Leave me here in my stark raving sick sad little world

Hey kids, it's story time!

I'm always saying "I'm busy, I'm busy, bluh bluh bluh", but I don't think I've ever really explained what I've been up to, have I? Well, not in a while, I don't think. (Don't make me dig in the archives. I'll lose all the will to write this. ._.)

Well, let's fix that!

As I mentioned last time, I've been kinda fizzling on the creative side, so I've taken some time to dig back into RL for a while. Well... what I consider RL anyway...

Our story actually begins back in the summertime...

During a trip to NY with my friends, we had joked that we should go to comic-con in full cosplay, and make a huge scene. This was back in July.

It is now late August, and it dawns on me that my birthday is coming up. Granted, my birthday is all the way in October, but September tends to fly by rather quickly, what with Back-to-School fever and what not. So I figured, "Hey, I know we were only kidding, but going to comic-con really does sound fun this year".

Eventually this became the plan. And when I say eventually, I mean we took a month to actually agree on a day and who was going. By then, it became impossible to find tickets. So, for an entire month, we went nuts trying to find tickets, while trying to save up enough to buy cool stuff. I mean, it's New York Comic-Con. There's ALWAYS a ton of awesome vendors lurking about.

But this year was also special. It was my 20th birthday, so I had to celebrate in STYLE. So while I was hunting down tickets, I was also putting together a cosplay. Meanwhile, I caught wind that there was a Kirby's 20th Anniversary contest, so I figured I'd enter:

They say, "imitiation is the sincerest form of flattery", and while I wouldn't call Dedede Kirby's biggest fan, he is rather "big". This HAD to catch the eye of the panel. Once that was submitted, it was back to focusing on hunting down tickets.

Or so I thought.

During one of my days off, I got to spend some time looking at bikes with my Dad. I mean, he likes motorcycles, I like motorcycles, and we both know this. Well, I say bikes, but we were really looking at Can-Am's Spyder RS, a trike with the two wheels in the front, and some sophisticated technology built-in. It's a pretty sweet ride, it handles almost like a car. Well, the RT model does. (Simply put, the difference is that the RT is a fully automatic(!) touring model. The RS is a sport-based model, with a more agressive seating setup, and manual transmission.) Sometime in August, he had mentioned that a local dealership was running an offer that would make one of these babies a little more affordable. It was only recently I got to see what the fuss was about.

In short, I was hooked, and I decided it was time to trade in my current bike. (Sorry Ele. Yes, we're breaking up.)

And now, in addition to preparing for Comic-Con, I was saving up for a new ride, as well as awaiting the results of the Kirby's Biggest Fan contest, which were taking their sweet, sweet time. If not for the release of Oreimo's manga in english, some new Shonan 14 Days, and my PSP, I probably would've got nuts. Especially with work.

Work has been hectic as of late. I've been spending quite some time there recently, to the point that I think me and some of my other co-workers should get some dedicated lockers and sleeping bags... although it would help if SOME people would stop leaving single drinks and lanyards in a locker that should go to someone who ACTUALLY needs it.

Normally, I couldn't care less if work gets busy. After all, more monies in my pocket, y'know?

But it juuuuuust so happens, that during the last stretch, the week right before Comic-Con, I get sick.

I get sick, and I have to be at work for 8 hours for most of the week. As always, I've gotta through the week from HFIL before I can do some extra crazy fun stuff.

Again, I am so ultra greatful I have my PSP, and my copies of Half-Minute Hero and RockMan DASH 2. It made the whole being unable to breathe thing a bit less painful. In truth, I've been meaning to play Half-Minute Hero for quite some time now, but only recently started playing. As always, I really wonder why the hell I waited so long. The game is AMAZING, especially in reagards to Hero 30 mode. I mean, it literally takes the best aspects of a classic RPG: quirky charm, buying cool new toys, bashing ultra evil, meeting cool new people, and eating strange foreign delacacies during your travels, and removes the most frustrating part: grinding for hours. Granted, trying to get a good time on each map can get frustrating, but it's more fun than mindlessly killing things for hours. (FFFFFFFFFPERSONA.) But probably what impressed me the most, was that while Hero-30 IS rather fast paced, leaving somewhat little room for character development, there was ONE particular level that managed to cram in a beautiful story about a romantic whirlwind tour, being able to look past appearances, and keeping promises, all into a MINUTE.

If that isn't true artistry, I don't know what is. (And what makes it even better, is that to fully complete the episode, you have to complete it both properly, and complete it in a manner that is rather heart-wrenching if you actually enjoyed the episode. The heartstrings are tugged even tighter if you try to go for the better ending, but don't exactly know HOW.)

On the flipside, I'm having a blast playing DASH 2 again. Holding both L and R to lock-on was a pretty nice touch, but it gets rather awkward when you trying to play using the stick, which makes navigating feel a little more smooth, which is essential in an action game such is this. My only gripe is that I don't understand japanese, which makes the Pokte Village Quiz monsterously difficult. Otherwise, I really like this port, especially since it comes with Episode 1.

And so, that was my week. Saving the world in 30 minutes, finding the keys to the mother lode, and working like crazy. When Friday came, I was in bed the entire day.

Oh yeah, I also found out I was one of the twenty winners of the Kirby's Biggest Fan Contest. Speaking of which, Nintendo still has to send me a copy of dat dere Dream Collection! Where's my confirmation e-mail Nintendo?!

And then Saturday came. It was time to throw on my Yasogami uniform, and make my appearance as the Sister Complex Kingpin of Steel.

The day was off to a VERY rocky start. My friends and I ended up taking a later train than we expected, and in the mix of things, my friend's pass went missing, and another friend of ours was taking forever to arrive.

But thankfully, we managed to score an extra pass from a scalper, and we got in safe and sound.

And once we got in, it was a whirlwind tour of Vintage figures and comics, sexy swag, and a bunch of other cool stuff!

There's so much that we saw, this post would get longer than it already is, and I'm SURE you wouldn't wanna read all of that. (Then again, you DID get this far...)

Bottom line, it was VERY exciting, especially since I got to go with friends this time. I even scored some sweet figures by GSC from the guys NAVito WORLD (who are VERY cool by the way). I probably should've grabbed that Kirino Figma I saw earlier too, but my wallet took quite the beating... (I have the nendoroid already... that's okay too... right?)




"My little sister cannot possibly be this expensive!"





"She's hot. Ha-ha."



I also got my picture taken quite a few times! I managed to even impress quite a few folks by citing some of the lines from P4U. It's one thing when people enjoy my voiceover work, but it made me really happy being able to impress people with both the voice AND the look. But the best part... had to be when someone actually called me Johnny Yong Bosch. That totally made my day.

It was really fun. I'd really like to do it again next year, with a much bigger crowd in tow. Maybe it'll become an annual thing...?

Well, now that Comic-Con's over, it's time to go back to work, school, and most importantly...

... being (Un)BalNz'D.