Kelly L Creighton / Kya White Sapphire writes...

Youre sure you want the WHOLE thing, no links? What years, just this one, or all of them? Well, here goes. I apologise for the HUGE length of this... but its going to be all of them. :)

2000

2000 - YES! i went to the gathering 2000. it was so awesome. i could never capture all the awesomeness on this page, but ill relate what i can. HOORAY FOR GARGOYLES CONVENTIONS!

Thursday: i get off work at about 5:30, go home, pack, wait for Tore. Tore gets home and tells me he has to work sunday (and friday, but we knew that) so i decide to ask my bud Cyan to go with me instead. Tore leaves for raquet ball, but not before i tell him i wont be home when he gets back. i drive two hours north to Beverly Hills to cyan's house. i learn that Tore has locked himself out of the apartment. Cyan packs, and we drive two hours south to let Tore in the apartment. O.o

Friday: cyan and i get up at 6:45am and drive to orlando. we get to the hotel at about 8:40and look for the group who is supposed to room with us: Meredith and her husband. theyre not there. we go to the con suite, register and get name badges, waste an entire 24 exposure roll of film and run back and forth to the lobby, looking for meredith. by about noon im convinced that they got in an accident or lost. they finally arrive, and all is well.
during this time i meet Siryn, Damocles, Eden, Flyx, Kythera, Kyshandra, Vig, Blindside, Little Deamon, Karlyl and various other peeps (i wont remember til i look at the photos). Then went to listen to Thom Adcox talk about stuff. I LOVE THIS PART!!
Thom talks about being felix the cat, how he loved doing gargoyles, and how he swears a lot in real life. believe me- its odd to hear this man swear, especially after listening to him as lex for the past six years. imagine lex saying "its too weird. kinda fun... FUUUUCK!" *smiles*
went with meredith to cash her check. this takes at least an hour. bank of america sux. went to a little of the fanfic readings, wandered around the art room.
then aimee and kanthara came in and answered our questions about drawing. (ok so i asked too many questions, and only two other ppl asked anything at all. so what i worship those two!! ;P) and aimee doodled in my sketchbook while they looked for a big paper pad to demonstrate on. (no im NOT gona scan the stuff she drew- at least not til im in the mood to.)
went to dennys with damocles. went to opening ceremonies. clapped loudly. watched starship troopers (the series) which greg worked on. twas cool. followed damocles around for a few hours. by now most of my second roll of film is gone. went to bed around 2am.

Saturday: wake up to my watch alarm going off at 9am. go back to sleep. wake up at 10:15 to damocles pounding on my door. "youre suposed to be downstairs, modeling, remember?" OH SHIT! run downstairs, get instructed, learn the male model goes first, run back upstairs, brush my teeth, wash my face, change, (all this while trying not to wake Cyan, Meredith or her husband) run back downstairs, watch male model. then i model (clothed).
then i go stand post at the art room, not allowing cameras, bags, food or drinks. go swimming. drag others into pool. go to TGIFridays with all tha art chiks. listen to first act of radio show. go swimming. get ready for banquet. power goes out as someone hits a transformer down the street. finish getting ready in the dark. run down to the con suite. meet legolas. sit at table with legolas, little deamon, cyan, and some other ppl :P ask greg and thom questions at Q&A. our table "the table with no name" wins the trivia contest (WOOHOO!). power comes back on. finish my third roll of film.
run upstairs, get changed for masqerade. (im a wench! YAY!) watch the kids costume contest. take lots o pix of ppls costumes. go thru 4th roll of film. dance around, play LOTS OF TAG, get all kinds of bumps and scrapes. (from playing tag) act hyper, bother Gate13, (all night) stay up til... oh i think like 4am. go to bed.

Sunday: wake up at 9:30am. go downstairs and draw the female nude life drawing session. go to lunch with Gate13, coldsteel, and shugun raptor (were now known as "the 4 waters gang"). dont ask. go swimming. watch part of the auction. nap in the con suite for a couple hours. watch some gargoyles. learn that cyan has locked my keys in my car. spend next couple hours getting the lock popped. dont ask. (lets just say that Hudson and DarkHorse and all the other peeps that were chatting in that lil back room in A&B kick ass. they all donated money, cuz i had none, to get the lock popped. you guys rock. i owe u ^_^) watch some 3X3 eyes. go swimming. go to pizza hut with the 4 waters gang. watch more 3X3 eyes. get a couple pix of Thom and have him sign them for me. had planned to drive home tonight but too tired, so room with the 4 waters gang. go to sleep about midnight. have now finished 5th roll of film.

Monday: come home. boy im in pain. but what a great weekend. cant wait for next years ;P

2001

2001 - This year's gathering was very organized, and well planned. In keeping with tradition, this fact will be reflected in my Gathering 2001 Journal. Last year's event was haphazard and crazy, though no less enjoyable, and so my recounting of those events were scattered and random, and the picture gallery lacked any order besides alphabetical. This year, all images will include size tags, and I'm even setting things up in a nice neat table. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the organized and ordered insanity. :) -KWS

Thursday, June 21st
Tore and I woke up at 5:30am eastern time. Having been packed since the Saturday before, it was just a matter of brushing our teeth, throwing some clothes on and going. Luckily Tore and I had GameBoys to keep us amused on the long, four hour and twenty minute flight, or surely we would have gone mad. We arrived in LAX and headed for the ATM and bathroom. Immediately we were spotted by another garg who had been on the same flight, GoliathLugia. The three of us picked up our luggage and boarded the Super Shuttle. Now let me tell you, if you're ever in LAX and need to get somewhere, take the SS. These guys know how to drive. Roller coasters don't compare. This guy had the full size van zipping within inches of other vehicles at sixty miles an hour, pulling into spots and slamming on the breaks with mere milimeters to spare.

When finally we got to the hotel, we checked in with minimal trouble, though we notices that the front desk staff wasn't exactly the sharpest cutlery in the kitchen. We hurried to our 20th floor room and unpacked, and sat there, playing GameBoy. Zaius and MorningSong (among others) burst into the room, and MorningSong dragged me down to her room to see her very cool costume. A group of us, consisting of Tore and I, GoliathLugia, Zaius and Nick went to CityWalk to eat lunch. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was very expensive with bad food. I had ordered my burger medium well, and it was burnt to a crisp to the extent that I couldn't eat it for the taste of charcoal. By the way, the room keys only worked for about 2 hours before they lost their code. It took several days to fix. Every time it happened, they would ask for and ID, and I would say "it't in the ROOM!" Jason, the Concierge, got to recognize Tore and I to the point that he would just walk by the front desk and say "It's okay, I know them. Just code the key."

Tore insisted at this point, and had been for days, that he did not want to come all the way to the west coast and sit in a hotel all weekend, so we went to the Concierge's desk and talked to Steven and Jason to get a rental car. We grabbed Ylla and Andy Stoker and picked up a small sedan. Jason even gave directions and a map on how to get where. We drove down Santa Monica Blvd and Rodeo Drive. On the way we passed the Gateway to The Underworld and the Hitchiking Tree Stump. We walked along the beach, which had yellow sand and brown water, and enough trash lying around to fill a dumpster. Later Karlyl would tell us we had better be careful, the bacteria count may be up o.O I collected little butterfly shells with the intention of making little plaques for the four of us. I left the cup of shells on top of the car, however, and they are now spread about in little bits on Ocean Blvd.

With all this driving I soon found that L.A. is infested with Volkswagen Beetles. Tore was up by 14 by the end of the day, which is more than we've ever seen in one day, let alone been ahead by. I still find it unfair, since I was the navigator, and spent most of the trip staring at the map, since Tore consistently turned down the wrong streets and missed turns I had suggested. And then he would argue with my directions. *huff huff* !!

Anyway, on the drive back the four of us were being very silly on the way back from the beach. First of all, I really needed a hair brush, but Ylla did not have one. Andy offered his shoe- "It has really deep treads..." We also noticed a type of tree that at first was very cool. It had bone white bark and bright yellow-green foliage, which was thick and confinded to the tops of the long, twisted branches. But then we noticed that these trees seemed to have choked out all other native plant life, and the bone-likeness seemed to become evermore ominous. There were also several posters hanging from the street lamps. They were abstract, though appeared to have a man nailed by his wrists to a post. The banners simply read "Public Offering" and were hung every few hundred yards. We were very amused by this at the time, and it's kinky connotations.

By the end of the trip Tore had sucessfully learned to drive like a native, having cut people off, jumped into oncomming traffic, and generally been totally rude. We also discovered the existance of THREE Santa Monicas - Hwy 101/Santa Monica Freeway, Santa Monica Blvd, and LITTLE Santa Monica Blvd, which runs parallel to its larger sibling then veers east. The construction was also a source of amusement, as Tore pointed out the large trench encompassing the road. Andy's comment "open trenchamie" was enought to keep us laughing until we arrived back at the hotel.

