I had headed out of my house at around 11:30 or so to allow myself extra time, since I knew that the trains run slower on the weekends to begin with, and I knew the M wasn't running at all so I'd have to rely on the shuttle bus. And I had drawn myself a little map to show me how to find Rumsey Playfield, where all the events would be taken place. I arrived at Central Park a little before 1 o'clock, but all of my efforts were in vain: the line to enter Rumsey Playfield was INSANE! I guess I could've tried to sneak in, or claimed that I was part of the cosplay competition (since I was in costume), but I have this unfortunate tendency to follow rules at the worst times, so I sat there in the line that seemed to take FOREVER. I bounced up and down to see if I could spot any of my friends, I called people on their cell phones, and tried not to go crazy.

People filled the Rumsey Playfield to capacity. There were such long lines I didn't get to check out the other booths more than from at a distance, but from what I could tell, there were several food tents, including ones for tea and Japanese candy, there were some traditional Japanese festival booths, such as a yo-yo booth (not a yo-yo like we're used to the States here; it's a balloon that's partially filled with water attached to a rubber band), and ones dedicated to traditional Japanese culture like oragami and calligraphy.

Honestly, most of the day was just us mingling amongst ourselves chatting and catching up. B-chan showed off his kickass sword (really, I'm surprised it made it past security. But maybe B-chan activated his Magical Anthy Powers and hid it in his body or something) that he got for his upcoming Rosiel costume. I got to see Cassie freshly back in the United States, after keeping her visit a secret for a few weeks (mental note: must ask her if it's okay to post this yet, or if there are still people she's going to surprise!)

I got to see Q again, and between her, B-chan, and I, we all swapped "taking care of older female family member" stories. (The good news is, all three of us seemed to have good news.) I got to meet Jae, who I've seen before (and photographed) in passing, but I've never gotten to really introduce myself to or talk to for any length of time, AND I got some great photos with her, which was a real treat for me because I rarely have a Sakura to pose with (one of the downsides of cosplaying a supporting character), nevermind such a talented and dedicated one. I got to hang out with and pose for Chris (Kaine Maxwell) and talk about Umino cosplay--he always forgets I have a picture of him as Umino with Louis as Motoki! I even bought a print of it from A Fan's View.

I got to spend a lot of time with CHris, which is always a good time, not only because he's incredibly funny (he is) but because he's actually a lot more down to earth than most people probably realize. We were kidding around that he and Lou would have to start a club, "Cosplaying Men Who Have No Major Psychological Or Social Disorders", but then realized they'd probably be in the minority.

And we planned possible future Penny Arcade costumes, with CHris and Carrie as Gabe and Kara and Tycho and Brenna. And, of course, I got to photograph a lot of cosplayers I didn't know, but who obviously put a lot of time and effort into their costumes.

Around this time Carrie and a few of the other cosplayers who had participated in the cosplay competition rejoined us, and there was much "tee"ing and a renewed outbreak of photography, and I hugged Carrie and congratulated her on her win, and hugged Anna (the other Anna, Dress Dragon Anna) and complimented her on her costume, and it turns out she's WAY better at getting people into good photography positions and situations than I am, so for future reference, it's a good idea to follow her and shoot where she shoots.

Following the cosplay competition was a karaoke contest. There seems to be a universal rule to karaoke: if you can't sing well, sing loudly. This doesn't help in the least, but so many people seem to follow this rule that there must be some hidden benefit that I just don't understand.

It would almost be excusable if this were drunken people in a bar at 1 AM, but this was one in the afternoon, people! Well, maybe they were drunk anyway. To be fair, some of the contestants weren't that bad. I'm just not a fan of American Idol, and that seemed to be what everyone was trying to emulate.

The one major downside of the event (other than me missing seeing the entire cosplay competition) was the weather. Not only was it warm--and, of course, I had chosen to wear a costume with a turtleneck (for a variety of reasons; one, I had never gotten pictures of the Tomoyo costume with it completely, properly assembled before; two, I knew it was going to rain, so I knew anything with straight hair was right out)--but it was getting muggier by the minute.

A few of us had umbrellas, but you could tell we were just counting the minutes until the sky was going to open up. Meanwhile, my hair was getting frizzier, and frizzier, and frizzier. The pictures of me from the end of the day are not a pretty sight. Finally, it did start to drizzle, and the three of us who had umbrellas opened them up and formed a phalanx (and yes, I was using that word BEFORE 300 came out) to cover those who didn't.

At around three or so, the emcee came on the microphone she had a surprise for those of us who were braving the rain: Miss Universe 2007, also known as Miss Japan, Riyo Mori! Well! That certainly was a surprise! I don't think I've ever seen a beauty contestant winner in person, let alone the biggest beauty pageant there is!

The announcer mentioned that there were a variety of things they couldn't ask Riyo Mori about, due to the Miss Universe...corporation's (is that the right word?) regulations, which surprised me, but the little bit she did talk about--enjoying being in New York, how wonderful the opportunity to be in the Miss Universe pageant was--showed off how great a handle she had on the English language. The grasp non-natives have of our language always makes me a little ashamed of how little I myself know.

Ranma, who had been running around backstage even when most of the other contestants had rejoined our group, finally came out a little after that. I hadn't seen or heard from him in a while, due to our own crazy lives constantly keeping our schedules out of sync, so it was nice to see him, catch up, and just catch our breaths for a while.

And to talk about The Last Dragon. :) I haven't forgotten, my brotha.

With the rain not seeming like it was going to let up any time soon, the cosplayers began changing their clothes, and those in regular wear started making plans of where to go next. As we were slowly making our way towards the exit, a largish group of latecomers entered, and I got to see a few more of my friends, The Anime Fanboy, Andrea, Vic, and Joel (DDR Boy) to name a few.

While they were all planning to go out to dinner in Chinatown, I decided to pass on dinner to spend a little time with Lou, who had missed the entire day's events. Besides, I had fulfilled the day's primary purpose: I (sort of) got to cheer my friends on to victory (even if it was after the fact), I got pictures of my entire costume finally, and I got to spend some time with my friends.