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REJOINDERS 2005-02 (Feb)

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Anonymous writes...

Because of your affinity to make stories related to real life mythology, did you ever have a story in mind involving the European (i think) witch Baba Yaga?

Greg responds...

Yes, as I've mentioned before.

Response recorded on February 15, 2005

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Anonymous writes...

I found information on the Internet about teleplay writing contests. The prizes consist of money and the submission of you script to an agent. I was wondering if these were for real, or just a scam? Also, if they are real, which ones would you recommend, if any?

Greg responds...

I have no idea about any of this.

Response recorded on February 15, 2005

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matt writes...

Griff

1. you've said before that Una, Leo and Griff hatched in 1898. Leo and Una haved aged normally, but Griff was pulled forward in time 55 years or so. so, the closest generation in biological age to Griff is the rookery that hatched in 1958, correct? that would make him just slightly biologically older than Brooklyn, but not as old as Goliath, right?

2. will Griff find a new mate since Una is with Leo now (and WAY too old for him)?

3. you once mentioned that "The Three" taught the London Clan the nursery ryhme about King Arthur that Griff quoted in "Pendragon". who were/are "The Three"?

4. how much time was there between when Goliath brought Griff to the modern age (MIA) and when Arthur showed up in London (Pendragon)?

Greg responds...

1. In 1996, Goliath was biologically 29. The Trio were biologically 19. Griff was biologically 22. That would put him closer in biological age to Sora (hatched in 1958) then Yama (hatched in 1938).

2. One would hope.

3. I just tried to search through the archives for "The Three" and couldn't find an appropo reference. But I think I've covered this before... if not, I guess I'm revealing something... the three I assume you're referring to are Morgana le Fey, Nimue and the Lady of the Lake.

4. Griff gated to the present on January 24th, 1996. Arthur arrived in London on May 18th, 1996. (Though he and Griff didn't actually meet until after midnight, i.e. on May 19th.)

Response recorded on February 15, 2005

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Kessalia writes...

Well, i didn't have much con stuff, but it's a report... :)

Friday, off to NYC. flight at 7 something in the morning. waking up at 4:30 am stinks, especially when you can't get to sleep the night before for anxiety and anticipation. :P
however, flight was uneventful, got to new york, took shuttle to hotel, met up with people, fought with idiot staff over rooms, got lunch, directed people around (have you seen so-and-so? Nope, sorry. Ok!), watched opening ceremony, hung out until wee hours, finally slept. :P

saturday. the walking day. left hotel in the morning to find the MOMA (museum of modern art) which the maps showed to be by rockafeller somewhere. we go the wrong way on the subway, argue a lot, waste a couple fares and end up walking most of th way anyway. but we saw SO MUCH! radio city music hall, rockafellar center... and guess what, the darn MOMA was moved to Queens during some reconstruction. erg, annoyed. i never DID get to see Starry Night. *sob* SO! we decided to walk towards central park until we found a subway station then take that the rest of way. ha ha, NOW we know there are no subway stations there. hey, we were tourists, give us a break. ;) but we saw SO much!!! St Patricks, F.A.O. Schwarz, and before we knew it we were in central park wandering around looking for Balto and eating hot dogs. and complaining our feet hurt. Central Park has rocks, this was a major revelation. took the subway back after kevin got a map and lead us out of the wilderness. back at hotel, we decided it's time for dinner. so we walk to time's Square, argue more, and end up splitting up for food. I ate at Olive Garden, it was very yummy. After that we went to teh hershey's store, i bought chocolate, and then Toys R Us, and i got si the pink unicorn she has been seen in many picture with. it's famous! I am famous vicariously through Si once again! huzzah! ;) anyway, saturday night... masquerade, i got there late and took no pics (well, ok, i took ONE of tempest. holding the pink unicorn. bwa ha ha) but i got a lance and bitnine of my very own and lots of hugs from si and after they left we went to beed's room and played games (well, i watched, doodled and ate chocolate) then, sleep again. :P

Sunday! got up too early again and took the subway back to central park, walked over to teh MET, walked through a small part of the MET, got to see the BARE minimum i would have been able to survive with (only because i dragged arno RUNNING through at the last second to find the van Goghs) and then we had to leave to get back in time for closing ceremonies, pre-registered for next year, whee!! other clanners went off to do more touristy things but i was lazy and rested in our room except for walking around the block several times with 4 computer guys as my harem loking in vain for a freaking real pizza hut. sunday night. oh yeah! that might have been Two Towers night? shinga, jess and the others in that room did the movies-on-demand for Two Towers and we all ended up down there watching it. well, i spent the first half in my room on the phone with mom, but was fun anyway if not particularly comfortable. i got there last, i can't complain.

