September 21st - September 23rd 2001	Return

Well, ever since I've known the members of Fujikoma, I've known what AWA was. It was a convention that everyone raved about. I remember when Shin came back from AWA 5. We were in eleventh grade, and even though I really had no interest at the time in conventions and the like, it souded very cool. My interest was even more peaked my Senior year when even more people went to AWA 6, and came back with even more stories. I decided then and there, with Babs, that we would attend AWA 7, just to see what the guys were raving about. In fact, that very decision there is what started me getting into the wonderful world of Otaku.     I can only say one thing about AWA 7, I was dissappointed. Thank god it was not my first convention, and therefore I have not been scarred. I had expected endless parties, an awesome dealers room, and showings of animes you could only dream of getting in America. I guess I expected way too much. The only saving grace of AWA was the fact that I got to meet nearly everyone I talk to online, and even a few quasi-celebrities. I am not saying that AWA was the worst time of my life, but the convention itself was lacking, to say the least. Thursday     Well, I was very excited to be going to AWA. After AFO, I was really looking forward to another fun convention. I was practically packed Wednesday night. I couldn't afford to do any new cosplays this time around, and my only real big cosplay, Dota, is dying. I can't wear the dress anymore, and it is really uncomfortable to wear, so I decided not to bring it. As for my Asuka costume, I'm so upset with the inaccuracy of that, that I don't think I'll be wearing it again. A quick solution to my cosplay problem was a last minute Sana-Chan costume, so that's what I did. I tried sewing a heart onto a white shirt myself, but it looked like crap, so Babs helped me finish a new one on Thursday night. We really didn't do much Thursday but prepare. I spent the night at Barbara's house, and even though we layed down at midnight, I didn't fall asleep until 2:30 am. That wasn't very helpful, because we had to wake up at 4:00 am. Friday     I woke up Friday morning with only one and half hours of sleep, and I wasn't even tired! I guess it was mixture of excitement and sleep deprivation. Not only had the con gotten me excited, but Friday was also my eighteenth birthday! Babs woke up, and gave me my first present of the day, a dream book. I am really into dream interpretation, so I was happy to have such a cool gift. Thanks girl! ^_^ Then, we called up Shin to wake him up, but I couldn't tell if he was already up or not. After a quick "happy birthday" from Shin, I got in the shower, and then finished getting ready. I put on a shirt that said "Guess what?!?! Today's my birthday!" Tehe....just a little reminder for everyone.     Around 5:15, Shin called saying he was on his way. No problem for me, I was so ready! As soon as he showed up, we packed up the car, and headed to Loki/Locky's house. Once we got there, we had to wait quite a bit for Lindsay to show up, so we could go. There was some DDR to pass the time, that was fun. Also, Lee, Locky's roommate asked me if I could cut his wig for him. I was all for it! I love messing with wigs! Hopefully one day I'll get really good. Finally Lindsay showed up, and we headed out. On my way to the car, my mom called me and wished me a happy birthday and begged me to be careful. Of course Mommy! Looking back, I shoulda passed the phone to Shin so she coulda yelled at him. Hehehe.     Soon we were on the road, but before we were even out of Orange Park, we had lost Lindsay. AHHHH! We got her back, and managed to get all the way to Macclenny, but then we lost another member of our party, James, right after we ate breakfast. I was also in somewhat of a pissy mood because I had tried to buy a lotto ticket to commemorate my 18th birthday, only to have to gas station attendent tell me I was too young. I was so mad, and Shin was pissed off too, so the ride was looking to be unpleasent....thank God it didn't stay that way.     The ride was long, and I cheered up. I tried again at a gas station in Georgia, only to be told I could buy ciggarettes, but not a lotto ticket. I got pissed again, and I was not a happy camper. I think I was really starting to piss everyone off. So, finally, I realized this, and cooled myself down. Once we got to the hotel, set our stuff down, and went to register, I was feeling a lot better. We got into the dealers room, and I had my original mission: Anything Para Para. Well, I couldn't find anything, but I did manage to find volume 2 of Peach Girl, a manga I've been wanting to read. Then my mission changed: find volume 1. But, alas, no luck. I did manage to find a hammer to use with my Sana Chan outfit, but not much else. Disappointed, we decided to go back to the hotel room and put our stuff down.     After we put our stuff in the hotel room, we decided to don ourselves in wigs, Babs in her burgandy one, and I in my purple one. Pixie called my cell phone then and told me to come to the AMV room, because she had found Kate, Bobbette, and Nato. So, we went to the room. We found them quite easily, and then we sat down to watch some of the videos. There was a very nice one which used Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Eva. It fit quite well, not to mention I love the song. I was singing along to it, and so were Kate, Bobbette and Nato. I was kinda happy for that. It's always nice to meet people who love good rock.     