HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAWK! Have a good 23rd. ^_^ Youwork real hard, and we all appreciate it more than you know.^_^

Alright, here we go!

Friday

On Friday, Hawk, Mohammad and I arrived a littlebefore noon. We had planned to be there earlier, but Hawk couldn’tmiss a class because of a quiz. When we got there we met Joyand Jay in the lobby, and subsequently raninto Dave (ParadoxLost) and Nico. I swipeda hotel key from Dave and ran upstairs to drop off my stuff,where I got to say hey to Nami and Jekka (Seraphic Blue) - they were staying next door.We also got to meet Dave’s friend Scott, who, later in theweekend, became the official Applegeeks Assassin. I’m working ongetting some pictures - Hawk’s camera erased most of our pictures forsome reason. >_
We went down to the artist’s alley afterwards toset up our table, and down there we ran into Mookie ofDominic Deegan. Later in the day, in no particularorder, we hooked up with Ellen, Katy, Suds, and Scott ofVGCats. Toour right was Dave, and to our left was Orderof the Stick, who I didn’t really get to talk tomuch, but seemed like very friendly people.

We got added to the “Webcomics for n00bs” panel atthe last minute on Friday, and it was fun. Lots of funny stories,and informative too!

Our Photoshop Panel was from 5-6 PM on Friday, andwe think it went pretty well. It took you through the sketch,scanning, inking, and doing the colors. We tried toemphasize things that increase efficiency, like hotkeys. Oh, and Isurprised Hawk with a new desktop when he started up his laptop for thepresentation. That was fun … for me.

Emily came by on Friday too! It’d been a few weekssince we’d seen each other, so after the panel she and I spent alittle time together and caught up on each others’ lives.She’s an adult now, and I’m very proud of her. ^_^ We also exploredthe underground fortress that is the shopping complex attached tothe Marriot Crystal Gateway and the Metro. Mohammad gave her aride home Friday night, so it was just me and Hawk for therest of the weekend.

Rest of the night was just hanging out withpeople, so I’ll move on to Saturday.

Saturday

Saturday morning, the first thing I did was go tothe Women in Comics panel. It was one of my favorite panels ofthe weekend! Among those on it were Jekka and Nami, KatieBair of NHS, Onezumi,Jes ofMacHall, KaraDennison of Conscrew, and Kristy, who currently doessome work for Slave Labor graphics. Ifyou listen to these women talk, you’ll get a very different viewof the comics industry (not all bad, but a lot of their storiesmade me wince). Miz Bair related stories of interviewers whoseeyes never strayed above chest level for the whole interview. (So, ona sidenote, guys, we ought to recognize talent for talent.Girls are hot, but that really has no bearing on whether or notthey’re skilled artists and writers. Professionals should act likeprofessionals … ) On the upside, none of the panelists letgender-biased discouragement stop them, and they’re all terriblysuccessful and more importantly, determined. Rock on. ^_^

On yet another sidenote, I didn’t get a chance tochat with Katie Bair, but Dave tells me she had a ratherhorrendous weekend. Going through her art gallery, it’s clear she’shard-working, and a very talented artist, so showher some love.

Later in the day, we went to the general webcomicspanel. There were a lot of people up front - I’m guessinganywhere between 20 and 30 panelists. For the most part we heard from Rob Balderof Partially Clips (who incidentally has the most fantasticcostume of the MS Word Paperclip Helper from Hell) and a fewothers. I can’t remember everyone who was up there, but people whohaven’t been mentioned elsewhere in this rant include BarbFischer and Chris Impink of Fragile Gravity, Matt ofDominion, and Trish ofNovablade Studios (I just looked through her art, and it isbadass). If I’m forgetting someone, I’m sorry >_
I got to see the Iron Artist’s competition for thefirst time! (Yeah, I know, I’m way behind the times … ) Onthe challenging team was my friend Joy, who is also a badassartist. In the end the Iron Artists won, though - both of the IronArtists were really good, but Fred Perry is a level 99 artist.He cranks that shit out. Saturday night I hooked up with the FNoP, my highschool crew. Nick, Marcus, Archer, Charles, and Ryan werethere. We just sort of hopped from room to room meeting people andsaying hello to some old faces for a few hours. Charleswas pushing his site, found at Newchallenger.net.It’s a website revolving around video games, mostly 2D fighters,but pretty much anything is welcome. He also lists tournaments andcons where gaming and competition is available, as well assuperplay videos, combo videos, and general tips. It’s an awesomeplace for anyone interested in video games. I spoke to Charles awhile ago, and he expressed an interest and enthusiasm in revivingthe arcade subculture, and that’s something that intriguesme. The arcade scene in the DC area is pretty weak, so he’s beentrying to rally the gamers and bring them together … and it’sworking. Charles can’t go in the general area of an arcadewithout getting high-fives and props from every second person thatsees him - they see what he’s trying to do, and they like it. Checkout his site and show him the love!

Sunday

Sunday was pretty non-descript … it was mostly aday for winding down and relaxing. We left around 6, and that waspretty much that. Also, this report is way too long. Just afew things left to mention,

Nami: I’m going to bring you sand muffins at thenext convention … STAND READY

Scott, you would make a tight ninja assassinhitman. I mean that in the most positive waypossible!

Bill and April, thank you SO MUCH for letting usroom with you guys! You’re wonderful people, and I hope to catchyou guys at the next convention. ^_^ Haha, and Bill, that KatamariDamacy costume kicked some major ass.

Also, Pocky and Barb! Dear Lord! You guys areAWESOME! There is not a measuring instrument powerful enough toaccurately gauge the decibels at which you guys rock. Thank you for allthe hard work, and thanks for making this con a good one!

And finally, thanks to you guys, the readers, andeveryone who came by our table! You guys make us terriblyhappy. ^_^

Oh, Jekka somehow snapped a rare picture of me, soI’m posting it for no reason other than purenarcissism:

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