Monday! trim and jason were gone before i got up. up way too darn early again to go to the Nat history museum. noticing a TREND here? saw lots of cool stuff, they have a good dino display. bought a t-shirt. headed back and goofed off with a big pillow fight. duncan and guan came over. shan and kevin left. more pillow fight. rob left. MORE pillow fight. girls drew on each other with henna. played insane card game. those hardy souls remaining went to teh the Empire State Building about 11 pm to see the lights. was fun, hour went WAY too fast, we walked back with cereal and water from teh walgreens on teh corner, and watched adult swim. finally slept.

Tuesday. almost slept in. ha, yeah right. :P met up with duncan & guan, bought tickets and walked all the way to the docks for the boat tour of the island. got there, realized ther ewas no way we coudl get Beed on the boat and off again in time for her flight. whoops. so i was all selfish and said good bye to beed and dragged arno onto teh boat alone. got over feeling bad as the ride was awesome and i took WAY to many pics that i will have to scan. ouch. But it was awesome and worth it. after that, arno and i took a bus to grand central, wandered around there for a bit, had dinner in a restaurant with no AC, nearly passed out from heat, then walked back to the hotel via fifth avenue, got some souveniers, it was nice. :) my favorite day of the weekend. even if it was in the middle of the week, techncially.

wednesday. got up, checked out, it was chaotic but at least we didn't have that idiot employee waiting on us. said our good byes and took the subway to queens where we hoped to get a cab teh rest of the way to teh airport. there wasn't a cab to be found but we had a contingency plan and ended up taking a bus. it worked out fine, we got there in plenty of time, flight back was also uneventful. back in michigan! dinner at mongolian BBQ, home, to BED. sleeeeeep.

Greg responds...

Sounds like you had fun -- on a semi-unrelated vacation to the Gathering. But whatever works!

Response recorded on February 14, 2005

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Todd Jensen writes...

In "City of Stone Part Four", when Canmore is invading Scotland as the Hunter, he doesn't reveal his true identity as Canmore until facing Macbeth directly just after the fall of Castle Moray. I recently found myself wondering why he did that for so long; after all, in concealing his identity as "Canmore, son of Duncan, rightful king of Scotland, come to reclaim what's his" he was apparently throwing away a great propaganda advantage. Why did he conceal his true identity for most of that time?

Greg responds...

Let me try putting it this way: the Batman joined with the citizens of Metropolis to secure Gotham City's throne for Bruce Wayne. He simply didn't want people to know that HE was Bruce Wayne. He didn't want to make himself THAT kind of target.

Yes, of course, as Batman, he was another kind of target. But we don't see him taking the lead in any battles. If he keeps back -- as the Batman -- no one's likely to specifically go after him. Plus, as the Joker and Riddler were seen as his primary targets, than the mysterious reappearance of the Batman was a huge propoganda coup.

But that's not to say that Bruce Wayne wasn't part of the propaganda mix.

Now substitute:

Canmore for Bruce Wayne
The Hunter for the Batman
The English for the citizens of Metropolis
Scotland for Gotham City
The Gargoyles for the Joker
Macbeth for the Riddler

Response recorded on February 14, 2005

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Tiqun writes...

Are there any plans to put the entire series of Gargoyles on video/dvd?

Greg responds...

The first season is currently available on DVD. Disney is evaluating sales figures now to decide on whether another release will follow.

Response recorded on February 11, 2005

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Dylan Blacquiere writes...

Okay, I'm finally sitting down and writing this, listening to Sarah Harmer and Great Big Sea on the CD player, making a conscious decision that I'd rather do this instead of writing my Master's thesis. "Gargoyles" has already scored me a fiancee and a passion for writing, so if the show screws up my degree for me, I'll consider the score even. (It's not much of a sacrifice, though - write a Gathering journal or write about garlic compounds deactivating enzymes? Hmm…Gathering. Definitely Gathering.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26th

My trip actually started late - I had to go to school and finish up some microsome incubations, which involves taking poisonous solvents and mixing them with tiny little flecks of protein from pieces of human lungs. I kid you not. I am Anton Sevarius in embryo. But it wasn't just that; I skipped off on the weird science early to go home and do laundry and then get my money changed to American dollars, and then, after grabbing the requisite cup of Tim Hortons' coffee (medium with milk, not quite the Canadian double-double institiution but it was close enough) and then drove to Ottawa to spend the night at Wingless' place. It was a fairly uneventful night, as all we really did was plot our route and reassure Wingless' parents that yes, I was a capable driver and yes, we knew how to get to the bus station to pick up Laine, and no, we really didn't want food because we'd already had supper. I finally got to sleep at midnight for a four-hour nap.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27th

