Mandi "Mandolin" Ohlin writes...

Okay, while I'm waiting for the internet app I should be working on to rebuild already (which takes way too long), here's my scatterbrained G2003 journal...

(If parts of this don't make sense, Greg, I've been messing with Java code all morning, my brain's a bit fried already. :) )

Thursday, June 26

SOMEHOW got out of work at 1 pm, after spreading the word that I'd be MIA most of the week and getting some co-workers to cover for me. Ran home, packed, violated Resolution #9 (forgot the Gargs figures I wanted Greg Wiseman to sign yet AGAIN), decided not to bring the Banshee costume since it was only half done and I wasn't wearing a rushed, crappy costume just for the sake of having one. Drove up to my folks, rode to Aberdeen with my stepmom (yes, my stepmom, it still feels weird being able to say that now), and waited outside for the train, which was half an hour late. Marsha waited out there with me for 40+ minutes in the heat determined to make sure I got on the train safely. She didn't have to, but I really appreciated it.

Train ride to NYC was pretty nice and fairly comfortable, despite some boredom - I brought my CD player, but managed to leave ALL my CDs at Dad's - and I got into Penn Station around 7 pm. Went up to the main level, looked around at the rush, and laughed out loud at myself. I had to set a scene in Penn Station in "Murphy's Law" despite never having been there and completely pulling the scene out of my ass, so I was highly amused to see that I had actually guessed right about the crowds rushing everywhere. Grabbed my bags and hoofed it to the Hotel Pennsylvania; I came out the wrong side and had to ask a cop if I was going the right direction. I was, so I got to the hotel, got my key at the front desk, gave Kathy a cellphone call and crashed in the room for a bit.

Hung out with Kathy a bit when she got out of con staff panic briefly and got to hear one of the looniest examples of mailing address silliness I've ever heard. She had to leave me to my own designs that evening, which was pretty boring. Despite the fact that there were a lot of non-staff attendees there on Thursday night, I only encountered ONE other con attendee who I didn't know all that well. I wandered around the hotel, got hit on by this strange guy, and just killed time for a few hours. Yeah, I was in the middle of downtown Manhattan, but there was nothing to do and I wasn't going out at night alone. So I ate at Lindy's for the first and last time, got bored and crashed around 11. (Any restaurant that screws up chicken fingers is not worth trying again.)

Friday, June 27

Got up with Kathy's phone alarm, let her shower first, and discovered the reason for the paint mold spots in the bathroom - the shower tended to hose down the WHOLE BATHROOM, blowing out the shower curtains completely. Hey, at least there was plenty of water pressure.

Went down and got breakfast at the 24-hour coffee shop - better than Lindy's - and bought a birthday gift for Innocence, a teddy bear with "I (heart) NY" on it. On the way back up, I *finally* ran into a non-staff attendee I recognized; BrooklynX was headed back to his room with breakfast. Yay, finally someone to hang out with. Dropped the bear off in my room for fear I'd leave it somewhere, then hung out in his room and checked out his still-growing collection of cels. (You know, I think Vic's comment might not be too far off...) Heard yet another fun travel story, which again reinforced the notion that I had an easy time getting up to NYC. We headed down to the lobby around 11, rolling our eyes at the CNN playing in the elevators. (That really DID get old fast.)

Good move, it seems, as attendees were gathering (no pun intended) there in hopes that registration would appear. Ran into Stephen, Seri Wavelength, Kellie Fay, Gside, Lanny, Duncan, A Fan, Orion, Spacebabie, and Archangel. Spacebabie offered her suggestion for my costume dilemma, which was a lot more creative than anything I'd have come up with, but it was a moot point since the wig was at home (and it was way too long and thick to spike with hair gel - I'd have HATED to wash that sucker afterwards!) Got lots of comments on my Sluggy "Fear the Bunny" T-shirt. Got lots of weird looks from the regular patrons of the hotel, too. Heh.

Registration finally opened up a bit late - they had to set the desk off to the side since the concierge was really annoyed that we were blocking the elevators. The staff rushed down and hurried to make up for lost time - I paid for the banquet up front for the hell of it. Couldn't get a T-shirt because I hadn't pre-ordered one. Oh well.

After a good deal of people waffling indecisively, I joined the group led by Fan to a kosher deli a few blocks away. We needed food, and I wanted to actually leave the hotel for a bit and actually remind myself I was in New York City for the first time in 3 years. The deli was nice, but the service was slow as all hell, which made us have to rush back to the hotel to get to Thom's Mug-A-Guest panel at 1:30.

Got into Thom's Mug-A-Guest panel a tad late, but not too late to miss most of it. Thom talked about the voice work he'd done recently, including a role where he had to play a 4-year-old rabbit with an Irish accent. He apparently could do the 4-year-old voice, and he could do the Irish accent, but not both at the same time. He also mentioned the radio ads he'd done, like the Del Taco ad ("I'm the fast food king.") and about 20 or so Jack-in-the-Box ads, which he thought was a bit of typecasting. He added, somewhat dreamily, "One day, I'm gonna do a Red Lobster ad." The discussion moved on to the fact that Disney's marketing department is apparently on drugs - badly promoting "Treasure Planet" but giving "The Country Bears" good publicity.

He added that he STILL gets recognized for his Gargoyles voice work on occasion, six or seven years after the show was cancelled, and no one Thom's talked to disliked the show at all. We moved on to some more personal stuff, then to demo tapes - the costs involved, the clever demo tape covers some voice actors have. "...So if anyone has any good artwork..." Thom added. There was some complaints about the hotel, some screwed-up reservations and the evil concierge. Thom said he was lucky he could make a living off voice work and didn't know what he'd do if he had to get a regular job. "I can't do anything. I'd have to be a male prostitute." He also showed off his new tattoo (and no, he didn't strip, it was on his calf). We ran late, and someone mentioned Greg was coming for the voice acting panel. Thom promptly shut and locked the door. ;)

Voice acting panel was fun; Greg shared a story about Carol Channing's voice part on Rescue Rangers and the chiffon shirt that kept crinkling when she tried to record. (They told her the shirt had to go, so she obliged and did the whole thing in her bra. When she was called back to reprise the character, she was wearing that same shirt.) During the panel, Kathy ran in and started whispering to Thom and Greg about convention-related stuff, but Thom couldn't resist exclaiming out of the blue, "You're PREGNANT?" Which set the whole room off. Poor Kathy. :)

We did a voice panel workshop, which was a lot of fun. Again I'm glad I stuck with Hood Theatre while I was in school; I haven't been scolded by anyone to "project" properly for a while now. It was interesting to see how certain people interpreted a scene. I hung around to get the radio play audition over and done with, chatting with Sara about anime as we waited. (It's all her fault I picked up Kare Kano this weekend.)

I ended up reading Lexington because a) I figured they'd be tired of Elisa and Demona, b) I couldn't possibly read the Angela bit with a straight face, and c) the Lex passage was not that extreme and I wouldn't crack up. I wasn't all that self-conscious about having to read the Lex bit in front of Thom. Audition went fine, and I went to the History, Myths and Legends panel a bit late, mostly to listen in.

I honestly don't recall much of what happened between that and the Opening Ceremonies; I think I hung out in the con suite and discovered they kept it stocked with free food. Or maybe that's when I wandered up to the regular art show and checked out the pics and the art that Disney loaned, drooling over the stuff done by Dreamie, Sara Berkeley, Niamhgold, and several others.

Opening ceremonies rolled around eventually, and the G2004 staff came up with the Montreal pitch. They're trying to get Brigitte Bako again, and they did point out that the gambling age in Canada is 18. (Chris Rogers: "I'm taking signups for suckers at the poker table right now.") I don't care about the gambling, etc; the con staff looks like a pretty together bunch, and I'd just love to go to Montreal. So I'm going.

Greg came up, and gave us the latest DVD news, mentioned they brought the audio tape from the Team Atlantis Demona ep "The Last" with them (Thom: "And Greg, I'm doing an interpretive dance for it."), and read letters from Greg Guler and Brigitte Bako. Brigitte had to film in Spain, and in her letter told us, "Have fun, and be good to Greg." Ah, she's heard about us. Greg Guler - to Greg W's amusement - apparently misspelled "Gargoyles." Same stories as before, and I got some good pics of the original pitch and the pitch for "Dark Ages." Greg asked that no pics be taken of the "Bad Guys" leica reel, and I obliged. He told most of the same stories, and of course we all finished his sentences, although he added a comment from a reporter I don't remember hearing before: when Greg had said something about having these "ugly" gargoyles as the heroes, a female reporter apparently said, "There is nothing ugly about Goliath at all." Hee.

Kathy got a hold of me after opening ceremonies, and mentioned that Greg, Vic Cook, and some of them were going to a restaurant for dinner. Of course, I came along. It was a long walk, but a good meal, and really interesting to listen to the guys. One of Greg's friends from college met us at the restaurant. I'm glad Vic Cook made it this year, he's an interesting guy and easy to talk to. However, we lost track of time, and had to book it to get back to the hotel in time for the Othercon "Blue" Mug-A-Guest. Vic had to take off, and the rest of us made a break for the hotel. (This was somewhat problematic because Greg, who knew where we were going, started running, and I, who did not know where we were, was having a mild asthma attack and having a little trouble keeping up. Kathy hung back to keep an eye on me, and we did make it back in one piece. I probably shouldn't have tried to run, but even if I knew which way to go I wasn't comfortable getting too far behind the crowd.) We got there all right, and Greg was apologetic, but it was mainly my own fault for trying to run after them.

I took notes during the Mug-A-Guest, which started off as a "let's-see-who-can-shock-Greg" runaround. There were the comments about Goliath and Elisa getting together (Thom: "He'd split her wide open.") Someone asked who was "packing the most heat." While Greg joked, "Coldsteel is made of metal..." he added that he really didn't think about that and that Goliath would be the most obvious answer. They moved on to proportions, and Thom was saying, "The diameter of Demona's -" and Greg joked, "Well, actually, I do think about that."

He said, seriously, that they measured characters by head size (when I snickered, he added, "By head I mean cranium."), although some of the animators had fun. On the subject of Demona (I don't recall where in the conversation this one was), he noted, "And considering she's only fertile once every 20 years, you can imagine her pre-menstrual." Someone asked if gargoyles could perform oral sex on themselves. Thom was speechless, but he was too busy trying not to crack up to speak. Greg: "I sincerely do not know the answer to that." They went back to the commentary on how certain characters were occasionally drawn, and as Thom started going off on how Lex seemed to be drawn a certain way, Greg exclaimed, "Listen to this. 'My' dick! 'My' dick!"

And of course, the question most con reports I've seen have touched on: Is Lex gay? Greg said that in the show, he'd have considered getting Lex a male friend and never have indicated either way. But if people speculated, he added, they'd be right.

The talk went on to more conventional bits - fighting with Frank Paur over Jonathan Frakes and then Nana Visitor, how lax certain mores were on Avalon. On why Matt was so obsessed with the Illuminati, Greg said, "Well, he's Jewish. And he's a geek." (Seriously: just a conspiracy nut.) Asked about taking voice roles, Thom said, "Oh, I'll take them. I'm easy. I just don't get them." Greg: "You SLUT!"

The crowding in the room was making it a little warm, so I had to leave to get some air after that. Hung out outside the room with Stephen, KWS, and some other folks who can all draw better than me. Karine shared some maple liqueur, and I tried a tiny bit because I don't trust my tolerance. (Hey, I don't drink that much to begin with.) The room emptied out, and I didn't stay up too much longer before crashing in our room.

Saturday, June 28

Woke up at 11, freaked and hurried to get to the TGS panel. Only got into the tail end of it, and then wandered down to the art room to check out the pics. Niamhgold once again did an awesome set of pics, this time painting 12 characters as the face cards of all four suits. (I happily managed to snag the Jack of Spades/Puck and the Jack of Spades/Owen, just because I couldn't afford the whole set and I loved the idea of getting those two together.)

I really wanted to check out the Roughnecks/3x3 Eyes panel, but that was squashed as I realized my little notebook - with the Opening Ceremonies and the M-A-G notes - had gone missing. I panicked and spent over two hours searching until I found it; I'd left it at the TGS panel. Duh. Because of that, I missed the aforementioned panel and most of the crossover fanfic panel.

Was going to stick around for the crossover panel, but I stopped to get lunch in the con suite and happened to notice the cast list for the radio play. Dude. I actually got a part. Which meant that between 3:30 and 6, I was pretty much committed to the hotel. I'd been trying to work out how to meet up with Bruce (BK the Irregular to Buffy fanfic fans) while I was in town, and with the added wrinkle of the radio play, if I was going to coordinate anything I had to do it right then. (Of course, I was too busy listening to Stephen's hysterical Gargoyles/Rescue Rangers crossover idea and procrastinated a bit to hear the end of it.)

Got some help from A Fan, who had a wireless setup in the room he was sharing with Carter. However, his room key didn't work, so we had to hunt down his roommate (whose name the room was in). Finally found him, only to find out that his key didn't work either. So we called security. Finally, security let us in the room, and while Carter went down to get a pair of WORKING keys, I sent Bruce an e-mail with my cellphone number.

I ended up only making it to the last 5 minutes or so of the crossover panel. Ah well. :)

Radio play went fine; because of Gary Sperling's passing, Greg had brought "The Reckoning" in honor of Gary, who wrote the teleplay. I got Delilah, Batya got Demona, Stephen got Goliath, Jill "Leopard" got Angela, and if I list the whole cast I'll be typing all morning. Amusingly enough, Seth got CLAW of all characters - Greg's reasoning was that if someone bailed at the last second, he'd have an understudy. No one bailed (although I was tempted to disappear just to make Seth think he had to read Delilah), but Seth's stand-up-sit-down bit got a lot of laughter. Greg picked the script so Thom could read Lex, but Thom decided he wanted to do Sevarius. *snicker* First time Thom did the reading and the maniacal laughter, everyone cracked up. My five lines came out fine; when I did the growl in the rehearsal, it sounded like a cat was being stepped on and drowned simultaneously, but it came out fine when we had an actual audience.

I had to shut my phone off during the radio play, and while waiting in line for the banquet I got a voicemail from Bruce - he was on his way. Nichelle Nichols did indeed show up, and while I didn't get to sit at her table in the guest lottery, I did sit at Vic Cook's table. Unlike last year's banquet, the food was pretty good, albeit not geared towards vegetarians. Got a call from Bruce during the banquet, went down to get him (after resorting to cellphones to find him in the lobby) and we snuck into the banquet and listened to Ms. Nichols for a bit. She talked about "Mark of the Panther," her favorite episode (she did the Anansi story in just two takes), how she "put her career on hold" for Star Trek (hee), and her novels. Greg also worked in the Jalapena story, and Greg B made his own bet: "Should the series ever come back, I bet you can't get Demona to say it." We didn't stick around for the autographs, and instead went down to hang out in the con suite prior to the Masquerade.

As we were sitting there, just talking and hanging out (and a couple people commented on Bruce's Psi Corps pin), Bruce put on his tie and sunglasses, and then stuck in the ear bud he'd brought (thinking he'd take the train). Right then, Jill, who was dressed as the Matrix (the movie one, that is - she had this little flat screen on her chest that showed a green LCD display that looked like it) spotted him, made the Agent Smith connection, and pounced, asking to borrow Bruce for the cosplay. He was fine with it, so he and Jill ended up in the lineup for the Masquerade. I went back into the ballroom when someone told all non-costume people to get in there, camera on hand. Dreamie presented Thom with a gift at the Masquerade - a belt with a padlock. She then announced, "And now we're going to auction off the key." Heh.

As usual, there were some really creative costumes; you had to love Revel as Vinnie and Spacebabie as Robyn Canmore (in full Hunter gear), Seri Wavelength as Gruoch, Archangel as Owen Burnett (complete with "I'm Xanatos' Bitch" sign), y2hecate's costume (I wish I'd gotten a better shot of it), and Patrick Toman and Karine Charlebois as Anastasia and Fox. Respectively. Yep, Patrick went in drag again, and while that's no longer so much of a surprise, the rather long and amusing cosplay they did had us laughing our heads off. ("No one mentioned any fairy PRINCE funny business, though...") *snerk*

To top it all off, Thom obliged those of us who missed it at G2001 and dropped his pants right there on stage long enough for us to get pictures. I was far away, and naturally couldn't get a clear pic in that big, dimly-lit ballroom, but the boxers showed up even on that dim photo. Hee.

I missed a lot of the art show awards, although Sara Berkeley took the lion's share of the awards this year. Niamhgold's face card set won Best In Show (she did it again - wonder what she's going to do NEXT year?). Bruce ended up leaving around 10:30, amazingly not having been scared off. ;) Sorry I kept you out so late!

Went back to the Con Suite, with the Dreamer Clan all dressed up as their evil doubles. Got to talk to Constance and Batya for a bit (and Constance, your outfit was a trip). Snagged some more free food, as it was apparent this was a trend.

Ended up watching A Fan's tapes of the show with him and Carter in their hotel room and split a pizza from Domino's. FINALLY got to actually see "The Reckoning," the one single episode of Gargoyles I never managed to see. (Yes, same ep we did for the radio play, which figured.)

After that, I wandered around for a bit, got locked out of Rocky Horror (and after spending ten solid minutes pounding on the ballroom doors and yelling "Let us in!" someone answered, but at that point I'd lost interest). Ended up sitting and chatting with Ellen (who I'd never met) and Dylan (yep, Whitbourne made it to a Gathering! whee!). I wish I'd been more coherent then, because it was a really fascinating conversation about how we'd gotten into the show, how we ended up with certain fanfic ideas, why we discarded certain fanfic ideas, and what we thought of the Gathering. I could have hung out with them for hours if I hadn't been on the verge of passing out. (God, I still hope Ellen didn't read my stuff. The majority of my old Gargoyles series makes me cringe.)

I think I conked out at 2:30. I'm not sure, but I was out cold as soon as I hit the sack.

Sunday, June 29

Made a lazy mistake Sunday morning - since Kathy was con staff, I assumed her phone alarm would get us up on time. First time I woke up, I saw her still in bed and figured it was still early.

Her phone alarm did not go off. We woke up at 1:15.

Jumped out of bed, dressed, and raced to Vic and Greg W's Team Atlantis Q&A panel. Got there late, but not too late, and they were discussing why the series was so stupidly chucked. They were talking about budget problems and the fact that overhead took so much of it when I got in - lately, only half of the budget goes to the cartoon itself. Yeesh.

Disney saves higher budgets for properties with the Disney banner (ABCFamily doesn't count). There's apparently a difference between shows with the Disney label and shows that are "carrying the flag for Disney." "Team Atlantis" fell into the latter category. When TA was in development, there was no ABCFamily, and a certain exec hated the idea from the start and got to say "I told you so" when the film flopped. Huge S&P arguments over the series didn't help either.

