Well, I got the information I needed on the conventin front, unfortunately, it doesn't look good for me. Aside from not being able to find the fanbase on a local level (stupid closet animé fans), The most important step to establishing an animé convention is setting up an organization to handle the business end of things. I have no way of setting up that business entity, so that pretty much means the whole thing comes to a grinding halt here and now. It certainly was a fun little dream while it lasted. Oh well, at least I know where to start should I ever happen to have the money together to do it. For those of you keeping score, here's where I stand:
◊ Round One: Finding local animé fans [0 points]
◊ Round Two: Establishing a local animé club [0 points]
◊ Round Three: Establishing a local animé convention [0 points]
That's an 0 for 3 record, and it's not something I'm particularly happy about. I've never liked to lose, and failing this badly at trying to do something from the heart really hurts. Since there aren't any loose threads to tie up this time, I'm going to spare you all the brunt of my ill temperment and take a few days to myself. It woudln't be fair to have me snapping at you all in my responses and comments over my own failings so I think it's best that I do this. I'll be back when I'm feeling better and ready to tackle my next impossible dream.
Comments:
necury
It was frustrating.
No, but I've had people tell me they've heard things, smelled things, seen things, and felt things touching them when there's no rational explanation for such. I myself have experienced the fleeting aroma of pipe tobacco once, and the story behind that is interesting. There's a sea captain in a local cemetary (He moved out to WV during an oil rush or something like that), and it's said that he's seen kneeling next to his son's grave (right next to his) on ocassion. My sister, my mom, and I were in the cemetary one morning looking at his headstone, which at the time was broken in two pieces and leaned against a tree right at his graveside. My sister and mom moved off a little ways away from me, and I held back, looking at the engraved clipper ship on the stone. I was probably standing between his grave, and that of his son's when for only a moment, I smelled a waft of pipe tobacco, there was no one in the cemetary, and no one around any of the nearby houses with a pipe, but the scent was like someone was smoking the pipe right on my left side (Would have put it right in line with the Captain's son's grave). If you've ever smelled pipe tobacco, you'd know what I'm talking about. It's a kind of heavy, sweet, smokey scent that there's no mistaking something else for it. I did some research on that sea captain, and found his house on the next street up from where I live, and get this, people have said they've seen the burning ember of a tobacco pipe in one of the attic windows of that house. I didn't know that detail before I researched it, so I didn't know the Captain smoked when I smelled the tobacco in the cemetary. That's my own personal experience, and neither my sister nor my mom recalled smelling pipe tobacco that day, nor any other day that they were there.
I do know of one alleged possession(nothing malcious, but a spirit supposedly spoke though him), but given that it was my brother, and he's kind of always trying to trick me one way or another (we're both grown adults and he still plays these games on me, I don't think he respects my hobby), I question the validity of the event. That kind of thing is hard to confirm without a specialist.
That, you see, is the mystery, that's why those of us who go out looking to collect physical evidence of paranormal activity do that kind of thing. The techncial explanation is that it requires energy for a spirit to manifest itself, and it takes a lot less energy to make an aucustic imprint on a tape or digital microchip than actually manifesting an audible sound. I do have an Audio Clip (that should pop your default WAV player, if you're in FireFox, copy the link location and paste it into Windows Media Player). I have a cleaned up version of that same audio Here (Same as before, only this is an MP3 file) if you're interested in hearing it. That's only one of five I got that day, but it's the best sounding one in terms of audio quality.
Angel Slayer:
Life does go on whether we want it to or not, but that doesn't mean we can't take a little timne to ourselves to find a balance in our energies after beign thrown off like that.
the real yojimbo
I'm still looking into that perfect way for me to vent, I know I really could use it. I was actually thinking of Tai Chi, but that's only one possibility I'm looking into right now.
beyblader
I think being accosted by a fangirl in heat wouldn't have been nearly as frustrating as that wasted trip the other day.
