My weekend
Oct. 15th, 2013 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
attractivegeekeryThis past weekend I went to New York City for a bunch of geeky reasons, and I had a blast.
I took the train down early in the morning on Thursday, because...well if I was going to go then I was going to make an event of the damn thing. The train, it should be noted, is the superior way to get to NYC. Screw the Bus. I'm never taking the bus again if I can avoid it, and not just because I never liked it in the first place.
Originally I had planned to do some digital Foley work on the train, but then I found out that there was onboard Wi-Fi, and well...I'm weak. SO there was mostly surfing and then ooh'ing and ahhh'ing at the beautiful New England scenery as we zipped on by.
I successfully made my way from Penn Station to my hotel, only getting a little bit turned around in the process. But it was a good turned around because it let me know that I was less than a block away from The Art of the Brick exhibit that I'd heard about at w00tStock just this past summer. So... that was surely going on my To Do list for the weekend.
After getting settled in my hotel, which was wicked swank thank you very much, I headed over towards the Convention Center to plan my following day's attack on the place. Artist Alley was scoped out, and the main sales floor was...cripes it was a zoo.
Brief moment of bitching about the Javits' Center:
Who the great gibbering fuck thought it would be a good idea to have escalators and cargo elevators be the only way to get from one floor to another? What do people have against just straight up stairs? Seriously!
I even remarked about this: What happens if they break?
And some smart-ass behind me piped up, "Broken escalators are just stairs anyway."
Uh, not when they're dismantled they're not, which is what one has to do to FIX them.
Jack-hole.
Anyhow, I did a bit of running around and then met my Jew-ppleganger B for dinner.
It was delightful, because she is delightful. Also there was Sangria.
Now that night I had an invitation for a Mary Sue party, as well as tickets to the late "Welcome to Nightvale: Live show in Brooklyn. I figured I'd play this by ear and attempt to do both, with the notion that it was okay if I didn't end up doing either.
The party was very swank for a room full of nerds. No seriously, it looked like a set for a movie, with the host apartment being ultra modern and looking like a place you'd only see on tv. But...me being me, I just kind of wandered until I found someone I could talk to. Of course, I find them just as it's time for me to flee like my head is on fire to Brooklyn. Briefly I thought about not going, but the person I was talking to encouraged me to do so.
In hind-sight, I think she was just trying to get rid of me.
Well...it worked.
I then took an UberCar from what I think was Chelsea to Brooklyn. The driver? Did nothing but talk about his relationship with his baby-momma, and how he couldn't understand why when he "disciplined" their child it was abusive, and why when she did it...it was fine.
So I did the horrible thing and attempted to stay as neutral as possible, because...I was a single woman in a car with a strange man who pretty much owned up to smacking his kids around.
Good times.
About the best things I can say about that ride is that it ended, and that he got me to the show at the last possible second. Hooray?
The show!
Okay...I really want to like Night Vale. I really do, but the few times I've tried to listen to it, I've either gotten super bored or have fallen asleep outright. There's just something about Cecil's voice that makes me come down with a bad case of narcolepsy.
"But...why then did you buy the tickets?" you may ask.
Well, that's due to my having poor impulse control issues paired up with a love of the chase.
I was told these tickets were going to be hard to get, and so I got them...because I could. That's pretty much the only reason.
It's sad.
Yes I am aware of this.
But, it's this same reaction that got me to pretty much every Con I've ever attended, and I only regret a few of those, so...that's something, right?
This show, however, was nothing like the podcast. Or at least, it's nothing like the first four podcasts that I managed to make it through. First off the musicians were live, and I LOVE that. Secondly there was an opening act, who also provided "The Weather."
And thirdly, everyone on stage looked like they were having a whole lot of fun. There was a great energy in the room that I can't even do justice in trying to name so I won't.
Needless to say I'm super stoked that I went, and have a renewed interest in hearing the actual podcast again.
So there's that!
Then I got back to my hotel from Brooklyn without getting lost or mugged or anything!
Friday found me mostly at the Con. I managed to get a fantastic sketch/painting from one of my favorite Ninja Turtle artists, a handful of comics, and even went to a panel or three. I got to hear the guys who make "Chew" speak, as well as the guys behind "Mouse Guard" and "Legends of the Guard." Both of which were awesome, by the way. And then there was the Ninja Turtle Cartoon panel that went...pretty much exactly how I expected it to go. ie: forced enthusiasm that didn't ring true from the moderator, and then a screening of the following morning's season premiere.
The episode wasn't great, but getting to see Rob Paulsen do his thing always is.
What tied for the highlight of my day was heading to the Dark Horse Booth to see about getting a ticket for the "Legend of Korra" signing and being told that I was the line.
That...that was nice.
Later that day I met up with V and L and watched the new episode of Korra.