Karlyl didn't arrive until after 9pm, and Jade Griffin perhaps around 1am. Tore slept, and I stayed up until about 2:00am L.A. time, for a total of 23½ hours of wake time. Interestingly enough, this day was the summer solstice, quite literally the longest day of the year :)

Friday, June 22nd

I awoke to Karlyl and Jade Griffin wispering. It was around 8:30. I was astonished that i didnt feel the need to go back to sleep. Tore and I went down to the art room and set up my artwork. Eden organized the whole art show! That will be my job next year, as I will be the art director. I finally got to meet some people face to face, like Stephanie Lostimolo! I also gave CrzyJen a back massage, since she was under so much stress. Anyway, Tore and I then went to the registration desk to get our badges. There were a lot of people milling about, watching gargoyles on the big screen TV. Tore tried to pull out cash, but the Budget Rent-A-Car had held $200 from his card, and not put it back yet. They said they would put it back when they got the car back, which they would get this morning.

We went to the fanfic reading. I won second place for the essay contest: "What Gargoyles Means to Me." I read my essay aloud, and hoped people werent too bored. We listened to Tigris Euphrates read the winner for poetry, and her winning entry for the Star Trek crossover. It was very good, I'm glad it one! Tore and I left the reading session early so I could try out for the Radio Play. I read Demona's lines when she tries to convince Goliath to join her cause. I'm not really sure what episode it's from. Awakenings, I think. Anyway, I left the room positive that the panel (Made up of Greg Weisman, Thom Adcox, and someone else...) would never in a thousand years use me for the radio play.

Tore and I browsed the artwork, but wanted to hold off from voting until everyone's work had been set up. We ate lunch at CityWalk (yes, CityWalk, AGAIN). We went through the dealers room, where I bout gargoyles trading cards (of which i only needed one to complete my set) and a lexington cup. Tore and I wanted good seats at opening ceremonies (because i NEVER get good seats for ANYTHING) so we went to the studio early, and got kicked out. Then MoningSong asked us to guard the door, which we did. When finally the doors opened, i launched myself from the stairs, around some people, and slid thru the door. We got front row seats. Karlyl and Al sat in row two, attesting that they were too good to sit with us ;P Then we got kicked out of the front row for the guests. And Kars and Ali laughed. Then they got kicked out of row two, for more guests. So anyway, I still got lousy seats. But I took many many pictures. Far too many to post them all here. Mwahaha. A lot of the pictures I took were around this time, so this section of the page is going to be spaced a little odd, to fit all the photos.

On a happy note, I finally got a good pic with Thom Adcox. Last year I had my picture taken with him. I finished off the roll of film, rewound it and tried to pop it out of my camera. But it jammed, and the whole roll got exposed to light. There goes that roll. I had another pic taken. The picture came out pretty good. I scanned it, but the scan was awful and horrible and dark. Before I got a chance to scan it agian, the actual photo got lost! Thats what happens when you let people look through your pictures before theyre in an album. This year I wouldn't let anyone touch any of the photos before I got them in an album!

Greg showed us the pitches to gargoyles, the concept stuff, and his developments for spinoffs. We've seen it before, and we can never get enough. I *so* want the original gargs pitch on tape. *shudders* Afterwards, Tore, Karine, Patrick, Ylla, Tristan, Djali, Karlyl and I all went out for Sushi. Merideth and Andy joined us later, but since Sushi at CityWalk can sit a maximum of eight people together, they got put behind us. I spent the meal poking Andy, so he and Mer wouldn't feel left out, and Mer spent the meal trying to snap my bra, which is impossible, as when I actually wear a bra (which is rare) its a sports bra. *evil laugh* MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Greg also announced the people who would be in the radio play, and I had a part!

I don't remember what else we did that night, but based on what Tore and I did all weekend, we probably went back up to the room and played GameBoy. :)

Saturday, June 23rd

Karine, Pat, Karlyl, Tore and I were running too late to go to CityWalk for breakfast, so we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. o.O The prices were outrageous. I got corned-beef hash, two eggs, toast, hashbrowns and water, and my bill came to over ten dollars. The food wasn't even very good! Tore and I were running so late that I gave money to Karine to pay for my meal. Later we would find out that the hotel tried to charge more than the menu prices for everything, and insisted they could not fix it! Karine and Karlyl left a message for the manager, and we were all very miffed.

Anyway, Tore and I went to the voice acting Q&A, which had already started. We stayed for both sessions. I got up and read the part of Una in a small scene from MIA, and then tried to do a voice dub for an anima series I've never heard of. I guess I did semi-okay. I think it might be fun to do some voice acting, but Greg says if you don't have a passion for it, don't bother, as it is a very tough thing. I really want to be a scince teacher, and I don't see myself ever moving to LA anyway. It's much too expensive.

Afterwards, Tore and I went back to the art room and voted for our favorites, then went to CityWalk and grabbed a quick takeout lunch. I had a very good "chopped" salad, which I guess is the LA term for Chef Salad, and Tore got chineese food which gave him a sour stomach.

I got back just in time for RadioPlay rehersals. Then Tore and I played GameBoy until the actual RadioPlay. It was funny, Greg was setting up chairs for all of the actors. Tore came in and set a bottle of water on one of the chairs. I thought it was HIS water, and he was putting it there to save his seat. Greg picked it up and said "Is this mine?" and I said "No, it's my fiancee's." Greg then informed me that he had asked Tore to go get it for him. Boy did I feel sheepish.. Anyway, I played the part of Fox, and had only one line. Blarg. Oh well, at least I got chosen. I know I should be happy with that, but I'm self-centered and vain, what can I say?

After rehersals I wanted to hang out with Tristan and the bunch, but they wanted to see Atlantis at the IMAX. There were three problems with that: I'd already seen Atlantis, I couldn't rationalize spending twenty dollars to see it again, and Tore was very hungry, and we knew nothing would be open by the time the movie got out. So Tore and I parted the company of the masses and ate at Shanghai & Mein (S&M... huh huh huh...) which had EXCELLENT food. The best eggrolls I've ever had.

During the meal and for several hours afterwards, Tore and I played GameBoy. :)

Sunday, June 24th

Sick of the previous morning's experience with breakfast, Karlyl, Tore and I went to Carl Jr.'s for the morning. They had greasy food, but it was CHEAP! We walked down the hill instead of taking the tram, but hitched a ride back up. (We were on a darn steep hill!)

Tore and I went to the series production thingie, or at least what was left of it. We stayed for the voice actor's Q&A. I got Thom Adcox to sign my Lex cup, and went back up to my room to get my gargoyles trading cards and my script from the RadioPlay for the voice actors to sign. We stood in line for a good hour or so, but Kieth David left before we got a chance to have him sign things. His little boy was sick, and bored. How could someone be bored at a gargs convention? ;P Oh well.

Tore and I were going to watch TV in the video room, and sit down with a snack of peanuts and snapple, but I ended up helping Eden disassemble the Art Room. Now, before the con I had heard rumors of the G2002 chair not wanting to run the con. The threat of not having a gathering became very real. I told Jen that if need be, I would run the con myself, despite my lack of knowlege in such things. It's just that the thought of there not being a gathering is very frightening to me. It's what I look forward to all year! Anyway, Siryn was there to take the slack, and I offered to be the Art Director. Cindy thinks she might not be able to make it next year, and Siryn swore she wouldnt be both Con and Art Director. Anyway, so I'm diving into something I have no idea about, just for the sake of keeping this going. *BANZAIIII!*

I bought a piece of art by Tana, and found that someone had bought some of my art! I was totally amazed, and I can't seem to GIVE my art away. Someone bought Pyramid, and Greg's son bought my Cat Comparison pic! Imagine my delight! Tore and I also bought GoliathLugia's GameBoy Advance so Tore could give it to his eldest son, Brandon, and I bought some games. (I have since bought several accessories for my GBColor, including a light, AC adaptor, Car adaptor, two cases, several more games, etc. Me, addicted? NAW!)

About an hour and a half before the banquet I began to prep. Tore insisted I had plenty of time. Har har. I was ready just in time! We got upstairs to find... that they were running behind schedule. Oh well, it gave me plenty of time to go around and take pictures of everyone lining up. When they let everyone in to be seated, I tried to make a dash for Aimee and Stephanie's table, but it filled up rather quickly. In fact, everyone I tried to sit with kind of kicked Tore and I out. So we sat at an empty table. Soon Tigris Euphrates and a few other people who had also been edged out of other tables gathered with us. So we were the reject table, so be it. Then they started seating guests. And to my amazement, who should be called to sit at the table of rejects than Greg Weisman himself! Tore and I spent the meal stealing he and his wife's ear. I pretty much didn't stop talking the entire time. Like I said, I am my favorite subject :)

Thom and Crispin were generally silly the whole time. I didn't get any pictures. Lets just say you should have been there. And if you weren't, SHAME ON YOU!