So they'd actually developed 6 episodes of the series, and gotten the voice work done for the 7th (the Demona ep) - that's about $1 million invested in the show already - when there was a message for Greg at 11 am about a "10 AM full crew meeting." He didn't think anything of it, and called their story editor on a separate issue. The story editor wouldn't tell him what was up, saying, "You have to call Tad yourself." Vic had been called in at 9 and was told privately what was going on - they were axing the show completely. Forget the $1 mil already in the project, forget all those episodes, the film was a flop, the execs wanted to kill it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. At the time, such a thing was unimaginable; wasting all that money and time on something that was half-done and then chucking it all just wasn't done.

Now, however, it's become a verb: last year, Greg mentioned that if something else like that happened at Disney, the project was "Atlantised." He recently heard that used by someone at Sony, and now it's become an industry term.

They showed us some clips from the straight-to-tape "movie," which was actually 3 episodes thrown together. From the bit I saw, it looked like a fun series (better than the original film), so it's really a shame that this happened.

After that, I realized what time it was and bolted for the art room - I'd forgotten to bid on the two pieces I'd wanted! Luck, it seemed, was with me; while a large part of the face cards were gone, no one had bid on the Owen or the Puck. I snagged them both and picked up a Lex print for Thom to sign, then headed to closing ceremonies.

Not much to say about closing ceremonies, really, just some quotes. Greg Weisman, on having the podium turned over to him by the con staff: "And heaven forbid I should shut up." Thom held up a sculpture of Lex's head he got from the art show, saying, "Look, I got a little head." Aaron was kind enough to inform all us camera Nazis that "Thom is keeping his pants in the upright and locked position." Got to say hello and goodbye to JEB, said goodbye to a lot of folks who were heading out, signed up for G2004, and got Thom to sign my print. Also got a look at the Chaos pic Karine did for BrooklynX and nearly fell over laughing. It was just priceless.

Hung out in the con suite for a little while. The video room was pretty much over with, and Greg B tried to set something up so I could watch some Cowboy Bebop (the only episode I've seen in full is "Toys in the Attic") By the time he got it in, though, it was too noisy to hear the dialogue, and it was almost 4 so I had to join the Coney Island crew to hit the subway.

(NOTE: Greg Weisman is the only Greg mentioned from here on in, unless I specify otherwise. ;) )

We took the subway, all 27 of us (as Greg's constant head-counts reminded me). On the way to Coney Island, we stopped at the World Trade Center memorial. Wow. Thankfully, the memorial stuff was not tacky in the least. I didn't cry, but the sight of it just made me stare and think. It made what happened almost 2 years ago seem a lot more real. I took some pictures, and Sara the Great and I ended up following Greg around to the upper deck (we couldn't see anyone else from our group). Once we got everyone together, we went all the way down to Coney Island.

Coney Island was... pretty much what I expected. Overpriced (hey, it's New York), kind of grungy, not as big as some people think, but it was still fun. Ended up in a group with Sara the Great, Dylan, Mooncat, Princess Alexandria, Leo, The Bizz, Diamond Debbie, BrooklynX, and if I forgot anyone, please tell me. We went on the Cyclone first thing - I wanted to go on it, but wasn't going to go on a full stomach. I only went on it once because it was a rough ride; I've been on worse, but it's an older rollercoaster, my brain felt like it had been rattling in my skull, and it was all left turns so I kept squishing Dylan. After I waited with a couple others for the rest of the looney tunes to finish their second ride on it, we went on a few more rides, including the Wonder Wheel ("So which one of these did Demona and Thailog have their fight on?"), the haunted house, and I went on the go-carts while some others went on the Zipper. (Me: "So you gauge the quality of a ride by the amount of head trauma you sustain?" Sara: "Yep!") Played some Skee Ball, got everyone to sign the free smiley faces we got. We did NOT stay til midnight, much to my relief; I think we left around 10.

Took the subway back up to 34th(?) Street, after many headcounts (Someone: "We have confirmed that, indeed, Greg can count to 27.") and a bit of confusion when they were working on the tracks, but the night didn't end there: Greg announced that he wanted to find pancakes. (Me: "Easier said than done. This isn't Williamsburg.") That switched to a general search for something with sugar at 11 pm, and we ran around before finally finding an open ice cream place in Penn Station. I needed to find a pharmacy, but we didn't pass one that was still open. While everyone was hanging out in the con suite, watching Cowboy Bebop, Greg was kind enough to walk me to a 24-hour pharmacy, which naturally was six or seven blocks away. (Of course, I had to ask him after he'd changed out of his walking shoes. Thanks again, Greg. I appreciate it.)

I crashed at a relatively decent hour afterwards.

Monday, June 30

Woke up at 8:45, although at first I thought it was 9:45 and called Kathy in a panic before I realized I had time to shower and dress. We checked out, and I stored my luggage in the luggage check room. We didn't take A Fan's touring trip, and I went with Kathy to Chinatown instead. It was incredibly hot, and we ducked into shops as much to browse as we did to just get out of the heat. Kathy did find the book she was looking for, and I bought a jade elephant for Plague's mother (for the next time I visit OC and she spoils us rotten). We were going to eat in Chinatown, but when we stopped at a fairly crowded restaurant, we were the only non-Asians there. This wouldn't have bothered us if we hadn't realized that everyone else had to take a lottery number and they were going to clear the next table for us first. So we ended up going to Little Italy instead.

Kathy had a flight to catch, so we got back to the hotel around 2. This gave me two and a half hours to kill, so I went in the gift shop, and suddenly remembered - to my chagrin - that I'd left the birthday present I'd bought for Innocence on the top shelf of the closet. After a few phone calls and a bit of panic, someone from security kindly went and got me the teddy bear from the room. So now I had an hour and a half to kill, and no one familiar in sight. I did see Revel and Spacebabie coming back from the Empire State Building, but after what transpired they weren't really going anywhere. (Congratulations, guys. :) )

So what happens when Mandi has time to kill in New York? I spend money. Went into the gift shop and got a T-shirt for the hell of it (but since this is ME, the NYC shirt I picked was the one that said "New York Mental Institution"). I went across the street to Penn Station and picked up an on-sale copy of the 5th Harry Potter book (between the discount and the coupon I had, I saved about $16 off the cover price), came back and sat down with the book. I'd made it through a good chunk - hey, I'm a speed reader - when I ran into Greg, who was headed to McDonald's and asked if I wanted to come along. So we picked up lunch in the tiny McDonald's, noted the lack of air conditioning and space, and took it back to his room to eat.

Greg was surprised to find that this was my fifth, not my second con - he didn't remember me prior to 2002. (Being one of the few people in Williamsburg with a car last year, I drove down to the Jamestown tour and boat ride after the con.) That was because 2002 was the first time I could go to a convention with a real job that allowed me to save enough leave up to stick around after the convention - I had to fly out of Orlando before closing ceremonies in 2000, and I missed G2001 because I had to start my job the day after that convention ended. He didn't remember me as the person who they held radio play auditions an hour late for in G1998 because I got sick. (And I'm VERY glad he didn't. I was in bad shape that Saturday. Damn you, Blimpie's! :) ) Besides, you know, I'd been too shy to introduce myself earlier. Helps when you room with someone who's on the convention staff. Greg eventually kicked me out to get some sleep, which wasn't a big deal since I didn't have as much time to kill anyway.

It was 4:15 when I confirmed that my train was on time, got my bags and headed across to Penn Station. Got on the train with no problem, didn't forget ANYTHING for once (knock on wood), and got back to Aberdeen on time. Let me tell you, next time I head up that way, I'm definitely taking the train. I wouldn't take the train outside of the Boston-to-DC routes (I still can't believe BrooklynX took the train from Sacramento, and I nearly choked when I heard the train coming from Detroit was delayed 6 hours because it HIT SOMEONE), but it's a really smooth ride up and down that corridor.

And that's all, until I go to Montreal for 2004...

Shaun "BrooklynX" writes...

Ok, Greg, here's mine:

June 23 - 25:

Boarded the train in Sacramento at roughly 11:25 and was moving about 5 minutes later towards Chicago. Learned something interesting as we passed through Truckee, CA. Between 1871 and 1882, the town completely burned down 6 times. Oops.

Spent most of the time between Sacramento and Chicago sleeping, writing and listening to my E Nomine CD's. Through in a couple stops where we were there for several minutes at least, so I go off and stretched for a few. Got into Chicago around 5:00 p.m. on the 25th. Was roughly an hour late, but wasn't an issue since it cut my layover from 3 hours to 2. Then I walked into South Lounge and it was packed with bodies and more showing up every minute. They had no AC going and the only thing that was moving the air was 4' by 4' fan. This area was meant to seat roughly 250 people. There were probably about 400 of us packed in there. Lovely.

Had Pop-Tarts and a Mt. Dew for dinner. Yum. Around 6, they said the train would a few minutes late to the track due to some issue with the diner car. So instead of leaving at 7, I figured maybe 7:15. Wrong. At point, I called Kelly to let her know there was no chance of me meeting her at the hotel at 2 like planned the next day. I told her I would call back the next day with more information about the arrival time. As the delay got longer and longer, I was beginning to wonder if they somehow had lost the train out in the yard or if it burned to the ground.

At 9:45, we get told the train will be to our track in 15 minutes. Of course, it didn't pull up to the track until 10:10. No real surprise there. So the delay ended up turning into just over three hours. We board and finally depart from the station at 10:30 p.m. Just after we cleared the yards, you could tell the engineer had throttled way up and was trying to make up some of the lost time.

June 26:

Wake up at 6 a.m. Where is the train? Cleveland, Ohio. We're now 4 hours behind. Went and got breakfast in the diner car. The food left something to be desired. Explained to somebody about the show, since I was wearing one of the sweatshirts they gave out last year. As the day goes on, we get later and later. By the time we reach Buffalo, NY, we're 5 hours late. By the time we get to Rochester, NY, we're not 6 hours behind. While at the station there, I mentally waved to Siryn. At one point, it looked like we might make up about an hour, but we fell behind once again.

Because of how far behind we were, they served us a free lunch and dinner. The lunch was some Beef Stew. That food really left something to be desired. It was rather... gross tasting. Not to mention, couldn't find any beef in it either. I could just see it now: "Beef? You want beef in your beef stew? HAHAHA! That's a good one!"

Dinner was a boxed meal. Got to pick between turkey or ham and I went for ham since I rather dislike turkey. Got a drink and sat down. Opened it up to discover it was a sub sandwich, a bag of chips and an apple turnover. The sub wasn't bad, but wasn't great either. Was far better than that beef stew though! Finally got to NY Penn Station at roughly 8:40 to 8:45 p.m. At this point, I was almost 7 hours behind. I was supposed to be in at 1:50.

It sure wasn't pleasant when I stepped off the train with my luggage. Walked out from a nice and rather cool train car into a sheer wall of heat. I moved out of the way and quickly stripped off my Gargoyles sweatshirt, but that didn't help much. Trudged upstairs and tried to find the I needed to get to the hotel. I figured out the right direction, but wanted to double check, so I asked the guy at the information desk. He laughed when I asked which exit for Hotel Pennsylvania "Are you serious?"

I wanted shake my head, but didn't. "Yes, I am." He then told which way to go. I thanked him and walked off. I still find a bit ridiculous that he laughed at for making sure which direction I needed to go to get to the hotel. Short walk later, I get to the hotel and checked in. Called Kelly to see where she was, but she was out doing DDR. We had planned to meet up after I got in, but that was for the 2 p.m. timeframe, not the almost 9 p.m. timeframe.

This is the first hotel I've seen where you need to show your room card before getting in the elevators. My room was up on the 11th floor as was maybe 30 feet from the elevators. Nice and close. When I went to shower, I had to wait over five minutes just to get some hot water in my room. Of course, there was the weird water pressure that made me feel like I was getting pelted by stuff. Ate a small dinner and tried to fall asleep. Didn't pass out until roughly 2:30 a.m. 3 hour time difference can be such a pain to adjust to. Oh well.

June 27:

Woke up around 8:30 when the maids wanted to come clean my room. So much for getting a rather good amount of sleep to start the con off with. Tried to sleep for a little longer, but decided it was futile at best. Got up, showered and went downstairs to the cafe down in the lobby. Got a banana muffin and a coke for breakfast. On the way back to my room, I ran into Mandolin. On the way to her floor first,
we both started to get annoyed by the CNN that kept playing in the elevators. The first couple times it was amusing, but got real old, real quick.

She drops something off in her room, then we went to mine. She thumbed through my cels while I chewed on breakfast. We talked for a little and then headed down to find registration around 11. After getting my badge and shirt, went to lunch with a few others. I got the chicken fingers. The food was pretty good, but the service was crappy. Several times I had started to wonder if the server had forgotten we were there. Got back and was supposed to be a runner, but didn't really do anything. Went up to the art room at around 2:30 to help watch it while Kellie Faye was helping get some supplies. Took a look at the art that Disney had lent us. Very spiffy stuff.

Too bad I couldn't buy some of those pieces. Would love to get one of the pre-production Goliath's so it could join the one I picked up last year. Not to mention, would have loved to have gotten the drawings for the clones as well. Oh well, maybe someday?

Checked out an art panel before hitting opening ceremonies. After a the brief introductions by the 2003 staff, those of us on the 2004 staff got to stand on stage to make our pitch. Karine and Kelly did all the talking and did a great job at making the pitch. We handled a few questions, plus Kelly took care of the whole speaking French deal. After that, Greg Weisman went through his usual spill that I've heard four times now. Sure it's the same stuff over and over, but it's still good to hear it. Course, we started finishing his sentences too.

After that, got some raffle tickets. Was supposed to meet up with Karine, Kelly and a few others for dinner, but Kelly couldn't reach my phone for some reason. Went up to the MST3K they were doing for a few episodes of Gargoyles. After that, went to the blue Q&A that Greg and Thom were holding. Several times the questions went out of the gutter, but after did get back there. Learned that Lexington was gay, more or less. Wasn't something I really expected, but as Greg went on, I could see where he was coming from. Of course, he wouldn't say who Lexington's lover was going to be, or what species for that matter, other than it wasn't somebody we've seen on the show. Ended up getting kicked out around 2 by security.

June 28:

Tried to sleep in, but once again, didn't work out too well. And this time I had been smart enough to put up the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door to keep the maids from waking me up. Went through the morning routine and got breakfast. Talked to several folks for a while, though I can't remember their names. Around 2, I went to check out the "When Worlds Collide" writing panel. After that, checked out a storyboarding panel by Vic Cook. After that, went up to the art room and voted. This year they had folks write down the numbers for the pieces they wanted to vote on and then enter the information into a computer. Very smart idea, since it cuts down on them having to tally it all by hand.

Skipped the radio play this year and hung out with Kelly as she did pre-registration for next year. Also got a pic done by Liz while chatting. After that, went up to wait for the banquet. Showed Greg, Thom and Vic my cels. I liked one of Vic's comments: "He's got more cels than Disney!" We talked briefly and I found out he has some relatives that live over in the Sacramento area. Sat with Karine, Kelly, Patrick and a few others. Oh yeah, Artgolem from Aimee's forum was at the table as well. Always nice getting to meet folks from forums.

Talked about a number of things before the Q&A session with Nichelle Nichols. She's got a good voice, but she seemed to be going on and on about her books. Hung around after that to get pictures at the masquerade. Was sort of disappointing to see not many entries this year. Also got picked up a free sweatshirt, since the 2003 staff was giving away free shirts and the likes for folks who went to the banquet.

June 29:

Ran into Thom on the way down to get some breakfast. He had to pretty much start a war just to get cream for his coffee from the folks in cafe. While trying to pack away my drinks, he kept trying to prod me into hurrying up. For the first time, we both got asked to show our room key cards to go up the elevators, which surprised the both of us. On the way up, we talked briefly about how rude it was on them not to want to give him cream for his coffee and how my bagel shop job a few years back, we would have the cream out for folks. Plus we both shook our head at the CNN blaring away in the elevator.

I went to browse what they had to auction while he went off to do something else. Didn't see anything of interest other than the Atlantis storyboard, but knew that would shoot out my price range real fast. Went over to the art room, where I sat down with Karine and Kelly to help sell raffle tickets and pre-registration. Kelly showed my some of the new art she had gotten from Karine, plus a doodle of some of some of the folks and how they arrived. I loved how she had me going: "Tap, tap, tap," while waiting in Chicago.

Got Karine to do a colored commission of my gargoyle character, Chaos. She did it of him counting money and saying, "It's good to be treasurer..." I really love the expression she gave to him. After seeing it finished, I went, "That is so going to be put on a shirt!" After that, we started discussing about doing special staff shirts. We would have the mascot on the front like everybody else. On the back would be "Staff" and our own character doing their respective job. Brought this up with Greg, who told us to surprise him for the design on the back of his shirt.

Moved over to closing ceremonies and sold some more pre-registrations. Also drew the raffle tickets for the prizes. Stayed through part of the auction as well, during which I bought the Gargoyles board game. We did pretty well on pre-registration. Sold 54 of them, which isn't a bad start.

Around 5, Met up in the lobby with Greg and company that was going to Coney Island. We took a vote and stopped at where the WTC towers had been. It's hard to believe that one of the places my grandfather had worked in was gone. He had worked on the 68th floor of the North Tower after they had been built. Took several pictures before we moved onto Coney Island.

Of course, Greg kept counting us... several times over. Barely had entered the place when Kelly and Liz ran over to play DDR, effectively separating myself and Talyesin from the group as well (they were my buddies). After that, we wandered for a little bit before getting on the Wonder Wheel. While going around on that, we tried to see if we could spot anybody from the group, but wasn't able to. After some walking around, we hit up the McDonald's. We stood in line for twenty or so minutes and noticed the smiles are free sign. Liz asked for a large fries, small chocolate shake and four smiles. It took the guy a couple seconds to catch on to what she had said. We only got two smiles. After we walked away, I said I felt cheated since we only got two.

A couple minutes later, we ran into a couple others from the group. Found out where we were supposed to meet up and when. Joined up at the right time and headed back to the hotel. As we waited for the subway, a few of us took group pics. Boarded the train and got to the hotel a little over an hour later. As we were walking back, Greg decided he wanted pancakes. We started searching about for diner or a Denny's. Course, this isn't Williamsburg, so no luck. Of course, he said he could go for a donut or ice cream. We finally managed to find a place one the lower level of Penn Station that was still open and selling ice cream.

We heading back and after a few minutes of seeing the con suite crowded, headed down with Kelly and a few others down to her room to chat while they drew. I said goodbye to them at around 2 a.m. and went back to my room to start packing. Finished up around 3 and set the alarm for 10:30. Course, having the con is over jitters, I didn't fall asleep until 4:30 a.m.