Up at 4 a.m. through the miracle of circadian rhythms - the alarm clock of course fails to go off, just a harbinger of mechanical problems to come, but otherwise nothing more than annoyance. We got to the bus station at about 5:30 to pick up Laine, who'd arrived on the bus from London at 4 and was quite cheerful for having waited in a bus station in Ottawa for an hour and a half. Finally we left Ottawa and took off for Brockville (and yes, we stopped for Tim Hortons' - when you leave Canada, you have to have their coffee, because it's going to be a while before you can partake of such an institution again.) We got our birth certificates and passports out, and crossed the border at the Thousand Islands bridge near Brockville.
Now, no offense to America, and I do realize that things are a bit touchy with homeland security, but I hate crossing the border into your country. Hate it. Your border guards are all cranky and as soon as you mention you're going to a sci-fi/fantasy convention, you're screwed. I still bear the scars of crossing at Sarnia last year to go to BotCon. However, to my surprise, this guard was nice, and even expressed a bit of bemused wonder at the fact that people were going all the way form Ottawa to New York to talk about gargoyles. "They have a convention about that?" he asked, but it was a nice tone of voice, the sort that you know he's going to laugh at you for being a geek as soon as your back is turned, but he was friendly enough, and off we went to the heart of a foreign land. Laine slept a lot, and Wingless patiently put up with me switching the radio station every few minutes, though he did sometimes make me pause whenever he heard a nice oldies song that he liked. The true Canadian spirit of compromise.
The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, though we did get lost in Scranton, Pennsylvania and found ourselves lost in a pleasantly scary sort of town with white houses and little statuettes of Elvis and the Virgin Mary on every front lawn. But we eventually made our way to New Jersey, where we promptly missed an exit and then missed the Lincoln Tunnel. I blamed it on the newness of driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, though I might have done better if I'd not been peering at the Manhattan skyline through the window instead of the highway signs. But make it we did - into the Lincoln Tunnel and into the hell of traffic in midtown Manhattan.
Why are there lanes on the streets in Manhattan? No one ever uses them. I have no idea how seven lanes of traffic can fit on a street that's clearly marked with four lanes, but somehow, Manhattan managed. I knew it was the greatest city in the world, but I had no idea that the mathematically impossible was commonplace here. But you know what? I figured it out, and soon we were driving around like pros. I even cut off a New York City taxi cab and lived to tell the tale. That was when I knew that I belonged, when some guy in a cab behind me was shaking his fists and yelling incomprehensible curse words. I wonder if that's how Peter Jennings feels, driving to work every day.
We got the car taken care of - I should mention that we drove Stormy's car, so leaving it in the care of the valet was a bit of a worry, but we decided to let it go. So in we went to the hotel, and we started looking around for the well-hidden registration desk. We got our stuff safely stowed in consuite until we found our roommates, and soon I had met Chyna Rose, Kellie and Stephen Sobotka, who were kind enough to give me a place to stay for the weekend. After a brief settling-in period, I started wandering around, looking for unfamiliar faces with recognizeable nametags. I ended up in the banquet room for a panel on myths and history being given by Kathy Pogge, Lynati, Batya and Greg Bishansky, who all had very intriguing thinsg to say. I raised my hand to offer a comment and Kathy asked me who I was.
"Oh, hi, I'm Dylan Blacquiere."
They clapped for me. I sort of wondered why nice things like that didn't happen at school, but it was flattering beyond words and that was when I knew that I was going to have a good time at this convention. I know that sounds cocky, and I would have had a good time if they'd booed and thrown pencils at me, but still…
