I found myself.

1. These kind of lists are easier to do than con reports.

2. Whoever came up with the idea of scanning registration barcodes at pre-reg pickup is a genius - assuming that's why there was no pre-reg wait at all this year.

3. Something like Gargoyles gets more attention than the latest, hottest new anime at Otakon. I got a dozen comments on my Gargoyles shirt on Sunday.

4. One of the main things that drains your energy at the con - other than traversing the length of the convention center back and forth ad nauseam - is the sweltering heat. I'm pretty sure the lack of humidity is why I had so much energy this year.

5. If you aren't participating in or personally invested in the Masquerade, it's probably worth skipping. We sat through 40 skits waiting for two members of X Japan to play for five minutes. Maybe five of the skits were decent, and the rest... well, even though I got more of the jokes than Deb I was sitting there going "what." The actual costume contest was fascinating, but the skits, man, the skits... This year was my first and last Masquerade. Seriously.

6. "Voice Actors after Dark" is totally worth waiting in line for the 18+ wristband. (Question: "What's your favorite porn?" Scott Freeman's first answer: "The Twilight Saga." ♥)

7. Fire alarms suck. Whoever apparently pulled the fire alarm at 2 pm on Saturday really sucks. (Heard it was a grease fire, but then the official word is that it was a false alarm, so...) I'm utterly impressed at how quickly the staff cleared out the entire freaking convention center at 2 pm on Saturday, don't get me wrong, but it pretty much screwed up a lot of people's plans. I wound up missing the Ace Attorney photoshoot and the meetup I was supposed to be organizing since I didn't manage to get back in the convention center til almost 4.

7b. I am, however, impressed that having to empty out and shut down the BCC for about an hour didn't completely torch the Saturday afternoon schedule.

8. The last case of Ace Attorney Investigations is truly the case that never ever ends. Dude, I thought the last case of Apollo Justice was bad! On the other hand, that made it very handy to have while waiting in lines.

9. Otakon isn't half as fun if you don't go with friends. We were two people short this year and their absence was felt. (I know why you guys didn't come. Still missed you.)

10. Trying to do Otakon on the fly doesn't always work. I lucked out this year, but... they've already opened up hotel room booking for next year. Oh, come on, guys, you couldn't wait a week so that some of us could plan? Good Lord.

Happy birthday, celli!

Catching up on the Leverage episodes I missed while I was on vacation, and I must say this:

"The Inside Job" is now my absolute favorite episode. No, really. Hands down. "The Wedding Job" is still the funniest, "The Two Live Crew Job" is the crowd-pleaser, but damn this one was good.

Admittedly, I might reshuffle my favorites later, but that was my first thought after watching the episode.

Without major spoilers, a quick list of why it's awesome:
- A metric ton of background for Parker
- Major character development, too; I'm not sure Season 1 Parker would have so readily insisted on staying and doing the right thing. Agreed to it, yes, but she wouldn't have been the first to insist on it.
- The infamous Sailor Moon cosplay shot. I think I've seen that guy or his twin at Otakon.
- One of the most vile antagonists in a while. The scale of what she was planning to do was over-the-top, but... I can imagine a corporation trying something like it on a smaller scale and it creeps me out.
- Richard Chamberlain is fantastic and his guest shot was an incredibly significant role and not just a walk-on.
- Some guy named John Rogers did a pretty good job directing it.

I'm seriously considering just buying that one ep on iTunes.

Still cleaning and sorting through Greece photos. I just wanted to gush.

On the heels of a discussion about iTunes, YouTube, Netflix, DRM, satellite radio and the fact that there are once again MTV channels that actually show music videos but nobody really seems to care anymore...

How do high schoolers/middle schoolers currently pick up on popular music? Does anyone actually watch music video channels anymore? Radio? Or is iTunes et al the place to go?

Anyone know? Bueller? Anyone?

Just curious. I haven't picked up on new music by "normal" means in years - I sometimes go back over my playlists and can't recall where I heard of certain bands from or where I got a certain track - so I have no clue.

A while back I said I was going to take down my website.

