I was lucky enough to attend Anime Central 09 in Rosemont, IL a few weeks ago, and considering that I'd never been to an actual convention before... I was 'squeeing' with joy!

Honestly? The main reasons I went was to visit my friend at Artist's Alley... watching her sell artwork professionally for the first time (!) and also to see the awesome AVATAR fans and the PANEL! Looking back, I kinda wish I'd cosplayed, because it's so much fun and it seems like you get more out of the convention... more fan-bonding, you know?



And one thing about the AVATAR Fan Panel; unbelievable turn-out! I sprinting to try and make it to the conference room at the last minute, and by the time I got there... there was a LINE winding around the hallway! People started going in, and I was almost certain that when the ACEN staff person said the room was full, I wasn't gonna catch any of it. Many people still waited in line, hoping that at some point people might leave... and I stood there with my friend, just listening to the laughter and audio from the fan-videos the Panel was showing.

I was trying to enjoy just being there, and actually that could've been enough for me... but then after 20 minutes ONE PERSON stepped out! A group of kids were in front of me, and they didn't want to go, and I turned to my friend and she practically PUSHED me in there! I felt really bad, but she knew how much I wanted to see this, and so I went in and was overwhelmed by the 60-something people in that conference room, watching the fan-videos!



I made it just in time to see the new Avatar Puppetbender video and the Cosplay contest. Just being in there with so many fans of the show made the whole trip to ACEN worthwhile! And of course, I took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

So yeah... I would totally go to something like this again. I loved pointing out the Cosplay characters I recognized, and I'd DEFINITELY gonna cosplay in the next convention. Man I WISH I could go to SDCC in July! Just today I heard Chicago's having its first Comic Convention scheduled for next April: the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (or C2E2). [link]


If there's anyone planning to go (and maybe cosplaying Avatar) please let me know!

I love being nerdy.

Oh yeah... and has anyone else watched Tim Burton's new thing?

[link]

o_O September looks faaar far away.