I have thoughts on that, but this is possibly not the post for them.
I then stayed out waaaaaay past my bedtime, though the company was spectacular so it was totally worth the sleep deprivation I'd be feeling the later in the morning.
After three hours of sleep I was up and out the door again to make sure that I had a good place in line for the "Legend of Korra" panel at 11. I spent over an hour and a half in front of this father and daughter who were attending a con for the very first time.
He was about my age, and she was in the 8th grade. NYCC was the only thing she wanted for her birthday, and so dad was taking her out. It was awesome. She brought a sketch book and began to doodle while me and the dad shot the shit. Finally I just asked her if I could commission her for a dollar to draw in my sketch book.
She did.
It's adorable.
I then gave her the dollar and congratulated her on officially becoming a commissioned artist.
Point of order, the rest of the weekend whenever I would show that sketch book to anyone, they'd ask about that picture, and I'd tell them the story. Delighted is a good word to describe their reactions.
Personally, I'm just glad no one thought I was a socially awkward creeper.
My early rising paid off and I got third row for my panel, which was awesome. They showed us the next episode, and then had a pretty awesome step-by-step presentation about how the show was made from concept to finished animation.
I had two hours to kill before the ticketed signing so I went to stand in a line with other Turtle Junkies to see about getting a signature from Kevin Eastman.
Sadly, because Eastman is one of the nicest people on earth, the line didn't move fast enough for me to get a chance to talk to him, so instead I went to the Dark Horse booth and got both a hug and a kiss from two of the ladies working there.
No. Seriously. One of them kissed me on the forehead, it was weird.
I made a line friend, who also just so happens to be one of the people in charge of the Boston Comic Con, so that too was awesome.
When I got to the front of the line Bryan Konietzko looked tired, but we had a brief conversation about his upcoming lecture at RISD on Monday, and apparently some other secret talk he's giving somewhere that isn't open to the public. Joaquin de Santos didn't really say much at all.
But PJ Byrne, the voice actor for Bolin? He was chatty.
"Hi! What's your name!"
Bing.
"Hi Bing, where are you from?"
Boston.
"Where in Boston?"
Oh I live in Brighton.
"I used to live in Brighton! I went to BC."
...I'm sorry.
[Bryan, Joaquin, and most of the workers around the table] Oooooooooooooooooo
I went to BU.
"Yeah, because you couldn't get into BC!"
That...that's fair, actually.
[I got a fistbump]
"Hey, at least we both know Harvard sucks."
That's right, Friends don't let Friends go to Harvard.
[And then I got another fistbump]
So that's a thing that happened.
He then thanked me for coming out and for watching the show.
It wasn't until after the fact that it occurred to me to ask either Bryan or Joaquin for a sketch. Or if they wanted a beer.
DAMN YOU BYRNE! DAMN YOU AND YOUR CHARMING WAYS!
I went back to Artist's Alley until it was time to meet up with A, M, and T for dinner. The entire time of which I kept listing to one side out of sheer and utter exhaustion. I meant to go back to the con for a 9 o'clock panel for "I know that voice!" the voice acting documentary that John DiMaggio is trying to get distributed but instead I went back to my hotel room and crashed out.
Now we're on to Sunday, which is a day I was determined to sleep in before heading back to the Con, this time armed with snacks. I got a couple of more sketches for my book, including a great one by Ted Naifeh of "Courtney Crumrin" fame. Also...there might have been book purchases from him as well. I went to the Jonathan Coulton "Code Monkey Save World" kickstarter panel, which was awesome.
Then...back to dinner again, this time with V, L, B, A, and B. There was delicious Indian Food which was almost as delicious as the dorky conversation that went with it.
Monday I slept in as long as my body would let me, then I packed up my gear and went to the "Art of the Brick" exhibit I talked about earlier. It...was amazing. So amazing I bought the coffee table book, which doesn't do the exhibition justice. I wish some of my pictures had come out better. And damn...I really want a three foot Lego Buddha statue. Badly.
I made it to my train to Providence on time, and was not only picked up but treated to dinner by the ever lovely E and R, before I ran to the Bryan Konietzko lecture at RISD.
This lecture was everything I thought it would be, and...more, seeing as it ran far longer than the hour I thought it would. There was a point where I just stopped listening to what he was saying because I was trying to figure out if it was worth it to stay and just buy a later train ticket, or be the asshole lugging a bright orange suitcase out of a packed auditorium of people paying rapt attention.
As luck would have it my actual train was a half hour late, and so even though I busted my ass to get out of there once his presentation was over, I still made it in plenty of time to the platform.
Kind of kicking myself for rushing out of there so quick, but...what'reyougonnado?
The train ride home was uneventful, as was the cab I took from Harvard.
I was in my own bed by 1 am, after having marginally unpacked and balanced my checkbook.
In short, my weekend was amazing.