After a few more AMV's, Kate drug us up to her room so she could give me my birthday present. ::blush:: I got some really cute Japanese food. A nifty Pokemon cupcake and some cutsie Chibi soup. WAI! So cute, I dunn0 if I can actually eat it. We went back downstairs, where we met up with Shin, and then got to meet Maryssa. She was awesome, even though the poor thing had a cold. We all decided to chill for a bit on the upper level of the hotel. There, we could look directly down to the registration table. We also saw some nifty cosplayers. I saw Lindze! I had been posting on her MB for over a month now, and couldn't wait to meet her! We said "hi" to her, and she waved. She was wearing her awesome PSO costume. She came upstairs to see us, and we all had fun just talking. We went through Shin's artbook, looking at some of his killer CG's. Then, while everyone was just relaxing, Shin asked me to come over to the couch with him for a minute. There, he gave me my birthday present from him, an awesome Kite t-shirt! WAI!!!!! I was so happy, I glomped him right there on the couch. After I finished raping Shin, we decided we were hungry. So, we all chose to go to Ruby Tuesday's, a resteraunt across the street from the hotel.     A few people had to change and whatnot, so we all decided to meet up in the hotel lobby in 20 minutes. While we were waiting for everyone, we met up with Tim, a really nifty artist. He had promised to tackle, sketch and massage me for my birthday, so I got the tackle there. That was pretty fun. Then, Bobbette gave me my birthday present, but I couldn't open it until we got to the resteraunt. I was a bit scared of the contents, but I was having too good of a day to let it get to me. While we were waiting to meet up with everyone else, we saw a ninja looking down at us from the second floor balcolny. That was awesome. We never did see that ninja again...::sigh;:     Once everyone met up, we all began to trek to the resteraunt. Shin went in a different direction to go get his car. I asked where he was going, and he said he needed to find a grocery store so he could get himself some toothpaste and a toothbrush. ( New con tradition: Shin always forgets his toothpaste!) I told him I needed to get a few things too, so I wanted to go, but he gave me some excuse about him wanting to go alone. I just kinda shrugged it off. I didn't want to ruin my good day. So, we put our name on the list, and then sat outside the resteraunt to wait. I opened my gift from Bobbette. It was a buch of cool fabric scraps and whatnot from the fabric store she works at! I thought it was awesome. I can actually use some of it. I felt kinda bad though, because her birthday was a week before mine, and I had nothing to give her....     Our name was called a lot quicker than we thought it would have been. I was getting a bit worried cuz Shin wasn't back yet, but I was too hungry to worry too much. We sat down at our rather large table, and began perusing the menus. Ah, I was so famished. Pixie tried to get the waitress to bring me complimentary birthday cake, but, thankfully, Ruby Tueday's doesn't do that. We ordered our food, and I got a salad with mine to help feed my hunger faster. When I sat back down after preparing my salad, Babs told me Shin had called saying he wouldn't be coming to dinner. I was a bit upset, but I figured he had just grabbed a burger cuz he wanted to save his money for batteries for his camera. I ate my salad, and then, just as I was finishing it, Shin showed up with a cake! Awww! It was made out for Bobbette (Meghan) Mappy and I. Mappy wasn't there, but everyone sang to Meghan and I. I was so surprised! Our waitress put our cake in the fridge, and then handed Shin a menu. I was so happy! Great joke you guys....tehe.     After dinner, we went to go hang out in the lobby with everyone. On the way there, I met Ichi! Wai! He is so cool! we only talked with him for a bit before we headed over to the Sheraton. It was around ten, and the freaking con was pretty much closed down except for some Yaoi. So, in the lobby, we hung out, talked, and joked around. Dogbert showed up about then, and he had a Pen-Pen plushie! I got a picture with that! Tehe....Shin showed his artwork to a few of the other cosplayers running around. (Boy, does he love attention...) Somewhere in there, Kate, Meghan, Nato, Shin, and Babs all played dominoes. I watched and got groped by Kate. I was really tired at that time, so I don't remember much. I also got my massage from Tim, which didn't help much with my energy level. I was tired, but I still had to cut Lee's wig, so I grabbed him, and we went to the room. There, I did a botch up job on the wig. Hm...I coulda done so much better at full energy level. Then, even though I was ready to pass out, I went back down to the con, with Lee who had changed into his Android 17 outfit. Even tho the wig wasn't perfect, he looked great, and he liked the wig, so I can't say much. I was ready to die, I was so tired. I found Babs, and after I napped on a couch in the lobby for a bit, we went back up to the room, so that I could sleep. Saturday     Saturday morning I felt much better. I had gotten a decent night's sleep due to the fact that the room wasn't that crowded, and only Shin, Babs and I were in the bed together. We got up around eight, much to the disappointment of our other roomates, and went downstairs to our hotel lobby for some yummy continental breakfast. After that, we went back up to the room, and began to get ready. We all showered, and then I put on my last minute ghetto Sana-chan costume. I looked pretty decent. Shin wanted to get in his Puchiko outfit, but first he had to shave, and since he had forgotten his electric razor at home, he had to borrow Lee's manual. Only thing is, Shin doesn't know how to use one. So, I shaved him instead, tho, I had never shaved a guy's face before. I think I did a pretty decent job, tho, the little stubble hairs were the worst!     