After the meal (which was okay) I went back to my room to get on my costume. I went as my Avian Form which I don't really RP as anymore. Actually, I don't even have this form anymore, she is her own entity named Krynn Swiftwind. Im kind of disappointed with my actions, if not my costume. The costume itsself was pretty cool. Its just that I only walked on stage, twirled and walked off. EVERYONE else, even those people not in the cosplay, at least did something. ANYTHING. So I was kind of dull. This is one of the few points in the Gathering where I was actually depressed. I felt like a lamer. I was pretty much determined to be pissed for the rest of the night, but after changing out of my costume and coming back to the ball, they were playing Love Shack, and I can't be depressed to that song. See, a long time ago, when I was still a little girl, my brother and parents and I went to a bar and sang Kariokie (how does one spell that word?). My brother and I sang Love Shack. And all the bikers in leather, all the drunks, everyone stopped playing pool, stopped drinking, and turned to watch this (13?) year old girl and her brother sing Love Shack. I wish we had it on tape. Oh well, I will do better next year.

This night we also learned about an interesting law in LA. In this city, which you would think never sleeps, there is a law about noise, and how there shouldn't be any after 11pm. So here it is Sunday night, and none of us are ready to sleep. We decided to cram into as many cars as we could find and go somewhere, anywhere. A club perhaps. We asked many of the guests to come with us, but they all insisted they were too old. Too old? What? My dad is 62 years old, and he doesn't show such a lack of energy. I wonder if maybe a lot of the guests were just kind of weirded out by us.

We stood in the lobby of the hotel for at least an hour, trying to figure out where to go and who could drive. By the time we had plans, Karine pointed out, it was probably too late to go anywhere, and everything would probably be closing soon, since it was Sunday. So we just sat in the lobby, and talked. We gave spoons to Myr, who is unfortunately retiring this year. Kyffin even gave him the METAL SPOON! Tore was already upstairs, so I just went to bed.

Monday, June 25th

Tore and I were both semi awake. I heard a knock at the door, but was too far into the next world to care. Suddenly Karine is shoving two plastic spoons in my face, telling me some people at the door wanted her to give them to me. I took the spoons and stumbled towards the door, tripping at lesat twice. An entire MiniClan invasion force stood there. I Invited them in while Tore and I got ready. Then the lot of us went to CityWalk.

We all went to closing ceremonies, which is always a sad time. Tore and I pre-registered for next year. I also commissioned a picture from David Wong, which will be put in the gallery as soon as I get it. We sat aroiund trying to figure out what to do, and I took many pictures. I even took a picture of the concierge, Jason, who helped us with many things all weekend! The whole group of us went to the mall and ate at the food court, because I was still hungry. We got lost several times on the way to the mall. I mean SEVERAL. We made at least four U-turns, and several roads were crossed more than once. Now let me tell you, this mall was LAME. It was in burbank. First of all, the food courst was designed in such a fashion that you must walk the length of it to see what options are available. The food court at Countryside mall, which rules by the way, is in a semi circle, so immediately upon entereing you can browse all your choices and not take a step. Second, the food wasn't that good. But Tristan draw a neat picture in the mustard!

More reasons why the mall is lame: I was taking pictures of our group, and Kyffin was sitting on the floor waiting for the elevator to come. A security guard, who spoke little english, pointed at me and then to this little sign that said "no photographs" and then to Kyffin, and to the sign, which also said "no sitting on the floor." We were astonished. What idiocy! We thought of several reasons for these rules, but none of them made sense. Like I said, it's a lame mall.

We stopped in several stores, including KB Toys, Sears, and more. In ToonTime, I bought some stickers out of the machine. What were the two first pokemon to appear bot Tore and my favorites? It was interesting. I bought two more stickers, neither of which were cool, so we're giving them to the kids! ^_^

After the mall, Tore and I went back to our room to pack. I think I stole someone's deoderant. o.O anyway, after packing, we played more GameBoy. We wanted to go to the dead dog party, but it was canceled. Jen said it might be, since all the food had been eaten. But I even offered to donate large sums of money for food! I so much wanted to spend time with the gang! Later I would learn that Karine and Pat were invitied to hang with the staff upstairs, but I tried as much as possible to let it slide off my back. Afterall, they can't let everyone into their room. (Oh look, is that the reject's table again?)

So Tore and I spent a good deal of time... you guessed it... playing GameBoy. Okay, I admit,some of the times I was playing GameBoy, Tore was reading, but I don't remember which times were which.

Tusday, June 25th

The whole day was spent in travel. We had asked Jason, the concierge, to have a Super Shuttle waiting for us at 7:30am. The driver spoke little english, and in fact had "learning english" audio tapes playing when I got in the van. Tore and Karlyl spent about fifteen minutes at the front desk trying to figure out the room charges. You see, when we got in the room, people had opened up the fridge and said "food!" and I was like "no!" So we moved all the food to a drawer to hide it. What we didnt know is that the fridge was weighted, and so my card got charged for all the missing food. Well, we got it all straitened out. We drove to the airport, when I realized I didn't have enough cash to pay the driver. So I ran to an ATM, and in under three minutes had given him $40. He wasn't a nice driver though. Anyway, we board the plane, fly to CVG, then to TPA. We didn't even land until 10:10, and then we taxied for at least fifteen minutes. Tore and I got home well after eleven. Yes, we played a lot of GameBoy.

2002

2002 - Let's see. I was on staff this year. I've been working on the Gathering for several months (since almost immediately after last year's con.) Thus, despite the fact that I was in Virginia for a week, the con felt FAR too short. It needed to be about a month long, though I'd probably have died. As it is, I'm incredibly tired, But I want to write down everything I can remember, before I forget. So, here we go.

We were actually supposed to leave right after work on Tuesday. But no, Tore had to go out of town Tuesday morning, and he didn't get back until about 6:30. So I went to his house right after work and slept for an hour or so, and when he got home I went off to get dinner so he could take a nap. I had Los Mariachis, he had Shanghai Express. So we actually left Clearwater around 8:30pm. Tore took the first shift driving, with the intention that I would sleep and take over later. The problem is, I wasn't actually that tired. So I did very little sleeping. Anyway, I took over at about 3:30am, gave it back to him somewhere around 4:45, took the wheel again at something like 6am, and gave it back to Tore within two hours or so. He then did all the driving until we reached the Holiday Inn Williamsburg, at 10:30am. We made damn good time, probably due to his speeding.

All day Wednesday we read books and slept. We were so exhausted that we didn't even eat dinner, though we did grab lunch at a place called the Cornerstone Grill. I really liked the decor there... kind of industrial art-deco. We also (of course) found the nearest Wal-Mart and promptly spend $50 or so. Thursday morning we didn't really do anything structured, we had lunch at a small in with Zaius, Goliath116, and two guys from Tennessee who's names I don't recall.

Other staff members arrived later that evening, along with several attendees. Jubes, Si, her boyfrined Tempest, and Tore and I had dinner at a steakhouse Tore wanted to try. We discussed last minute things, then ran to Wal-Mart again to grab more stuff. (Tore and I ended up going to Wal-Mart something like a half dozen times during the week we were there.) We got back and started stuffing envelopes with Maui, Jessie and Kess (who arrived very late.) The envelope stuffing took several hours, and kept me up until something like 3am. Siryn and Tempest roomed with us Thursday night.

Friday morning, the art room setup. That was scary. A VERY big thank-you goes to BrooklynX, Norcumi, and the other guy who was helping (name? AHH!) and of course, Tore. Tore and I almost came to blows about how to set up the art panels, which were all odd sized. The setup looked very good though, and we got many compliments. After that I had to put up artwork for the non-attending artists, and record all the "last minute art" for the attendees. Dreamie, Winterwolf, Tore and I went and had chinese food at Mr. Liu's.

At opening ceremonies I got to read a poem (which is displayed in the Library) that I wrote for the Fandom. I almost cried as I read it... I really love the Fandom. Greg gave his usual shpeel, which we all love. We handed out the FREE STUFF Toon Disney had sent us. How cool is that? They sent us free gargs stuff, like shirts, hats and sweat-shirts. And then, Greg made the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. The fact that Toon Disney had sent us stuff was a good sign that we had their attention. Another good sign is that they are making Gargoyles pins, one of which I bought at the Gathering. But here is the big one: They are putting Gargoyles on DVD!!! Just one DVD so far, and it will come out sometime in 2003. We don't know exactly what's going on it- probably the first five episodes. But if it sells well, we will get more, and hopefully all three seasons! WOOHOO!

