Dragon Con/Alabama Thoughts

[Miranda Tarkin]

So I figured I start a new thread about everyone's experience :D I kinda want to do it while this amazing event is still fresh in my mind and the haze of the alcohol is wearing off. Please feel free to post... I am going to do my thoughts in blocks of which day ... I am sure the pictures will fill in, as well as the attendees, any blanks ;)

Thursday Sept 3 2009

Waiting at Chicago O'hare International Airport, when a frazzled looking woman comes to my terminal with bloodshot, and wide, eyes going 'Yes! I made it!' and then proceeds to sit down

I should have realized that was Liz at first XD However, that was easily rectified when we sat down next to each other on the plane ^_^ 2 hours went poof as we listened to the Office on the monitor.

Then we were picked up by Chris in his Saaburu! ^_^ Vrrroooommmm

Of course when we arrived at the Red Roof Inn, it was magically transformed into a MOTEL 6 >_> yeah... least they still had the reservation! We couldn't check in right away, much to a despondent, and sore, Liz. So we ate mall food. Nom.... O_o

Eventually we were able to check in and then Chris and I went to procure the Mandi and the Jen! :partyhard

More mall food Nom happened and then the dreaded 2 hour wait to get our passes for the Con commenced. It sucked. It sucked so hard that the volunteers were trying to get us out of line to give blood XD What it felt like... in line we met up with Josh (Karl :p), Brian, Christin, Charley and the quiet Holly :p

I kept trying to coordinate meeting up with Calista, Chrys, D'kor and Emelie but EPIC FAIL! That group said fuck that line and went drinking :lol

Course we all met for Chicken and Waffles later that night IIRC! That was a fun walk down the scary street. Yay for the herd of nerds for protection!

Ah ... a crazy day to begin with :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

Great thread idea :) I am still trying to process everything that happened. It was such a crazy/awesome time which felt so long (in a good way) whilst it was going on but flew past way too quickly when it was coming to the end of our time in Alabama.

[Miranda Tarkin]

Friday Sept 4th 2009

The day is a bit of a blur because I was overwhelmed with just how big the Con is. Four hotels and I really don't think there was a cap on the amount of attendees so it was just wall to wall.... nerds! Well, no. There were people of all kinds there to celebrate just how awesome and diverse the sci-fi/fantasy genre is :) It was amazing to see so many different kinds of sub-cultures showing off their love.

We went to a Star Wars meet and greet. It was basically the different groups, like the 501st and Rebel Legion etc... themed groups meeting and saying hello! It was the intro to the Star Wars track of panels at the Con. It was cool. There is a group of tech guys that make droids!

And Timothy Zahn was there :o It was funny! One of the leaders for the 501st was like, oh and btw - there is the first honorary inductee! All of us were like O_O He was very cool and we have pictures with him. Charley gave him our site. Who knows if he'll ever lurk :mischief

We looked around the dealers area mostly but then I honestly can't remember what happened after that except meeting up with Dee, Jen, Chris and Sarah at the liquor store about, what was it, 5pm? Bought a nice amount of liquor and went to the Hilton for antics :D I ended up not feeling so well and had to stay behind for the Metro that night, but I had a Jen to watch over me :love

As for the antics, geesh, that should be a thread by itself! :lol

[Morgan Evanar]

My journey started on September 1st. It was 4:30 PM and I was in the middle of Ft. Lauderdale for my follow up eye exam. I have laser eyes, hey! I trekked over to Tampa to spend the night with the girlfriend, yadda yadda yadda. We got up and had breakfast together. I headed for Alpharetta, which is slightly northeast of Atlanta. I wanted to see my grandparents for the evening and grab a free place to sleep.

Thursday Sept 3 2009
My rest was slightly fitful. I was, truthfully, a little nervous about meeting those of you I hadn't met yet. Charley and Christin were no worry, so if things went sour, I had some rocks to hide on. I eventually got to sleep. Dani sent me a text at 5:15 which was a little frustrating. I had finally gotten some sleep in, but it was important to know that her flight was running on time. I zogged out for another hour and change.

My grandparents are in their mid 80s and used to sleeping about half the day, so I semi-snuck out to leave them be. Atlanta's morning rush hour is pretty bad, and I was dead in the middle of it. Dani called me to let me know she was on the ground, and that she had found a Liz. I told them I was uncertain of how long it would be. Once I got to the airport (just on time) I missed the return loop and had to work my way back to I85. The weather was dreary with a light drizzle but the air temperature was about perfect, unless you are Liz. Liz was freezing. We headed for the hotel, which I missed the first time, because I did not know it had changed from a Red Roof to a Motel 6. Crap! We wasted about 15 minutes looking for it, and also stopping at a empty place to ask directions. Liz's phone to the rescue! Liz had full internet on her phone, so was google mapped our way to glorious... not so glorious bed. I was informed the room was only to accomodate 2 due to fire rules. We all looked at each other, nodded our heads and I had my card charged. We piled into the stuffy, mildewed elevator and dumped our bags into the room.

[Verse Dawnstrider]

Fri: Sept 4.

I am at the Hilton. The Sword and Laser podcast. Having a chat with Timothy Zahn before teh shwo starts. He just sits down and me and him just talk about random stuff. The con. Food. random things.

I am checking out the host Veronica Belmont. Pretty hot and starting to chug beers while she is podcasting. Phone vibrates and I step outside.

Jen calling to get ket me know where everyone is. Turns out I am chilling at the Hotel the party is at. Me and the wife head upstair to find a bunch of SW-Fans people drinking in largeish amounts.