June 30:

Woke up at 8:30 to somebody's door slamming shut. I tried to get another hour to two of sleep, but it didn't work. Checked at around 11:30 and ended up chatting with several folks from the Gathering until about 2:15, when I had to head to Penn Station to catch my train at 2:50. Felt sad that the Gathering had come to an end. There I ran into Silver once again, who was taking the same train, but getting off long before I was. The train managed to make good time.

July 1 - 3:

Got into Chicago at 9 a.m. and got to sit there for a little over 5 hours before my train back to Sacramento. The train pulled out at about 2:40, a little over 30 minutes late. The trip went pretty well until we got to Denver. At this point, we were an hour behind, but that's nothing new from what I've heard. As they went to disconnect the mail cars and the sleepers, they derailed the sleeper cars. Thankfully, nobody
was hurt. Turned me from getting into Sacramento about an hour late into me getting there almost 5 hours late. Instead of getting in at around 2:20, I got there at 7:10.

One of the first things I did after I got off the train was go to Denny's to get some non-train food, which I was really sick of at this point. While it was nice to be home, I miss the fun I had at the Gathering.

John Clemens AKA Flanker flankerbravo@hotmail.com writes...

I'm assuming this is where we're supposed to post our little Gathering journals.
This year was my first Gargs con and it started off on a real down note. Even though I was told I could get off early, I didnt get off early enough and I missed my flight by ten minutes (ottawa to laguardia direct). So I had to take a flight that cost four times as much. There was also a connection in Montreal. I got to New York way behind schedule and with no money. Fortunately the airport shuttle took credit and I got to the hotel. I scrounged up some US money and managed to call Gabe who I had arranged on the gathering forums to share a room with.
While I was waiting for him I decided right there to stop being bitter and miserable and just relax and have a good time. Gabe was great guy. After I dropped my stuff off in the room I wandered around and met Dave AKA Wingless whom I already know, which was comforting after what I had been through.
By this time it was the blue question panel. It was the first time I had seen Greg or Thom in person and it was very interesting. I finally got ask about the politics (or lack thereof)in Deadly Force which had been bothering me. Thom blurted out that Lexington has a ten inch tongue. I can't remember how that came up but it was hilarious. Thom really seemed to indentify with Lex which was interesting. We got kicked out by a security guy. I could've handled him no problem, but I was tired anyway.
The next day I got up and ate 'breakfeast' in some grease hole called blimpie's. I headed back to the hotel and figured I'd try my hand at voice acting. Someone handed me a list of characters and reading material. On the form I circled 'yes' for accents and chatted nervously with some other people auditioning. I went in knowing I was not going to get a role, I just thought it would be fun. Being a moron I read for Hudson thinking I could tackle it. I ended up goofing off and joking around more than auditioning. Thom seemed to think I was funny, but I dont think I impressed Greg. Oh well, there's always next year. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I finally registered and got my con badge which was neat. I had my internet handle on it instead of my name so people I've chatted with could recognize me. When people started calling me Flanker in person it was kind of weird. I ducked in and out of various panels. It didnt take me long to realize I was totally outclassed by the artists and writers present at the convention. You can't teach me how to pop a wheelie if I cant even ride a bicycle in the first place. The original show concepts hanging in the art room were disturbing. It looked like gummi bears crossed with the gargoyles from the hunchback movie. Creepy. I watched Greg's panel on Starship Troopers and 3x3 Eyes. It was very interesting and freezing in that bloody ballroom.
I cant remember what else I did before the radio play. That was very enjoyable. I could have done a better Sevarius though.
The Banquet started on an awkward foot. Anyone interested in sitting with a Guest (Greg, Thom, Vic or Nichelle Nichols) would get in a different line. I'm no math guy, but it was a small line. There were fewer people who wanted seats with guests than there were seats. Then someone handed out numbers. I had 001. So I figured I would have my pick of where I would sit. That was weird. I figured I wanted to eat dinner with Thom Adcox. He had laughed at my stupid jokes earlier and we chatted a few times since. I figure if I had a rapport with anyone, it was him. It didnt matter since the same person came along and put us in groups of four. That was really weird. We go in and sit down. I see Thom sitting at a different table. Fortunately whoever was supposed to be at my table hadn't arrived yet. So I committed the one seat sneak and darted over to his table. He knew my name which was kind of flattering. I sat down and no one seemed to care. I was happy thinking I was at 'the funny table'. Nichelle Nichols came in with her entourage. It was odd how we were all in our jeans and T-shirts and she looked ready for the Oscars. I'm glad I wasn't at her table. I'm sure I would have had nothing intelligent to say to her. Anyway, someone asked about Thom's dogs and he mentioned that one had been put down recently. One by one everyone around the table shared a depressing story about their favourite dog passing away in some tragic fashion. All I could do was think about Maggie (greatest dog in the world) and how much that sucked. Before I could make the comment, Thom smiled and said "I thought this would be 'the funny table' John looks like he's going to cry." It was funny and then on it was all jokes and laughs. I didnt really have a masquerade costume. I had my tac-vest and some camoflauge paint. I wanted to find a bad guy and work out a skit. This never happened in time, so I figured I'd have to come up with something. I've already been participating in the M&M prank, so I figured I go with that. I got another package and hid under a table right next to the judging table. I could hear all of Thom's lewd comments. I waited for a perfect moment. I would have prefered a steathly crawl and maybe place the M&Ms on Gregs shoe or something. The layout would not permit that, so I waited for all the skits to end. I wanted to strike when Greg started talking but not yet announcing winners. When he left someone place M&Ms on his seat. Bastard. Greg and the judges returned and found the treat. He started speaking by saying "and what's with all the M&Ms its starting to freak me out.."

Perfect

I popped out and tossed the candy at him and bolted for the exit yelling about being spotted and aborting the operation. I think maybe one person in a room of a hundred people thought it was funny. I felt a little embarassed. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. Maybe in the post 9/11 NYC a guy wearing camo springing out from under a table and lobbing candy treats at unsuspecting Greg Weismans just isnt funny anymore. I offer an honest apology to anyone who felt that I acted innapropriately.
After the masquerade music came on and I left before I made an ass of myself trying to dance. I was tired from waiting under a table having many photos taken of my boots.
Sunday was a little depressing, but I really enjoyed hearing the audio tapes and seeing the videos of Greg's other projects. The world of animation seems so hostile and bizarre. The stuff that gets made vs the stuff that gets rejected, I'll never understand.
As the con was ending I had another chat with Thom and he told me he hadnt been 'officially invited' to next year's con. Is that even neccesary anymore? I mean, c'mon, seriously. Same with you Vic.
Dave AKA A Fan lead a walking tour the next day. I went with Leo and the Deutsch Duo. (I forget your names, beat me up next time you see me). We had a good time and I got lots of cool photos with my tiny camera. Then I forgot to give Leo the book he bought ( I was carrying it around in my back pack). I mailed it back to him when I got back up north. I'm already planning my next trip to NYC for some more sight seeing. And Montreal shouldn't be a problem. I'll see you all there. Hopefully the DVD will be out by then.

Andrea writes...

Gathering Journal

I wasn't going to do a Gathering Journal, but here it is anyway! Feel free to point and laugh at if need be...I suck at this kind of stuff...

Friday:

Woke up around 7 am and called my friend to wake up. She'd woken up like an hour before, was already at breakfast. She got to my house around 8, and about 8:30 or so we headed down to the train station. Train was a few minutes late. We then settled back and just played gameboys and listend to music for the hour ride into Boston. Once we arrived at North Station, we had to hop the subway to South Station. We got 2 tokens each, since we had to ride 2 different subway lines along the way. When we changed over, both lines were in the same area, so there was no charge for the changeover. So, we saved our tokens for the ride home. We arrived at south station at like 10:30 or so. Our Bus wasn't leaving until 12 (we had to leave early since the next train out of our town would make us very pressured for time, and we didn't want that), so we sat around until our bus was ready. After the 11:30 bus out of our gate boarded, we got in line. There was plenty of room left (it was also going to NYC), so they let us on. There was a delay, so we didn't actually leave until 11:45, but it was still earlier than our bus was scheduled to leave.

Bus ride was okay, we were due to arrive at about 4:20 or so, giving us plenty of time to call our parents and enjoy the surrounding before opening ceremonies. But we got caught in a LOT of traffic, so we didn't rrive at the bus terminal until about 5:45 pm. We cuaght the subway to the Hotel, and when we arrived on solid ground, I SCREAMED out loud (mostly stuff along the lines of, "If I ever needed proof of the exitance of God, here it is.") my joy that we had finally arrived. We checked in, and got to our room, and called out parents, and headed up to the ballroom just before opening ceremionies were to begin. We didn't have our bdges yet, but we got okay'd by a bunch of people, and we were going to pick them up after in the Con Suite. I noted that some people looked like some people my friend and I knew back home, which was facinating and yet creepy at the same time. My friend was all, so which guy is Greg? I'm saying to my self, how can you NOT know what Greg looks like? Didn't you see his picture on the Gathering site?

Opening ceremonies was cool. We represented a few of the con virigns this year. On the way to the Con Suite afterwards, like 12 of of crammed into the elevtor. I don't remember exactly what I said, but I made a reference to Fang's saying of "Mommy" In the Bad Guys reel...and soon we were all screaming it. I was rather funny...After picking up our Con stuff, my friend and I went back to our room to put our newly aquired packages away, and headed to the 6th floor since we wanted to win Xanatos' money. Well, that got screwed over, so we went upstairs for Hudson's rant. It was great. I even had to correct Hudson at one point because he screwed up the line, "Put your head between your knees and kiss your ass good-bye" (afterwhich, he told me to shut up). My friend left in the middle of it, don't know where she went...

Afterwards, we had the Clan wars. I watched, and took a few pictures (which didn't come out too good, since it was a suck camera, but still...), and later decided to sign up. We stopped before it was my turn, since half the guns were broken or didn't shoot. I definatly plan to play next year. After, I headed down to the Blue Mug-a-guest. I'm surpirsed no one asked me to whip out my ID, sicne I don't like I'm over 18, I look maybe 15 (just for the record, I'm 19 1/2). I sat on the floor for a bit (with a perfect view), and later in a chair on the corner (So I was out of people's way of leaving). We finally got kicked out at like 1:30. I got to talk with Greg for all of 30 seconds and shook his hand (which was the reason I came in the first place). I went back to my room and to bed.

Saturday:

We got up at about 8 am to go to shopping. We had lots of fun. We got into a little bit of "touble" on the way back to the hotel. Hudson and a bunch of other people (I'm horrible at names, and was in no mood to pay attention anyhow) helped us out with, so I missed a bunch of stuff. Later, I hung out at the con suite (bringing twizlers for the gang) for a bit, discussing manga and evil twins until the Radio play. It was good, I didn't pick up on the fact that Seth was playing Claw at first (I wasn't thinking in the right terms at that moment), but I did later when he stood up. Some of the growls were quite funny. And Thom as Servarius was SOOO hilarious! It was just so wrong...

I think it was here when I got Greg to sign my book. He drew me a picture, but of exactly what, I couldn't tell. Then I got my picutre taken with him (and Greg, you're not looking at the camera!).

At dinner I got to sit at the table with Nichelle Nichols. It was okay, I admit I would have rather sit with Greg. The food was good, but I didn't eat much of it since I wasn't very hungry.

The Masquerade was fun. I look lots of pitures, but on a few, I have the back's of people's heads since they jumped in front at the last second. I ran out of film and couldn't change it fast enough, so I dont' have a good picture of Thom dropping his pants. I have the start of it though (hehe, nice boxers, Thom!), and I guess that'll do for me.

I didn't stay around for the dance, I think I went to my room for a bit maybe, and later to the Con Suite until like 1 am. I felt kinda dumb and almost invasive (being a newbie), but I'm one of those people that just have to be around other people. We listened to a bunch of music by people I'd never heard of.

Sunday:

I spend much of the day running around trying to solve the problem left over from yesterday. I missed the auction because of it. I spent time looking for my friend, and I couldn't seem to find here anywhere.

Closing cereminies was okay. I wasn't paying much attention, since I was having a bad day (Saturday's incident didn't help any at all). Plus, I was kinda mad at a few people for various reasons (I'd rather not say why, since I don't want to insult anyone).

Then the fighting between me and my friend started. She wanted to leave for the bus terminal, but I wanted to stay (I'd rather be killing time around people I sorta know than complete strangers). By the time we started to leave, she had to say by to everyone. I finally saw a teeny bit of the othercon art room (loved how inside on the board it was labeled "The Porno Room").

Bus ride home was okay. I spent the entire time listening to CD's. We would've gotten home in time, but the 15 minute rest stop turned into like 30 minutes. We missed the train back home, but we called my friend's boyfriend to pick us up because we had a feeling we were going to miss our train. We fought some more. I was trying to be respectful of people around us by telling her not to swear so darn much and turn the car radio down (that was very loud, and I told them if we get pulled over and fined $500 by the cops, I wasn't paying a penny. And yet I would probably be begged for it, as the only one in the car that had that much money in my bank account) when we hit my neighboorhood (which is a residential area that is NOT used to loud noise at all, and espicially not at 1 am on Monday morning when people have to get up and work). She made a point of saying next year she was taking her boyfriend, and they were going to room together, and that I might not be able to go (since it wouldn't be with her, and one reason our parents let us go is that we were going together). That REALLY pissed me off. I don't think she's even going to be dating him in next August, plus I can find other people to go with, and I have PLENTY of money to get me there and back. I havent talked to her, but I'm going to be compensated for this trip that I paid for ENTIRELY, one way or another (which cost me, oh, about $800. That's a LOT of money for someone with my age and current job).

I was glad to be home. After all that happened (especially Sunday, which was a REALLY bad day), I was glad it was over.

All in all, though, it was worth it, and I plan on going to Montreal next year if I possibly can.

Greg Bishansky writes...

Gathering Journal
Knew I would get to this eventually.

Tuesday, June 24th.

Woke up early to pick up Aaron and Mara from LaGuardia Airport. Drove to my friend Nick's house in Pleasantville to pick him up, as I needed someone to navigate as I've never driven to the airport before. Well, the directions were confusing (it would take another trip later to teach me that Mapquest.com really sucked), but we got there eventually. I parked the car, Nick and I grabbed a quick bite-to-eat (though he bought a whole meal) at the food court, and waited for Aaron and Mara. They soon arrived, and we grabbed their luggage and brought it to my car, where we made the trip back home to Croton.

My brother's graduation was later in the day, so we all lounged around and rested before the event. We watched some anime music videos, and later on made our way to the graduation. We all agreed that the ceremony was way, way too long. It was a small class, and they filled it up with long speeches, and songs (I actually quietly heckled it). We knew more guests would be arriving later for the party at home, so as soon as Alex (my brother) got his diploma, we were out of there. Good thing to, cause people were already arriving. The food was great, we spent some time mingling with various guests. Got to see family I don't get to see often. And eventually Aaron and I went to pick up Lynati at the train station.

After the party ended, I drove Nick home, and came back here, where we checked e-mail, and then Aaron, Mara, Lynati, Alex and I watched this horrible animated Ben-Hurr movie, narrated by the great Charleton Heston himself. Bad animation, bad CGI, and a Jesus that looked like a child molester. All and all, it was fun to just rip into it. Then we called it a night.

Wednesday, June 25th.

Alex, Mara and I were the first ones up, we chatted out on the deck about things, and shared a smoke. Eventually, we had to get Aaron and Lynati up, cause we needed to drop Lynati off at the train station. After that, the three of us went shopping for con equipment, first to Wal-Mart and Office Max, then to a Toys R Us to grab some Nerf Guns for Clan Wars.

We came back, and watched Kevin Smith's classic film, Clerks. I've seen the movie a million times and it never gets old. But this was Aaron and Mara's first time seeing it, and since they were both fans of the six episode cartoon series based on the movie, I thought it was about damn time they finally saw it. ;)

Best reaction came from Mara after the incident in the movie with the Chewlies Gum rep that tried to start an anti-cigarette riot in the store.

Mara: I feel like going out and having a cigarette.

The movie ended, we had leftovers for dinner, and began loading up my car with Con equipment, as Aaron and I needed to be at the hotel early the next morning with it, just in case the Home Depot people showed up (they gave us an 8 AM to 5 PM window). So Aaron and I loaded up the cars, while Mara prepared envelopes up stairs.

We were done by a quarter past midnight, so we decided to get some sleep.

Thursday, June 26th.

Aaron and I woke up early, and headed down to the city. We got to the hotel shortly before 8 and had my car parked. We then proceeded across the street to take care of getting cash we owed the hotel. Chase Manhattan took a look at us and well, let's just say it took a very, very long time and a couple calls to his local Chase in San Antonio for the withdrawl to go through.

I ended up making my way back to the hotel, where I was spotted by Mooncat and Princess Alexandra (Mooncat I had met at G2002, but this was my first time meeting Princess). Also ran into Leo, and Dreamie and Winterwolf. We waited, and Aaron came back to check Greg Weisman, Thom Adcox, and Vic Cook into their hotel rooms. And soon, Mara arrived with Alex and Greg Weisman. My mom was nice enough to pick Greg up at the LaGuardia.

Everyone arrived, and we checked into the Con Suite. Soon we got a call that Home Depot arrived with the wood and panels, so we went outside and brought them in. We brought them up to the 18th floor, to the Madison Suite, which was where we were keeping our Dealer's Room and Art Show. Met Sapphire there also (had previously met her at previous Gatherings, but never really got to know her till this year). Now, I'm useless when it comes to things like power tools, so were Alex and Leo, so we all stood back while the women did the work. Quite funny actually.

We took our lunch break at Sbarro's. Tasty and cheap. And met up with Kathy Pogge there. Food was good, and we came back

A good portion of the rest of the day, and con planning is kind of a blurr, but Lynati and Ethan eventually showed up, and I saw many con early arrivals (like Hudson (though he was staff) and his crew). Then Thom and Vic showed up. Thom recognized me, which was cool ;)

(Also at some point, we had a quick meeting in the Con Suite, and Greg W laughed at me for looking dazed already)

The staff, and the guests, and some of the early arrivals went to dinner down at the Monster Sushi. I had eaten there before with Aaron, Mara and Lynati about a year or so ago, and the place is still good. Too small unfortunatly, as the large group we were could not get a table together. So we divided up by three tables. At my table was Aaron, Mara, Lynati and Ethan. We talked about the con, how to eat sushi, Aaron played with his chop sticks, and we discussed Mayor Bloomberg and NYC's new smoking ban (which none of us agreed with), and I remember Ethan was really upset about it (I don't blame him, I am too). Aaron made a great comment in reference to "Clerks". "Bloomberg is a representative of Chewlie's Gum."