Karine and Adam arrived, so the four of us went back to Cornerstone Grill so I could try the Mahi Mahi from their dinner menu. I wasn't nuts about it, but I really liked the fried green tomatoes. Karine and Adam also got to try gritz. Eww. Anyway, somehow that night CrzyJen and I hooked up, and ended up talking girl-stuff until 3:30am.

Saturday is when I actually went to panels- Karine's how to draw panel, and Greg Gular's character design panel. I worked in the art room for a couple of hours, then went up to prep for the banquet. Oddly enough, everyone lost track of time and I had to clear out the dealer's room to get people to come to the banquet. The food wasn't great, but it was free. I sat with Karine, Adam, Tore, Sara Berkeley, Kythera, and someone I don't know. Then we went down to the masquerade/dance. There wasn't much dance music to be heard, so I danced at first (and pooped myself out) but by the time Karine came down she was too disappointed in the music selection to dance. So we pretty much sat at the other end of the room and talked to Greg. He gathered a large crowd, and we talked until late. Actually I left at a somewhat decent hour, something like midnight.

Sunday morning is when the lack of sleep caught up with me. I went to our morning staff meeting, then went directly back to bed. I was exhausted (a feeling I have yet to shake). I got back up around noon and started counting the votes for the art show. I was doing that up until (and during) closing ceremonies. Then it was strait to the art room to sell artwork and tear down the room. (Did I mention I was the Director of the Art Show?) I think Tore and I went to bed right after that.

Monday morning was the unofficial trip to Busch Gardens. I didn't take any pictures, since I didn't want to bring my camera. But Sara Berkeley and Tore and I spent most of the day together, with Dreamie and Winterwolf there often as well. Tore and I did all four big coasters, so SaraB and I scoured the park for a "Fear the Four" shirt that was small enough to fit me. We ended up getting a youth's small. It fits great! I got to see Greg Weisman at lunch, and dinner, and again when we met to all watch Imaginique. Then Tore and I rushed back to the hotel so we could pack, shower and load the car.

We got up early Tuesday morning to drive Kythera to the airport. I went to sleep in the back of the car, and Tore drove the whole way home. (On about 4 hours sleep. Woohoo.) I offered to drive but he wanted to do it, since he speeds more than I do and he wanted to get home >:) He wasn't out of it though, or I would have taken over. So anyway, we made it back to his house by about 5:30. Then I came home, threw my stuff on the bed, and started up the computer to type this. I wanted to forget as little as possible!!

2003

Thursday, June 26

Joey was supposed to have his Gargoyles music video done. Well, he was SUPPOSED to come to the Gathering with me. But last minute, as in 11pm the night before, he calls and says he can't go. But he assures me that he will still give me the money as if he were staying in the room, so he didnt screw the rest of us over. He was supposed to have the music video ready for the contest. But he didnt start trying to burn it until 6am, an hour before I'm scheduled to be at his house. The power goes out on his street. No video. He tells me he has a bad feeling about me going to NY, I tell him tough cookies, Im going anyway. I told him I'd call him later about getting ahold of the video. (Incidentally, I never got ahold of it. The drama went on for a couple days, over the course of which the vid was supposed to be uploaded to Joey's cousin's site. No file there. So I couldnt enter the vid in the contest. Its a shame really, that vid was awesome.)

Dad drops me off at the airport, and I of course start to doodle. Soon the whole page is full of characters, people I'm supposed to see at the con. I'm flying Song, which is part of Delta. A fun man named Wayne, one of the attendants (now known as "talent" starts quizzing the waiting passengers, since we still have an hour before we can start boarding. First question: "Whats the name of the new Harry Potter novel?" Of course, I yell out "Order of the Phoenix!" and I am rewarded with a lolly pop. Yay! :) I board the plane, which is decorated inside with lime green, orange, purple, blue and yellow. Very fun. The "talent" were a lot of fun too, joking at eachother. Good flight.

Get off the plane, ask where I can go to get ground transportation. I am told to take the shuttle, $13. Woo! I find the shuttle. A taxi offers to take me to the hotel for $38. I scoff and say "But the shuttle is $13." He says "But its the shuttle." To which I respond "But its $13." I took the shuttle. Driver has a russian accent, seems like a total asshole. We drive for an HOUR to get to Grand Central. First impressions of NYC: There's graffiti on EVERYTHING and the whole city smells of sun-baked garbage. Blech. Arrive at Grand Central, take a smaller bus to the hotel.

Check in at the front desk, drop off my luggage in the room. Several phone calls to Dreamie and Winterwolf to figure out where they are. Thank goodness for cell phones. I help Dreamie, WW, Aaron, Greg B, Leo and .. damn I dont remember the other guy's name. Anyway we started setting up the art room. Much scrambling for drills that WORK. We take a break and go to lunch at Sbarro. It's not pizza hut, thats for sure, but it would do. We get back, I go to the hotel room. Liz is there. She shows me her mime impression of the tiny-ness of the room. We exchange gifts: books, shirts, etc. We go back to the art room to continue set up. Women do most of the work, while the men watch. Finally the women get tired and ask the men to take over. Liz says she's hungry, so we make our exit.

Blimpies for lunch. We try to eat in the Sbarro restaurant, but get kicked out. (There is no seating at Blimpies). We wander up to the con-suite. I exchange cell numbers with half the gargoyles maffia. Liz and I decide we want to play DDR. We walk about 9 blocks to the nearest DDR. On the way we see a mom picking her kid's nose. Eew? What a dirty city. Liz and I play DDR Extreme. Some creepy people watch us, but dont say anything. We decide to go back to the hotel. Lamps around the subway entrances look like pokeballs. I notice the marquee from Times Square advertising the Trek Con. I begin singing "Our con is better, we have Greg Weisman...." Just then we notice Greg is leaning on the wall outside our hotel, waiting for Thom to arrive. Much squealing and hugs. (Well, I was the only one squealing.) We wait around for a while, before we find out Thom and Vic are already waiting in the lobby, they'd used another entrance. Greg says theyre going to dinner. Kathy Pogge says that Liz and I cant go. Later Dreamie says we CAN go.

Dreamie, Liz and I wait in the lobby. Everyone else has already gone to dinner and are supposed to call with directions. No one calls, no one answers their cell phone. We FINALLY get ahold of someone, then power walk about 10 blocks to the Sushi place. Unagi is yummy. We walk back. I get to meet Ethan, who seems pretty cool. Liz and I take the leftover sushi to (someone's?) room. Kythera, Hudson, Guandalug (sp?), Duncan, Zaius and Nick are all there, plus others. Someone eats the sushi. We exchange D&D stories. Liz starts drifting off against the wall, so I drag her back up to the room to sleep. I take a shower.. that shower SUCKED. The water pressure was so hard it felt like I was being stung by bees. The water wooshed out so fast it created its own wind. I kid you not. It was like the apartment Tore and I had. Blech. The toilet was funny though. It flushed so violently it felt like it could create a mini tornado in the bathroom. I did finally sleep at some point.

Friday, June 27

Karlyl calls my cell at 630am. I think I'd only been asleep for 3 hours or so. I run down to the lobby to let her in (you cant get to the elevators without a room key.) She stowes her luggage in the closet, then goes to wander the city for a few hours so I can get more sleep. She came back at something like 800 or so. She, Liz and I went down to City Perk Cafe in the hotel lobby for breakfast. We take our food to the con-suite so we can chat with people. We grab Liz's art to set it up in the art room. FLOSS! As we are doing so, Nixie calls my cell, she's waiting downstairs. I go get her, and meet Ganador. Nixie registers at the desk, we get to see Karlyl, Thundra and Djali. Kars and I help Liz set up her othercon art.

The three of us grab Thundra, Djali and Ganador and go for lunch and DDR. Lunch was okay, just subs from the place right next to the arcade. We play much DDR. Good times. Kars and Tuntun are now hooked on DDR. Djali has rediscovered her obsession. MUAHAHA! After DDR we wander back to the hotel. Karine is in the Lobby, I drag her upstairs. We all start arting in our room. (Note: much arting went on this weekend.) We all go up to Opening Ceremonies. We plug the Gathering 2004, which is going to ROCK. We listen to Greg's shpeel again (you know, the same one he does every year) completing his sentences for him. We help Karine set up her artwork. We go to the same sushi place from the night before. Unagi is still yummy. I tried Sake (sp?). The first sip was okay, but each progressive sip was more and more disgusting. I didnt finish even one glass.