I don't have enough words of thanks for those who made it possible.
I <3 you all.
I took the train down early in the morning on Thursday, because...well if I was going to go then I was going to make an event of the damn thing. The train, it should be noted, is the superior way to get to NYC. Screw the Bus. I'm never taking the bus again if I can avoid it, and not just because I never liked it in the first place.
Originally I had planned to do some digital Foley work on the train, but then I found out that there was onboard Wi-Fi, and well...I'm weak. SO there was mostly surfing and then ooh'ing and ahhh'ing at the beautiful New England scenery as we zipped on by.
I successfully made my way from Penn Station to my hotel, only getting a little bit turned around in the process. But it was a good turned around because it let me know that I was less than a block away from The Art of the Brick exhibit that I'd heard about at w00tStock just this past summer. So... that was surely going on my To Do list for the weekend.
After getting settled in my hotel, which was wicked swank thank you very much, I headed over towards the Convention Center to plan my following day's attack on the place. Artist Alley was scoped out, and the main sales floor was...cripes it was a zoo.
Brief moment of bitching about the Javits' Center:
Who the great gibbering fuck thought it would be a good idea to have escalators and cargo elevators be the only way to get from one floor to another? What do people have against just straight up stairs? Seriously!
I even remarked about this: What happens if they break?
And some smart-ass behind me piped up, "Broken escalators are just stairs anyway."
Uh, not when they're dismantled they're not, which is what one has to do to FIX them.
Jack-hole.
Anyhow, I did a bit of running around and then met my Jew-ppleganger B for dinner.
It was delightful, because she is delightful. Also there was Sangria.
Now that night I had an invitation for a Mary Sue party, as well as tickets to the late "Welcome to Nightvale: Live show in Brooklyn. I figured I'd play this by ear and attempt to do both, with the notion that it was okay if I didn't end up doing either.
The party was very swank for a room full of nerds. No seriously, it looked like a set for a movie, with the host apartment being ultra modern and looking like a place you'd only see on tv. But...me being me, I just kind of wandered until I found someone I could talk to. Of course, I find them just as it's time for me to flee like my head is on fire to Brooklyn. Briefly I thought about not going, but the person I was talking to encouraged me to do so.
In hind-sight, I think she was just trying to get rid of me.
Well...it worked.
I then took an UberCar from what I think was Chelsea to Brooklyn. The driver? Did nothing but talk about his relationship with his baby-momma, and how he couldn't understand why when he "disciplined" their child it was abusive, and why when she did it...it was fine.
So I did the horrible thing and attempted to stay as neutral as possible, because...I was a single woman in a car with a strange man who pretty much owned up to smacking his kids around.
Good times.
About the best things I can say about that ride is that it ended, and that he got me to the show at the last possible second. Hooray?
The show!
Okay...I really want to like Night Vale. I really do, but the few times I've tried to listen to it, I've either gotten super bored or have fallen asleep outright. There's just something about Cecil's voice that makes me come down with a bad case of narcolepsy.
"But...why then did you buy the tickets?" you may ask.
Well, that's due to my having poor impulse control issues paired up with a love of the chase.
I was told these tickets were going to be hard to get, and so I got them...because I could. That's pretty much the only reason.
It's sad.
Yes I am aware of this.
But, it's this same reaction that got me to pretty much every Con I've ever attended, and I only regret a few of those, so...that's something, right?
This show, however, was nothing like the podcast. Or at least, it's nothing like the first four podcasts that I managed to make it through. First off the musicians were live, and I LOVE that. Secondly there was an opening act, who also provided "The Weather."
And thirdly, everyone on stage looked like they were having a whole lot of fun. There was a great energy in the room that I can't even do justice in trying to name so I won't.
Needless to say I'm super stoked that I went, and have a renewed interest in hearing the actual podcast again.
So there's that!
Then I got back to my hotel from Brooklyn without getting lost or mugged or anything!
Friday found me mostly at the Con. I managed to get a fantastic sketch/painting from one of my favorite Ninja Turtle artists, a handful of comics, and even went to a panel or three. I got to hear the guys who make "Chew" speak, as well as the guys behind "Mouse Guard" and "Legends of the Guard." Both of which were awesome, by the way. And then there was the Ninja Turtle Cartoon panel that went...pretty much exactly how I expected it to go. ie: forced enthusiasm that didn't ring true from the moderator, and then a screening of the following morning's season premiere.
The episode wasn't great, but getting to see Rob Paulsen do his thing always is.
What tied for the highlight of my day was heading to the Dark Horse Booth to see about getting a ticket for the "Legend of Korra" signing and being told that I was the line.
That...that was nice.
Later that day I met up with V and L and watched the new episode of Korra.
I have thoughts on that, but this is possibly not the post for them.