We got our food, ate, and eventually we made our way back to the hotel, to the Con Suite. Revel and Spacebabie showed up around this time. We stuffed enevelopes and watched the first half of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. But it was late, so we all went to get some sleep. Aaron, Lyn and Mara in the bedroom, while I took the "couch that turns into a couch".

Friday, June 27th.

Woke up early to turn the Con Suite over to Batya and the Dreamer Clan. Saw Stephen somewhere around here. Met up with Kathy and we arranged Sky Top for panels. Then went down and had a shift at the Registration Desk in the Lobby. Got to meet a lot of familiar faces, and new faces during that. Though I got sick of people coming up and asking where the bathroom was. It got so bad, we had to put up a sign saying "Gathering 2003. We are NOT Hotel Staff. We do NOT know where the bathroom is". Of course people kept asking anyway.

My shift over, I went to a panel I was supposed to sit on, and my brain was on overload. I barely said a word. And it wasn't till later I finally thought of something to talk about. Like Kathy said, staff members should not provide content. Then it was down to audition for the Radio Play. Being on staff, I knew it was "The Reckoning" several weeks in advance. I was hoping to be cast as Thailog, cause Thailog is just good, old fashioned, evil fun. ;) Though I would find out the next day I was cast as Hollywood, but I was just happy to be in it.

After that, I browsed through the art room. Walked around the hotel to make sure everything was running smoothly, and nothing was on fire. Popped in on Mara briefly during her Round Robin. Couldn't stay though.

Eventually got back to Skytop, where Kathy and I, with help from volunteers set the room up for Opening Ceremonies. Lined up the chairs, and had one table in the middle for the projector. Then Leo, someone else (was it you Winterwolf?) tried to set up the screen, but couldn't get the damn thing open. I think Hudson finally got it open. It was also around now that I met Lain for the first time. I've been friends with her since shortly after G2001, and it was nice to finally meet her in person.

Everyone arrived, all the guests arrived. And it was time for Opening Ceremonies to begin. Now, I have had this fear of public speaking all my life. So when I first went up, first thing I did was bring up G2004. WHile watching them, I figured that I should just get over it. Mara offered to go up and speak, but I went up again, and I thought I did so much better. Made a short speech, and introduced the guests and staff. Then I turned it over to Greg Weisman, who made the same Opening Ceremonies speech he's made ever since the cons first began, but never get old.

Afterwards came Hudson's rant, which I'd have loved to stay for, but I had to set up a TV and VCR, and tapes in the London Suite for Mara's MST. This year's victims; "Enter Macbeth", and "Vendettas". We were supposed to head right into Greg and Thom's Othercon: Blue "Mug-A-Guest", but as learned at G2001, the letters in "Gathering of the Gargoyles" can be rearranged to "Get Greg In Here", so we ended up MSTing "Turf" and the first act of "The Reckoning".

Finally, Greg and Thom arrived. By now everyone has heard the big revelation, but I'll say it anyway. Lex is gay. And it took less than twenty four hours for that tidbit to reach the comment rooms ;) Greg obviously didn't plan to say it, but Anna has a way of getting things out of people ;)

Lots of great and funny, and perverted questions were asked, I think we would have been there al night had Hotel Security not told us to vacate. I think I met Allaine and Ellen Stolfa for the first time around here also.

"I have a ten inch tongue."
-Thom Adcox

Afterwards, Mara and I went to the COn Suite to get our bags, and settled in to the room Aaron got for the night. We were up for a couple more hours chatting with Hudson, Chris Rogers, Kythera and Cat. I was dozing off and really needed sleep, but I'm not one to be a party pooper. Besides, I really enjoy their company.

But we got to sleep.

Saturday, June 28th.

Got up early, and fetched sodas for Aaron and Mara before making our way to the sixth floor for a brief staff meeting.

Then went to a TGS panel, which consisted of little more than a former staff editor voicing complaints about another staffer. I didn't stay for the whole thing as I was pulled out by Goliath116 to let me know about a security issue. Which he and I made brief announcements about. I won't go into it here, but we ended up telling people not to leave the hotel unless they were in groups of four.

Went down and joined Mara for a shift at the Reg table. Sign was still up, and we still had people asking where the bathroom was. Spent a couple hours there, and then it was time for Radio Play rehearsal.

(somewhere before rehearsal, my aunt and uncle showed up, I gave them a brief tour, told them what the Gathering was. They couldn't stay long, but it was a pleasant surprise.)

Rehearsal went great. I was cast as Hollywood, and we went through Act One twice. Thom and Alex Garg (not to be confused with my brother) did this great Thailog and Sevarius Dr. Evil laughing scene. And speaking of Thom. He was great as Sevarius. Truly, truly hillarious. Thom really needs to get on to the internet, and visit the CRs.

Greg also made a funny joke about Batya and Alex Wittenberg. They were cast as Demona and Fang. And when Demona says "he's a fool but he may be of some use," and Fang says "I can work with that." Greg turns to them and says, "I bet that's what you said at the wedding." Which got a big laugh. No offense to both Batya and Alex, tyhey're great people, but that was just plain funny.

As soon as we finished Act 3, the hotel catering told us to clear out while they set up the banquet. Which caused me to spend the next several minutes arguing with them, cause the Radio Play was schedualed. but we soon cleared things up, and held the Radio Play. Which went over very well. Aside from grunts and roars, I only had one line, but it got a big laugh. I think Gore tried to one-up me, but never! I am master of the stupid voice! ;)

Afterwards it was time for the banquet. Nichelle Nichols arrived, and I have to say I was impressed. The woman looked and carried herself like a queen. And speaking of stunning looking women, Karine, Sapphire and Dreamie arrived and dressed to kill. Damn, did they look great.

We all took our seats, with at least one staff member minding each guest. I sat at Greg's table. Also there was Lexy, Revel, Spacebabie, AlexGarg... and I'm blanking out on the others. The food was great, I especially liked the rice and chicken. At some point I made this observation. "I kind of feel sorry for the people sitting with Nichelle. I mean look at her. They're all going to have to watch themselves and how they eat. Wheras Greg is probably almost as big a slob as the rest of us." To which Greg said; "Actually, I'm probably a bigger slob than the rest of you." We discussed quite a few things at the table. Revel kept a great conversation going. Lexy and I discussed Griffith from "Berserk" briefly. And we had a conversation on X2, and why Greg thinks Magneto's name is corny. I respectfully disagree though ;)

Dinner ended, and we set up for the Masquerade. Dreamie and I were running this. She MCed the event while I handled the behind the scenes organizing and the entries. The number of costumes dropped, but what we had was great. We had a great Lady Macbeth, two great Owens, Patrick and Karine as Anastasia and Fox, Revel as Vinnie, Spacebabie as Robyn Canmore, A Fan as "A Highly Educated Individual with a job straight out of college" (actually, A Fan wasn't going to enter, but I put him up to it), and of course Hudson and Kythera's show. I'm blanking out on everyone. Though I personally thought it was a shame that Aaron and Mara couldn't enter as Severus Snape and Herminone (I can't spell her name, sorry ;)).

Then came the Awards Ceremony, which ended with Siryn getting her much deserved Fan Guest of Honor award. She may not think so, but no one deserved that award more than she did. I hope she enjoys it.

After that was over, it was time for our showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", at first I wasn't going to attend, and went down to Chris Roger's room to watch anime. They were playing the Animatrix, which unfortunatly did not impress me, so I made my way back up to Rocky. There were problems with the DVD player (I swear that thing never gave me a problem before), but Anna and Jill were kind enough to... ahem, entertain everyone till this was sorted out. Then we had a great Rocky showing.

Afterwards I went to sleep in the con suite on "the couch that transforms into a couch".

Sunday, June 29th.

Woke up early, showered and dressed, and picked up sodas for Aaron and Mara. it was time for the auction, Aaron was in charge of the auction, and Cat resumed her role from last year of vibrating the auction items. And encouraging people to bid by removing an article of clothing as the bids increased. She was down to her bra and panties when "The Last" broke $750. Aaron, who never needs an excuse to show off his Demona tattoo manned the auction shirtless as well. And I think at some point Greg agreed to take off his shirt if anything broke $1,000. Which didn't happen.

The auction kind of died off when most of the big spenders went off to the "Team Atlantis" panel, but we resumed and sold off what we could after Closing Ceremonies.

Ah Closing Ceremonies. Always bittersweet. I introed my staff again, and let G2004 pitch their con as well. Thanked everyone for coming, then turned it over to Greg.

Then I went down to the Con Suite after Patrick set up his laptop there, so we could accept PayPal payments for auction items. While doing this, I corrupted Batya by showing her the first two episodes of "Clerks" ;)

Since the Dreamer Clan was bidding their farewell, I spent most of the day in the con suite, making sure it wasn't trashed and nothing was stolen. Helped clean up where ever I could, and eventually showed the remaining four "Clerks" episodes. Then we watched "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker", anime music vids, and later "Cowboy Bebop the Movie". Seth made a great comment here. "This movie is about SARS! Nano-SARS!"

After that was over, we watched anime music vids again, but I was exhausted and went to sleep.

Monday, June 30th.

Woke up, showered and dressed, and Patrick, Mara and I, (forget who else), cleared up the con suite before we had to check out. We relocated to Aaron and Mara's room for the rest of the day. And later, most of us took a trip down to Midtown Comics. The majority of the time we spent in the pr0n section. I believe it was Aaron, Goliath116, Cat, Revel, Spacebabie, Y2Kecate, and I. Revel and Spacebabie cut out early. But the rest of us, shared pr0n, and just looked at it for a long time. Some might say we're all a little too comfortable with each other.

Came back the hotel, but it was almost time for me to leave. Had the hotel staff bring my car around, while we transported all my crap and other stuff to the car. I said good bye to everyone and drove off. I ended up leaving my katana in Aaron's room, but that was okay, because I had to come back the next day to pick up Greg W and takin him to LaGuardia. but first I went to work to cash my paycheck, went home and ate dinner, and got myself directions from the Hotel to LaGuardia from mapquest.com.

Tuesday, July 1st.

Lesson of the day. NEVER, EVER, EVER Use MapQuest.com.

Started driving back into the city, and as I approached the hotel, something happened and my engine began to sound like a lawnmower. but figured I'd make it. Got my katana and said good bye to Aaron again. Said bye to Carol, and Greg and i got into my car. Some small talk, we discussed comics, and his time in NYC. He mentiond pcking up "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", and having liked it. He thought making Captain Nemo an Indian was interesting, cause he's never seen him played like that before, and it was a long time since either he or I had read the book (actually I checked the book recently and saw that Verne wrote Nemo as an Indian, the movies just made him a Brit.)

Then Murphy's Law kicked in. The direcions sucked and we were going in circles. We passed the Hotel Pennsylvania at least twice. They wouldn't let us get onto 34th St, where we needed to be to take the Midtown tunnel. A guy in a van smashed my mirror, got out, tossed $20 and left. Greg wrote down his license plate number though. The transmission in my car started going crazy up the yin-yang. We finally go to the tunnel, and missed the exit, drove all over Queens, trying to get back onto the highway. Almost ended up in Brooklyn. I'm panicing, and Greg is keeping a level head. But we got directions, and made it to the airport. Greg thankfully made his flight. He told me he's going to make fun of me in Ask Greg, but it's all in good fun. I look forward to seeing it. It was an adventure. And looking back, I can laugh about it, though I was a wreck for a couple days after it happened.

My car has been repaired, nothing bad happened, and it's running beautifully again. Figures, of all the times it goes crazy, it had to happen with Greg Weisman in my car. But we're cool. Everything's cool.

Hosting the Gathering was a real experience. It was hard difficult work, and I doubt I'll ever do it again. But everyone seems to have had a good time. And I thought it was time to give something back to the series in fandom that I love. So, I'd love to thank everyone on my staff. You all did great. Best staff I could ever ask for. So, Aaron, Mara, Lynati, Dreamie, Winterwolf, Carol, Kathy, Patrick, Hudson, Noel, JEB (you helped a lot), and Jen (I know you couldn't make it, but I still feel I couldn't have done it without you), all my best regards to each of you, and I hope to see you all in the near future. To all the Security (Kythera, Goliath116, Zaius, Duncan, etc), and volunteers, you did great. To everyone for coming, this fandom is truly awesome. And to my brother, Alex, you weren't on staff, but you broke your back for us. Thank you.

The weekend has become a big blurr, so I apologize if i forgot anyone or anything. But to everyone, you all Rule!

I hope everyone goes to Gathering 2004. Montreal has a great staff, and a great location. G2004 is going to kick ass! Give Karine, Sapphire, and the rest of the staff all the support in the world. Being on con staff is not easy. It's a very hard job. be thankful there are people dedicated enough to do this every year. It's a labor of love.

Allaine writes...

Well, I don't have a website or a LiveJournal, so I was going to do something like this myself. (Sorry, long speech.) I got home around 8 Sunday night, just in time to tape the new Caesar TV-movie. This was . . . I think it's fair to say this was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.

Traffic was a beast on Friday night. I left work in S. Jersey around 4:15 PM, thinking I might see part of the opening ceremonies, since MapQuest said it would be just a 2-hour, 100-mile drive up the NJ Turnpike. Hah! There was a lot of congestion, and I made it to the Lincoln Tunnel exit around 7. Then I crawled my way through hideous traffic for an hour until I got to the Tunnel. Within five minutes of leaving the Tunnel, I got lost and found myself on a road that led me inexorably, without exits, back to the Tunnel. A traffic cop led me to believe I would have to fight my way through at least half of the traffic jam I'd lived through the first time, and I basically screamed my way down the Tunnel. Fortunately, I took the Hoboken turnoff and had a much shorter path to the tolls ($6 again!). And this time, I found the hotel, even if I was overwhelmed by insane taxis and ruthless hordes of pedestrians, and forced to settle for parking at $32/day three blocks away.

Other than some early-morning problems waking up, that was probably the last bad thing that happened to me after I walked through the PA's doors at 10 PM exactly.

I made it in time to the 10 PM Fanfic Sex Panel and met three of the people I was most excited about - Mooncat, Ellen Stolfa, and Princess Alexandria - as well as some other cool names, including Stephen Sobotka and Lynati, who answered so many of my Gathering questions and had a big impact on my planning. Afterwards Mooncat took me to the room she was sharing with Alex (I'll call her Princess here, even though I usually call her Alex, so as not to confuse her with other Alexes) - and me. They'd been more than incredibly generous in offering me sleeping space, and since my original ideas for a place to sleep proved dreadfully unworkable, it proved to be a lifesaver. And of course, being able to have private conversations with two fellow femslash authors - *glee*. And MC had great presents, including the Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn T-Shirt that I wore most of Saturday and am totally in love with. Anyone who reads my stories would know it was me that day without having to look at my nametag ;). Then I listened in to the Mug-a-Guest panel for a while, just in time for the Lexington surprise. Then I spent a couple hours with MC and Princess talking, which was a blast, and I finally got to see Silver Falcon for the first time.

Saturday was the best day, partly because unlike Sunday, I didn't look at a clock obsessively. I had an 11 AM panel to sit on, so I met with my fellow panelists at 10, my first time with Dylan Blacquiere and Patrick Toman. The panel went great, the turnout was satisfactory considering the competition we had, and I felt extremely flattered sitting with Dylan, Patrick, and Ellen, talking to people who were interested in what I had to say. Then I finally got to register, where I met Mara for the first time (and she was very happy to see me - I hadnt realized she was a fan. But I love her MiSTs, so _I_ wasn't complaining). Later I wandered around the Art Room, attended the X-Over and Blue? panels, showed Liz and Constance my shirt, and then watched the Radio Play, which coincidentally was my favorite episode, Reckoning. Best part - Thom doing Sevarius and indulging in some Dr. Evil laughs with "Thailog" (Orion, I think?). Then came dinner with Princess, since I passed on the banquet, and we talked and went back to our room and watched "Broadway goes to Hollywood" (which I had not seen and, figures, was a disappointment even with Fox - when she tries to tackle Hyena and falls on her face, I wanted to vomit), "Sanctuary", and "Reckoning". The Masquerade was a classic - favorites were Spacebabie as Robyn, Revel as Vinnie (that was great), Seri Wavelength as Gruoch, and Patrick as . . . well, I'll let you wait for pictures Later I went out with MC, Princess, and Bizz, and then saw the Rocky Horror showing where - like I told Ellen, you just had to be there. Then more talking with MC, Alex, Ellen, Dylan, and Bizz, shower, curl into my Ivy shirt, and go to sleep. (I made MC purr *blush*)

On the last day, which had that frenetic, sad quality of not wanting the hours to pass, I visited the auction. I didn't get anything (being outbidded at the last second on a Demona comic), which didnt bother me because of MC's gifts, so I could just congratz those who did. The audiotape of the Demona/Atlantis episode was manna from heaven, since I was so upset by the cancellation when I first heard about it that I would just glare at the Atlantis video and walk past it. Now I feel like I can watch it. When little Garg refs came up, like Moliere's "AOTN" remark, everyone cheered. When Demona talked, no one said anything. I think we were all concentrating/memorizing too intently. And that slightly remodeled D drawing, *shivers*. Then came closing ceremonies, which were happy and sad at the same time, but it ended quickly, giving me enough time to say my goodbyes to everyone before the Coney Island group left. I had a disposable camera and took lots of pictures, and then I got my bags, and I left. I had to run back as I got to the garage because I forgot to give Princess something, and THEN I got to my car.

At the risk of sounding less than manly, it wasn't until I drove out of the garage that I cried.

This was my first Gathering ever, and I never really believed I would ever get to one, and I doubt I will get to the Montreal one, but maybe I can pull it off. It would depend partly on who else goes. Better than the gifts and the panels and the exhibits and the comedy was getting to meet all of you in person, and I have these great memories. Those of you who I got to know for the first time like Seri and A Fan, I will be reading your stories if you have any, and I would like to keep in touch, so my email is eac2nd@yahoo.com and I'm also on YIM and sometimes AOL IM. Everyone else, I'll continue to see you on the Internet as well, but this was very special, and I would have stayed until Monday afternoon if my personal situation was different. Mooncat, I love you and your generous spirit; Princess, you too; Ellen, finally! You're such a pro (I feel like I'm graduating high school); Dylan, I am going to read the rest if it kills me; Pat and Kathy, you kept me involved long ago when it seemed like there was nobody else; Spacebabie, Lynati, Mara, Seri, Bizz, Liz, Stephen, thanks! What a weekend.

Extremely sincerely, Allaine

Mooncat writes...