We grab our sketchbooks and go to the 6th floor lounge to start arting. We are eventually kicked out by a security guard named Gonzales (remember his name, it comes back up later.) Karine informs us that our room does not lock properly. I go down to the front desk and talk to a man who doesnt seem to know what to do about the situation. Finally I say "Either fix the lock, or give us a new room." We got a new room. The beds were the same size, but the room was much bigger. Very nice. There are sheets on the bed, but no blankets or beadspreads. I go back downstairs and ask for blankets and bedspreads. The girls start moving into the new room. Liz tells me she left her expensive pens in the lounge- I have to get Gonzales to unlock the room so I can get them. Blankets come, no bedspreads. I insist on bedspreads, because I hate getting cold in the middle of the night. Karine rants for about an hour about the stress at her job. King size bedspreads are eventually delivered (for our full size beds.) I shower, then fall asleep.

Saturday, June 28

We all chat in the room while Liz and Karine shower. Good thing: Half of the room occupants are morning shower people, the other half are night shower people. Breakfast at City Perk again. We head to the draing Q&A hosted by Karine, Liz, Kythera and Nikki. At some point Matt (Artgolem) walked in. He came and sat down behind me, YAY! I show him the doodle I did on Thursday. He doodles too. Im so jealous of his mad art skillz. ^_^ After the panel the majority of us went up the the Dealer's room. Karine and Patrick started taking pre-registrations for 2004. I registered. We arted. Djali, Liz and I went to K Mart to get some munchies. Karine started her Cel-coloring panel. Laurean watched the registration desk. I went down to Karine's panel just to doodle. Came up with a decent image, which I may finish at some point. I then went back up to the Dealer's Room to take over the pre-reg desk. I double the number of people who pre-reg. I am an effective salesman when I believe in the product ;) Some people drifted in and out of the room, I got to chat with Laurean, Matt, Karlyl, Nixie, Liz, BrooklynX, and some other gargs.

I leave to start getting ready for the banquet. I take the money with me, I dont feel safe leaving it in the dealers room. We all start getting ready for the banquet in our room. Matt offers to leave to give us some privacy. That launches me into my "60 naked women, ass in your face, you have no idea." basic training story for the umpteen millionth time. So he stays. He says he can't go to the banquet, he doesn't have the money. I offer to pay for him to go, and wont take "no" for an answer. Matt and I race around the hotel trying to find a con-staffer who is willing to take my money. Lynati signs the back of Matt's badge. Thanks Lynatti!! The food was a little dry, the salad drenched with dressing. However the coffee and treats were yummy, Liz and I split one of each of the six kinds of yummmies. Matt had to leave... poo. I wish Matt could have stayed longer.

Random side note: I spent a lot of time trying to NOT be annoying this year. Did it work? I have a habbit of clinging to people (Greg W, new friends, etc.) And I think I alienate a lot of people that way. So I tried to be a little distant. I hope I didnt come off as cold to anyone. I just seem to push people away FASTER if I try to cling to them too much.

Karine, Liz and I really wanted to dance. But the "sound system" was just an old boom box with blown speakers. They didnt even have dance music. Liz and I played a few of my CDs for a while, but then decided we needed to GO somewhere. Liz, Karine and I set out to find a club. We walk something like 15 blocks only to find a club that charged a $25 cover and played rap. GAG ME. We headed back to the hotel, in the hopes of finding another club. Then we just wanted to find a bar with music. Then we just wanted to find something that was OPEN. We finally found a little tavern, and Karine introduced me to a couple of drinks. So the list of things that I can drink without gagging has grown. Yay!

We decide we'd better get back to the hotel and to bed, since we know we're going to get up early for Dim Sum. But we end up arting, chatting and giggling until very early in the morning anyway. Run Away! Ha ha ha ha.

Sunday, June 29

First thought: Arg, I dont want to get up. *Karine goes to take a shower* oh good, I dont have to get up yet. *Karine finishes shower* Liz! Youre turn! *tries to push Liz out of bed* Liz: My turn? Why does it have to be my turn? Me: Okayfine. *gets up*

Karine, Liz, Nixie?, and I wait in the lobby for Dreamie and Winterwolf. We walk to the subway and wait FAR too long for a train. We RUN all over Chinatown looking for a restaurant that serves Dim Sum. We SCARF our food down. Dreamie, Karine and I take a cab back: we MUST be at the hotel at 11am to open the dealer/art room. We get there: the room is already open, probably by the hotel staff. Im glad I didnt leave the money in there last night.

More arting while we sit and take pre-regs for 2004. I go to Dreamie & Liz's computer coloring panel, and find out Ive been doing it all wrong. Poo. We all go to closing ceremonies, where I take yet more pre-regs for 2004. I go to help Liz take her artwork down for the auction. Talyesin arrives, Karine leaves. I miss you Karine! Liz, Talyesin, BrooklynX and I go to Coney Island with a group of people. First we stop at the WTC memorial. Greg W tries to keep count of us, but the group is so amorpheus that he has a hard time of it. (Image concept by me, drawn by Liz.) Coney Island is colder than I thought it would be. That sucks, I was wearing shorts, thinking it would be hot. Liz and I run to play DDR, thus separating ourselves and Tal & BrookX from the rest of the group.

I pout for a while, mad that I let myself separate us from everyone else. Liz and I ride the Cyclone, that ROCKED. What a fun coaster. We stand in line for 20 minutes just to get some fries from the McD's at the park. The sign says "Smiles are Free" So Liz asks for a supersize fry, tripple thick chocolate shake, and four smiles to go. The guy doubles over laughing. We only ever got 2 smiles though. We find a couple of gargs, they tell us where and when to meet the group. We do so at 10pm. Everyone wants to go home, so we get back on the train (long-ass train ride.) We start planting subliminal messages in Greg's brain, and get him to start humming songs. Muahaha.

Greg says he wants Ice Cream. Then he says Pancakes would be better. Thus the 27 of us set off to find any place thats open and serves pancakes. Just like the club-selection, there is really no choice. We finally find an ice cream parlor thats open and partake in the yumminess. We go to the con-suite, but its crowded with people watching the Cowboy Beebop movie. Yay fun. So we (Liz, Dreamie, Kars, Nixie, etc) decide to leave and go art in the room.

Monday, June 30

Woken up by Dad calling me on my cell. Liz, Karlyl, Nixie, Tal and I chatted for nearly 3 hours. We go to lunch with Dreammie, WW & Aura. We walked all over the place for a while, and I finally convinced everyone to try Curry in a Hurry. I'd been craving curry for a month. It was very yummy, but very fulling. To the point where I couldnt finish my meal. A couple more private jokes were spawned, like "A muggle asked me where the Xavier (ex-AH-vee-ay) Institute was. I told him to Live Long and Prosper." and "I'd rather go back to being an accountant." Liz came up with a song, Dreamie helped finish it. "Amaretto, Vodka Amaretto, Amaretto, Vodka Chardinay." More arting in the 6th floor lounge. Nixie is thirsty, so she looks in the empty conference rooms for water. She found a pitcher and some glasses, so started pouring us some water. Later, some guys wearing suits filed back into that room. Nixie got a look of horror on her face, and hid the water behind the couch. This Nixie earned the name Master Water Thief.

Liz, Karlyl, Dreamie, Talyesin and I meet Patrick, Carol and Greg W in the lobby for dinner. We go to a restaurant that Greg used to go to with his dad. Good burgers. Greg, Carol and Patrick had to leave early to catch their plane. It took Katie, our waitress, several tries to get the right items on each of the checks... and in fact never managed to get it all right. She was still really nice about it, and had cool blue feathered earrings in. We took the subway back, but weren't really sure if we were on the right train. A cool guy named Tuck helped us figure out where we needed to go. He took a group photo for us, and talked to Liz in Japanese. We finally get back to the hotel, where Gonzales is on duty, so I take a picture.

Liz still owes me a characture. It takes her five tries to get it right- she says I have pretty normal features, so its really hard to do a characture. Tal, Liz, Dreamie, Karlyl, WW and I go out to find more DDR. The place that advertized DDR and Pump It Up was apparently not open, so we decided to skip it. We walked to the theater and saw the Hulk. It was very silly, Liz, Karlyl and I were laughing at the absurdity quite a lot. We walk back to the hotel. Tal, Dreamie and WW decide to go to bed, Kars, Liz and I go for drinks. I try some of Karlyl's Midori Sour, very yummy. We go back to the room, Kars realizes she's left her ID somewhere, but calls her dad and finds that she will still be able to get home anyway. We go to bed at some obscure hour of the morning.

Aaron writes...

SUNDAY

Same plan: Get up early, sell pre-reg. Same flaw in plan. Once again, Greg showed up at nine. Once again, I begged for another hour. Once again, I went back to bed. Once again, Lynati and Greg came back.

