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Merry Monday - Ottawa Comiccon 2017

[caption id="attachment_4711" align="alignleft" width="300"]merry_monday Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption]

This year I had to cut back due to my current financial situation. I normally go for the full weekend including special events. This year I planned to go for one day only. I chose Saturday because it usually has the best content in terms of panels and Q&As. The problem with Saturday is that it is exceedingly busy because of this.

When I arrived, I had to park on the grass lot down the road. In previous years this has been a huge deterrence for me. I would get to Comiccon at 7AM just to avoid it. I forgot about that and missed my first panel because of it. I was in a bit of a bad mood as such. The rain didn't help, nor did the long walk to the EY Centre.

The first Q&A I went to was with Canadian actress, writer, and producer Laura Vandervoort. I thoroughly enjoyed her Q&A. She has a lot of personality and maybe someday I'll write something she'll want to be in. Given the things she said, I think we must be around the same age. I haven't seen many of the things she is in, but now I want to watch all of them.

The next thing I did was the John Barrowman Q&A. He was hilarious! He came out in a turquoise dress and leggings that he had bought on the exhibition floor. He had a running joke about his husband having come home with braces one day and how he has to go without certain things for six months! He was unapologetically himself throughout and didn't censor himself for any children who were in the audience. One mother mentioned she had to put a quarter into the swear jar for every swear he uttered. After that he would swear then blurt out how much money he was costing her. It was fun.

After that, I attempted to go to the exhibition hall. There were so many people, I had an awful time and gave up. I went back out and found a panel where I could sit and relax. I don't even remember what it was about. It didn't matter. It was so crowded in the hall, I couldn't even see the Supernatural Impala, which is rather large and should have been visible. Perhaps my short stature made it seem worse to me.

I also enjoyed the Clare Kramer Q&A. Buffy is one of my favourite shows and was the only one with a strong female protagonist while I was growing up, so it was highly impactful to me.

As the day progressed, I ran into some friends and learned there was a bus to take me back to my car. After getting the information from the Information Desk on how late it was running, I went to my final panel. I was distracted during that one for various reasons, but it was one of the panels with repeat content from another year.

Just before that, a friend came to me needing change for the bus. He knew I wasn't able to come to more of the convention and he traded me bus fair for an extra Sunday pass he happened to have! I was excited and thankful because now I had a chance to not only see Matthew Lewis, but also spend time with my other friends and their adorable kids. I could also actually visit the exhibition hall because by the time I made it back there on Saturday, they were closing it.

So after doing 1.5 hours of martial arts, off I went to the Matthew Lewis Q&A. When I got the chance, I entered the lineup to ask him a question. The closer it got to my turn, the louder my heart beat until it was drowning out much of what he was saying. I worried someone else would ask my question and I'd be there asking something totally asinine in its place like whether or not he puts pineapple on his pizza. I worried I'd forget it all or trip over my tongue and look silly.

But I managed to say hello on behalf of the Ottawa Harry Potter Society. I told myself that I'm a Gryffindor and should be able to handle talking to a hot celebrity I've adored watching grow up. Then I asked him what he would be doing if he wasn't an actor. He said he had no other skills. Then he thought for a moment and said he was an Air Cadet when he was younger, so he'd probably be in the Air Force as they would be able to teach him some skills and he could help people.

That was the first time I didn't just sit idly in a Q&A. I'm proud at myself for gathering the courage to ask my question, but I think I prefer just relaxing and taking in every word. It was hard to focus on some of the things he was saying because of my nerves. I suppose I felt much like his character did in Harry Potter on numerous occasions, which is poetic in a way.

It was much calmer on the Sunday and I actually saw the cars and could walk around with my friends and adorable toddler. The baby was making strange with me, but I did manage to make her laugh once simply by laughing myself. We were able to determine in one quick look why the traffic flow was so horrible on Saturday. Garbage cans were in the middle of the way instead of being near the doors. People would get stuck trying to go around them.

I had such an emotional rollercoaster of a weekend that it took a while to calm down after and call my mother to wish her a Happy Mother's Day! I woke up today wondering if talking to Matthew Lewis had been a dream...

The only thing I bought was a Samurai themed dice game to take to the martial arts weekend this upcoming log weekend in Canada.

And that was the 2017 Ottawa Comiccon.

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Here's where I'm at on my goals:

  • Screenplay: No change since mid-week.

  • Novel: Nothing since last week.

  • Short Story: It's with the editor.

  • Kitchen Reno: On hold until June, though I have a piece of fiberglass that may work to finish one of the drawer bottoms. That was my original plan, then I saw the price of fiberglass and ran away in fear.

  • Sewing Business: On hold until after the May long weekend.

  • Martial Arts: My first attempt at onigiri, I didn't use enough salt. I'm focusing on food, music, and laundry for the bulk of this week. Training has been going well.

  • Newsletter: Working on the short story that will be in it.

  • Fitness: Made my step goal both of the last two days because of Comiccon.

  • Cleaning: Ugh.

  • Bento Boxes: I'm planning to make the chicken today and freeze it.

  • Guitar: Haven't played the last two days, but will get back at it

  • Reading: Eyeballs are sore and drops aren't helping. Frustrated.


Well, it's time now for me to get the rest of the things ready for my long weekend adventure in Guelph.

Salut,
R~

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