The rest of the afternoon was meet-and-greet, and I got to talk to Lynati, Greg Bishansky, Batya, Constance, Kathy, Patrick Toman, Spacebabie, Mooncat, Princess Alexandria, A Fan, Brooklyn Magus, Gorebash, Guandalug and quite a few others who I'd been looking forward to meeting for a long, long time. It really was like meeting old friends, and I don't think I've ever felt quite as much at home amongst a group of "strangers" before. I got to check out the art rooms, too, and there I met Ellen Stolfa, and I swear to every God that my heart must have leapt up to my nasopharynx, because she just gave off this incredible, radiant aura of joy at being there and when I hugged her, I felt a bit of it wash over onto me. We had a wonderful introduction, and when I left to get cleaned up for the opening ceremonies, I really do think I was floating towards the elevator.
I met more people at Opening Ceremonies, too…Mara and Aaron and the rest of constaff, Sarah the Great, Revel, Siryn, IRC Goliath and so many others that the names are just running together in this haze of fond memory and reminisence. And then we went in and I first saw Greg Weisman, Thom Adcox and Vic Cook, who looked vaguely surprised that things were still happening seven years after the first Gathering but still put on one heck of a show. All the old stories were new for me, as I'd never heard them, and I got to see the original pitches and the Bad Guys reel and all of those treasures for the first time. I thought they were great and I had a wonderful time sharing in the excitement and anticipation of the Gathering. I even got a few people who came up to me and asked questions about writing, and that was grand fun.
After that, before the OtherCon round robin panel, Kellie and Chyna Rose took me across the street for Sbarro and we got pizza and I bought a beer. I did not go into Rick Mercer "Talking to Americans" mode, though I was tempted, and I was grateful for getting my first taste of New York outside the hotel. We went to the OtherCon Round Robin, hosted by Mooncat, who got us going on a scenario involving Owen Burnett and Maria Chavez. I met more people here, like Diamond Debbie, and while I spent a lot of time in a futile attempt trying to get the bottle cap off of the Corona (I never did succeed and I left it in the hotel room fridge and as far as I know, it sits there still) I also had a great time. I also earned a nickname, which I will not share here, but it involves a word that I used in my contribution for the round robin that starts with the letter "c". And to think, I used to be considered an innocent. Then we went for a walk, all the way up Sixth Avenue to Times Square, where I betrayed my roots as a small-town Prince Edward Islander by looking up instead of forward and almost knocking over a few of the natives. Even now I still treasure the fact that on midnight on a Friday night, while all of my friends from school were sitting on the Margaritaville patio in Kingston listening to waiters from the Lone Star introduce themselves as "Rustler" and "Chuckwagon", I was standing in Times Square.
I was standing in Times Square.
Wow. I wish I could tell my parents, but they still think that I was in Ottawa, visiting friends for the Canada Day celebrations. I'm such a liar.
After that, we went to the OtherCon mug-a-guest, where I met Allaine and was present for "the revelation", which I thought made sense. I also tried to ask a question, one that I knew had been asked countless times before, but I just wanted to get my voice in the room. It was something about where gargoyles fit on the taxonomic tree, and Greg said, of course, that he didn't really know. (I also suggested that if Lexington wanted to get married he could move to Toronto now, and Thom thought that was pretty funny). Like everyone else, we finally got kicked out at 2 a.m. and I went back to my room, feeling the pleasant glow of my first night among so many friends. Or maybe it was the couch I was sleeping on. Whatever it was, I did manage to get a good night's sleep.