Only this time I just threw them the forms and let them get on with it. Mara and I did get down there and spell them eventually. Lots of people showed up to register and just to hang out. That filled the day until the Auction.

Lynati and I traded footwear about then, so she got to wear my nice comfy jungle boots and I got to wear her really cool, but pinchy as all get out, gargoyle feet.

I spent way too much money at the auction, but I had fun doing it and it's for charity right? Mr. Andy is quite the auctioneer and I hope he'll consider reprising the role next year.

At the auction we finally figured out who Carol was. Yay! Unfortunately, she was leaving before Closing Ceremonies, so we couldn't really hang out much. Boo!

We went back and sold more pre-reg until CC. The end of a con is always bittersweet at best, so my impressions of Closing are kind of vague. The awards for Art Show were given out. Mara won "Most Nauseatingly Cute" for her picture of Chibi-Demona.

And then it was over. Another Gathering come and gone. We went and sold more pre-reg, operating from what was the registration table, since the dealer's room was closed. Siryn came through, almost in tears at having lost a $200 set of markers. (She did find them eventually)

After the dust settled, we were supposed to have a staff meeting. We went back to the sushi place, with like twelve people, which made the service slower, and talked idly about the con. Not much got done.

We decided to go for mini-golf after sushi. Following that, we decided somebody needed to grab Greg and bring him along. We needed to make yet another quick stop by K-Mart, but we figured that wouldn't be a problem.

Needless to say, by the time we got back to the hotel, everyone who'd talked about mini-golf was gone. Oh well.

Eventually, we ended up in the con suite swapping stories. I really wish Greg had come in ten minutes sooner when Hudson and Revel were telling medical stories, instead of when he did, which was the "stupid things I did while drunk" segment of the evening, but what can you do?

As the evening wore on, we migrated out to the volleyball court for "Story Time with Un'ca Hudson." Basically, an extended version of Hudson's Rant-fest from the night before.

All too soon, it came time for us to depart. (We had to leave at like 3 a.m. to make it back to New York to make our plane. Stupid discount tickets) We'd already promised GXB a ride back too, so we loaded the car with all our bags, and gods know how many T-shirts that Sarah told us we had to take at the last minute. (Apparently, they brought them down in a U-haul, and we had to get them back to New York in the convertible. A little warning would have been nice)

The trip back was wild. I blinked and lost time on four separate occasions. The first two were okay. The third one I unblinked and there was a state trooper behind us. He gave us a warning and let us go. I still don't know what for. The fourth one I found out we'd taken a detour into Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, to be precise.

I woke Mara up, semi-panicking, demanding that she navigate. (For me, being in another state from where you need to be is a panic situation. I'm not used to this hit five states and a district of Columbia in one day thing)

Mara: "Calm down. How do you know where we are?"

Me: "We just drove by the First Union Center! It looks exactly like it does on TV!" (I realize this means nothing to the non-basketball fan) "Trust me."

Eventually, we did make it back to New York, only to discover we'd lost my backpack somewhere. This made me unhappy. Plus, returning the rental car was an adventure and a half, and getting on the plane with no tickets and Mara's cat Anna was tricky.

But Hudson and Lynati found my bag, and eventually returned it, and the giant plush armadillo I bought in the DFW airport cheered me up some.

And that, as they say, is that.

Random quote for this year: "The fandom is so full of Sluggites that all you have to do to start a conversation is yell "My world is a crotch!" and see who responds."

Aaron writes...

SATURDAY

We were supposed to get up early, head down to the dealer's room, and sell pre-registration for G2K3. Again, any plan that includes the words "get up early"...

Around nine, Lynati came and pounded on our door. I begged for an hour to shower, shave, etc. (Sometimes I just need to feel pretty) Only my feet carried me back to bed instead of to the shower... So, around ten, Greg *and* Lynati came and pounded on the door. Feeling bad about oversleeping, I wanted to tear down to the dealers room and start selling pre-reg immediately. Everybody else thought we should get brunch first. And I've got the only car... In retrospect, I probably should have just gone out and picked up some McD's or something. Hindsight is 60/20. We ended up at some buffet place, which was better then the previous day's IHOP, but still overpriced. (But what did I expect in a tourist town?)

So, we ate. And then we came back, and set up in the dealers room. Demona May gave us a receipt book, and drew a fancy sign for us, as well as a stack of calendars she had made. Thanks DM. Greg and Mara and I rotated at the table for a couple of hours, (I spent my off time bumming around the art room) until it was time for the radio play.

Radio Play was the Demona episode from the aborted Team Atlantis series. It was quite good, (the guys playing Mole and Vinnie, whose names escape me right now, were especially hilarious) and a fun glimpse of what might have been.

Afterwards, Greg produced yet another surprise, a tape of the actual voice recording of the episode in question. He popped it in the deck... And nothing happened. Somehow, the stereo didn't like the tape. So Greg asked if anybody had a boombox or a tapedeck or something. To which I replied, "Well, we could all go out to my car..." (Laughter from the crowd) Greg told them "Don't laugh, it might come to that." (More laughter) It didn't. A boombox was procured, and the episode played. I almost enjoyed the Radio Play more then the actual tape. Maybe because the tape didn't have Greg narrating to give us visuals with the audio.

Interesting things learned from the radio play. One, there were gargoyles on Atlantis. Two, the Praying Gargoyle is an Atlantean artifact. Three, the PG regenerates over time.

After that, we went back and did the pre-reg thing again, until the banquet. We got there late, and so we couldn't get a seat on the higher level where Greg was. And then the hotel staff, who'd been so great about so many other things, wouldn't let us push tables together to make more room. Apparently it was a fire hazard or some such thing.

The food was burgers and dogs, with a side of mac and cheese. Free, and therefore better then a kick in the head, as my grandmother is wont to say. We finished pretty fast, and I would have liked to stick around for Greg's Q & A, but consensus was that we wouldn't be able to hear or ask questions from down where we were, so we split. Hudson needed a hand moving the chairs in the Opening Ceremonies room, so we went and helped with that instead.

And then it was time to get ready for Cos Play. The major question of course, being whether Lynati would finish her costume on time.

While Mara was getting dressed, I hung out in the hall with Winterwolf, who wanted to know if I remembered any of Edwin the conjurer's lines from Baldur's Gate II. (Of course) Jen popped out of her room and asked if I had a black hair tie, (of course) and then I retreated to get dressed as well.

It wasn't the most authentic Xanatos costume, but it worked, and opportunities to wear that purple coat are rare, so I went with it. Mara made a stunning Fox, if I do say so myself.

Other costumes> Jen makes a freakily good Xanatos. I mean, really, it's scary. If we can ever get Jonathan Frakes to a Gathering, she has to do it again. Spacebabie will never again be mistaken for jailbait, and will probably have to fight off the propositions with a stick next year. Anthony "Gambit/Archangel/Dracon" Zucconi was a scary Elisa. Dreamie was a very purrlicious kitty. Edwin never summoned any creatures like that for me. And there were lots of other cool costumes belonging to people whose names I unfortunately don't know. But they were cool.

And then there was Lynati... Lynati was literally working on her costume up until the moment Mara threw her out of the room to go to Cosplay. She'd told me about it in the months leading up to the con, but the descriptions didn't do it justice. Once again, I am awed.

Oh, and Mara and I won best skit for our Eye of Greg thing.

Mara: (As Fox) Look David, I'm wearing your engagement present. The Eye of Greg Weisman.

Me: (As Xanatos) That's... great honey. But, won't that turn you into a sarcastic genius who's unable to give a straight answer to anything?

Mara: ... Maybe... All things are true.

So the winners were announced, group pictures were taken, and then we took Lynati upstairs to show her to the desk crew who wanted to see the costumes. (Did I mention the hotel staff was really great?)

Which leads to one of my favorite anecdotes from this con...

A little set-up. Across the hall and down a ways from our room there was a family of the mundanest mundanes ever. White, middle-class, 2.5 kids, dad's probably a CPA or something. I would love to know what they thought was going on that weekend. Anyway, we seemed to be (Eric Cartman voice) warping their fragile little minds.

They gave me the fish-eye as I hurried by in my purple coat and the little girl says: "Daddy, I'm scared. There was a girl with green hair walking around earlier." (Which I assume was Ayami. Seemed like a pretty non-threatening shade of pastel green to me)

And he says: "Just keep moving honey." As in, don't stop before we get to our room or the freaks will get us.

So, after the masquerade, we're taking Lynati back to her room after stopping by the front desk, and I spot the same little girl, with the door cracked just wide enough to put her head through, peeking out into the hall. And she gets a look at Lynati, and her eyes get about the size of Lexington's, and then she SLAM!s the door shut. I did not see any of those people for the rest of the weekend.

