I'm a light sleeper, so it didn't surprise me to the be the first one awake on Sunday morning. I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I grabbed a book and read for a few moments, but I soon learned that Patti is also a light sleeper (a better term would probably be "insomniac") so she ended up getting up with me and the two of us just sat on my bed (well, my half of the bed, I forgot to mention that I shared a bed with the best bed-mate in the world, Auria) and just talked about everything and nothing quietly in the early morning sunshine. It was a beautiful start the last day of a beautiful weekend.

Here's where we hit really our only snag of the entire con, not counting the three hour long lunch of Saturday which obviously was not the con's fault: the check out process. Oh, checking out was fine, but they had nowhere to store your bags. Huh? The best they could offer you was a coat check service, where they charged you $3 a piece (and yes, my jacket, sweatshirt, makeup trunk, and suitcase all counted as separate pieces, so I had to try to shove my sweatshirt inside my bookbag to try to save some money), OR, if you really didn't have any money, they had an unsecured location where you could leave your stuff, but no one would be watching it and anyone could come pick it up later. Um, no.

Anyway, after having taken care of the bags (what could we do? We paid the $3) we met Eurobeat King in the lobby, and quickly shanghaied him into a last-minute photoshoot. After he had done some shots of me (including one on my Rinoa page that is my latest favorite photo of myself, I can't believe how talented that man is), the girls from Outer Power, Inner Beauty called my cell phone to find me, as they said they had something to give me. When they ran up to me, I noticed they were all wearing matching T-shirts...and they quickly pulled out a matching T-shirt for me. They're OPIB shirts! They have our group name on the front and our individual name on the back! I was so incredibly touched I actually started tearing up, which if you know me, you know that's a big deal, as I'm not really the world's biggest "crier". But for them to do something so sweet and so thoughtful...well, I've always said that this hobby introduces you to some of the nicest people in the world, and that just proves my point.

While the other girls started a Furuba shoot with EBK, Big Danny T found me outside so we could hang out and chat for a bit--we hadn't really run into each other for almost five years! I also got introduced to Rob and Tikki, who I had known of, but not actually known, since I joined the COSP Mailing List back in the ancient days of 2001, and just basically had a nice chat with some of the folks who have been in the cosplay scene since before you could buy Naruto costumes at Hot Topic. (I'm not judging. It's just nice to talk to some "old timers", is all.)

After we were all done with our shoots, we decided to take one last tour of the Dealer's Room, so we could all score some last minute swag. Funnily enough, despite it being an anime con, the souveniers I ended up buying for Louis aren't all that anime-specific: I got him a Labyrinth poster (that being "our" movie, in our minds), and a tin of the candies that feature in Grave of the Fireflies. He's still working on finishing them off so that he can put the water inside to make his own candy-flavored drink.

Another unexpected bright spot! We passed by the Cosworx booth again to say Hi and Bye to Tristen, and as we were moving on, I caught a glimpse of a stack of Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures In Japan. My friend Mike had sent me that book for my birthday, and I had loved it so much I had lent it to both Louis and my aunt, so I tapped Steph on the shoulder and told her I had to send them that book someday, because it was just SO wonderful.

A beautiful cosplayer sitting behind the table said, "Why, thank you! I wrote it." It was Aimee Major! I hadn't recognized her because I had never met her in person, and she was in costume. So I got to talk to her about her book and tell her how much I enjoyed it and how quickly I would buy another one, should she write it. I was really kicking myself for not having my book on me so she could sign it, but Aimee was kind enough to autograph a piece of paper for me to take home. That paper, at least, made it safely home, and now is stuck between the pages of my copy of the book.

We headed back to the lobby, where I posed for a picture at the Cosclips booth (which I lost later that day! What is the matter with me?) and got to model my costume for Athena-chan, which is right and fitting since she made it for me. And then I ran into Cristi and Serge, and Brandon, who I didn't even know was going to the con! So it was nice to be able to sit and talk to them for more than a quick "Hi--bye!"

After that, though, people were really starting to pay attention to departure times, so the group of us sat down on the floor in the lobby...and then more people joined us...and then more people joined them...and then we started being in everybody's way, so they kind of roped off a section in the center of the room on the rug where we could sit, and well, basically I and all of my friends took over the entire lobby. It was incredible--I've heard of the popular kids having their own table at lunch, but this took on proportions all it's own. Our group had subgroups that had their own subgroups, and everybody somehow knew everbody else, and everybody knew DJ Ranma S.

Still, we kept losing people one or two at a time, and the entire feel of the day began to take on that weird nostalgic feeling of the last day of school: some people you know you're going to see again, and some people you know you won't, and sometimes you're wrong about the people in either category. It's a feeling of leaving something comfortable behind, and not knowing if you're going to get it back, and not knowing what's going to take it's place. I know I'm making a slough of sentiment over a bunch of nerds in costumes in a hotel room, but it's weird, is all. And still true.

Eventually we had dwindled enough to the point where the hotel staff kinda sorta wanted their lobby back, so we moved from our spot on the floor and found shelter in the hallways. We laughed, and talked, and told jokes, and constantly said our goodbyes. Finally, it came time for me to leave--Patti and Steph would be getting a later flight out of D.C., so they still had time, but I had a comfortable Amtrak train to catch.

There's no easy way to say goodbye. I talk to these girls every day through e-mail, and certainly it's not like I see my local friends every day or even every week, so it shouldn't matter that they're approximately 1,168 miles away, but it does and there it is and there's no arguing with that.

So, thus ended my first ever Katsucon trip. I got to see the White House in passing during my cab ride back to the train station, which reminded me we never got around to any sight-seeing, which I was totally fine with--the Nation's Capital is not uninteresting to me, but I was primarily going to spend time with my friends. Which I did and I loved and I can't wait to do it again.

The End.

Pics from other cameras

Pics from other cameras

Pics from other cameras

Pics from other cameras

Pics from other cameras

MySpace photo!

And again.

The backs of our shirts have our names!

More of the Fruits Basket group

More of the Fruits Basket group

More of the Fruits Basket group

HOT.

Scott and I

Ranma and his "sistahs"