Mooncat's Gathering Journal

prequel... started packing a week before I would leave, so I wouldn't forget anything. Decided to try the clothes in plastic bags thing to maximize the room in my one very large piece of luggage. My very, very, VERY large piece of luggage. I'd forgotten from last Gathering that it would be better to have two smaller pieces than one large one, especially as the airline I was using this trip, American, had a weight limit of 50 pounds per bag, but allowed two bags. *vows to find two smaller bags for future traveling* Plastic bags work great, and I stuffed that luggage so full I had to let out it's extra zipper extensions that allowed more room. I even had room for the my Gift Bricks, for the fellow fans and friends I knew I'd meet at the Gathering. *^_^* I call them them Bricks, because they were probably part of the reason my bag felt like I'd filled it with bricks... sigh.

I packed for every occasion - casual clothes, dress clothes, night clothes, fancy shoes and belts jewlery (which sadly I never got to wear) lots and lots of under things (and I still wasn't able to find my socks half the time I was in NY), artwork for Othercon and art supplies (I actually thought I'd have a spare moment to draw a little... pure madness), books, presents, toiletries including several new toothbrushes "just in case", snacks, camera, extra hard drive for the lap top (which I was taking in my carryon) and my DVDs of Gargoyles that I'd recorded from Toon Disney. I even took Fluffy, my three headed cerebus dog to be room guardian. And Talcum Powder. A great lot of Talcum Powder. *evil grin*

Wednesday 25, day one of my journey...

I left on Wednesday because Princess and I had plans to see New York before and after the Gathering, and were planning on a week of fun all told. A good friend of mine gave me a lift to the airport. He'd given me a little bit of a fright because he'd arrived a half hour later than he'd said, because he'd over slept. But since it was still hours before my flight time and he lived less than five minutes from me driving I knew I could go drag him out of bed if necessary. I spent the extra half hour adding "just in case" items to my luggage and eating a food bar and downing a bottled water. Stuffed extra bottle of water in my carryon. It took us a while to figure out how to get the luggage in his car, as it was Too Big for the empty trunk, *@_@*, and we literally wrestled it into the back seat, with one pushing and the other pulling from the other side of the car seat.

The luggage, when weighed at the airport, came to 110 pounds. Luckily I'd packed an empty duffle bag at the last moment, and right there was able to stuff it with the loose clothes I'd stuffed in at last moment and got the luggage down to 94, which meant I *still* had to pay an extra $50 for surpassing the weight limit, but at least I could take all my stuff because only 100 pounds are allowed maximum. I squeaked by by the skin on my teeth and a few extra bills. yeek!!! Other interesting things is that I got to use the automated check in machine for the first time at the ticket counter. wheee!!! Of course, since I'd already waited a half hour in the "ticketed" line before I was informed people with e-tickets needed to use the machines, which had been EMPTY the entire time I'd been waiting in the other line, but then two huge familis showed up right after I was informed and I had to wait another 20 to 30 minutes for them to go through the machines first. *~_~* sighs...

After checking in my luggage, I took my two carry ons with me through security, and got patted all over. I was wearing jeans and my white LA Gathering T-shirt, which was suspicious because it was a bit loose and baggy on me. But otherwise I went through quickly and went to wait for my flight. I began reading Song of the Beast by Carol Berg

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451459237/qid=1058133332/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-0639982-8127169

A fantastic, if dark edged read. Highly recommend it.

My flight, from Kansas to Dallas Fort Worth TX and from there to La Guardia in NY was very smooth and worry free. Arriving in DFW, my connecting flight was in the same gate area as the one we arrived in, so there was no muss and no fuss and I arrived at just a bit after 3pm NY time. I went to get my luggage which was made easier by my having spray painted the great beast with florescent yellow streaks so I'd recognize it. yay!!! Then I hoofed it over to the United baggage claim to wait for Princess whose flight from O'Hare was scheduled to arrive ony 50 minutes later than mine. Our plan was to share a cab to the hotel and cut our expenses. I was a little worried because we'd not actually set a specific meet point, not knowing the layout at LaGuardia, but I gambled that she'd come out that way and settled in.

I waited with bouncing eagerness, having noticed from the flights monitor (I love those) her arriving flight would actually be 20 minutes earlier than expected. Since I had No Idea what she looked like, other than about my height, blondish and would be wearing jeans, I checked each person who passed out of the United gate area with great curiosity and anticipation... and found out afterwards that because the flight had taken off earlier, Princess had been bumped to a flight that would arrive an hour later than her original one. Yeeks! Luckily I'd given her my cell phone number, and checked to hear the message she'd left me. She said she'd do a sweep of the baggage area to find me if I wanted to wait for her. Since I'd already waited one hour, waiting one more didn't seem a big deal. Plus... I forgot the name of the hotel. I remembered it was P something... And I'd forgotten to print out the hotel page. Actually the info was in the numerous print outs I had, but I didn't know that at the time. I figured Princess would know, so I didn't let it fash me any. I had a good book, and the only worrisome thing was the this guy in a suit who kept wanting to know if I needed a ride. I wasn't going to go off with a strange guy by myself, so I settled in to hook up with Princess.

Meanwhile, several drivers had their little signs out that had names of people they were waiting for. I took the extra time to make my own little sign, using the back of the print out with Princess's last e-mail to me, I used a pen to scrawl PRINCESS across the back and propped it onto my Big Luggage's handle. When she arrived, she made a beeline for me and it was like we'd been hanging out together for ages. She actually looked and spoke just like a lot of my friends at home, which is kinda scary, but in a good way.

Soon as she arrived, a grungy looking guy (jeans, t-shirt, etc) asked if we needed a cab. Thinking he was a cabbie, and since there were two of us to one of him, I said yes rather easily. As long as I have one person at my back, I can be pretty fearless. We did need a cab. He then informed us he had a Limo, and it would be more expensive but he was available right then and there, and though we both knew the warnings, it was just too convenient. A taxi would have cost mid 20s to 30 bucks, he gave us a flat rate of 55 dollars not including tip. That didn't sound half bad since Princess and I were doing halfsies. Now when he said LIMO I was actually thinking of a town car of some sort. I've seen many car services refer to themselves as limo services, but actually were driving regular cars. But no, he (I forget his name) meant an honest to goodness Glossy Black Stretch Limousine. I was so surprised. I think I made the *squee* noise.

He wrestled The Luggage into the back, along with our carryons and all in all a LOT of luggage. Princess and I got into the Limo, and sat opposite each other, grinning like cats in the cream. If only we had someone to take pictures! But my camera was in the luggage and we settled in to talk and take in the sites as the driver took us to the Hotel. I sat in the backward facing seats, and she in the normal facing seats, and we talked of things I don't really remember much of. *welcomes any input from Princess if she remembers* but it was exceedingly comfortable, and not at all like it was the first time we'd ever spent real life time with each other. The week in New York was off to a great start *^_^*

I was hungry. I think we talked about food part of the way to the hotel. All I'd had since leaving home was the beverages on the plane, and the bread and meat sandwich (no garnishes) you get on the longer, meal time flights, and that was some hours ago. We planned to go food hunting once we were all checked in and everything. Our drive took a long time, and we saw vehicles that were covered in graphetti as we went through the streets of New York. Apparently if a vehicle stays too long in the wrong place, it's fair game. This is something I'd never seen before, and it was rather startling.

We arrived in style, and the driver got our luggage onto the sidewalk outside the hotel easily, we paid him and looked over the outside of the hotel, hoping it was the right one. It didn't look very impressive, and I guess we came in at the side that confused so many people. I didn't dare go through the revolving doors with The Luggage. It's just that huge. But the side door was available and myself and Princess made it into the hotel proper. As we headed to the desk line, a gentlemen asked if we were checking in, and then directed us to a side alcove where he checked us in and gave us our room cards.

http://basts.com/G2003/DSC00328.jpg

We were set!

To the elevators we went, and to our room... 1053. The hotel is very big. The rooms are VERY SMALL. I've been in bathrooms bigger than the room we had. It was just as wide as our beds were long, with about 3 feet of clearance to allow them to jam a TV armoire at the foot of one of the two beds. Apparently if more than one person wanted to watch tv, they'd have to all pile on the one bed to be able to see it. There was NO remote. Not a huge loss, because we didn't watch much TV the entire time we were in NY, except for the CNN that played in the Elevator monitors. It was going up and down the elevators we heard about the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the "anti sodomy" laws that certain states, including Kansas, use to get at anyone not using heterosexual missionary style sex when they do "it". The elevator also let us know that Katherine Hepburn, aka Kate the Great had died during the convention weekend. Ironically, Kate Mulgrew, voice actress for Anastacia Renard/Titania, is the star of "Tea at Five", a play about Hepburn's life's playing... Katherine Hepburn.

http://www.totallykate.com/teafive/teany2.html

http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/mc03041t.htm

I knew this in advance, because Princess and I planned on taking in a Broadway show while in NY, so I had researched what was playing during the time we'd be there. We opted for Phantom of the Opera, which was wonderful, but I wondered if anyone had tried to get ahold of Kate Mulgrew for the Gathering? While in NY we also learned that Brent Spiner, aka PUCK was also in town to tread the boards in "Life (x) 3". Princess spotted his face staring at us from a huge Bill Board when we checked out Broadway street, which I give her high points for because he's older now and is really very different in appearance from his most recognizable role, Data of Star Trek the Next Generation.

Anyhoo... back to the hotel room. The teeny, tiny hotel room. The bathroom was scary. I'd never been to a hotel that charged prime rates (as this one did) where there was so much obvious wear and tear on the facilities. The ceiling above the ancient bath/shower was peeling and distressed, the tub had dark rust (I hope) stains, and the toilet had "ancient public toilet facility" simply written all over it. There flusher was something I'd only seen in very old public park toilets... when I was a very small child. It also took several flushes after use to give you a "clean" bowl. I looked at the bathroom and made "mew" noises in pure distress for a few moments. But aside from the primitive facilities, the cramped space, and the awkward placement of the very few pieces of furniture that had been shoe horned into the room, it would do to meet our most basic needs. We wouldn't be spending all that much time in the room anyway, except to sleep. With that comforting thought in mind, we dumped our luggage and took off in search of supper.

Princess and I decided to ask someone in the lobby if they knew a good place nearby to eat. I went to this desk in the lobby which was for tour and show info, but the lady was so rude she didn't even bother to hear my question, just said she was "closed" -- she was the only rude NY person I ran into the entire trip. However Princess had better luck with another hotel person, and we wound up walking down the street to a GREAT restaurant called Mustang Harry's (not to be confused with Mustang Sally's which is not so great) -- and had a really nice meal.

http://207.198.70.121/home.html

Princess had the Chicken Cordon Bleu, and I had an interesting house special, kind of a Beef Fajita but made with Teriyaki Beef and bean sprouts... a curious cross of Mexican and Asian food styles that was very delicious, managing to be totally American and Exotic at the same time. In the course of our stay in NY, we ate at Harry's quite a few times, having different things each go around, and I was quite happy each and every time. Nice waitress. Great buffalo wings. And the drinks were very good. Princess had a Melon Margarita, blended, and I got a little taste. I don't much care for Melon, but enjoyed the texture of the drink which was a finely ground slurry of the ice and drink. Very nice.

Found out that soda pop is paid for by the glass. This is something that held true for every restaurant we went to, from Midtown to Uptown, Greenwich Village or Little Italy, that there is no such thing as a free refill. Each glass of diet coke or what have you is $2.50 a go. Lemonade too. Don't know about tea or coffee. Otherwise food prices were very reasonable, and you could eat a nice sit down dinner restaurant meal with drinks for 15 to 20 dollars a person. Fast food prices were only slightly higher than those in Kansas, and every kind of fast food place was available within walking distance of the hotel. Blimpies, Sbarros, Burger King. Things get more pricey if you add in appetizers and desserts, but the portions of the entree were so generous, I don't know how people manage desserts afterwards, unless the only eat a fraction of their entree.

During the stay in New York, since we had no refrigerator or anything to keep our left overs in, I wound up wasting a shameful amount of food. Good food. I felt very badly about this, but without a way to keep it from spoiling, there really was no choice.

Having eaten, Princess and myself took a walk around the hotel. There was a slight humidity in the air, but it really wasn't hot and the evening was really very enjoyable. We walked in squares around the hotel, and noted the fast food places and tried to see what there was to see in the later evening. We found out that cross walk signals are generally ignored and people in NY are almost suicidal in how they cross whatever intersection they please at just about any time they think they can get away with it. We watched carefully and simply went with the flow. There really is a kind of reasoning behind how and when people in NY cross the streets, and it has to do with the streets mainly being one way, and keeping an eye on the traffic lights and how cars are parked and where construction has part of the street barricaded and so on... I was getting the hang of it to the point I was flinging myself into traffic and probably worrying my walking companions with some regularity. There is a heady, reckless joy to walking in NY. However someone told us that people do get hit quite often.

At one point, I don't remember when exactly, I was nailed by a bicyclist going the wrong way on a one way street when I was looking for traffic going the lawful way. I almost got hit again by a bicyclist another time too. Otherwise there wasn't any problems. When crossing the street, even with the white "walk" light, cabs and cars will constantly nose through the streaming mass of crossing humans as the vehicles make right turns. It must not be illegal in NY to do this, as the cars did this in front of police constantly.

Anyone who stops for a light if there is the slightest chance of making it to the other side in one piece is a tourist.

Trash piles up on the street curb in really disturbing amounts. Bags and bags of trash in heaps and pyramids, so much so I wondered if there was any trash service on NY. Fruit stands and ice cream trucks and hot dog vendors stake out every corner. We passed numerous tiny cubby hole 'grocery' stores, and magazine shops which seem to take the place of Quick Trips and 7 Elevens for small 24 hour grocery needs. These shops were scattered about and you could walk in any direction and stumble over one with in a few minutes. Very convenient, as we would later find out NY may be the city that never sleeps, but they don't eat after a certain hour. As many convention goers found out, there are no "real" food places that are open past 11, if even that late. Nothing equivalent to a Denny's or even a greasy spoon trucker joint where you can grab a hamburger or stack of pancakes in the witching hours. There are cold, over priced sandwiches in the hotel coffee shop, but that's about it. So be warned and wary, if you are looking for late night munchies of the cooked / hot variety, you are pretty much screwed unless you have kitchen facilities of some sort at your disposal.

In the course of our wandering we checked out a Drug Store, which was surprising large inside, more a small five and dime general store than a drug store, with two levels connected by an escalator. And an office supply shop. I was in desperate need of an exacto knife to prep my artwork for display in the Art Room and the OtherCon room, and hoped to be able to pick one up at one of the NY shops. While I'd bought with me several sheets of heavy weight metallic gold and silver poster board to mount my art on, I needed to make slits to put the corners of my art through to hold the pictures in place. I had thought to play it safe by not bringing anything blade like with me in my luggage, assuming that such a basic tool would be available in one of the NY office supply shops or other convenience stores. Uh uh. While the Drug Store had an extensive school supply section, an exacto knife was not part of it. Further searching through various office supply shops like STAPLES proved that in NY, you can't buy exacto knives in any of them, I was told that MAYBE I could find one in an art supply store. Since we couldn't find one of those while we were combing NY, that remains unknown.

I asked in some of the stores we went to and found out that many *used* to carry exacto knives, but no longer do so. I was also informed that they no longer carried staple guns. One person I asked had a very hostile tone, as if I'd asked for a disgustingly taboo item. This is probably a strange NY thing. Apparently knives are available for sale (I'm pretty sure I saw some pen/swiss army knives in Macy's, and I think I remember seeing some swords in a few gift shops (those katana and knife sets) but if you want certain basic art supplies, you are pretty much screwed. *grrrrss* I wound up simply clipping the metal clamps for holding the pictures for the art show directly onto my bare, unmatted and unframed pictures, because I couldn't work with the precision and force necessary with the razor blade BiZZ generously lent me on Friday (much thanks to BiZZ for trying to help me out though). When I went home after NY, I went to the local office shop and bought a brand new exacto knife, even though I had several in my art desk, simply because I could. I also loaded up on metallic ink markers (gold and silver) because that was another item that people couldn't find in NY, and apparently they had needed them at one point.

Aside from the exacto knife failure, our walk was very pleasant and we returned to the hotel in very good spirits. We further unpacked our bags, and I gave Princess her Gift Brick. It included a box of Godiva chocolates, which I made puppy eyes at during the rest of the week, in hopes that Princess would like to share *^_^* I also gave her some books I thought she'd find useful and entertaining, and a special something that I knew any Gargoyles fan would enjoy (its a secret). *^_^* Plus I'd run off a DVD set of the Birds of Prey tv series for her, as she indicated an interest of writing fic in that fandom. I tried to plug my lap top into the room tv, which I can do at home, so it would show what plays on the laptop... but for some reason it wouldn't work. We wound up watching the Pilot for Birds of Prey on just the laptop as we got our gear stowed away. The very cramped space was worrisome, as Allaine would be joining us on Friday and we didn't know exactly where to put him. Fortunately Allaine is a slender guy, and we made sleeping space for him on the far side of my bed, in the little space between the bed and the wall. *^_^* If he'd been a big bear of a man, it would have been unfortunate.

Princess soon learned that I am prone to fill up any empty space under my dominion with my stuff. She didn't think I'd be able to sleep since my bed was completely covered with things I'd unpacked. But since Allaine wasn't going to be there for the first two nights, I simply shoved everything that I'd unpacked onto my bed onto the floor. Afterwards I had to get... creative.

As the hour grew late, we talked and talked and talked some more... but since we wanted to get up early to do as much in the next day (Thursday) as possible, we finally tucked ourselves into bed and slept the sleep of happy travelers.

End Day One.

Ellen writes...

Gathering journal, New York City, 2003 (copied and pasted with minor edits)

The Gathering...well, my goodness. What a weekend. Here and there, I managed to steal just a few moments to myself in my room, listening to jazz on the CD player as I looked out the window over late-night Manhattan. Magnificent. Also, take it from this stay-at-home mom of a three-year-old: Being able to wear nice clothing and makeup for three days straight was a rare treat indeed.

And this was just the background stuff.

I'll readily admit that I didn't get nearly as much NYC-related activity accomplished as I had planned. For that matter, I got much less *eating and sleeping* accomplished than I had planned, mainly because I continually found myself in situations where, if I couldn't stop talking, I couldn't stop listening.

Upon my arrival, I sought food, because I knew I wouldn't take any time out to eat once I started wandering around the Gathering sites and meeting people. Upon the recommendation of one of the flight attendants on the way from Chicago, I hit the salad bar at Macy's for something quick and good, accompanied by Sarah the Great, with whom I began chatting in the elevator. I returned with her and went to the art room, where I ran into some rotten kid named Dylan Blacquière, and my writer's-retreat weekend was off to the races.

For me, the ability to talk out loud about the extent of my fascination with and affection for a cartoon series, of all things, was special enough, but the ability to do so with a cadre of talented writers, including Greg Weisman himself, was what made this weekend well worth its cost and more -- *so* much more.