I then stayed out waaaaaay past my bedtime, though the company was spectacular so it was totally worth the sleep deprivation I'd be feeling the later in the morning.
After three hours of sleep I was up and out the door again to make sure that I had a good place in line for the "Legend of Korra" panel at 11. I spent over an hour and a half in front of this father and daughter who were attending a con for the very first time.
He was about my age, and she was in the 8th grade. NYCC was the only thing she wanted for her birthday, and so dad was taking her out. It was awesome. She brought a sketch book and began to doodle while me and the dad shot the shit. Finally I just asked her if I could commission her for a dollar to draw in my sketch book.
She did.
It's adorable.
I then gave her the dollar and congratulated her on officially becoming a commissioned artist.
Point of order, the rest of the weekend whenever I would show that sketch book to anyone, they'd ask about that picture, and I'd tell them the story. Delighted is a good word to describe their reactions.
Personally, I'm just glad no one thought I was a socially awkward creeper.
My early rising paid off and I got third row for my panel, which was awesome. They showed us the next episode, and then had a pretty awesome step-by-step presentation about how the show was made from concept to finished animation.
I had two hours to kill before the ticketed signing so I went to stand in a line with other Turtle Junkies to see about getting a signature from Kevin Eastman.
Sadly, because Eastman is one of the nicest people on earth, the line didn't move fast enough for me to get a chance to talk to him, so instead I went to the Dark Horse booth and got both a hug and a kiss from two of the ladies working there.
No. Seriously. One of them kissed me on the forehead, it was weird.
I made a line friend, who also just so happens to be one of the people in charge of the Boston Comic Con, so that too was awesome.
When I got to the front of the line Bryan Konietzko looked tired, but we had a brief conversation about his upcoming lecture at RISD on Monday, and apparently some other secret talk he's giving somewhere that isn't open to the public. Joaquin de Santos didn't really say much at all.
But PJ Byrne, the voice actor for Bolin? He was chatty.
"Hi! What's your name!"
Bing.
"Hi Bing, where are you from?"
Boston.
"Where in Boston?"
Oh I live in Brighton.
"I used to live in Brighton! I went to BC."
...I'm sorry.
[Bryan, Joaquin, and most of the workers around the table] Oooooooooooooooooo
I went to BU.
"Yeah, because you couldn't get into BC!"
That...that's fair, actually.
[I got a fistbump]
"Hey, at least we both know Harvard sucks."
That's right, Friends don't let Friends go to Harvard.
[And then I got another fistbump]
So that's a thing that happened.
He then thanked me for coming out and for watching the show.
It wasn't until after the fact that it occurred to me to ask either Bryan or Joaquin for a sketch. Or if they wanted a beer.
DAMN YOU BYRNE! DAMN YOU AND YOUR CHARMING WAYS!
I went back to Artist's Alley until it was time to meet up with A, M, and T for dinner. The entire time of which I kept listing to one side out of sheer and utter exhaustion. I meant to go back to the con for a 9 o'clock panel for "I know that voice!" the voice acting documentary that John DiMaggio is trying to get distributed but instead I went back to my hotel room and crashed out.
Now we're on to Sunday, which is a day I was determined to sleep in before heading back to the Con, this time armed with snacks. I got a couple of more sketches for my book, including a great one by Ted Naifeh of "Courtney Crumrin" fame. Also...there might have been book purchases from him as well. I went to the Jonathan Coulton "Code Monkey Save World" kickstarter panel, which was awesome.
Then...back to dinner again, this time with V, L, B, A, and B. There was delicious Indian Food which was almost as delicious as the dorky conversation that went with it.
Monday I slept in as long as my body would let me, then I packed up my gear and went to the "Art of the Brick" exhibit I talked about earlier. It...was amazing. So amazing I bought the coffee table book, which doesn't do the exhibition justice. I wish some of my pictures had come out better. And damn...I really want a three foot Lego Buddha statue. Badly.
I made it to my train to Providence on time, and was not only picked up but treated to dinner by the ever lovely E and R, before I ran to the Bryan Konietzko lecture at RISD.
This lecture was everything I thought it would be, and...more, seeing as it ran far longer than the hour I thought it would. There was a point where I just stopped listening to what he was saying because I was trying to figure out if it was worth it to stay and just buy a later train ticket, or be the asshole lugging a bright orange suitcase out of a packed auditorium of people paying rapt attention.
As luck would have it my actual train was a half hour late, and so even though I busted my ass to get out of there once his presentation was over, I still made it in plenty of time to the platform.
Kind of kicking myself for rushing out of there so quick, but...what'reyougonnado?
The train ride home was uneventful, as was the cab I took from Harvard.
I was in my own bed by 1 am, after having marginally unpacked and balanced my checkbook.
In short, my weekend was amazing.
I don't have enough words of thanks for those who made it possible.
I <3 you all.
