Texas’ biggest furry convention moved to a new hotel this year, which introduced a few new issues. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun. As always, I noticed a few things:
- BEFORE/DRIVE UP-I’m a little bummed over missing the conbook deadline but that’s what my website is for.
#31 PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOUNG LADY
- I’m guessing I’m going to see a lot of Alices and Mad Hatters. Hopefully, the cartoon versions.
- Seriously, I thought the 2010 version was ‘The Mad Hatter Movie”
- I will openly admit to being jealous of all my friends that will be there on Thursday
- I swear work gets tougher the last few days before a vacation…it’s like THEY KNOW
- Okay, I wussed out and told my cowokers I was going to a ‘comiccon’
- Does loading Disney soundtracks onto a USB stick for the drive qualify someone as ‘furry trash?’ Asking for a friend.
- Thing I forgot: Cologne. Given the female-to-male ratio it’s just as well!
- I’ve lost about 30 pounds since last TFF. I bought a pair of slim fit jeans so I gotta keep the weight off now!
- Honestly, I-35 keeps getting better and better each year…Temple notwithstanding
- The Czech stop was definitely worth the 200-mile wait!
- Parking seems to be one of the big issues early on; I was furtunate to get a spot fairly close by.
- I feel like a tourist lugging my bags around the hotel before check-in.
- It wasn’t too long before I started running into friends, YAY FRIENDS!
- I had forgotten about the placeholder name I had placed on the reservation beforehand, which made for a funny moment: “So that will be two keys: One for you, and another for Roger Rabbit?”
- “Can I get the lowest room available? I have a thing with heights.”
- New hotel is very nice, though the open elevators are a little scary for me. (see above)
- FRIDAY-Noticed a few folks kvetching about the lack of con suite this year. Hopefully they bring the snacks back because playing ‘bartender’ there was great fun.
- The Presidential Suite is open to Super-Sponsors, though.
- Forgot to print out my reg sheet for the first time ever. *hangs head in shame*
- Their reg was so fast it didn’t matter.
- The Hyatt Regency feels so wide open compared to the other hotels.
- Taking five fights of stairs to the room (if I don’t want to wait for the elevator) is definitely a workout
- The hotel room has an Ethernet port, and me without a cable *argh*
- New camera has been great, but the battery went dry after only 75 pictures! So glad I got a spare…that I had to retrieve from my room. *pant* *gasp* *wheeze*
- It’s awesome that the con T-shirts aren’t black this year.
- I’m usually pretty careful about catching autocorrects before I hit Send, but finally had one slip through the net 😀
- There’s a fursuiter named Sherbert who has you try to guess their gender. I went with ‘male’ because if I can’t figure someone’s gender in 3 seconds at a con, I just assume it’s a guy.
- I am seriously considering buying a Lemonbrat partial fursuit.
- Overall, the bigger hotel is pretty nice with plenty of space to work with BUT the elevator situation is pretty bad and it is a (understandably) a mite warm inside.
- That moment when you realize the fursuiter you’ve seen in a partial for months now has a fullsuit which means SHE’S NAKED NOW OMG
- It’s 6pm, send in the normies!
- There are places to eat downtown if you don’t mind a little walk. Cool.
- Elevator situation is pretty awful, I wonder if the top-floor con suite is a contributing factor.
- Random young lady: “Are you Eduardo Soliz?”
Me: “The one and only!” *peers at person* “Do I know you?”
Her: “No but I love your YouTube channel!”
Aww! *blush*
UPDATE: Found her on Twitter! - Maybe I’m not done with “Con Talk” after all…
- I really really need to get cracking on making some panels for next year’s Furry Fiesta. People want them!
- SATURDAY-630AM and I don’t want to be up, but I guess I’m up, bleh.
- Might be early enough to hit Waffle House without losing my parking, hmm
- Upon further review I decided not to risk losing my spot.
- A little disappointed in the scheduling app; it shows the full schedule without hiding events that have already passed.