It was partly because I was one time zone removed from mine, but the hours of the days got completely away from me. The time flew by as the little group of us sat around the table for the Othercon round robin, laughing and spinning tales and exercising the naughty-story-telling muscles in our brains. Then it was time for the "Erotica 101" panel with Princess and Mooncat (prefaced delightfully by a long-delayed face-to-face meeting with Allaine), which was every bit the erudite discussion I expected it to be. And I'm not being facetious; good smut writing is a surprisingly intellect-intensive endeavor. What this all meant, however, was that we were late getting into Greg and Thom's late-night (read: blue) panel. We arrived in plenty of time, however, for the revelation regarding Lexington's sexual orientation (I am among those who were not surprised by this tidbit).

More importantly in my view, this was only my second opportunity to hear Mr. Weisman talk first-hand about "Gargoyles" (the first being the opening ceremonies), and the first time I heard him speak in such depth about the series. No questions or responses of any kind came to my mind; I was simply content to listen to this bright, imaginative, personable individual talk for as long as he wanted, and, when he was finished, to wish he'd say more.

The character-development panel that I shared the following morning with Dylan, Allaine, and Patrick Toman was a sheer joy. What a pleasure it was to participate in the discussion and to listen not only to these outstandingly talented gentlemen but to the attendees as well, who helped in equal measure to make the session successful -- and to all of whom I send out a special thanks for being there.

I wanted to pick up something for my son while I was in Manhattan, so it was back to Macy's with me after the panel. As usual, the time got away from me, which meant that I was late for Dylan et al.'s crossover-universes panel. (Unfortunately, this also meant that I missed Greg's panel on animation writing altogether, which I regretted at the time and now, after subsequently having had an opportunity to talk writing with him, out-and-out breaks my heart in retrospect. However, going into the convention, I knew and accepted the fact that schedule conflicts came with the territory. Life goes on.)

Next on the docket was a thoroughly enjoyable chat with Kathy Pogge (and others who congregated in the hall) that grew out of her and Patrick's "Am I Blue?" Othercon writing exercise. The discussion group that formed out in the hall became one of the day's highlights; it's that kind of spontaneous give-and-take that makes an assembly of a diverse and intelligent group like this the treasure it is.

At this point it became abundantly clear to me that the only way I'd be at all functional that evening was to retreat to my room and get a little shut-eye. Naturally, I overslept, and was late getting to the banquet (which I had to leave early after just a light nosh because I was having dinner with a friend). I nonetheless had another pleasant discussion, this one with a girl named Sylvia and her mother (whose name I believe was Anne; forgive my poor memory).

I had to leave just as the Q&A was beginning. That was the downside. The upside was that I went from there down to the lobby to meet up with a childhood friend of mine who lives in Manhattan and works as an actress when she can, and for a caterer when she must. We hadn't seen each other in a while and had a great deal to get caught up on, but the first issue at hand, of course, was the reason I was in Manhattan to begin with. As we were walking over to the next block to get a taxi to Grand Central Station and its splendid old Oyster Bar restaurant, I pulled my convention badge out of my purse and showed it to her. "Welcome to my secret life," I began. It took me a good half hour simply to explain the plot of "Awakening" to her (and I'm sure that the people at the table next to us were thoroughly amused listening to me explaining a medieval/fantasy action/adventure soap opera as well). By the time I was finished, however, she was enthralled, and was determined to pick up a copy of the DVD as soon as it comes out next year.

As an aside, as we walked back out of the station building, I pointed up to the top of the Chrysler Building and explained to her how the silver falcons on the corners figured into the eponymous episode the rest of us know and love. She was duly impressed.

From there we went to one of Manhattan's best -- and best-kept -- secrets: a cozy gentlemen's-club-style bar in the meeting room of what used to be the downtown pied-à-terre of a wealthy businessman around the turn of the century, now restored as an elegant, dark, intimate cocktail lounge. I gave my pals at the Gathering all the details about it, but here in the online version of my Gathering journal, its name and location shall remain secret. (Watch for it to be written into at least one of my future stories, in equally anonymous fashion.) We listened to the jazz combo jamming over in the corner of the room and toasted the evening with -- what else? -- a lovely single-malt scotch. Then we figured we should call it a night, so that she could go home and get some sleep after an already hectic weekend for her, and so that I'd be able to squeeze in a little more conversation with my writer pals at the hotel. This is essentially what happened, except that my one-on-one conversation with Dylan was moved across the street to a late-night saloon. After this, more conversation with him and Mandolin back at the hotel outside the banquet room, and yet more conversation in MC and Princess's room, it was time to call it quits and get a few more hours of sleep.

On Sunday morning I was playing catch-up from the moment I woke up, but I did make it to the art room in time to bid on (and win) a couple of delightful pieces. Most importantly, though, I finally found an opportunity to introduce myself to Greg Weisman. He proceeded to regale me by discussing the mechanics of fiction writing with me for what I fear was a rather immodest amount of time. Next time I'd better take my wristwatch off and put it on the table in front of me; this is someone whose brain I could pick for hours if no one grabs me by the shoulder and shakes me back into the real world.

Following the inevitable and all-too-soon farewells after the closing ceremonies, there remained one last thing for me to do before I left New York. I boarded the E train, direction Brooklyn, and visited the World Trade Center site -- the epicenter of a number of changes in my life, including my involvement in the "Gargoyles" universe. Probably because I was simply numb at that point, I remained surprisingly calm while I surveyed the gaping hole in the ground, still littered with sizable piles of rubble and adorned starkly by a plain concrete monument featuring the famous salvaged broken girders forming a nearly perfectly symmetrical cross. When I finally turned away and headed back to the subway stop, I came away with feelings of closure and completeness -- and of things having come full circle.

Yet, along with this sense of closure I also came away from New York with a sense of having made a new beginning. This weekend's experience did much to reinforce my decision to focus on writing at this stage in my life (as much as I'm able to do so while focusing more immediately on such things as keeping my three-year-old healthy and happy and off the roof), and I have my fellow Gathering attendees to thank for this. To everyone on the Gathering staff, please know that I am aware that this glorious weekend was there for my enjoyment because of all the hard work you all put into this event, and I'm grateful. Sarah the Great, I enjoyed our conversation very much, and I'm delighted to have met you first off at the convention. Spacebabie, Aaron, Alex/Orion, Mara, Mandolin, Greg Bishansky, Sarah Berkeley, Lynati, Lain, Sylvia and Anne, Patrick, Kathy, Leo, Diamond Debbie, Chyna Rose, Stephen, and so many others who made me feel welcome and whose monikers I shamefully cannot recall at the moment, it was truly a pleasure. BiZZ, you're a great guy and a real trooper for coming all that way just for the weekend. Hope you're over the jet lag by now. Princess, you're a delight to chat with; I'm so glad I had this opportunity to meet you. I hope you and Mooncat had a great time during your extra days in the Big Apple. Speaking of whom, MC, you're a doll, pure and simple. I'm so lucky to have a writer pal like you, and shame on me for not saying that often enough. Allaine, there wasn't a crapload of snow on the ground this time around. How 'bout that? You're every bit as engaging as you sounded over the phone on that spectacularly loused-up weekend in Philly. Meeting you face-to-face was worth the wait. Dylan, my "nephew," I said it all in the banquet room by saying nothing. Words fail me -- and anyone who's seen the length of my stories knows that doesn't happen very often. You're a good kid, you'll go far, and I'm proud to say that I knew you when. And if you don't show up in Montreal, I'll go find you and kick your rump.

Finally, Greg, despite what you said to me Sunday morning, we're still not square. My column in the ledger is still showing an awful lot of red ink, and there's more and more of it with every story I write. The paltry phrase of "thank you" does a lousy job of covering it.

(With this, Ellen shuts down the computer for the night, turns out the light, and heads off to bed, still wondering how much she'd have to bribe Disney to get that production scene of downtown Manhattan at night framed over her fireplace in her living room...)

Karine/Kanthara writes...

Hi Greg! Apparently you want Gathering journals? I'm warning you -- I'm long winded.

Friday: I packed the night before, but spent a huge chunk of the evening looking for my acrylic paints, which I did not find. Which meant I did not have time to dye my hair or do my legs, and it was getting late when I abandonned my search. I just finished packing and put the alarm clock to ring at 6AM. I got up after a snooze or two, and proceeded to dye my hair and take care of other things. I left for work with the 7:34 train, wearing a huge backpack, my portfolio, my bookbag and a tube containing the G2004 mascot poster.

I got to work before 8:30, and work. By 9:30 it was time for the monthly meeting, where our big boss proceeded to irritate the entire staff even more than we already were, so my conviction to quit was even further strengthened. No matter -- I just kept working, knowing I'd be off to NYC in a few hours time.

By 11 or so, I got a phone call from Adam asking me about stuff I left on the couch at home, asking if it was something I needed for the trip. I said no; however, I did forget my contact lenses but I can do without. Adam asked me how I plan to get to the airport, and I explained that I would go to the dollar store of the shopping center by the train station, and then I'd take a bus or taxi from there for the less than 5 minute trip to the airport. Adam offered to get me my contacts and be my lift for the errands, which I accepted gratefully. (Yay! I get to see him before I leave!)

At noon, I was out of the office and on my way. I was giddy then -- I couldn't wait to get to NY. Adam picked me up and I got the acrylic paints I needed, and made copies of the pre-registration forms for 2004. Then, Adam dropped me off at the airport. My passport is expired by one month but nobody seemed to mind. I breezed through customs and got to the gate in the new jetty they just built at the airport.

I was on the plane pretty much on time, and worked on a marker piece of Kanthara during the flight that was shorter than I expected. I got off the plane at LGA and went for the conveyer belt. The first piece of luggage to come down was mine. O_O So quickly, I went to the transportation desk, and got accosted by a man asking me where I'm going. I mentionned the hotel, and he said he was leaving in 5 minutes, gave me a price, then told me to just sit there. Surprised, I obliged. The price seemed reasonable, but I realized later that I was had. So I did not tip. It turned out to be a shared ride with two other people, and I thankfully got to the hotel before 6PM. When I walked into the lobby, I was greeted by Laurean and (her) Adam, and saw Kelly shortly after; we quickly went to our room which was tiny, leaving about 2 feet of space between the two double beds and the walls, maybe 3 feet at the front of the beds. A big commode with drawers was placed in front of the beds, but in the restricted space, if the drawers were opened, they touched the beds. It was THAT cramped. No way could we have fit 5 people in there! So in any case, I piled my stuff on top of other people's stuff, and got to work on my Kanthara picture to finish it. Then, we hurried out to Opening Ceremonies.

The G2004 staff was introduced as the opener to Opening Ceremonies. We all walked up on stage, and I stood behind the podium and started my pitch. "Who here has ever been to Montreal? What do you like about Montreal?" Someone at the back yelled out, "The Poutine!" After laughter and agreeing, I started talking about the Gathering being in Montreal, about the city, the hotel, the things to do in the city, and then I talked about the convention, the events, guests. I think I managed to make people drool with the banquet possibilities. People also responded positively to the prices, and the exchange rate, and the drinking age in Quebec (18!!!) and I think we managed to psyche people up for it. They loved the mascot, and after announcing the Name The Mascot contest, there was some joking around of calling him Rover or Fido or something like that. ;) Kelly addressed the English vs French issue with a really well chosen argument, that I'll retype here (loose quote): "When I went to Montreal, I expected to pick up some French while I was there. That didn't happen. As soon as people realized I was english, they switched over to English to speak to me." That seemed to reassure people, from what I could see.

When our pitch was done, we sat back down and the G2003 staff officially opened the festivities. Greg was next on the podium and told the good old stories we know and love and never get tired of hearing. There were also quite a few newbies in the group so that was great too.

After the Ceremonies, I went back to the room to get my artwork to post it in the art room, and realized on my way out that the room door did not lock. So I made a note to tell my roommates about it, but got distracted by the art posting thing and the lack of hooks. I still managed to get my art up decently. After that was done, a group of us slipped out to get some dinner, so we went to a nice sushi place close by. Let's see, there was Dreamie (Sara) and Winterwolf (Allan), Sapphire (Kelly), Karlyl (Trishana), Sara Berkeley (Liz), Cybernetic Nixie (Emilie) and Ganador, and myself. Nixie and Ganador sat at another table since we couldn't be 8 at ours. We had sushi, and sake, while Dreamie and Allan got some fried squid and noodles. Good food was had, pleasant times too. I informed the other girls with whom I share the room, Kelly, Liz and Emilie, of our predicament with the door, and they were shocked. We headed back to the hotel and verified that the door did indeed NOT lock, so Kelly went down to the lobby and made a complaint, and the guy she was talking to seemed clueless on how to help us. Kelly demanded another room, which we finally got. It did not have blankets or bedspreads, so housekeeping had to bring them to us. The misunderstanding that ensued had them bring only the blankets, and it took a half hour more to get the bedspreads. They were king sized, the beds were doubles. Lots of eye rolling ensued. No matter -- a blanket is a blanket, and we went to bed shortly after.

Saturday: We got up around 9AM, and went to get breakfast at the café inside the lobby of the hotel. On the way in, I noticed Patrick Toman, and I went to chat with him about pre-reg, and our cosplay skit. We compared schedules, and arranged our plans for the rest of the day. Then, I joined the girls inside to get breakfast. They don't toast bagels. :P It's called City Perk; I kept calling it Central Perk. Whatever. So once we are all equipped with coffee and food stuff, we climbed up to the 6th floor and went to the Paris room to give the drawing Q&A, only to find out that the Paris room was actually the Othercon Exhibition. So we talked to Greg B. about the room being locked, and he said he'll open the room for the class, but then we realized and reasonned that an art class open to all should not be in an 18 and over room, so the video room got given to us instead. As well as to the following events planned in the Paris room for the day.

By 11, Nikki, Liz and I were behind the table at the front of the room, and about 15 people were sitting there, waiting for us to start talking about our craft. Kyt wasn't there yet, and we figured that she was still sleeping, so we started without her. I took the lead and introduced the panel, forgetting to introduce us, but someone in the first row (never caught her name) asked us who we were, being new to the fandom. So we introduced ourselves and told people about what we did professionally, and I was a little sheepish about forgetting that -- the things you take for granted when you've done this art panel thing for 6 out of the 7 Gatherings :P Anyways, questions started coming in. I expected more art and drawing questions, but there were more questions about the process of art, and how you get started, and 3D animation. People were coming into the panel and sitting down, and we got more and more of an audience, which is a real boost for me. I was definitely talking a LOT. I hope I didn't step on any toes. Once I get started... But no one kicked me in the shins, and questions were adressed to everyone... I especially liked the question about preferred media, which we all answered one after the other. I think that's cool, because we like different things, so that shows to people that there is no Right or Wrong tool to draw nice pictures.

I was looking forward to seeing Matt, because I've known him online for the last three years and had not yet met him in person. And there are people that you meet online, and you get to know them by their words on a computer screen, and I can't explain why or how, but you end up becoming friends with them, and caring about them as much as if they were physically present friends. Of course, this impression can always be misleading, because I have met some online friends and found that in person, the friend was just not what they advertise online, or the spark you feel chatting with someone just isn't there when in person. So I was looking forward to finally meeting him, but at the same time afraid that we just wouldn't connect in person. So when he showed up at the panel, I recognised him immediately, waved at him to signal I'd recognized him and said hi happily. In that moment, that nervous smile and Hi he gave back, my fears were immediately tossed away.

Kyt showed up at the panel shortly after, and we continued replying to questions. I don't know how many times the lot of us said "Practice" as an answer to how to get good. Several times in a row, sometimes all at the same time. I mean, it's the obvious answer, but it can't be said enough.

This young woman was there with her very proud mother, and she told us about what she draws and such, not really asking a question, but still. And then she asked me if she could show me a picture she did. I was at a loss, but finally agreed, and she came over to show me. I looked at it, then showed it to everyone, and asked her if she wanted a crit (I think she didn't want one but was just wanting to show me her picture), she agreed, and so I gave her an honest, constructive crit that people around agreed with, and it started up a discussion on the anatomy of cloaked wings. All in all, it was turned into a teaching experience for all, and that was a good thing. (Yes, Matt, I'm considering applying for art or animation teaching jobs!)

So the panel was done a short while after. As people cleared out and Dreamie prepared for her costuming panel, I went over to Matt and greeted him with a hug. Matt knows how to hug, and it's a talent I find not many people have. Some people give half-hearted hugs, or stiffen and straighten back instead of leaning forward so you feel like you're hugging a metal rod. Matt gives good, warm, friendly hugs. :) After chatting a little, I asked him if he would join us, and we headed back to the art room to set up pre-registration for G2004. We took control of a desk and set up the mascot poster, and announced that pre-registration was open, and soon had people signing up for the next year's Gathering. Patrick Toman joined us, and we chatted, doodled, sold registration; Matt gave us his Knights of the Shroud ashcans in which he had done drawings for Sapph, Kyt and me. He made me a funny picture of Ellis and Neeve looking at me fencing and cracking a joke. Then, Matt showed his Malefic Malfoy comic on actual notecards (tiny!), and I told him how much the comic worked without the dialogue. We chatted more, drew more, sold more registration, and it was a lot of fun just sitting there and enjoying the company.

At 2, it was time to go to the cel making panel, so I went up to the room with Matt, Karlyl and Kyt, and got my supplies. We went back to the same room that was not Paris, and told the people there to sit around me as I plugged in the portable light desk into the wall. There was only a small group there, and really, making cels does not require much explanation, so I just gave the instructions on setup, mixed the paints and just started painting. Once in a while I'd give an explanation on something, but aside from that, I just painted. Other people stared, hypnotized, and some took out sketchbooks and drew at the same time. There was some chatting as well, so people weren't bored to tears by my just sitting there and painting. Once in a while I'd turn off the light and show the other side of the cell so the result was appreciated. I was almost finished with the cel when my time ran out, so I decided to finish the cell later when the paint was dry.

Kyt, Karlyl, Matt and I went to the room to drop off my cel stuff, but my card key didn't work, so we dropped off the cel stuff at the art show with the pre-reg people (Sapph was manning the station and got a LOT of pre-registrations -- she has convincing arguments, that one ;)). Then, the four of us went out to get food, and ended up at a place called Sbarro to have Pizza. I'm told this is a New York Pizza sin. I'm not a NewYorker. I don't know. I just enjoyed my pizza slice and my beer, and generally had a great time talking with Matt, Karlyl and Kyt. I can honestly say that this kind of thing is one of my favourite activities at the Gathering: hanging out with friends. We got to know Matt better, and it was just so much fun... and I'd like to point out that Matt has amazing blue eyes, and is quite handsome. I get the feeling he would deny this. ;)

When the Sbarro staff asked us if we wanted anything else, it was our cue to leave the restaurant. Kyt, Matt and I went back to my room, and we exchanged sketchbooks. And I sat there with Matt's sketchbook (I spied in it and looked at all his yummy pictures) trying to get an image down on the paper, but I felt I was just coming up with unsatisfying crap, so lots of erasing happened. I have to admit I was a little... intimidated? I felt that I had to draw something really nice for Matt because, well, he's such a great guy and such a great artist! He drew me a gorgeous picture of Roberta, with the pencil texture he put in the entire image, it's just amazing -- I'd even go so far as to say it's of frameable quality. It's that beautiful. Kyt also drew in my small book, but I ran out of time and didn't draw in hers :P so I'll just have to figure out a way to get to see her and draw for her in the not too distant future.

