2003

Happy New Year's to anyone out there bored enough to come to my blog and see what I have to say. *sweatdrops*

Nothing much here to say, but I shall follow the trend and say what's on my mind about 2003, and what I expect out of 2004.

I don't really make any resolutions (because I suck at keeping them) so there's nothing to fulfill in that arena. Overall, 2003 was a pretty cool year. The little I remember of it outside of doing horrendous amounts of work (thanks, MIT) was really cool.

I started off the year pretty much in a horrible One Piece obsession, and that was honestly, pretty cool. ^_^ I got to work with Kaizoku-Fansubs and that was just one huge, fun experience. I don't have much time left for it anymore, but I'll do something when I can. *sweatdrops*

Then Anime Boston happened in April, and AniBos was an awesome experience. I met so many people there who are now good friends of mine. ^_^ Meeting people and sticking around with them is one of the coolest things about going to an anime convention. AniBos was awesome, from doing the Masquerade to just sitting around the hotel lobby and going to the ghetto rave. ^_^ I look forward to Anime Boston in 2004, because I know even more of my friends are going to be there.

Nothing much was eventful in the months of April and May, aside from scrambling to get enough studying done for finals. I headed home for three weeks in June, and that was loads of fun. Mostly because Omi got me hooked on Guilty Gear, and I took a trip down to Anime Expo in Anaheim for a day (Thursday). Even though I was alone, I had a good time interviewing people and hanging around the game room. There some good costumes, and overall, it was a nice day away from the parental units. But it doesn't match up at all to...

Otakon! Otakon was by far the most enjoyable experience I had in 2003. And I know several people might agree with me on this one. Otakon rocked, the whole way through. I heard there was close to 20,000 total in attendance, and though that's barely a tenth of the Tokyo Comic Market, that's pretty big for something in the United States. Otakon, you kicked Anime Expo's ass. ^_^

We headed down there in a caravan of three cars, and even those of us who weren't going down with us got to crash in our rooms. Otakon was just one big weekend-long uber-expensive party. We drove down Thursday nigh so we wouldn't miss a single thing when it opened on Friday. There's some pretty amusing stories of us going down, like Mark, Ray, and I shouting the lyrics to Weird Al's "Albuquerque" out the window, and meeting up with other random Otakon pilgrims (including Matt and Lise) at rest stops in New Jersey. Sure, it was rainy on the way down, and we traded sketchy looks whenever Avatrix and Destra's vehicle would slow down to 50mph on the freeway, and Will accidentally took the wrong turn and came in about 45 mins. after we did (he also knocked out his alignment), it was fun. Really really fun, and even though I can't hit Otakon 2004, I will try my best to haul my ass to Otakon 2005.

Two weeks after Otakon was ShoujoCon and there I met some people from the X fandom, Rackham Rose, Rachel, and Ko. Amberlee drove us (namely, Ali-chan and me) down there, and though ShoujoCon was only about 600 people this year, it was still fun. It's a small enough con that you can just plop your ass down and talk with people. And I found a couple of Guilty Gear gashapon figures from the first set. Uber-rare. And at ShoujoCon. O_O;; Go figure. (Still need a Ky...need a Ky...my Sol is lonely. ;_;)

The summer, aside from the cons was pretty good. I enjoyed being home and spending time with my parents, my sister, and Omi. Then I came home and got to room with Asphodel, who was very good at putting up with my constant requests for DDR, my laziness and non-fic-betaing, my frenzy over finishing my three costumes (Legato Bluesummers, Uchiha Sasuke, and Monou Fuuma), and the late night conversations which would most often carry us into three in the morning.

I also met Roni and Ed, and they're the two people I was closest to in the fall. They're awesome, hilarious, and well, Ed's my clone, and I don't think I could have survived this term without them keeping me company.

Oh right, and a shout-out to Mike Lewis, my fall term roommate. We actually worked out this term since there was nothing like that nasty matchmaking going on last fall, and I find that we work really well as roommates. ^_^ Go figure.

On the gaming front, I really haven't gotten much done in 2003 aside from getting stuck in Devil May Cry and giving up, playing ludicrous amounts of Guilty Gear, discovering the joys of Para Para Paradise, and improving my Dance Dance Revolution skills.

Not much to say about 2004 except that I hope to still be friends with those I'm currently friends with, I hope to patch up some relations with some people I've grown apart from, and the summer in Japan is going to rule. ^_^ Next term is going to be a little tough with 5 classes, a part-time job, and research to do, so I'm going to have to drop some of my projects (I have the feeling I will not be timing for K-F next term) in order to make time for the people I like talking to, and the games I like to play. I look forward to Anime Boston 2004 and Anime Central 2004, and I wonder what the beginning of my senior year will hold for me.