I made that suggestion a couple days before the trip. The real lesson in that is: "If you don't do it yourself, it won't get done at all." I found another Asian Market that's an hour away, I intend to call them before we make the trip down there, myself.
timechaser
That doesn't surprise me one bit. You know, if these mapping sites would link up with Rand McNally, or Delorme, map companies who update every year, they'd be doing something. I have an Asian market in town, and usually she'll special order something if she don't have it, but I don't think she knew what I was talking about when I asked for salt pickled sakura leaves. If even one of the websites with the recipe for sakuramochi actually said "this is where you get the salt pickled sakural leaves" they'd be doing something good for those of us in the hillbilly headache belt of the country who can't just waltz into a local mega-import mart and find what we need. Kroger (and it's affiliates I'm sure) and Wal-Mart do carry limited pocky, but it's better than nothing at the moment. If your looking for a specific flavor you'll probably need an Asian Market for that.
Thanks anyway, but looks like I dug up a big heap of dirt and found only a few dirty stones this time around. Maybe with enough spit and polish those stones can be made into gems, but at this point they just have to sit dirty on a shelf till I can get to them.
Good luck with that, hope it works out for you.
Caprice
Frustrated is putting it mildly to say the least, but I think I'll get over it and calm down eventually. Actually nothing's changed. i'm still out of work and still pipe-dreaming away.
That's right I don't think you've seen the page since I changed it. I did try to mix things up a little.
scorchbird12:
Yeah, that's kind of the thought I got about the store too. I won't find the leaves in time, no matter what I do now. I'll have to make sakuraless sakuramochi with the substitution of mint leaves I thought of a while back, and hope it works like I want it to. I've never made the stuff before, and I hate to make my first attempt at a dish be a variation on the original recipe.
The convention isn't happening, unfortunately.
InuYashaFan4-ever
Since I need them by March 3rd, I know there's no way I'm going to find them in time this year. I hope I can find them by next year though.
All the luck in the world isn't going make this convention happen I'm afraid.
Yensid:
I suggested making that call a few days before the trip, but I guess I should have done it myself to be sure it was done at all. That's the lesson I take out of this, is that I have to do all the legwork myself if I expect to have a meanigful trip. My family complains that they have to be careful with how they use their gas, yet they don't take the steps necessary to make sure they're not wasting it on out of the way trips.
That's the story of my life it seems. Build up a little dream only to get nowhere. I must have really offended the Fates or something to end up with this run of luck. If anyone up there on Olympus is laughing, it's not funny anymore.
I don't have the kind of money to set up a table to sell prints at a convention. It's a nice prospect, but one I can't even remotely entertain. 1˝-2 hours is the limit I'm willing to test my family's patience with me in terms of taking me someplace. The last time I went 4 hours out of my way ended up as a wasted trip so I won't put them through that kind of thing again. That really limits the conventions I can look at in terms of attending.
It's hard to tell with fans like that, and not to sound cruel or inhuman, but I don't really care at this point either.
When things look up, I'll let you know.
sanzolover13
Really? That bad huh? I think I'll make it a point to not check them first on things from here on out.
It would be nice if someone who knew what I was talking about could actually point me in the direction of a store (web or physical) that carried them. If I do happen to find the salt pickled sakura leaves, it won't be in time for the holiday I need them for, so that's a lost cause for this year. I'm going to make the dish, but it'll have to be a modified version.
death alchemist03
Hindsight tells me I could have taken my laptop and pirated an unsecure WiFi connection to cross check with another map service online, but oh well. It's something I'll rmember for my next trip, because finding the right intofmation on the road isn't easy.
Mamma Vash:
I'll fidn a good one out ther somewhere, I just have to look and test different ones first. As for the convention, it's completely out of the picture now.
Shonigoneyes93
I've never been near DC, never had the need, but I do hear that things change like mad over there.
My computer is about three years old, and it's never given me a problem online (it did have an overheat moment, but that's an entirely different issue). I sue it online all the time, I don't have a newer one to use. Hope yours comes back all right and ready to go.
Well, the fanbase isn't as public as I'd like it to be, and the costs of starting up a convention here are too great for me to do alone, so that's another project out the window.
It makes no sense that the people who know how to make sakuramochi can't tell you where they get their sakura leaves from. If I have to special order them from a Japanese website, I'll do it, but since I can't get them in time for the holiday this year, it' doesnt' really matter anymore, I'll keep looking till I find them for next year. I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised that I can check two dozen online "Asian" markets and my local Asian market and still not be able to find them. There aren't even any pictures of the packages they come in online anywhere.
