Scribbles & Munch

      I had soooo much fun at Ohayocon 2016!!!!  There is no happiness like the glee of being a nerd in a sea of nerds doing nerdy things in all of our nerdy gloriousness!

A crowd shot while waiting for the Cosplay Expo to begin.  Just seeing so many people in costume makes me smile!

      I literally enjoyed every minute of the three days I attended.*  Merch was purchased, including a cool jacket for the spouse and some gifts for friends from Artist Alley.  I nearly split my sides laughing at some of the videos, and I attended some very interesting panels.  My favorite may have been the last one we attended, "How (Not) To Conquer The World, 80's Villain Style"--it was the perfect goofy note to end the Con.
      But the highlight for me was presenting my first ever Con panel, "From Jiangshi to Alucard: Vampires East & West!"  I had so much fun sharing all the information I'd researched, and my audience was awesome.  They asked great questions, offered fascinating insight, and cracked me up with some of their comments!  I have to offer a major thank-you to all for giving me a serious presenter's high.

My husband took this shot of people lining up for my panel before it started.  I was standing right behind him, compulsively eating Pocky out of nerves.  Well, nerves and the fact that Pocky are addictively tasty.

   The audience also challenged me with some interesting questions I couldn't answer on the spot--I guess no matter how much vampire anime I watched, it wasn't enough!  (Yeay!)  But I promised to follow up and I am nothing if not a geek of my word.  Two of the things I promised to look up:

1) When did the famous vampyre vs. lycanthrope grudge match begin?  Is it purely a fictional tool developed by writers in the last century, or does it have roots in older vampire lore?
      I forwarded this question to my good friend and podcast co-host, Camela Thompson.  Since she writes paranormal thrillers, she's very familiar with the vampire/werewolf tensions, and she agreed to look into it further.  She'll share her findings in a guest post on my blog in a week or so.

2) What's with the connection between rabbits and vampires in Japan?
      I'll confess, this question threw me.  In my 60+ hours of vampire anime/mange consumption in the last few months I can't say I came across a single rabbit reference.  Which makes me wonder if I wasted my time watching and reading all the wrong stuff.  After the panel an audience member came up and suggested it may have to do with a Chinese legend about the rabbit stirring the cauldron in the moon.  I'm going to dig a little deeper, and I should have a full answer on my blog by the end of the month.

Do I look like I know what I'm talking about?  Great!

      I also did a panel with my friend Carly on Sunday morning, called "Brainy Anime Babes Who Know More Science Than You!"  It was - as expected first thing on Sunday morning - minimally attended, but the awesome people who did attend were fabulous!  They had ton of fascinating science info and anime trivia to contribute.  And one guy gave me caffeinated chocolate--thank you, unknown distributor of stimulants!**

Me without my glasses, semi-cosplaying Kurisu Makise from "Steins;Gate."  And Carly, awesomely crossplaying Dr. Horrible.  And yes, she is the Carly Taylor who won the Journeyman Level Cosplay Expo with her Suzino outfit!

      Over-all, it was the perfect beginning to 2016.  So here's a big wave to everyone I met, and a thank you to everyone who attended my panels!  I hope we meet again, and in the meantime: may your online anime never fail to stream!  Next on my list to watch: "Tokyo Ghoul."  It should tide me over until "Attack on Titan" finally resumes!
     Oh, and I am always open to suggestions!



*With the possible exception of my multiple trips waiting for the Room of Holding to open.  The fact that it was never available when we needed it inspired Carly to re-name it the Room of Requirement.  It was probably closed so often because staff were trying to empty out the alarming number of chamberpots.

**I just realized I literally took candy from a stranger.  It seems I retain zero of the life-lessons drilled into me during childhood.  Was Pedobear at the Con?  Apparently I should have gone up and hugged him.  Next time, I guess.