Well, since I said that, stuff has been happening. Not necessarily bad stuff, but I expect to be swamped with planning from now until the beginning of July.

Since it seems stupid to take down my website when I'm not going to be able to make a dent in revamping it for three months straight, I am holding off til things get less crazy.

That's all.

*kicks LiveJournal*

Being a fan of point-and-click adventure games, I was pleasantly surprised to find more than a few adapted for the iPhone/iPod. Although it's got me thinking lately: what would happen if you tried to solve problems in real life like you would an adventure game?

For example, say you're a college student and need to meet your friends for a class project on campus in the library, but you get locked out without your ID or books. Instead of just going to Security or calling a friend, to solve your problem you'd have to engage in random conversations with every bystander in the quad, steal from half the buildings on campus and probably wreck somebody's car or computer in the process without getting caught.

Then you'd have to combine three of the items you got into this magic MacGuffin that will reach through a window, retrieve your ID for you, and would have to make a break for the library before someone realizes you were the one who flooded the bookstore.

But having the apparent ability to hold half the possessions of campus and probably a security officer's bike in some kind of personal pocket dimension would be awesome.

In a related note, the "Broken Sword: Director's Cut" game for the iPod Touch is nifty.

You're not seeing double, friends list, I pulled this out of a locked post because it was too silly to lock.

Yes, Mom. Going to bed now. I know you so well. XD

...about regaining the inspiration to start drawing again after a couple years of not drawing anything.

Suggestions on how to do that?

Yeah, I know it's different for everyone. Just brainstorming, really.

Okay, searching Amazon isn't working because I can't remember the title right, so I'm turning to the friends list for help.

I was in the Borders a few weeks ago, waiting in line with my copy of The Lightning Thief, when I spotted this book on a nearby table - non-fiction, paperback, fairly recent (probably no later than 2006). I flipped through it and was intrigued; it was all about how we process music, why we tend to latch onto the music we listened to in high school, and what exactly it is about our brains that make certain songs ridiculously catchy. Now while I'm not a musician by any means, I'm a bit of an audiophile and insanely picky (I spend forever on iTunes trying to make up my mind), and the topic just plain intrigued me.

I didn't pick it up, because I'd already committed to my purchase - the queue to reserve The Lightning Thief from the library was over 30 people long so I figured I might as well use my coupon for it - and figured I might be able to find it later.

I just remembered it this morning when I got Katy Perry's "Hot 'N Cold" totally stuck in my head and was amused at how easily I'm suckered in by catchy tunes.

Problem is, I can't remember the title to save my life.

All I know if that it had "music" in it worked into some cliche about the mind. I think "inner" was in the title but I don't know.

Does this ring a bell? Anyone? Bueller?

...pun intended, but I'm at a loss here.

ETA: Found it! Apparently I'd mentally swapped the title with The Inner Game of Golf, which I got for my Dad years ago. Go figure. :)

Happy New Year, all. Here's hoping 2010 is better than 2009. ♥

I should probably preface this by mentioning that I've been making good use of the Elkridge Library's collection and catching up on all the Doctor Who I've missed. (Which means all of Season 3 and most of 4. And not completely in order.)

Having said that: I just finished watching "Blink" and was surprised and impressed. No, really impressed. Thought I was getting a filler episode with almost no David Tennant, but it was a neat, twisty, suspenseful episode. On top of all that, the Weeping Angels were genuinely creepy. No, really. I have very rarely been able to say that. And not just in a shock-value OMG-there's-suddenly-a-giant-wasp-trying-to-sting-Agatha-Christie sort of way, either.

Kind of interesting to note that in a series where you have tons of giant bug aliens, robots and monsters, the antagonists that really manage to creep me out are the ones who we never see move, who appear as frozen statues onscreen. That's not just because sometimes the aliens and monsters in the series can be just plain cheesy. The real chills always come from what you don't see.

Also, young DI Shipton? Cocky, but still hot.

Yep, two-years-late Doctor Who episode fangirling. That's all. Carry on.

(YES, MOM, I AM GOING TO BED NOW. ♥)