- Oh, I have to manually refresh it. Derp.
- Nope, still didn’t do it. Boo.
- For some reason I have Matthew Ebel’s “Merry Christmas from Cell Block 2” in my head
- Are the microphones in the panel rooms even on?
- New addition to the fursuit parade: Concerned parents
- Dunno what the deal was with the peanut gallery continually yelling “Spring Break” during the parade but it was annoying to the point where I might put music over the parade audio. UPDATE: I didn’t.
- Nothing like 40-degree weather to make you want a fursuit.
- Freezing my face off was totally worth it for the Cuban sandwich, though
- If you’re running audio you should be professional enough to know to not talk while a presentation is going on. Fuzzing amateurs
- Another great Furry Psychology talk from Nuka. I was getting a little sleepy near the end, and not because of the content, just to be clear!
- I learned that some of the FurScience folks went to San Japan last year. I invited them to attend “Furry 101” this year. COME ON GUYS, I WENT TO YOUR PANEL AND I DID MY HOMEWORK 😀
- The partial suit I was thinking about buying was sold. Oh well.
- A friend bought Lemonbrat’s ‘Tide Pod Fox’ and got very popular very quickly.
- Knees starting to feel it by afternoon, likely due to all the stair-climbing bought on by not wanting to wait for the elevators…or I’m just getting old.
- Halfway down the stairs to go to dinner, I realized I still had my bear tail on. Screw it.
- Nothing like walking 2/3 of a mile to go to Spaghetti Warehouse in 30-degree weather.
- Totally worth it, though. Chicken parm you taste so good.
- I was disappointed to find karaoke was full up; I wanted to sing ‘Why Should I Worry’ by Billy Joel from ‘Oliver and Company.’ The canines would have loved it!
- Nice lobby-wide howl on Saturday night, by the way.
- I wanted to be all supportive and stuff for Padunk’s first panel, but it was completely packed! I guess that was a sign it went well! (link warning: some naughty bits)
- Drunk normies + fursuiters = hilarity
- I swear the ‘Two women: One embarrassingly drunk and the other trying to get them to stop being embarrassing’ bit is a trope.
- SUNDAY/TRIP HOME-Breakfast was weird: After we got seated, the hostess kept fussing over our table being dirty (it wasn’t) The table is fine lady, I WANT FOOD
- Mom never made ‘fingerling potatoes’ for breakfast, just sayin. That said, they were tasty.
- No salsa on the breakfast buffet? What is this, NEW YORK CITY?
- The longer the con goes, the harder it gets to not take multiple pictures of the same fursuiters. Oh well!
- Me to friend: “I was thinking about buying a partial”
Her: “I have a bear head base I haven’t started yet.”
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! - So yeah, I may be getting a fursuit made.
- Left the con at probably the earliest time I’ve ever left. Continually going up and down four flights of stairs took more out of me than I thought.
- To the jackass who parked their Honda CRX in the middle of the end of the parking lot: YOU SUCK.
- I am very glad I only make two trips that involve I-35 a year
- Didn’t stop at Buc-ees on the way home, the Wendy’s across the freeway was too tempting. I may have sinned against Texas.
- Big thank you to the solider who fished a soda out of the machine for me at the Bell rest stop. Enjoy the freebie!
- Note to self: Lay off the caffeine on the day when you are making a long drive unless you want to make restroom stops every 50 miles or so >.<
#71 YOU SUCK
- AFTERWARDS-I will openly admit to being jealous of my friends that are still at the con on Monday.
- I think the reason I don’t get post-con depression is that afterwards I go over pictures, post the fursuit parade video, work on this list, prepare for and record a podcast, so the show isn’t really over for me for several days.
- There is apparently an underground tunnel leading from near Union Station to the hotel. I may consider taking a train ride for next year.
- Remember how I said “Con Talk” was over a few months ago? I was never very good at lying. 😉
- “Roll Fur Initiative” for next year’s theme? I guess Creativity failed her saving throw! Hey, I tried!