When the time to go to the banquet came along, Matt was going to leave, and I felt sad that he had to go. I didn't feel right about offering to pay for his banquet seat -- at some point, doing something like that can be considered an insult by some people, so I didn't know what to say, because I didn't want Matt to go yet. Then, Kelly decided that Matt was coming to the banquet. She didn't ask -- she just put her foot down and made that decision. That honestly impressed me. Kelly and Matt ran off to purchase a seat for him at the banquet (I offered to share the cost later on in the evening, which she accepted), and I finished getting ready. Kelly and I love to dress up fancy for the banquet, and it makes the event feel special when we do. Kelly had a sexy short sleveless dress, black, with vertical stripes that looked a little like tiger stripes. My outfit was the one I wore at my engagement party, a black pantsuit with spaghetti straps over the shoulders, and a sort of diaphanous black skirt around the body and down the back. Dreamie then showed up with that tiny black number, that made my motherly instincts go "Young lady, you're going to walk right back into you room and put on something decent!" because it was just THAT tiny. AAAAnyways, Kelly asked Matt to take a picture of the three of us, and we did the Charlie's Angels thing (I can't wait to see the pictures).

The banquet hall was... well, it wasn't very full. It was actually a bit disappointing to see all those empty tables. We did enjoy the food, which was buffet station style. There was a choice between roastbeef, chicken and salmon, with a side of carrots and veggies, and a choice between a ceasar salad or a house salad. The ceasar was already mixed with dressing and looked just nasty and soggy so I went for the other one. The deserts were a selection of pastries that looked just more yummy than the next, and from what I'm told, they were all very good. The coffee was also enjoyable. We chatted about the US president, about stuff I can't recall, and Shaun mentionned meeting David Wong in a convention a while back. The artist (and I use the term loosely) was asking about the Gathering, and made a griping comment about "why can't you people hold the Gathering in LA?" Oh sure, you want us to have OUR convention in YOUR area, hm? Before I continue ranting about David Wong, lemme just do the following exposition -- this man takes commissions from people at conventions and takes forever to draw the pictures. He screwed Kelly over, and she has a nice rant about him right here and has also used the image he made of Cindy's character Eden and sold prints of her, without Cindy's permission. So back to Shaun telling me about David Wong, who was asking about being a dealer at our convention, and the fact that he may see him at other conventions later: he wanted to know what to say to the artist when he ran into him at AX or ComicCon. My answer was simple: Tell him that we are not interested in dealing with him for our convention. Thanks, but no thanks. Shaun was smirking at that point, looking forward to relaying the message to the arrogant artist.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Elisa Maza's mother in Gargoyles and Uhura in Star Trek, was a guest this year (I missed the voice acting panels, but it was for a good cause ;)) and was asked questions at the banquet Q&A. She is a beautiful, beautiful woman. And her voice... it's just so smooth, and powerful... I love to listen to her talk. But, I also had to get ready for the masquerade, and Matt had to leave, so we all slipped out of the banquet hall and met up by the elevators.

I was sad that Matt was going -- his stay was too short! I was so happy to have finally met him in person, and to have spent a great day with him and friends, and I didn't want him to go, but I knew he had a train to catch. So I gave him a warm goodbye hug, and most everyone who was there did too... and then he had to go. :( Oh well, I'm sure we'll find an excuse to see each other again soon. ;)

Back in the room, I finished up the cel I'd done at the panel earlier in order to donate it to the auction, then started getting ready for the cosplay. Mara was kind enough to give me her blue eyeliner pencil so I could do my Fox makeup, and Patrick joined me shortly after with his own costume. Emilie was on the phone with a friend from the furry fandom. Patrick and I went into the bathroom to revise our lines, and I did his makeup; I did my own makeup and took the lifesize baby doll I'd brought as a prop, which during the course of the weekend had been dubbed "Spawn Of Xanatos".

We went upstairs and waited in line to make our entrance and do our cosplay skit. There were few costumed people this year, but what was there was pretty good. Kyt's Orcus costume was very cool -- kudos to hudson for the makeup job! Then, Patrick and I made our entrance -- me as Fox with baby Alex in my arms, and Patrick as Anastasia Renard, her mother(!). Our skit drew loud laughs, it was great! So much fun. After all the costumes were introduced, the guests withdrew to judge the contest. In the meantime, we didn't really know what to do. Dreamie tried to keep people interested by making the costumed people parade a little more, while some of us called out for music to get the party started and dance. well... that didn't happen. some music happened, but we didn't really get to dance. A little. Then the guests came back with the prizes, as well as the art show prizes, those were distributed (I'm just a bit miffed that staff got prizes -- I deliberately did not vote for staff members because I believed staff was not eligible for voting). So anyways, after the prizes were given, I expected the party to get going. You know, party? With, like, dancing and such? no?... err... well, eventually there was Rocky Horror Picture Show shown in that room and we were not interested. I wanted to go dance, dammit :P so Liz, Kelly and I went back to our room, got changed, did not take our purses but rather stuck the necessaries in our pockets, and the three of us walked out of the hotel, heading for a club we'd selected in a list the concierge showed us. It was a good, fun walk, where Liz and I sang Utena out loud, and we laughed and talked and generaly enjoyed our walk. We got to the China Rose club, barely waited in line, and got in; we passed security and got to the cash, where I asked how much the cover charge was.

25 bucks.

25 frikkin' US dollars to get into a club for about an hour. While I was picking my jaw off the floor, Kelly leaned over to listen to the music, and asked, "Is this the type of music you play all evening?" The girl at the cash nodded, said "yes, pretty much". The three of us looked at each other and left.

We looked for another club to go to on the way back, but didn't find anythuing. I mentionned to Liz and Kelly that I'd rather find a place to go have a drink in rather than go back to the hotel and not have done anything. They both agreed, and we found a place a couple of blocks past the hotel. I ordered for all of us, calling a Melonball for Kelly, an Amaretto & Orange Juice for Liz and a Kamikaze for myself. We enjoyed our drinks and chatted for about an hour. We then went back to the hotel, and instead of going to bed because we had to get up early for Dim Sum the next morning, we stayed up with Nixie and drew in each other's sketchbook until 4AM and then some.

At some point we decided it was beyond time to go to bed, and checking the alarm clock again, I slipped under the covers and zonked out.

Sunday: We reluctantly left our beds at 8:39 (one snooze) knowing that people would be waiting for us in the lobby at 9:15 to go for Dim Sum. We got down there and were soon a full team: Kelly, Liz, Alan, Dreamie, Emilie, Patrick and me (was there anyone else? It's been a week, I think that's the gang). The lot of us went to take the subway, which surprised me because I expected the Dim Sum place to be within walking distance of the hotel. Then we waited for the train. And waited. And waited. We started getting worried because we had to be back in time to open pre-reg at the same time as the dealers room, at 11:00. The train finally showed up just when I was about to change my mind about going to Dim Sum.

When we got to Canal Street, we walked in search of the Dim Sum place Alan knew about. Kelly and I were a little on the panic side, thinking about our deadline and all, and we finally just found a place, any place that served the chinese breakfast. We scarfed down a selection of steamed delicacies, had very nice Jasmine tea, then Kelly, Dreamie and I grabbed a cab to get back to the hotel. We got there at 10 to, only to find that the room had already been opened by god knows who, when opening time was clearly stated as 11:00 AM.

I went to the room to get the money and raffle tickets, and *slaps forehead* I have to email the winner back, note to self! Anyways, Kelly and I sat down and continued taking pre-registration. Later on, Kelly went to Liz's computer colouring pannel, that I would have loved to attend, but duty called ;) I stayed at the pre-reg desk for the rest of the time before closing ceremonies. I drew a picture for Shaun, which Shaun decided to have printed at the back of his Staff t-shirt, which made us decide that we should all have such a shirt. Then I drew a commission for Brooklyn Magus. I was regularly asking if the cel I made the previous day had been auctionned off yet, because I wanted to know what it would go for. The auction was dragging on unbearingly long, so at one point the scheduled Atlantis Q&A got most people out of the auction, so that slowed the auction down even more, and they decided to report the rest of it to after Closing ceremonies.

I zipped off to the room to pack before Closing ceremonies started, so I missed most of the raffle draw. I got there just as they were getting to the prize of my art, and Liz's art, and the G04 Staff had relocated there, still taking pre-reg. I joined them, doodled something for Emilie while Karlyl and her were sharing my sketchbook, and kept looking at my watch to know how much time I had left before I had to leave.

Rob arrived, and insisted we take a picture together to prove we had actually seen each other in NYC. ;) A short short chat later, I had to hurry out, hugged my friends, waving big goodbyes, missing them already. I walked out of the hotel, and right there in front was a shuttle that was headed to the airport. I asked them if they had room for me, the driver cnsidered this for a second and said, "sure, get in".Woot, cheap, easy ride back.

I chatted with some of the people in the shuttle, then started doodling a picture of the G04 staff. I got to the airport 2 hours before takeoff, as I'd been advised, and found myself at the gate 5 minutes later. Finding this ridiculous, I turned around and went to have a late lunch/early dinner and a beer at the sportsbar before the security check, chatted with a couple of other Montrealers who were also waiting for their flight out while sipping beer and snacking on chicken wings, and continued working on the picture.

Flight home was uneventful. After the plane landed, however, there proved to be problems in attaching the bridge to the plane, so they had to back up the plane so we could descend by the plane stairs. Adam picked me up at the airport, all congested and sniffling, and we drove home.

- Karine

Patrick Toman writes...

Gathering 2003 Journal

Friday, June 27

My day started at 4:00 am, so I could be at the Cleveland airport in time for my 7:30 am flight to New York - LaGuardia. After checking in and walking all the way to my gate at the far end of the terminal, I found out that the plane scheduled to fly us on to New York was the redeye from Los Angeles, and it was running 45 minutes late. This wasn't a big deal, I decided, considering that last year Jen Anderson and I had endured a delay of over three hours on our way to the Gathering in Virginia. And it gave me enough time to hike back to the main concourse to grab a breakfast sandwich from Burger King.

Boarding time ended up being right around 8:15 am. This was the first flight of the morning to New York, but the plane was barely half full so I had the entire row to myself. Being able to sprawl across three coach seats is pretty nice, even on a short flight. I used the hour on the plane to practice my lines for the cosplay skit that Karine and I were doing on Saturday night (more on that later). I was hoping to see New York City from the air as we approached, but I discovered I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane. Instead, I saw New Jersey (yippee). The landing was fun, though. Landing at LaGuardia airport is the closest you can come to landing on an aircraft carrier without joining the Navy. The plane comes in very low, and you can't see anything but water until about five seconds before touchdown. Then, once the wheels are on the ground, the pilot jams on the brakes as hard as he possible can because the runways aren't really long enough. Having made this same trip twice before for G97 and G98, I was ready for this little roller coaster ride, but it was interesting to watch the reactions of the passengers who had never experienced a landing like this before. They were easy to spot, as they were the ones who kept a white-knuckled death grip on the armrest and muttered under their breath about the pilot until we had parked at the gate.

Now fully awake and running on the coffee I had consumed on the plane, I hurried down to baggage claim, grabbed my luggage, and headed straight to the Ground Transportation desk to join the queue for the Super Shuttle. Less than half an hour later, I was in the van with seven other people, starting the long slow crawl into Manhattan. Traffic back-ups due to accidents and road construction made the 15 mile trip from the airport to the hotel take a little over an hour… almost as long as the 450 mile flight. The shuttle driver was determined, though, to get us to our destinations, even if it meant cutting off taxis right and left and driving up onto the sidewalk to squeeze past a road repair crew.

I wasn't sure at first that I had arrived at the hotel. Instead of the main entrance on Seventh Avenue, I was dropped off at the side entrance on 34th Street, so my first impression of the Hotel Pennsylvania was "this is it?" That changed about minute later, though, once I had managed to drag my luggage through the revolving door and walked down the hallway into the main lobby. The lobby was HUGE… bigger, even, than the Sheraton Universal's at Gathering 2001. Or maybe it just seemed that way because the ceiling was so high. At any rate… it was BIG. So I went to get in the line for the registration desk, before it could get any longer. I spotted a couple of people I knew while I was waiting, but I'm not sure they saw me. I also noticed the coffee shop just off the lobby, which was called "City Perk" and made me think of "Friends" until I realized the shop in that show was "Central Perk."

Finally, I got up to the desk and was able to check in, which surprised me because it was only 11:00 am and the normal check in time was 3:00 pm. They warned me, though, that the room might not be cleaned up yet. After checking in, I spotted a few of the G2003 staff coming down to set up registration, so I went over and grabbed my con badge. Then I headed off in search of a place to dump my bags, and on the way to the elevators I ran into Kellie Fay and Stephen Sobotka. A few quick hellos, then it was up to the ninth floor to find my room. The maid's cart was still in the hall, and a quick peek inside confirmed that it was still a mess from the previous guest, so I dragged my stuff back to the elevators and headed up one more floor to find the con suite.

In the con suite, I found Mara, Kathy, Batya and her husband Alex, and a bunch of other people who's names escape me now because of how hectic everything was with people coming and going and moving boxes and crawling over each other. In the back room, though, I finally found a spot to drop off my bags until my room was ready. A moment later, I was given my first little assignment of the weekend, when I was handed a power strip and a pair of scissors and told to go down to the lobby and give the people working registration a demo of how the label machine worked. This I did, then I headed back upstairs to scope out the convention rooms. On the way back up, I ran into Thom Adcox, who actually recognized me before I spotted him. I also caught my first glimpse of Greg Weisman… or at least the back of his head for a few seconds while the elevator made a stop.

Eventually, I ended up back at the con suite in search of water and a quick snack, and I sat and listened for a bit while Guandalug talked about lost luggage and the fanfic archive. After a while, though, I realized I needed more than snack food to keep me going, so I headed downstairs in search of lunch. There was a Roy Rogers on the same block as the hotel, so I grabbed a combo meal to go and came back to the hotel, where I somehow ended up in the Othercon room, where I met BiZZ and ArtGolem. Mara, Mooncat, and Princess Alexandria were there, as well, and we all sat for a while and had a nice little chat about naughty things. BiZZ also gifted me with a print of his Dominique picture. Those who have seen it will know… those who haven't… sorry, but this is a PG rated journal.

At 2:30 pm, it was time for the Voice Actor's Q&A, so I headed over to the London room where Thom was just finishing up his Mug a Guest. No one who was already there was getting up to leave, so I had to find a seat way in the back. Greg arrived a few minutes later, and while he and Thom waited for a few more people to find their way in, Kathy came in to talk to them about a few things related to events going on later that day (I'm guessing). She knelt down between their chairs and was talking in a low voice when Thom, totally out of the blue, stops nodding along and yells out "What? You're PREGNANT?" At which point, of course, everyone in the room just died laughing. Sorry, Kathy… it probably wasn't too funny from where you were standing… but it made my afternoon to see that Thom was getting off to an early start with the evil pranks.

Now there one thing about the way that London and Paris rooms were set up that I hadn't really considered on my way into the room that I quickly came to hate. It was flat-out impossible to come in late or leave early without causing a distraction because the only door into each room was right next to the table where the presenters were sitting. Had I realized this initially, I would've looked for a seat closer to the front, so as not to become the center of attention when the time came to sneak out and see if my room was finally ready. So Greg, if you read this… it wasn't that I was bored or wanted to be rude when I got up and left. Heaven knows I never get tired of hearing you and Thom talk.

So I headed back upstairs, and since my room was finally ready I retrieved my bags from the con suite and officially moved in for the weekend. The room had a mini-fridge, a nice TV (which I never even turned on until Tuesday morning), and in stark contrast to the hotel rooms at G97 and G98, the bathroom was large enough to turn around in. As I wondered how much longer I had until the History, Myths and Legends panel, though, I realized the room had no clock. Maybe the previous guest decided to keep a souvenir, because an alarm clock is a pretty standard hotel room amenity. So I put in a call to housekeeping to bring me a clock, and then I headed back out to see more of the con.

The rest of the afternoon flew by pretty quickly. I attended the History, Myths and Legends panel co-hosted by Kathy, Batya, Greg Bishansky, and Lynati. Then I helped rearrange the room for Opening Ceremonies and hooked up with the G2004 staff to work out the gameplan for the weekend and distribute raffle tickets. Opening Ceremonies went pretty smoothly. Karine and Sapphire spoke to get people psyched up about The Gathering 2004 in Montreal, and Greg Weisman read letters from Brigitte Bako and Greg Guler, who had conflicting commitments and weren't able to attend this year. Then Greg showed the tapes that those of us who have been to every Gathering so far (like me) have nearly memorized by now: the Gargoyles pitch, the Gargoyles promo, the Dark Ages and New Olympians pitches, and the Bad Guys tape.

After Opening Ceremonies, I joined Greg, Vic Cook, Kathy, Carol and Mandi for dinner at a restaurant called America. It was a long walk to get there (the first of many to come), but the food was great and the desserts were even better. A friend of Greg's from college joined us at the restaurant, and Carol managed to leave the hotel after the rest of us but make it there first by taking the subway. Heading back to the hotel afterwards, Greg was worried he'd be late for the Blue Mug-a-Guest, so he started jogging. This lead many of the rest of us to start jogging, too, providing for those of a psychological bent what I'm sure must be an interesting example of pack mentality (I guess that makes Greg the alpha, too).

So maybe it was the jogging, or maybe it was the fact that there was about 60 people crammed into the London Room… but it was just stifling hot during the Blue Mug-a-Guest. It started at 11:00 pm and lasted until past 1:30 am, when one of the hotel security guys stuck his head in the room and asked, "Are you still supposed to be in here?" Only it was in that tone that means "What the hell are all of you still doing in here?" The biggest revelation of the evening was when Greg confirmed that Lexington was gay and had the series continued he would have found a way to work it in. I don't recall much else in detail after about midnight, though, because by that time I was fading pretty fast. So while others headed to the con suite to continue the discussion, I decided to call it a night headed off to my room.

