Now that was quite an exciting three days ^_^. Obviously, the con got me a little more hyped up about anime in general, but most of all, it made for some good times (with Tara!) and opened my eyes to the culture some.

I especially noticed and loved the cosplaying there, but the first thing that really got me was the large number of "goths" and "geeks" (there were like three people wearing brand name clothing in the entire convention xD). I think there's a correlation between this and the fact that everyone seemed so laid back and friendly. No one needed to impress anyone. No one needed to be all on top of things. And there was a lot of hugging going on.

In fact, by noon on Saturday, a whole ton of people had gotten bored enough of everything that they positioned themselves around the hotel in heavy traffic areas, holding signs on which said some variation of "Hug me!" After a while of just staring at these people, I went and hugged some of them -- which was a very cool experience. It's quite an act of trust and goodwill. As I went back to the stiffness of Real Life™, I found that I missed the anime community a lot. T_T the hugging too.

All the cosplaying was excellent! (cosplay = people dressing up as different anime characters.) I got a whole ton of people to pose for my camera ^‾ there were Links, Vashes, Final Fantasy charas, a gigantic Moogle, and lots of things I didn't recognize. Even a storm trooper who looked really out of place, but was worth a shot (imperial WALKER!). There was that Inuyasha worth stalking... and in one corner, a Sephiroth, a Rikku, and a bunch of other people were playing video game music on violins, guitars, and keyboard, with a sign that said "request your favorite FF song" -- that was awesome.

And yes, I made a photo gallery for my pics complete with commentary so that all of you can see the goodness. Go to violasong.com/acen04 :D!

Regarding the sketches section of the above photo gallery: During Saturday night, Tara and I found Tara's friend Charlie and we hung out with him and his buddy for a while. We went into the consuite where I met this guy named John who had a big red sheet draped over his shoulders and was planning to be a field biologist. I showed him my "Two People" drawing which he really liked, and he (after much "encouragement" ^^) decided to draw something for me. We got to talking about random anime things, and he mentioned that he liked religious anime. I asked him about religion and he replied that his was not religious as nothing in religions had ever touched him, except for "maybe Daoism." So I took the chance to talk about Christianity and how it had touched me and many others, also explaining my theory that true hedonism leads to faith in God... and as he finished his drawing, I asked him what it meant. He said, "It's someone who is really confused. Someone who is sort of withdrawn from the different beliefs." At the top of the picture, he then wrote, "To a person I hope is happy with her heart and faith." And when I saw that, I was speechless.

To me, John and his drawing represent much of the anime community. So many people look like they don't have much to live for. They know about religion (a lot of spirituality is present in anime as well) but as life kicks in, they usually figure out their own doctrine. In the end, some are well described as confused. Confused, a bit cynical; for the most part, friendly and smart, but lost. There is a huge need there.

So that's something I've been thinking about -- reaching those people. Because I really love them.

It's not completely bad; I've found some Christian anime fans such as the ones in here ^^. And Steve was showing me some really old Christian anime; I've seen some not bad Christian web-manga/comics too. Speaking of that, I would LOVE to start a outreaching webcomic (with Tara! and it Just Might Work!) but ahh too busy, we'll have to see... maybe if all of you start threatening me ;)...

So yeah, I was drawing a picture for John, but by the time I was done (I had moved a bit away to talk to some other people) he had left. So if you ever see him, please refer him to my pic. Thanks... I also got a drawing from Charlie (I love getting gift pics!! :D) and after that I made up this great "cosplay" idea -- I'll come with my giant sketch pad (it's gotta be something like 2.5 x 4 feet) and just make everyone sketch something for me for free hugs.

Anyway, we hung around the dealers area for like half the time because it was so great xD and I only got 2 t-shirts, but one of them, megatokyo sw4g, I had signed by Fred Gallagher ^^. Tara got some of the coolest posters ever. Including the half-your-wall Gundam Seed ones :D.