So we let Lyn get changed, and head back downstairs. Zaius and Greg Guler are talking about Minnesota, and Hudson is trying to organize a Weisman/Guler deathmatch with the dart guns. Both agreed, but sadly, Greg vs. Greg did not happen. Greg Guler disappeared, and after that there didn't seem to be much point in dragging Greg W. out from where he was comfy.

GXB showed up about then with Spacebabie in tow. She couldn't stay for the next day of the con (:( ) but she wanted to pre-reg for next year. So we headed back to our room once again, and got that taken care of. And then we hung out for a while. It is really hard to maintain eye contact with Spacebabie while she's dressed like that.

So, after twenty minutes of that, we drifted back to downstairs *again*, and found out that Greg vs. Greg was cancelled. But people were still really enthralled with the idea of Nerf mayhem, so Hudson and Chris decided to set up a tourney. We assembled as many of the weapons as we could, and commandeered half of the OC room. While the Quake players sketched out a layout, I made yet another trip back to our room, to change into my trenchcoat, vampire emoticon shirt, and skull and bones headscarf.

Nerf War is mucho fun. Everyone, I think, had a really good time, and everyone was a really great sport about it. Every match, after the first one, ended with a headshot rather then needing the judges to count hits. I ended up paired against GXB in the first round. Heh. Staff fight.

We're getting ready, and Hudson tells us to take off our coats, 'cause we'll trip on them. We declined.

So we take our places, and Chris says to lose the coats, 'cause we'll trip on them. Hudson says "No, they wanna have the Matrix fight." And then he set some rules for our fight. 1. No slowing time. 2. No warping space. 3. No flying through the air sideways in slow motion. 4. Hits on the coat count as hits.

And we fought. It's really quite a rush. Maybe even better then paintball, because the range is closer and thus the threats are more immediate.

I won. Barely. I finished Greg with a headshot a few seconds after his dart came so close that I felt the wind on my ear.

Hudson defeated Chris in a much anticipated match that did not lack for excitement.

Which meant I drew Hudson in the next round...

I thought I had no chance of winning. But I had to at least try. So I ditched the coat for greater mobility, and then my shirt, to draw on the power of Demona. That brought things to a halt for a bit as everyone who'd never seen my tattoo had to get a look. Spaz Kitty transferred allegiance from Hudson to me for the rest of the fight. But Chris' "Dude, is that permanent?" had to be the best response.

It was awesome. I'd studied Hudson's fighting style in his previous match with Chris, and tried to imitate it as much as possible. Which lead to a stalemate with both of us dual-wielding dart pistols behind cover just out of range from each other. Hudson, trying to get me to break cover says "You know I ****ed your mom, right?" I wait for him to make a move, and then pop up myself, yelling "Daddieeeeeeeeeee!" in a high-pitched tone of voice.

That pretty much set the tone for the match. Lots of misdirection and trickery. I managed to stay ahead of Hudson's fire with body control and a lot of luck, while Hudson opted for Jedi-like deflection with his own gun.

We fired every dart out of every gun in the entire room, until we were left with nothing but the ultimate last ditch weapon, the spring-launched Styrofoam glider, donated by Tony Z, which killed you if it hit anywhere. I got to it, dodged Hudson's last few darts, and then we strafed the length of the room, before I headshot him when he changed direction.

I beat Hudson! W00-h00!

After that totally unexpected result, I had thoughts about winning the whole thing. Unfortunately, I was eliminated in the next round by Sgt. Goliath. That match was kind of weird. Multiple witnesses corroborate that two of our darts hit each other in mid-air, nearly rebounding back on us, and I head shot him, but the dart was in the air when his hit my forehead with a mighty smack, leaving a mark that was visible for ten minutes after.

Eventually, the tournament finished, and almost everyone who wanted to try their hand got to, except for that one really tall guy. Sorry dude. But take heart that next year Nerf War will be an official event.

After we got kicked out at 2 a.m., I went briefly back to the room, but finding Mara to be sound asleep, I went and hung out with Hudson and Co. outside for awhile. I think I finally left around four, and then I accidentally woke Mara up, and we ended up talking until sunrise on...

Aaron writes...

FRIDAY

Friday we were supposed to get up early and go with Hudson over to WalMart and buy more of those nifty guns. Can you spot the flaw in this plan? It's those three little words: "get up early." I don't like mornings as a general rule, and after a long day like the previous one... Nothing short of kicking in the door and throwing a bucket of water on me would have gotten me moving before noon.

So we finally get dressed, and head downstairs, picking up our badges and GXB in the process. Hudson turned up with many more guns, (but still not enough to go around) and told us they'd bought out the WalMart. After checking out the dealer's room and hanging Mara's stuff in the art room, hunger called, so the five of us, myself, Mara, Lynati, Revel, and GXB all climbed into the car and went in search of food.

Revel directed us to an IHOP where he'd been shortly before, with another group. The food was standard IHOP, passable but over-priced. We'd passed a Big K on the way, so we stopped and bought a bunch of stuff, including those huge blue Nerf guns we carried for pretty much the rest of the con.

So we returned, and after, I swear, something on the order of an hour trying to get the Nerf guns out of the packaging, we went our separate ways to get ready for opening ceremonies. Lynati went off to work on her wings some more, and we agreed to meet GXB back at our room in about an hour. This was a mistake on my part. One, it left us with very little time to do much of a final polish on our presentation, (which was only finished Monday before the con) and me with far too much time to freak out about the presentation. I've been terrified of public speaking for as long as I can remember, and this was no exception. How would we be received? Would I freak and babble nonsense? How would OtherCon go over? Ad infinitum. So I just laid on the bed and went quietly insane while Mara made fun of me in the guise of cheering me up. ;)

Then I channeled my freaking out into trying (futilely) to iron my vampire shirt. (The big, poofy, black thing with the ruffled front and cuffs I was wearing at opening ceremonies) A hopeless task, (and pointless, since the whole thing was hidden under my coat anyway) but it passed the time. Passed it too well in fact, since then I started panicking about being late. (Yes, it takes me twice as long as Mara to get ready to go anywhere)

So Greg B. shows up, and we have a mini-review of the presentation, before heading downstairs. We thought there might be seats reserved for us, but (thankfully) didn't want to take the chance. There weren't, so we got some about 2/3s of the way to the back of the room. Surprisingly, there was still a good view from there.

So, Siryn talks for a while. Poor girl. (Heh. Girl. I think she's a couple years older then me) Anyway, she talks, and the stress of the last year is just visible. My heart goes out to her. (My head, meanwhile, is still busy freaking out, so I have only a vague impression of what she actually said) Sapphire read a poem about the fandom, which Mara summed up by paraphrasing Stitch. "We're large. And broken. But still good. Yeah, still good."

And then it was our turn...

Our place toward the back made for a long walk up to where Si was standing, and I think we milked it a little. It was one of those moments I wish I could watch from the outside, to see the audience reaction. The three of us, GXB, Mara, and me, all in black from head to toe, including our trenchcoats, Mara and I carrying our Nerf dartguns at port arms, flanking Greg. The people who know us probably weren't phased, but I wonder what all those con virgins were thinking. I did catch the phrase, "only in New York" from somebody.

And so we pimped the con. We talked. And we talked. And we talked some more. I talked entirely too much. I got punchy and started threatening the audience with my dart gun. Talked about the hotel, location, rates, dates, etc.

(It has been pointed out to me by various people, that some of the things we said were somewhat derogatory to some of the previous staffs. I apologize for that. It was never out intent)

And we talked some more. We introduced the "Name the con" contest, and the mascot, Madison, or Maddie for short.

And then we introduced Death. The Other Mascot. He caused a bit of a stir. (Mara drew up these really great, really *big* pics of the mascots, and we showed them off)

And then we dropped the bomb, so to speak: OtherCon. Which took like half the presentation, introducing it and then answering some questions about it.

And then finally, we were done, and we got to sit back down.

And then Greg (W) got up to talk. He did a hand count, and the number of con virgins was unbelievable. Like, a third of the room. Amazing. He also had considerably bigger bombs to drop.

First up, Toon Disney gave us a bunch of free shirts, and hats, almost completely gratis. Reading a one paragraph Toon Disney advert was a tiny price to pay for all our bounty.

And then, the bunkerbuster: Gargs on DVD. In 2003. With Greg's commentary. Life is good.

Then he did the "litany" presentations, the ones we know so well we can recite along with Greg. And, as a bonus, there was a promo narrated by Jonathan Frakes, which I'd never seen before. Frakes described Gargoyles as "The next generation of Disney animation." Which I thought sounded really appropriate and cool for about ten seconds before I realized it's also a terrible pun.