SATURDAY, JUNE 28th

Nathan's is expensive, and the hash browns were weird - not what I was used to at all. But it was still a nice breakfast with my roommates, writers all, and I got those first cups of oh-so-precious coffee into me that gave me the strength to go across the street and peek around at Penn Station and the accompanying K-Mart with Kellie and ChynaRose. You still have K-Mart in the States. That's so cool. I also got a chance to see Greg Weisman near the London Suite, where I thanked him for indirectly getting Stormy and I together. He told me that he was surprised how many couples get together because of Gargoyles. None of us knew that another one would be entwining during the course of this year's Gathering, of course, but now part of me is wondering if some year a bidding group won't try to sell their Gathering bid on a mass wedding ceremony to be held at the masquerade.
My morning, however, was geared towards the coffee meeting in front of City Perk in the lobby, where Patrick and Allaine and Ellen and I were meeting to discuss the upcoming panel on creating memorable characters. It was a great conversation (with more coffee) and we managed to come up with good discussion points that we hoped wouldn't be given to empty air, since our panel was opposite the TGS discussion. But we actually had a good turnout with lots of interested, interesting people. Not only that, but Ellen, Patrick and Allaine made the panel seem like a discussion among friends, and I think that I had my best time sitting in the London Suite, just talking about writing and characterization with people I admire and others who were as interested and intrigued about creating people as I was. It's things like that panel that make me realize how much I love crafting things with words. Writers really are my favourite people, and spending any amount of time hanging around with them and talking about it is always a treasure.
After that, I stayed in London Suite where I took part in Kathy's "Three Scenarios in Search of a Plot" workshop, where I wrote a scenario that had seems bizarre now but at the time, having Brooklyn crack jokes about beaver dams in bathtubs to a Quarrymen with buck teeth seemed perfectly reasonable. I had a great time here, too - it was a great way to stay sharp, and hey, when am I gonna pass up a chance to scribble stuff? I also met a very nice girl who wrote her scenarios in storyboard form, and she wanted me to have them because she liked my writing. I kept them, and they're in my apartment right now, one of the many souvenirs I kept.
Right after that was the Crossover panel that I was giving with Lynati and Norcumi, and that, again, was excellent fun, though at the start I was surprised to see Princess Alexandria in the room. "I didn't know you wrote crossovers," I said.
"Oh, I don't," she replied. "I just want to hear you say 'aboot' again."
The panel went fine, and after that, I went to soak up conversations with friends, since almost five hours in London Suite was starting to get me itchy for socializing. I went to ConSuite where people were filking songs, and Laine and I played a couple of songs on the tin whistle and bodhran. We are so having a kitchen party next year in Montreal.
The radio play was fun, too - I didn't audition, mostly because I didn't think that my accent would let me score a part, but it was still a treat to watch. Claw stole the show. True artistry.
While we waited for the banquet to start, I went to look around the art room some more, where for a while I got insnaely jealous because I can't draw stick men, but I also got to look at some truly wonderful artwork by some incredibly talented artists. At the banquet I sort of wandered up to Nichelle Nichols and shook her hand as she walked in. She was incredibly gracious, and gave off an air of serenity and patience, though I think part of it was the fact that this, not being a Star Trek convention, meant that people wouldn't come up to her and ask her to page Starfleet over subspace channels "just for them". I sat with Kathy and Wingless and Guandalug and Seth and Duncan, and we enjoyed our meal tremendously (though the Caesar salad was a bit too strong, I found, but hey, if that's all there is to complain about…) Nichelle gave gracious answers to many questions, and the passion and artistry she gave off when talking about stage performances, well holy Jeez. Amazing woman. I was glad I got the chance to eat a lemon meringue tart in the same room as she. And I got more coffee, too.
I didn't get dressed up for the Masquerade, and I sort of regret that - next year, if I can dye my hair blond and my skin green and somehow make wings, I'm going as Bonavista. But there were so many great costumes, and I got to sit and enjoy them with Lynati and Mara and the rest of constaff, who were just a sheer joy to hang around with. Revel as Vinnie was my favourite, I have to admit…there's something about "whoa" that just conveys so much depth and emotion, even more than John Travolta would ever be capable of. Awesome, Revel. The rest of the masquerade seemed to flash by, with the art awards and the souvenir shirts - I got a hoodie, and I wore it all night afterward, I liked it so much. I got Mardi Gras beads from a very nice person dressed as Gruoch, I saw Thom Adcox give the ritual Dropping-of-the-Pants, and later on he made fun of my accent too. I got to have a nice chat with him and Greg, and I found out that Thom had done some work in a tarvelling show across Canada a few years back. He said he's always liked the country. I think he'll enjoy Montreal.
After the masquerade, I stayed for the start of the Rocky Horror showing - I got the letter V written on my forehead with lipstick and I won the contest for all of the Rocky Horror virgins, though again, I think I'll leave that to the imagination. However, I skipped off before the movie started, as I finally got the chance to go out with Ellen Stolfa for a beer and conversation. It took us a while to find a place, and when we did, it was a dive Irish pub just across the street, but it was still wonderful. I like Irish pubs better than most bars anyway - never found one that's steered me wrong yet.
And here was where the magic happened.
Oh, of course that's hyperbole, because it was two friends talking over drinks and occasionally cursing when the Chicago Cubs lost ponts to the Boston Red Sox on the baseball game tuned in on the TV over the bar, but on the other hand, this was what I had come to New York for. Meeting friends. Maybe this will dismay the constaff, who did a wonderful job in the art room and the auction and all the rest, but in the end, the Gathering is, to me, about Gathering with friends, and doing so with a person and friend that I admire so much just seemed to encapsulate the whole experience right there. We talked about Chicago, we talked about classical music. We talked about September 11th and what it had meant to both of us. We talked about writing and we talked about nonsense and it was just so wonderful that I'm babbling about it and I know but I really can't help it. Just a conversation among friends, in the end, but at the same time, it felt more real than any conversation I'd ever had with any of my friends from school in bars or anywhere else. I will treasure that beer and that hour and a half beyond anything else that weekend, which is not to say anything bad about the rest of the Gathering, but that's just the honest truth. Ellen, thank you.
It wasn't over then, of course - we went back to the hotel and had another writing conversation with Mandy Ohlin till well nigh 3 in the morning, and then we ducked down to Mooncat's room and talked with she, Princess Alexandria, Allaine and the Bizz for a while longer. And then I crashed, said my good nights, and went to bed, where I drifted off to sleep feeling more connected with everyone at the Gathering than ever before.