I have tons more to say but I need to go, I've been staying up for too long lately =_=. I led a praise symphony rehearsal by myself a few days ago, which was a little awkward but I think it went ok ^^. ALSO SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED TODAY but I'll save that for later! Lastly, I am working on version two of violasong.com, and it's going great so far. Let me know of broken links here... and sankyuu for your thoughts, Kash,Weien, and David!

Well, ICTM @ State has happened; our cute little homeschooled team placed second amongst the 1A high schools of Illinois. As I look back on math team now, I am speechless and nearly mournful, which is significant considering that a few weeks ago, I saw the competition as a meaningless chore I was hardly aware of until it was in my face. Ah, lets just say God has blessed me tons and for the first time in a long while I felt like maybe I did belong on the team. The team that once again defies probability.

I'm going to miss some of those times.

Didn't draw any comics this round ;D just hung out instead. Played retarded uno with the seniors. Sang veggie tales songs with Weien. Had a great convo about spiritual things with Lydia and Amy. Was deeply encouraged by Suz and PJ--"Never knew you had it in you!"--I never knew it either :). Hundreds of games of Would You Rather with the Lams. And DUDE--met up with Austin, Tori, and a bunch of other 8th graders from my church at the McD's we went to before the comp; that was cool.

Some phots: we passed John Street on the way there (pic I was gonna show John some time ^^). It was really rainy the whole day, as can be also seen in these paths. The latter of these I took because the grass... it was like... GREEN, hooyeah. The buildings at U of I are quite glamorous as can be seen in these halls. And I did get a pic of each testing; here's the individual competition room. I capped some perfect scenes from the party after as well. Ahhh... it was a good one. I just wish I was more enthusiastic about it. I wish I cared a little more.

My karate class now have 4 little 8th grade wrestlers from Kennedy :D they are hilarious. On Monday, I landed weird after some kick and botched my foot, had to sit down, and they were like all asking if I was ok and one noted that "it was graceful." Another thing is that they--especially this one dude--have this deep, overpowering desire to gain a black belt, something that I don't really have. I just don't know how far I want to go with this. Most martial arts need for you to have some kind of dedication, or you're not really going to get anywhere. I mean duh. Hmm... WOW I miss Kennedy. This month is crazy though, so my little reunion I'm planning will probably be some time closer to summer.

The computer department at hq had a party hailing the departure of Dawn. I played ultimate there for the first time, which was pretty fun, and I felt like I could have gone on playing for a couple hours, only now I'm like sore all over and don't even feel like standing up again. Just gotta remember... MAC ADVANTAGE! My officemates are so awesome. Before the party we went in the grocery store to get some kind of farewell card, and we ended up spending like half an hour in there, laughing at the different cards and passing around anything funny. In the car, John and David were trying to teach me how to whistle but it didn't work xD I think it's hopeless. I was also taught Dutch blitz, which I don't really care for, but I won't forget how encouraging Matt H was to me when I, la n00b grande, was teamed with him. He is the type that cares more about people than about winning... and that made my day.

Church orch this weekend was rather interesting. They've been having the instrumentalists play for all four services each week during this series on debunking the Da Vinci Code. And since it's been blended for the last few weeks, this time we had it Sorda GateWay style. They actually had us violins/viola pretty loud even though we were mostly doing improv ^^. After the Saturday night service, we randomly decided to go get some food together. We waited there at the KFC drive through for a while, trying to decide... one picnic feast and a colonel chicken strips meal? Or should we just get the 16 piece with the meal? Or maybe the picnic feast with extra chicken? Finally, Mr. T burst out (in this immagonnadie voice)
"TWO PICNIC FEASTS!!!"
and the lady was like, "Uhhh, one crispy and one regular?"
"SOUNDS GREAT!!!"
"Cole slaw and mashed potatoes?"
"SURE!!!"
And we pulled up, all the while laughing that us seven people were never going to be able to finish all that food. But um... we kind of did. Haha.

Feel like a new layout; should I go Treasure Planet or my old viola idea? Guess nobody's gonna say anything :/? Anyway... thanks to elbroo and Shiowei for your comments ^^.