Do the introduction have a few drinks and head out because I have to take the Metro to get back to my hotel. Me a nice older man on teh train that wants to know if I have Jesus in my life. I try to move away, but he follows and informs me I can't run from the lord.

Ah. The Metro at 12:30 in the morining.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Thurs 3rd Sept

We left the house at 3am. My first flight was at 6am, which took me forward in time to Amsterdam, and then after a 1h30min wait, I got on the 9h30min flight to Atlanta. Joyyyyyyy. I couldn't sleep at all on the flight - not from anxiety, which I didn't really have much of oddly, but because I was on an aisle seat.

After going through some grueling questioning at customs (Why are you here? Do you have a job? What does your job have to do with this trip? Who are you meeting? You never met them before but you trust them?) - I was picked up by a Chris, Dani and Mandy. Right from the beginning I felt comfortable with those guys, like we had known each other.. oh, for 10 years :lol That theme just continued for the whole of the trip really. It wasn't like meeting new people at all :)

[Mandy with an I]

Once I get less scatter-brained and unpacked, I'll try to add a post or two.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Thurs Sept 3.

I had to wake up at 3 am...not a pretty sight. Going to LAX was a bit nerve wracking since I've never flown by myself before and I remember trying to check in to the automated system but I was accidentally over near the first-class check in area. Yeahhh.... Eventually found where I needed to be and then proceeded to wait in a giant line for security that moved realllyyyyyy slowly. I had to end up running to my terminal and was like the last person to board. >_<

Flight itself was okay, I slept the first hour, played some games on the back of the chair (each had their own screen) and basically just zoned out. Plane landed and I instantly met up with Jen/Callista at the baggage check which was awesome...more awesome was the fact that Chris/D'Kor was there too :D So the three of us shared a cab ride to the Hilton where we met up with Dee/Chrys (now you can see where the name confusions begin) and we got to check into our swanky place almost immediately.

So we sat around and BSed for a little before we went ":| Bar!" and went downstairs and overpaid for drinks. Like...really over paid. Shortly after that we all went back upstairs and got our pink cards for our badges and attempted to meet up with the others to get our badges. Seeing the obscene line that awaited us there was another general consensus of "eff this...we go back to the bar" so we found the other, slightly cheaper, bar in the Hilton and had a few there and finally everyone else had their badges and people wanted dinner so off we went to get some chicken and waffles. Which...was surprisingly amazing. This was the first time all us mad people were together and it was a little intimidating and awesome all in the same moment.

Think after that we all pretty much just headed back to our hotels and crashed out for the night. The sleeping arrangements in the Hilton were awesome... Jen got one bed, Dee got the other, Chris had his spot near the door and I had a pile of comforters and such on the floor in front of the tv. The real madness didn't start until the next day :D

[Miranda Tarkin]

Saturday Sept. 5th 2009

I woke up to the sounds of bagpipes and Jen missing! :o I figured, oh yeah, PARADE! I still went back to sleep! I was so tired!

I know we wandered around the Hotels a bit, but I was taken to a lovely panel by Callista about THE GUILD! Felicia Day :love I enjoyed the webseries greatly about a bunch of over the top online gamers. She was also there in person and loved the group of people that showed up at the panel dressed as the Guild characters as ... their characters!

I know Holly posted this earlier but:

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it deserves repeat!

Then there were fishies! Lots of pictures are about during that escapade. Jen and Sarah were enamored with the 'Jedi Juice', and I found it fun hunched over trying to crawl through the spaces that children normally do to look at fishes with Josh. He even got a picture taken down there in his Dr. Horrible costume XD

Best costumes I saw where of Sleeping Beauty and the three fairies AND Prince Phillip with Briar Rose. I had to do a double take because I was like.... whataminute! But I was surrounded by Sleepy Beauty stuff so I was all giddy.

Jen and I called it early and walked back to the Hilton where we found a Chris! He was talking to Doc Hammer and Jackson Public, the Venture Brothers creators, which was awesome! We helped them to find the panel that they wanted to attend, which was ironically, in the same room that their very own panel was hours prior XD.

When they left, Chris was able to take a shower with Jen's blessing :p (Poor guy had a rough day >_> Atlanta did not like him when he drove). And we hung out for a bit until we crashed back at the Motel.

[Karl Valten]

Saturday September 5th 2009

Step one: Drink a lot with a bunch of crazy people

Step two: Go to the diner really late/early (which ever it was)

Step three: Ditch my ride back to my hotel

Step four: Miss the train back to my hotel

Step five: 2 am or so-ish. Pass out on the floor of a hotel room that is definitely not my own.

Step six: Get stepped on by Liz at 5 am as she is mumbling something about getting a coke. Gave her a dollar bill and passed out on the floor again.

Step seven: Twenty-minutes later. Get stepped on by Liz again on her way back in with an arm-full of water and coke bottles. Wondered if it was really a one dollar bill I gave her. Passed out again with the issue unresolved.

Step eight: Almost get stepped on by Jenny saying "I'll be right back." Passed out again.

Step nine: Semi-concious by 11 am

Step ten: At con, did a lot of stuff with a bunch of random people. Think I ran into Sam and hung out with him most of the time. Dr. Horrible costume was getting uncomfortable so I took it off.

Step eleven: Had to search an hour for a kinkos and a mile because I had left my Aquarium pass at my actual hotel.

Step twelve: Actually made it to the Aquarium before almost everyone else. Yay fish! Put the Dr. Horrible costume back on.

Step thirteen: No idea from here on, but I did end up at my own hotel.......I think.........

[Dasquian Belargic]

Unpacking is pretty much the least appealing thing ever right now.