Once we were in costume, we headed out to the con. I hit the dealer's room again trying to find Peach Girl number one. Babs headed off to a kimono work shop, while Shin and I stayed in the dealer's room. I ended up getting a dejiko plushie, and some pocky. I was only in costume for a good hour, cuz no one recognized me! I got fed up and changed. I tried to wear Shin's Mamimi costume, but that thing is unbearable, so I just threw on my Megatokyo shirt and a pair of jeans. Babs and I walked around with my video camera, filiming the con and stuff. I might like to add that I got more compliments on my MT shirt than my costumes....erg! I met Alisa-chan while I was in the dealer's room. She is really nice! We didn't talk much, but, then again, it's always weird to meet someone from online for the first time, especially when you never really talk to them. Then we ran upstairs to the artist's ally. Mr. Tim drew me a very gorgeous sketch of me as a catgirl. Too Cute! After that, I walked around a bit more, then went up to the game room. Ugh, DDR in there was so sad. I miss the nice little game room at AFO....Well, I nearly cussed out a stupid fanboy in there who was complaining about how hard dynamite rave was on trick. Now, I cannot even do Dam Darium on trick, but the reason I wanted to hit this asshole was his complaing was cuz he had only been playing DDR for two days! Fucking idiot! Anyway, I got fed up in there, and then said something mean to Babs, and then she got pissed at me....arg! I followed her and tried to apologize, and she accepted, but she just needed some time alone. I don't blame her, I was even annoying myself.     So, I decided to go annoy Shin! I ran into him, and then with Bobbette, Kate, and Nato, we went and watched the AMV's. There were quite a few decent ones, but the whole thing got really boring after and hour. Eventually everyone hooked up and we took some good group photos. After that, everyone was itching to watch Battle Royale! Awesome freaking movie! But, first, we did some renegade Para Para in the hotel lobby. We freaking took over the TV! It was awesome. I, of course, sucked at PPP, but there were a few really good ones. The two best had to be Maryssa and Carolina. And of course, I cannot leave out Jenny's incredibly funny butt routine. It was so awesome! Haha! Somehow, despite my total suckiness at PPP, I ended up in first place. Probably cuz I was worrying more about hitting the arrows than doing the routine. Maryssa, no matter what you say, you were the best that night.     After PPP, BR started. Everyone in our group gathered around to watch, while many other con people came and went, watching bits and pieces of the crazy movie. Sorry folks, but you have to watch the whole thing! It's worth it, believe me. I didn't get to the end, tho, cuz Shin was feeling bad. I went up to the hotel room with him and gave him a backrub, then headed back down to the "Stand." It was not a dance at all. I hear that about a half an hour after I left, the Dance picked up. Damn am I impatient. Well, nothing was happening at the con, and I was getting bored quite quickly, along with tired. So, I went up to the hotel room and went to sleep. It was only about midnight, and I missed a lot of cool stuff. If only I had had the patience to stay up for another half an hour....-_-. Sunday     Sunday morning, I again woke up around eight. Pixie was quite pissed at Shin, Babs, and I for doing that, but hey, I didn't tell her to stay up til four. Again, we got a yummy continental breakfast, and then, I got a whiff of what real fanboys are. On the way to sitting down to eat, I passed a group of guys who smelled as if they hadn't showered in weeks! Ugh! Man, and I thought the guys were exaggerating when they said fanboys stunk.....eeeeewwwww. Well, after that, we went back up to the room, showered, and then packed up our stuff. We loaded up the car, then went back up the room, where Chris drew Scott's infamous "AWA7 sucked" T-shirt. We headed over to the dealer's room, half expecting Scott to be booted from the con, but no one even really paid much attention! (I need to add here that Scott got his con badge from the corkboard over by the registration table. Hehe....lucky SOB.) We even ran into Dave what's-his-name, the freakin president of AWA, and Scott said "We're Fujikoma," and Dave said "Thanks for coming." EH?! Oh well, it was funny nontheless.     After that, we ran around the hotel saying our goodbyes. After a crazy elevator ride, I ended up on the bottom floor saying goodbye to Lindze, Kate, Bobbette, Nato, and everyone else. Damn, it was so sad to go. We got a few more group pics and then finally prepared to leave ourselves. I was so sad to go. Everyone there was so awesome!     Well, despite my disappointment in the con, I think I am gonna go back next year. AWA is the only con that nearly everyone I know online goes to. It's the only place where Fujikoma and crew can actually get a real group picture. I loved seeing everyone, and I can't wait to see you all next year! Stuff I Bought: Kodama No Omacha squeaky hammer Peach Girl: Volume Two Digi Charat Dejiko Plushie Digi Charat Dejiko Pin Strawberry Pocky Chocolate Almond Pocky (worth the money a box of it costs! Yummy!) Stuff I Got: Dream Book from Babs Pokemon Cupcake and Chibi soup from Kate Kite T-shirt from Shin Fabric and cool stuff from Bobbette/Meghan Sketch from Tim Thanks everyone! ^_^