And then, he showed the Bad Guys leica reel. Which totally freaked me out, because he forgot to do the "don't film this" disclaimer, and there were at least two people in the audience with digital camcorders...

And then we left, minus GXB, plus Lynati and Revel, to search for dinner. This is harder then it sounds. As so many people have already pointed out: What was with all those pancake houses?!? Are pancakes like, the state dish of Virginia or something?

We were really surprised to find a sushi place. So surprised, in fact, that to confirm that this was not a mirage created by our sleep-starved brains, we had to stop and consume large amounts of raw fish, rice, soy sauce, and wasabi.

The food was good but the service was slow, and we had to make another run to K-Mart for some things we forgot the first time, so we got back later then we intended.

We managed to make at least part of Hudson's Rantfest. Hudson had a really nifty-sounding announcement about starting an art archive that works like the fic archive does. It sounded pretty cool and I hope it happens.

After that, he just kind of rambled. Even if you're totally untechnical, like I am, just the way Hudson tells the story makes it funny.

That broke up just in time to make it to Rocky. Kind of a smaller audience then I'd expected, but people were probably tired by that point. And after that, we dragged ourselves to bed.

Aaron writes...

THURSDAY

Got up, entirely too early, and started calling rental places. Maybe we should have gone with Rent-A-Wreck. (Next time, national chain) Don't rent from New York Rental. So, we rent a Chrysler Seebring convertible, which has a few dings in it. Or rather, in the dim light of the parking garage, it looked like a few dings. Out in full sunlight, it was a different story altogether.

It also had a tape deck. Ordinarily, I would love that. I love cassettes, and hate CDs. Ninety percent of my music collection is cassettes. But, I didn't think anybody still rented cars with tape decks, so we brought CDs for traveling music. Oops.

(Side note to all you car owners: Do you feel like you have a bond with your car? I mean, to the point where it's like a pet or something? That it knows you and you know it, and you compliment each other? Just curious)

And we're off. Six hundred miles by map through unfamiliar territory with an unbonded vehicle. What could go wrong? Oh, and our main route, I-95, apparently has a bad rep about road rage. I felt right at home.

So we drove. From New York, though New Jersey, (Where we stopped for lunch and bought 64 oz mugs for the rest of the trip. Oh, and the pseudo-leather thing that's supposed to cover the top when it's down blew off somewhere on the Jersey Turnpike. Recovery was not an option) Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., back into Maryland, (where we got royally lost), and finally into Virginia, to pick up Lynati at Dulles airport.

So, happy reunion there, car reloaded, (for such a big car, the Seebring has *no* trunk space) and we're off again... Back to Maryland, for Chinese dinner, and so Lyn can do laundry and pick up her wings.

On the way back from dinner, it starts *pouring*. Now, I've never driven a convertible before, and we drove all the way up to this point with the top down, (The source of the sunburn Mara and especially I was sporting the whole con) *and* I'm a spaz. So we can't figure out how to lock the convertible closed. So the roof's leaking, and most of it's dripping right on the door panel where the window controls are... And *something* happens, and my window goes down and STAYS down.

This, in a word, sucks.

Much swearing and meddling with a pair of needle-nosed pliers fails to fix the problem, but fortunately for us, that was the last rain of the trip. (It did eventually fix itself, kind of) Fortified by a newly-bought Pat Benetar tape, we set off again, through the wilds of Virginia, completing a "four hour" road trip in two and a half hours.

Some general observations before I go on:

1. Eastern states have no idea how to build highways. Of every place we went, only Pennsylvania seemed to get it right. In Texas, highways actually go *through* places. None of this "here's an exit, some undetermined distance down which there *might* be a town" stuff. Virginia was particularly bad about this. Back home, on the side of the highway, there're fast food places, 24-hour diners, roadside attractions, evil small-town cops with radar guns, and, most importantly, *gas stations.* In Virginia, the side of the highway is... trees. Nothing but trees for miles. On the sides and in the median. Trees, and big "No Stopping" signs.

2. Toll roads are EVIL. It's a tax on people's ability to move freely. Just the idea makes me feel oogy.

3. "Speed limit enforced by aircraft." WTH does that mean? If you go too fast, they chase you with choppers? If so, then, (A) What were all those VA state patrol cars we passed for?, and (B) Why didn't they come after me?

Back to the ramble...

So, we finally get to Williamsburg, and, after a stop at 7-11, find our way into the hotel. It's like, 1 a.m. by this time. We get inside, and run into WinterWolf and Dreamie, Kyt, and some other people hanging out in the lobby. Wolfie showed us his rental, (his Seebring was in much better condition then ours) and we unloaded all our junk. During that lengthy process, Jen, Patrick, and Kathy arrived. More roadtrip survivors! Mara gave Jen her art gift, and the elevator opened to reveal Gregs W. & B., and a woman I later realized was Carol.

(I wish we'd figured that out sooner. We really didn't get to hang out with her, except a little after the auction, and by then it was too late to have much of a staff meeting)

Eventually, after most of the other people decamped for a late dinner at Denny's, we ran into Hudson, who showed off the first of many nifty black dart guns to be found at a nearby WalMart.

We just sort of hung out for a couple of hours, talking of projects, and cons, and the fandom in general. Unable to interest anyone else in food, I was forced to eat the leftover pizza from Jersey. Such hardship. ;)

And then suddenly it was like 4 a.m. Ack! Bedtime.

Aaron writes...

And, my much belated Gathering Diary...

Okay, this was BlurCon for me, so apologies in advance if I leave anything out. Or put anything in that didn't happen. I was so sleepy it was hard to tell sometimes.

WEDNESDAY

Actually, this starts on Tuesday, since I wasn't packed until the last minute, and our flight was so early we decided to just stay up all night and then sleep on the plane.

So, I ran around and packing like a madman while Mara watched the first half of The Ten Commandments. (Dang, Vincent Price was actually young once?!?)

So, we leave, my mom drops us off at the airport, and we get to stand in line. For a looooong time. Next time, e-tickets.

We go through security, and I get stopped for a "random" check. This old lady empties everything out of my backpack, looks at it, (Including my disposable razor, which I know you're not supposed to carry on) and then puts it all back in, all of it the wrong way 'round, and then wonders why it won't close.

So we fly to Dallas. I lose my sunglasses somewhere on the plane, which irks me to no end. After I notice that, I also notice we forgot something a little more important: Lynati's feet.

"Did we tell my mom to mail that package?" "Um..."

So, a frantic phonecall home later, that's taken care of, and I buy a replacement pair of sunglasses. Which lasted about two weeks. They're broken now. Rassem frassem shoddy merchandise...

So, off to Laguardia. I slept the whole way, and didn't wake up until about ten seconds before we touched down.

"Hey, it's raining-" (Loud, bouncy landing) "Oh, we're here."

So, we drop our stuff at Mara's mom's place, and bum around New York a bit. I insist on a stop at MidTown Comics, because it's Wednesday, and even on vacation, I have to pick up my comics.

Dinner, and then bed until bright and early on...

Forliya writes...

Hey, greg sorry I couldnt come to the gathering this year but theres been something going on in my neborhood in virginia! I keep hearing sounds like the gargoyals make when they are mad. please tell me what you think? oh and I'm still in love with goliath, and i'm writing a book called "The Run-Away's Hunter"!!!!

VIVA LA GARGOYALES!!!!!!!!!

kEVO writes...

alright,i'd like to begin by saying how much i truly, deeply love Gargoyles. it is the most incredible show i have ever seen. but i'll save higher efforts of ego inflation for later.

my question is about the Gatherings. i've noticed that when people have asked you about Team Atlantis or, in one case, who created the Praying Gargoyle statue, you told them the answer would be revealed at G2002. i was unable to attend this Gathering, cuz of the whole "no money" thing so will these answers be brought up in 2003 or here on Station 8 or will i just never be able to find them out? i'm gonna try to go to G2003, because it's very close to where i live.

which brings me to my next question. am i allowed to attend The Gathering even if i'm not staying at the hotel there? i know i should probably try to find these answers online before asking you but i figured since i was already here.

thanks for your time, sir!

-kR

Todd Jensen writes...

I've been reading your Gathering rambles, and found them interesting, especially the part about the never-made Team Atlantis episode involving Demona. Pity that I didn't go this year and thus missed it (you don't suppose that you'll be able to play the "original radio cast" performance again at next year's Gathering?).

Although seeing Demona referred to as "the Gorlois" did feel a bit odd, since I'm more apt to associate that name with the Duke of Cornwall whom Uther Pendragon fought with over Igraine than with any gargoyles. Then again, come to think of it, you did once mention that Castle Wyvern was modelled on Tintagel, which was Duke Gorlois's chief stronghold.