SUNDAY, JUNE 29th

I was sort of dreading this day, because so many of my friends were leaving, but I still managed to have a good time all the same. I went for a walk with Kellie and shared breakfast with her, and then wandered around through the last events of the Gathering. I checked out the auction for a while, and then went to the Team Atlantis panel with Greg. I had no idea what Team Atlantis even was, so I was going in completely cold, but still, seeing the storyboards and hearing the tape of the cast reading of "The Last" was still a great experience. I never was too fussy on Atlantis, to be honest, and hearing Demona invoke a magic spell just before Milo Thatch screams "Jiminy Christmas!!" will never strike me as the most congruent moments of storytelling, but it was still fun.
The closing ceremonies were sad - I didn't want to see the Gathering end, though I did finally get the chance to sit down and talk with a few people I'd missed, like Leo and Flanker and Arno and Robert. I also somehow managed to win the raffle ticket for free registration to next year's Gathering in Montreal, how about that? It's like winning the 50/50 at the hockey rink, only much cooler. I think I will always remember some of the room clapping and cheering when I went up front to have the ticket checked. It was almost as if people were actually happy that I was going to Montreal. Well, good news - I paid twenty bucks anyway and signed up Stormy to come with me, so next year you get to meet us together. Nous penserons que le Gathering 2004 sera tres, tres, bien. If that's wrong, I'm sorry - my French is Acadian, so I plead cultural assimilation. I clapped till my hands were sore, I bought the picture that Revel had drawn of Whitbourne getting Lexington drunk to win at a hand of poker. And then, when I could postpone it no longer, I managed to somehow say farewell to Ellen and Allaine and Kelly and all the others who had to go, and then I set about trying to find a place to stow my swag for the night so that we could stay one more night in Manhattan. And I did, and so a whole crowd of us met in the lobby with Greg Weisman (who looked and acted for all the world like he had not expected his time as a writer for television to lead him to a career as a tour guide-cum-babysitter for straggling Gargoyles fans who threatened to get lost on the subway at every turn.
I went with Mandy Ohlin, and we ended up in a crowd with Princess Alexandria, Mooncat, Leo, Brooklyn Magus and a few others as we took in the sights, both of the subway system and Coney Island. Once I figured out the turnstiles, all was well, and we first stopped at Ground Zero to pay our respects.
This is sort of hard, because I came there with the perspective of someone who knew he was very much the outsider. I've never been to New York, so I've never seen the Twin Towers standing there, and on September 11th all of my news was coming to me through the radio so I didn't see the television signals and pictures that everyone else couldn't stop watching until much later. It's been mostly cleaned up - the site looks like a construction zone, as though something's being built instead of having been cleared away. Yet at the same time, its impossible not to feel the echo of the towers. You can't help but feel, looking at this empty space, that there should be something there, and your eyes are drawn upward in a reflexive motion as you try to imagine how the outlines of the towers looked, how they must have blotted out the sun and dominated the cityscape. And then it hits you, the enormity of what happened here, and you just can't help but feel this slow yet overpowering sadness that just fills you up, right to the brim. People died here, you think. The world changed here. And you feel guilty for lingering, because it is a memorial site, but at the same time, you can't help but tear yourself away.
Part of me wondered if it was appropriate to have a good time at Coney Island after this, but the more I think about it, the more it seems that the only way to fight such sadness is to revel in the simple pleasures of life that come after. So we left Ground Zero behind us to rejoin the world beyond, but at the same time, that place never really leaves you.
When we got to Coney Island, people were clearly in the mood for some fun, so off we went to pay good money for the priviledge of riding vomit-inducing roller coasters and eating greasy midway food, and I miss the place obscenely. It's like a cheesy parody of a midway, and you can tell that its glory days are behind it, but at the same time, it's filled with nothing but pleasure and fun and amusement and it's impossible not to have a good time. We went on the Cyclone twice, and I just about got thrown out of the back seat. Dislocated ribs? Pfft. I went again. We also went on a fruitless quest to find the funhouse from "The Reckoning". I asked Greg which one it was.
"I don't know. Maybe Demona and Fang wrecked it," Greg said. He sounded vaguely bored. "I don't really know which one it was. I didn't have anything to do with the artwork."
So we went to Dante's Inferno, which seemed like it might have been the one. Never, never go into a funhouse where the ticket booth warns you that no refunds will be given. Mooncat and I shared a car and we went through an irritating darkness where plastic witches and vampires jumped out from coffins lit haphazardly with strobe lights. I don't know what was scarier - that a door in the place almost cracked me in the elbow, or that we saw a woman cowering in her boyfriends arms when they got out of the car. Oh well. You can't go to a midway without blowing away money on at least one crappy ride, and hey, it was Coney Island.
We went on the Ferris wheel, we went on the Zipper and almost got concussions from the change falling out of our pockets. We played skee-ball and won tickets that we blew on happy-face mini-frisbees that we all signed, and that disk is still in my souvenirs pile as well. We ate midway food and watched breakdancers who didn't seem to know that the 80's were over. And Wingless threw a water bottle at me; he claims to have been startled by a moth, but really I think he's just violent beneath his pleasant, friendly exterior. And then we went back to the hotel, where I wandered up to ConSuite and watched Cowboy Bebop for a while before surrendering to the lack of sleep and going to bed, my last night in New York City.

