. Please note that the term "rave" is used very loosely here. Were a machine held together by screws so loose, it would be in pieces. You see, a rave is a dance party that lasts till dawn. The "raves" at anime conventions usually are a dance at an anime convention (which could be construed as a party, but then it's just a dance at a party, and still not a dance party), and they typically end around 2:00am, a far cry from dawn. Anyway, the Saturday dance was called a "masquerade dance". The idea here was that people would dance in costume, or wear a mask, or excessive make-up. Some people cried bloody murder about this decision, but Saturday night, it seemed like everyone was really psyched about the idea. Even some of those who proclaimed a boycott were in attendance. Ah, irony.

Much of my time at Anime USA was spent wandering around, meeting with people I already knew, but not really hanging out with anyone for any length of time. I'm never really satisfied at a con until I've seen everyone I know who's there, which pretty much never happens anymore. I didn't meet too many new people, and those I did meet I was only with briefly.

The other cute staffer I met was a girl named Corrine, whose name may or may not be spelled correctly here. She was working security staff, as she discovered when I looked her up on the printed staff list. I did see her again, but being the fool that I am, I didn't get any contact info from here. You ever have one of those feelings where you know you're supposed to do something but you can't think of what? I have them often. I don't even bother kicking myself later anymore. It took a long time, but I just accepted that it's something that's going to happen often. So, I didn't hook up at the con.

Many times over the course of Friday, I saw Monique and her group of friends, sans Roberto. Last year at Anime USA I met this guy named Roberto who was pretty cool and we were hanging out for a while. He had a group of friends with him, and Monique was a part of that group. This year, I pretty much just saw that group of his friends, and only very briefly saw Roberto. I saw him at Katsucon, too, but he was sick. Apparently, he got sick again for Anime USA. I hope this isn't a running theme for him. But to return from my digression, at some point Monique announced to me that she's my stalker. Funny, here I was thinking I was flirting with her, and apparently she's been cyberstalking me for the past year. I use the term "cyberstalking" about as loosely as I used "rave" earlier. Her idea of stalkng differs greatly from mine. For her, it was lurking on the Anime USA forums and also reading the posts on my website. Now, I'm no expert, but last I checked, stalking far exceeded such efforts, such as things like sorting through my trash and randomly appearing naked in my bed one night... okay, maybe not that latter one. Hey, I can dream, can't I? So, yeah, I've been talking to her online since then. It's really a shame that's she's a minor. I always seem to attract jailbait. She seems to be rather proud of being jailbait.

Well, that's it for part 1. Look for part 2 later on. There will likely be 3 parts.

Since it's still on the main page as of this posting, I figured I should probably go way back and tell you how the Roger Waters concert was. I wrote my last post yesterday, anyway.

Now, I'm not much of a concert-goer. I went to an REM concert because a friend had extra tickets. I went to a Sting concert, a Tori Amos concert, and two Rush concerts. The Rush concerts were the only ones I actually went and bought tickets for, however, with the exception of the REM concert, I was quite happy about each of them. Honestly, I've never been a big REM fan, and the only reason I went was because the tickets were cheap, I was going with friends, and I hadn't been to a big concert before, so the idea was appealing. The concert was kinda bleah.

The Sting concert was... Now, I like Sting. He does good music and good lyrics. He put on a good performance, too. However, his opening act was Natalie Merchant. Natalie Merchant wrote 3 songs, and made slight variations on them to turn them into about 20 songs, which she performed all of over the span of 2 hours. The bitch even had the nerve to do an encore. I'm sorry, Natalie, we weren't cheering for you. We were cheering because we thought you were done and Sting was coming out. When she came back out and people realized she was going to do an encore, the applause quickly stopped and everyone sat back down. And to think, I made sure to be on time to that concert. I wished I'd been 2 hours late.

Tori had some kind of opening act, but it was short and interesting. Then Tori did her concert without a band. Just her and some keyboards. It was a good concert, but I'd hear enough of her live stuff that it wasn't really anything new for me. It might've been better if I was up closer to the stage. Oh well.

The Rush concerts were fucking awesome! I can't wait for them to come back. Rush is so good live. When I went to the first concert, I was just going because the location is so close to home it seems like a waste not to go, and Rush was a good band. When I left the concert, Rush was one of my favorite bands. Apparently, they kinda suck in the recording studio, because their studio work doesn't even begin to compare to them live. I was very excited to see them again 2 years later, and the 2nd concert was even better than the first (although the concert DVD wasn't).

So, then, earlier this year, a friend of mine lets me know that Roger Waters is coming to town. For those who don't know, Roger Waters was the band leader and primary composer for Pink Floyd in the 1970's, which was when they produced their best stuff. Pink Floyd is my favorite band, and I didn't get to see them in concert last time they toured. So, naturally, I was pretty excited about the concert. I had rather high expectations for it. He was even performing all of Dark Side of the Moon, which is my favorite studio album. So, yeah, I went to the concert. I didn't care what else may have been going on that day (and there was some stuff going on that day), I was going to the concert.

Now, I haven't been to that many concerts, but the ones I've been to have been pretty good, each better than the last. Roger Waters kept the trend running. It was the best concert I've ever been to. It was better than any concert I've seen on TV or DVD, or in any movie. To put it bluntly, it was fucking amazing. I was tempted to go to the one in Baltimore and get tickets from a scalper if necessary. The only thing that held me back from that was my severe aversion to travelling to unfamiliar places. Oh, but if it hadn't been for that...

So, yeah, it was a good concert. Should he come back (and he had better) you should definitely go. I know I will.

So it's almost Christmas. The day is upon us. That fateful morning is less than a week away. What do you get for someone?

Well, were it me you were shopping for, and were it not for the fact that I either already have these things or have easy access to them as it is, here's what I would get for me were I shopping for me:
Nintendo DS ($130)
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for Nintendo DS ($35)
Playstation 2, not 3 ($99 refurbished, includes a game)
Guitar Hero 2 for PS2 ($79, includes guitar controller)
Dance Dance Revolution for PS2 ($25-$40 not including dance pads)
Dance pads (I don't know, I already have mine, find your own)
Metal Gear Solid 3 for PS2 (I'd get it as the game in the PS2 bundle)
Capcom vs SNK 2 for PS2 ($30)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PC ($15, it's better on PC)
World of Warcraft for PC ($20 +monthly fees)
Burning Crusade pre-order for PC ($40, not the best gift since it's not out till Jan 16)

Yeah, all I really want is video game stuff. Anything listed should be available. I picked up my copy of Castlevania the other day, and aside from Guitar Hero 2, nothing else is all that new.