Post-Summit Hangover

What a weekend!  Actually, the last few weeks have been pretty hectic and I can honestly say that I am SO glad it's over.  What's over?  Oh, you know, just a *small* 3-day convention that my job holds for owners, managers and instructors from all over the world.  What is it?  Check out my promo video here!
Have I been stressing out about it?  Yes.  Have I lost sleep over it?  Of course.  Am I glad it's all over?  You bet your sweet ass I am.  And to prove it, I took the following three days off to recover.  Was it enough?  No but I am very grateful to have had that time off.  It feels as though last year was really easy and harmonious but I guess that must've been Beginner's Luck since last year was my first time and this year was quite the challenge.  Sophomore Slump?  Perhaps.  Either way, it was still a success.
Here are a few photos from the craziness...



1 and 2: Working on audio edits with Michael for the videos featured in 3 and 4 / 3 and 4: Class opener test run and class opener during class / 5. Set up for Power class / 6. The Testimonial Team gathering testimonials for me / 7. Event In Progress / 8. Kick class / 9. Holy crap - I actually posed for photos at the post-party! / 10.  A visit to Lady Rainicorn at CNN Center (there's a long, hilarious story paired with this but I'll spare you - unless you really want to hear it)

The videos in 1-4 are like my little babies.  I worked really hard on them and I was such a nervous wreck during playback for rehearsal and during class playback because all I ever really want is for people to enjoy the things I've made.  I got lots of compliments on it but as an artist, my work is never really done but these are going in the books as a success!

Dragon*Con 2010!

I had never been to Dragon*Con. Ever. I had always seen pictures and heard stories but I had never experienced it. I was always afraid that you needed a pass just to see the patrons in costumes but last year, my sister proved it wrong. She obtained press passes and embarked on a journey that sounded so fun, I had to get in on it this year. And so I did.
No press passes for us, though. We entered the Dragon*Con journey at the perfect place to start: Friday night at Trader Vic's, a Hawaiian themed bar residing under the Hilton. What a madhouse! I wasn't expecting so much awesomeness! I mean, I guess I was but I didn't know what to do with myself. And the worst part was: I forgot my camera.
Once we had a few drinks in us and after I ran into an old high school friend (fun times!), we were off. I was running around in a drunken haze of my childhood heroes in real life. Everywhere we went, I threw my phone at my old man and demanded he take a photo of me and whoever I was able to track down. Everyone was great on Friday! Great costumes, great attitudes, great everything! The crowd wasn't that big - which was a bonus. Saturday was different story.
Saturday was crazy! I had forgotten that they were trying to break the World Record for the most costumed people in one place at the same time, so you know it was crowded! But I got more attitude Saturday night when I asked for photos :( Oh well. If I had been in costume, I would've loved posing! Which makes me wonder what I should do for next year...
I was also on sort of a scavenger hunt. Since I forgot my regular camera on Friday night and was only able to obtain blurry, low lit photos with my phone, I wanted to see if I could find the same-ish costumes on Saturday night. What a task! The not-so-hard ones: Halo (MANDATORY), Steampunk anything and Waldo. The ones I really needed were Sailor Moon - which was one of the FIRST costumes I saw (!!!!), The Comedian (from Watchmen) - the BEST Comedian was on Friday, Cloud from "Final Fantasy" and a few others I can't remember. And those that I couldn't remember prompted me to come up with a great idea: get a group together in teams of 2 or 4 and go on a "Pics or it didn't happen" scavenger hunt! Each team has the same sheet and their task is to go on which ever day they choose - Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday or all days - and get photos of the characters on the sheet. Bonus points awarded for not so well-known characters. Example: we kept seeing cheerleaders Saturday night but only I recognized them as Cheerios (the cheeleaders in Glee) and other smaller characters - like the Samurai Pizza Cats or something not a whole lot of people know... We'll see how the list comes together.
Until the, check out my Flickr set from Dragon*Con and be sure to check out more groups for more photos!!

Dragon*Con pool
Dragon*Con 2010 pool

Enjoy! And see you next year, Dragon*Con!
Love and Kisses,
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.