MONDAY, JUNE 30th

A detour is not supposed to be that complex a thing, yet somehow, in going out to grab a bagel for breakfast, I ended up on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. I looked at the buildings from up on high, considered myself satisfied, and then went back down. It's the sort of thing that my dad would do, so I did my filial duty by playing tourist.
Monday was spent packing and getting ready to go home. I said my farewells to all of the others, and Wingless and Laine and I began the process of getting the car back and leaving Manhattan.
Cue the ominious Hitchcock music.
I should have figured something was up when the security system on Stormy's car started frigging up, but we eventually got it to work and made it out of Manhattan and into New Jersey. We stopped for lunch and started heading west on I-80, and then we stopped for gas at a dinky little town where the attendant yelled at me for trying to pay with exact change. We got back on the highway and noticed that the radio was buzzing and that the electrical systems were starting to screw up, one by one by one. When the speedometer started reading that we were barrelling down the highway at almost 150 miles an hour (though were were only going 75) I decided to pull off to the side and stop the car.
Well that worked fine. However, the car wouldn't start again, no matter how much I prayed or cursed or begged. We called for help, we got the car onto the shoulder, and I kept trying, but nothing worked. The car was as dead as Demona's chances of winning Homemaker of the Year in Chatelaine magazine.
Of course this wasn't really happening, I told myself. I haven't broken my fiancees car in the middle of New Jersey and not have her CAA card. I haven't stranded us in New Jersey. Any second I'm going to wake up in New York City and find myself lying hungover after that beer on Saturday night.
No such luck. Not only that, but the tow truck we had called apparently thought we were stranded in some other New Jersey, and just wasn't showing up. We tried everything else we could think of - we stood in a line at the side of the road and tried to look pitiful, and Wingless even took out his white cane to appeal to the heartstrings. We were having crazed images of people finally stopping for us on the road and asking if we'd broken down. "Oh, that's too bad," we imagined them saying, and then we'd picture them digging into a paper bag that they'd keep for just such an occasion. "Here, have a cookie," they'd say, and then drive off. This didn't happen, though we'd laugh hopelessly about it for the rest of the night.
Eventually a New Jersey state trooper pulled up and called another tow truck, driven by a guy who looked for all the world like an extra from "The Sopranos". The mechanic promptly loooked at the car an announced that we'd need a new alternator. We somehow managed to squeeze four of us into a three person cab - after I saw him drag the car onto his flatbed so that the tailpipe scraped the asphalt and gave off sparks, of course - and then he drove us to his repair shop in Kenvil, New Jersey.
"New alternator, and a new battery," said the mechanic, half an hour later, after Laine and I had spent ten dehydrated minutes in a battle of wits with an insolent pop machine. "I could fix it in about a half hour, but I'm not going to. See, my five-year-old son's first baseball game is tonight and I can't miss that. You'd be better off getting a motel and staying the night. I'll get to it in the morning."
They did drive us to a nearby motel, though - I have nothing but good things to say about that mechanic, I just wish we'd never met them - where I found out that the cell phone would only make emergency calls outside of Ontario and then had to use my phone card to call Stormy, her parents, and then Wingless' parents to tell them what had happened. We got yelled at by the motel owner who wanted to see my drivers license even though we got the room in Wingless' name, and then we went in to find the fragrant odour of mildew and moist linen. A real catswinger of a motel, as Laine said, but we were just grateful to be off the highway. So we tried to make ourselves at home. We walked to town for supper, to a mom-and-pop Italian place where the panzarotti was made with cottage cheese instead of mozzarella, and then to a grocery store to get a phone card to replace the one I'd used up. The first store had no phone cards; the second did, along with a very nice lady who deduced that we were from out of town and said that she hoped we enjoyed our stay in Kenvil. I felt a shiver go down my spine, knoiwng of countless horror movies that began in exactly that way.
We went back to the hotel, where I tried to phone Stormy again, just to reconnect and talk to her, since at that point I knew that God clearly hated me and wanted to talk with her. However, in New Jersey, phone cards require payment of five cents a minute…which I only found out after leaving my change in the motel room. Our first conversation went something like this: "Hi, Mary, I really miss you. We're all okay, but I wish you were here. I love you very much what the hell do you mean I need to put in a nickel? I'm using a phone card! Oh, for @#(^!…" followed by disconnection.
I remember thinking that every god in every pantheon clearly hated my guts.
Eventually I did find enough change and Stormy and I had a long conversation where I told her about the Gathering and we talked some mushy stuff too, interrupted by the constant swatting of mosquitoes and the annoyed grunting of another guy who wanted to use the phone. Once I hung up, I went to the motel room, and Laine, Wingless and I stayed up for hours watching cartoons and laughing like morons at the situation. The bathroom leaked, right over the toilet, and poor Wingless just about killed himself in the shower when he tried to grab onto the curtain rod and it slipped. It was a dive, and we knew it, but at the same time, we couldn't deny it was an adventure. We all thought that whatever was jinxing us might end by midnight, so when we finally turned in, we of cousre stayed awake laughing some more until midnight came. When Wingless checked his glow-in-the-dark alarm clock, the light startled me on the other side of the room and I screamed and almost jumped out of the bed.
We were supposed to have been home by now. Looking back on it I'm glad it happened - we were among friends and we did have a reluctantly good time, and Laine and I are even considering telling the tale in comic form. I just wish that it had been on purpose.

TUESDAY, JULY 1st

There was a perverse coolness to waking up on Canada Day in the States, though I didn't want to risk it by wishing people a happy Canada Day when I went out for my morning coffee. For all I knew, the jinx wasn't over and I'd run into someone who was mad about Canada's stand on the war in Iraq and decide that yesterday deserved some sort of cap-off to make it even more wonderful. This isn't a comment on Americans, or the war - after a day like Monday, you just don't want to take chances. I was still mildly amazed that we hadn't been hit by an asteroid while we slept. But the jinx did end at midnight - the car was ready and in fine condition by 9:30, and we were soon on the road again, making the aborted trip home and getting out of New Jersey as fast as we possibly could.
And for the most part, the trip home was uneventful that day, almost identical to the way to New York only without getting lost in Scranton. We had lunch near Binghamton and then drove right through to the border, where we were caught in a hellish line. We were wondering if our ease in crossing into the States would be countered by hell getting back into Canada, but that wasn't the case. Apparently, when you enter Canada on Canada day you get a fridge magnet and a pin, both with the Canadian flag on it. Government-sponsored feel-good half-hearted patriotism. Welcome home to Canada. I've never been so happy to cross an arbitrary line in my life. And when we stopped on the 401 and got coffee and donuts from Tim Hortons, well…like I've said, there's nothing like Tim's to remind you that you're actually honest-to-God home. They had Canadian flags everywhere and I got a Canadian maple donut and I sang O Canada on the way back to the car. I'm not usually that obnoxious about it, but Tuesday was already making up for Monday quite nicely, and on our national holiday, besides. Poor Wingless couldn't get what he wanted, though - the iced cappuccino machine was broken. I almost bought him a cookie in honour of the day before, but he settled for something else.
And the rest is straightforward enough - we drove Laine to the bus station and said our farewells, and then I took Wingless home. After I got shanghaied into pizza by his ever-bounteous parents, I went home to Kingston and back to the real world.
I miss the Gathering; I wish time passed there like on Avalon, so that every hour would have the joy and wonder of a full day. But I still had a wonderful time, and I'll be back again next year (nowhere near Kenvil and with no worries of alternators, because damnit, we're taking the train) ready to do it all over again. I can't wait to see everyone again. A la prochaine fois.

Greg responds...

Yeah, but... you had to LIE to your parents about coming to the Gathering?

What? Are we not wholesome enough?

Response recorded on February 11, 2005

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Audra writes...

Hello Greg,
I have Gargoyles The Movie, and I love the VCR Board Game that goes with it. It is really fun to play! Was it your idea to include that with the movie? Well anyways it was a good idea and I want to play it with my friends tomorrow! (I lost it for a while but then my sister found it today!) I am always turning my friends into Gargoyle fans, I show it to all my friends, because it's such a wonderful show! That would be cool if the Gargoyles DVD coming out next year would have something like that! But even if it doesn't, I'll be happy just with the episodes on DVD. But it would be neat if it had some bonus features! Do you think there would be bonus features? I can't wait for the DVD!

Thanks Greg!!!

Greg responds...

The game was not my idea. Credit for that goes to Gordon Ho's team at BVHE.

The DVD (still available as we speak) of the first season did have a few bonuses. It has a commentary track on the first five episodes featuring myself, producer Frank Paur and actor Keith (Goliath) David.

There is also a mini-documentary shot at last summer's Gathering of the Gargoyles, our annual convention. The doc has interviews with myself, Keith and many, many fans.

Finally, there's the original pitch that sold the series.

Response recorded on February 10, 2005

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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.

Greg responds...

Whoo! It took me two days to read this one. But it was worth it. Big rush of memories...

Response recorded on February 10, 2005

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Vinnie writes...

What did the Gargoyles do to the Pack's helicopter after "Her Brother's Keeper? When I went through the archives the only thing that I could find was that it was not popular or something.

Greg responds...

Perhaps they buried it. Or just left it at Xanatopia.

Response recorded on February 09, 2005


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