I took a quick shower and crawled into bed, noticing only then that I still did not have a clock in the room. Since I knew that the pitiful beeping of my travel clock would never wake me in time for my Saturday morning writer's panel now that I had been up for nearly 22 hours straight, I called the front desk to request a wake-up call. I also asked them to remind housekeeping to bring an alarm clock to my room. I wasn't anticipating speedy service at this point, so it was kind of surprising when 15 minutes later, just as I was about to enter the twilight zone, someone from housekeeping knocked at my door to deliver a clock. Happy, I plugged it in, set the alarm for 9:30 am, and settled in for seven solid hours of unconsciousness.

Saturday, June 28

My first full day in NYC started at a much more leisurely hour of 10:00 am, when I met up with Dylan, Ellen, and Allaine downstairs at City Perk to have a quick breakfast and discuss the fanfic panel were hosting that morning. Having only "known" everyone up until then from only e-mail, the fanfic archive, and the GargoylesX board, it was really nice to get a chance to sit down and chat and put voices and faces to the names.

Karine spotted me and stopped by our table for a moment to plan a time during the day to get together and rehearse our skit, and then all of us were off to our first panels of the day. Dylan, Ellen, Allaine and I hotest the "Showstoppers and Scene Stealers: Creating Memorable Characters" panel, which got a pretty good attendance considering it was in the dreaded first timeslot of the morning. Some of the people even seemed to be mostly awake… or at least as awake as the four of us were.

After that, I dashed up to the Art / Dealer's Room where I was supposed to rendezvous with Karine, but with all the noise and the constant flow of people, our earlier plan to rehearse our skit never really materialized. Instead, we collected registrations for Gathering 2004 and I took a moment to check out the display of development art that Disney had loaned for the weekend. It was all really cool stuff, and included a lot of character model sheets and background art, such as panoramic skylines of Manhattan and the eagle's eye view of Astroland at Coney Island from "The Reckoning." On one of the model sheets, I made a mental note of the early spelling of a certain geneticist's name as "Servarius" and filed it away as something to ask Greg about later.

Up next on my agenda was Greg Weisman and Vic Cook's seminar on "Writing for Animation and Series Development," mostly because I wanted to see the surprise presentation of the new project Greg, Vic, and Greg Guler were working on. I'm not sure if it's okay to mention specifics since they're still trying to sell it, so I'll just say that it looked like a really interesting concept, and I hope we'll see it on TV eventually.

Next, it was back downstairs again to host the "Am I Blue?" panel with Kathy, which seemed to go fairly well. We did a writing exercise near the end, but time was running out so we didn't get a chance to see if anyone wanted to read aloud what they had written.

The Radio Play was coming up next and I was supposed to video record it. So to save some time (or so I thought), while everyone was writing I excused myself and ran back to my room on the 9th floor to fetch my camcorder, then came back down to the London Room on the 6th floor. At ten minutes to five, we wrapped up the panel and I booked it back up to the ballroom on the 18th floor, figuring I'd only have a few minutes to get set up before the Radio Play began. Instead, I arrived to find the ballroom door locked, and stood there confused for a few minutes while Greg Bishsanky argued with the guy from hotel catering, who was saying he'd already cleared everything with Aaron and they needed 45 minutes to set the room up for dinner.

Whatever the miscommunication had been, though, it all worked out in the end. After about a half hour, they were able to let us back into the room to hold the Radio Play, although instead of the audience sitting in rows of chairs, they all had to sit at the tables. I set the camera up off to the side, where I could get the whole Radio Play cast into the shot at once. After that, I really didn't have to do much more than let the camera run… though it annoyed me that the hotel wait staff kept walking into the shot while setting out the water and the salt and pepper shakers.

This year's Radio Play was a performance of "The Reckoning" from the second season of Gargoyles. Greg talked a bit first about Gary Sperling, one of the writers on that episode of the show (as well as a number of others), who had just passed away recently from lung cancer, leaving behind a wife and two children. The convention staff had asked Liz to make a card for Gary's family, and it was out in the hall so that everyone could sign it later.

Then the Radio Play got underway. The funniest moment was when Seth, playing Claw, the mute tiger Mutate, stood up to say… nothing, and then sat back down. I also heard later that during rehearsal, Greg Weisman had some fun with Batya and Alex Wittenburg during their exchange of Demona and Fang's lines, "He's a fool, but he may be of some use." / "I can work with that." Reportedly, Greg zinged them with "I bet that's what you said at the wedding." Also of note this year… Thom Adcox's over the top performance as Anton Sevarius. Can you say "superfluous maniacal laughter" boys and girls? I knew you could.

Next up was the Banquet. A few people went to change and came back dressed up in nicer clothes, but I had only brought one change of clothes that were not jeans and a t-shirt, and I was saving those for Henry V in the park on Monday night. Nichelle Nichols arrived just as they had begun letting people back into the room. She passed within five feet of me, which makes that the closest I've ever been to a real live "Star Trek" celebrity. For the dinner itself, I ended up at a table with Karine, Sapphire, Dreamie, Winterwolf, Noel, BrooklynX, and a few others. The food was pretty good, but the desserts were excellent, especially the key lime pie. There was also an interesting conversation at our table about the foibles of the U.S. President and the Canadian Prime Minister. Then the Q&A started, with most of the questions going to Nichelle (surprise). After about fifteen minutes, though, Karine and I decided to duck out because we needed to get ready for the Masquerade.

I ran back to my room, grabbed my stuff, then went to Karine's room to change. Her roommate was there, talking on the phone the whole time as we got ready. I'd never met her before, but strangely enough she was completely unfazed when I stepped out of the bathroom wearing a dress. Karine did the makeup to transform us into Anastasia Renard and Fox Xanatos, and we attempted a quick run through of our cosplay skit. I kept stumbling over my lines, which started to freak me out because I'd been practicing them over and over again in my head the entire day. In the end, we decided just to do our best and improvise if we had to. I put my wig on, Karine grabbed the life-size doll she had dubbed "Spawn of Xanatos" that was playing baby Alexander, and we headed back to the ballroom to see if we were really running as late as the clock said we were.

After freaking out a woman on the 7th floor who came running after us thinking Karine was dangling a real live baby by the arm, we arrived back on the 18th to find the line was still forming and we still had time to run through our skit one more time before it was time to go in. We were placed near the end of the line, so unfortunately we didn't get to see what all the people who went before us did. I could hear lots of cheers and laughing, though, when Kythera went in dressed in her Orcus costume, dragged on a chain by Hudson.

Finally, it was our turn… and I guess our little "mother / daughter" skit went over quite well. People laughed and applauded… and in the end we won first place for cosplay. Greg told me just to stay up there, though, after we accepted our prize (bags of Peanut M&Ms) because I had also won the Gorelisa Memorial award again, which was presented this year by Gorebash himself. That's three times now I've won that one since its inception at G98. At the risk of becoming completely predictable, though, I think next year I'm going to have to change things up and dress as a male character. And that's not just because I think Greg's getting sick of seeing me in drag… or because a little later that evening I got hit on by a very nice guy wearing a rainbow bandana.

Getting the dance portion of the Masquerade Ball going didn't seem to be happening this year, so once Karine and I had claimed the free shirts that were our door prizes for attending the dinner, we headed back to her room to get out of costume. After all the makeup was off, I headed back to my room, changed, then returned to the ballroom to collect my camcorder. As I was packing my stuff up, Greg invited me to come along with him, Thom, Lanny, Kathy, and Carol to Greenwich Village. So after dumping my stuff back in my room, I hustled down to the lobby to meet up with them and off we went.

Thom and Lanny led the way. We took the subway (man does it get hot in those underground stations), then we spent some time walking around. The number of people on the sidewalk at Lexington Avenue was just ridiculous… so I can only imagine what it was going to be like the next morning for the Gay Pride parade. Greg showed us an apartment building he used to live in, and tried to point out his old window from the ground. While staring up into the darkness at the brick wall, I had a nice little Gathering flashback to the Jamestown ghost tour last year in Virginia… where we had all spent a good ten minutes starting at a brick wall in the dark looking for a cannonball lodged there from the Revolutionary War.

From the moment we came up from the subway, we had decided we were hungry (even though we had all eaten at the banquet a few hours before) so we went looking for food. We ended up at the Caliente Cab Company, a Mexican food place. We were all carded before the bouncer / maitre d' allowed us in. Except for Kathy. She had left her I.D. back at the hotel, so she was interrogated for a few minutes instead, until the guy was convinced she was as old as she said she was (we wouldn't have left you out there on the sidewalk, Kathy, honest). Once we got inside, though, we didn't even have drinks… so in essence we were carded for nachos and guacamole. The music was so loud in this place, it was hard to have much in the way of group conversation, but one thing I can clearly recall was a discussion of what "The Price is Right" was doing on the big screen TV at half past midnight. We finally decided it must have been a west coast feed.

After our second dinner, we walked the twenty blocks or so back to the hotel. And I'm pretty sure I called it a night once we got back, because I don't remember anything else except going to bed and waking up on Sunday morning.

Sunday, June 29

Gathering Day III: The Search for Dim Sum. I woke up early to join Karine, Dreamie, Winterwolf, and Sapphire (someone else was there, too, and I'm blanking now on who it was) for breakfast. I knew we were going for dim sum. I didn't know we'd be going all the way to Chinatown. It was another trip on the subway, lots of walking, some really fast eating, and then a frantic race to get back to the hotel by 11:00 am. Half the group went on ahead in a cab so they'd be back in time, and the rest of us took the subway back. On the walk back to the hotel, we spotted a pet store and stopped to spend a few minutes watching the birdies. Even so, we still made it back to the hotel in time for me to get back up to the 18th floor just as the auction was starting.

I'd just walked into the room when Greg spotted me and gave me an assignment. He asked if I could find out if the subway line we were taking to Coney Island later that evening ran near the World Trade Center memorial. So back to my room I went to boot up my laptop for the first time that weekend. I'd saved the PDF's of the subway maps and schedule to my hard drive… which turned out to be a good thing since I wasn't able to get a dial-up connection going. I didn't figure out until later that in NYC you have to dial "1" and the area code before every number, as if you're calling long distance.

Eventually, I determined that yes, that subway line did run near the WTC site, so I went back and relayed the information to Greg. Then I sat and watched the auction for a little while. A couple of times I was tempted to bid on things, except I only had about $75 in cash left on me by that point and I knew I had a big car repair bill waiting for me when I got home. So once that storyboard got up over $300, I got up and wandered over to the Art / Dealer's Room where I ended up purchasing cast photos of Keith David / Salli Richardson and Jonathan Frakes / Marina Sirtis. I also took one more look at the Art Show and bought lovely illustration of Angela in flight that was done by Karine.

For Closing Ceremonies, the G2004 group moved everything into the ballroom so we could continue taking pre-registrations. I ran downstairs to the ATM so I could get my pre-registration in, too, and then at closing ceremonies we had Greg draw the winning raffle tickets for the free memberships and banquet admission we gave away. I made a quick announcement at the end about where to meet up for Coney Island, and immediately after that I was shanghaied by G2003 staff to go up to the con suite and try to get Paypal working on the laptop I had loaned them. I'd forgotten how slow Windows 98 boots up… and how annoying AOL was. At last, though, one of the NYC natives clued me in on the dialing "1" first thing, so we were able to get an AOL connection. I stayed until just before 5:00 pm, and then it was time to head out for Coney Island.

I had printed up maps and directions for everyone ahead of time because I wasn't sure if everyone would stick together or not. What ended up happening, though, was Greg somehow morphed into everyone's dad, and it was like a big field trip. Greg took a head count every time we got on or off the subway. There were 27 of us.

We stopped first at the World Trade Center site. The map I had gotten hold of made it look like the subway station was a block or two away, so I wasn't quite prepared to come up the stairs and suddenly be right there, just twenty feet from the fence and the temporary memorial. I can't quite describe the feeling that came over me as I stared at that big hole in the ground. The closest I can come is likening it to the same sort of feeling I had many years ago when walking along the length of the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington D.C., only multiplied many times over. It was just a very solemn sense of unquiet… so much so that it became hard to imagine that any time in the near future people would want to come back to work or shop at this same site.

I'm not sure how long we lingered there, but eventually the last few people found their way back to the group and we headed back down to the subway to continue our trek to Coney Island. The rest of the subway ride was pretty uneventful, and somehow despite the crowds we managed to keep the group together until we'd found the boardwalk entrance to Astroland. At that point, Greg proposed a plan that we all meet back up at 10:00 pm to see who wanted to stay and who wanted to go, and we split off into smaller groups. I tagged along with Greg and Kathy, and we meandered our way back through the crowd and back down the street to the original Nathan's restaurant. I got a hotdog, but made the mistake of ordering the "large" soda, which turned out to be nearly big enough to swim laps in.

A few minutes after we'd sat down in the courtyard area, we spotted Seth and Wingless and called them over to join us. We sat and ate and talked about the Gathering and ideas for G2004. Then we headed back to Astroland, where Greg, Seth, Kathy, and I rode the Cyclone. I got quite a rush out of it… but then I've always enjoyed a good roller coaster. Astroland itself, though, wasn't quite what I had expected. When I think of amusement parks, I picture the ones run by Six Flags and Disney, but Astroland was more like a carnival. It was crowded as hell, and they even charged a quarter to use the restroom. The only other thing I ended up riding was the observation tower thing where it takes you up and lets you see the area. After that, the five of us got away from the crowds and went for a walk down the boardwalk, which gave a nice opportunity to unwind from the busy weekend.

At 10:00 pm, we met back up with the rest of the gang as planned, and a pretty much unanimous decision was made to head back. So Greg took over as scoutmaster again, and we filed back to the subway station. While we waited for the train, we took a few group photos… so hopefully the people whose cameras were used will post them. The train ride back took a lot longer than the ride out, because the train kept coming to a dead stop for no apparent reason. Once we were back at the 34th Street station, Greg made his last headcount and then everyone was on his or her own for the last block back to the hotel. A bunch of us stuck with Greg, though, and began a futile search for pancakes at midnight in Manhattan. Unlike the rest of America, though, there aren't any Denny's or IHOP's in New York City… so our quest for late night munchies was nearly denied until we found the food court was still open in the lower level of Penn Station. Somehow it was decided the next best thing to pancakes was donuts, but we were cruelly denied again by Dunkin' Donuts not having anything left. So instead, we found an ice cream place and got waffle cones.

Melting ice cream in hand, we headed back to the hotel and a few of us made plans to meet back up in the con suite a short while later. I made a stop at my room, then headed down and found Kathy already there. The room was pretty full, and it was hot in there, too. People were watching Cowboy Beebop, so I sat down for a few minutes and checked it out. I think Kathy and I were both mostly waiting for Greg to arrive, but after a while it didn't seem like he was going to show up. She had just left and I was just getting ready to go when he stuck his head in the door. Most of the people who were still awake were fixated on the animé, though, so we both decided to call it a night.

Monday, June 30

The convention was over, but I still had one more full day left to spend in NYC. I started my morning by running downstairs to City Perk for a bagel and a bottle of Snapple, and I ran into Kathy and exchanged good-byes in case we didn't see each other again that day before she left for home (and we didn't). After my little breakfast, I stopped by the con suite to see if anyone was still alive, and collected the laptop and some items I had loaned them with the plan of boxing them up and shipping them back to myself. No one had any packing tape, though, so I scampered across the street to Penn Station and picked some up from the Staples right at the bottom of the escalators. Since they offered UPS shipping, I decided I'd just bring the package back there rather than walk two blocks to the post office, and back I went to the hotel.

Back in the 10th floor con suite again, Mara stopped by briefly and appointed me "keeper of the room keys" and recruited me to help with cleaning up and moving all the convention staff's remaining stuff up to her room on the 11th floor. Greg Bishansky, Cat and I managed to clean up all the leftover food that was literally everywhere in about half an hour, filling three huge trash bags. Tip for the con suite next year: plastic drop cloths. Or get a room that can be hosed down at the end. Sorry, guys… I love this fandom, really I do, but do we really have to make such a mess when we eat snack foods? Anyway… we got everything that was trash thrown away and everything else picked up and moved up to Mara's room by noon check-out time… which I'm sure made the hotel happy.

After that, I went back to my room to finish packing up that box, and found a message on the voice mail that Princess Alexandria had just left a few minutes earlier. She and Mooncat were looking for me, to see if I wanted to go do some sightseeing with BiZZ and the two of them. I did, so I called them back to see where they were, and hurried down to their room to discuss the plan. Online, we'd discussed checking out the "Museum of Sex" that was supposed to be just a few blocks away, but Mooncat had tried to call them and found their phone was disconnected. Deciding that wasn't a good sign, we instead settled on going to see Times Square and then just going from there. I got them to give me 20 minutes to go ship my package, then ran back to my room, back to Staples to do that, and returned to meet them in the lobby.

We walked up to Times Square, where we took some photos and explored a few of the souvenir shops and one big toy store that had life-size Lego models of Harry Potter and Hagrid in the window. Then we decided to walk up to Central Park and look for Belvedere Castle, the place where Elisa and Demona fought in "High Noon." It was a pretty good trek, but you could almost feel the air temperature drop once you went into the park. We followed the road that curved up through the east edge of the park, stopping three or four times to ask various park employees for directions, until eventually we came upon the back side of Belvedere Castle. I made sure to point out the "claw marks" in the stone, since I'd been there before on the walking tour that Batya had led after Gathering '97. Disappointingly, though, the Castle wasn't open, so we couldn't go inside and up top as I'd done then.

It was getting to mid-afternoon by that point, so we decided to start heading back. We exited on the Central Park West side, and found the subway line that took us right back to within a block of the hotel. Since we'd all skipped lunch, we then went looking for food. I got a corned beef Ruben sandwich that ended up being so big, half of it went back to the hotel with me to become a meal for Tuesday morning before I left for the airport. Mooncat insisted on treating everyone, too… so thanks, Mooncat. After we ate, we still had about a half hour left to hang out in Mooncat and Princess Alexandria's room before BiZZ had to leave for the airport. Mooncat gifted me with a really cool Demona / Dominique t-shirt and a print of her Elisa pic that had been inspired by the Madame Destine fic "Mistress of Dreams." Then it was time for BiZZ to be on his way, and time for me to go get ready for my second trip of the day to Central Park.

There was a big group for dinner, but it was just Greg, Carol, and I for "Henry V" at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. It was sort of a race to get there by 7:30. We took the subway, then Greg flagged down a cab which took us across the park, and then we jumped out and jogged the rest of the way, which got us there just a few minutes before they started letting people file in. It turned out to be a really nice evening for outdoor theater, and the performance was very well done. The part of King Henry V was played by Liev Schreiber, who seemed familiar to me even though I still can quite place where I've seen him before. The one cast member I did recognize, though, was Bronson Pinchot, who played the part of Pistol, and did so sort as if he was playing Vinnie Barbarino playing Pistol. The play was performed using Shakespeare's original dialog, but with modern costuming and scenery. Overall, it was a very interesting staging.

After the play, Greg, Carol and I went off on another walk through another of Greg's old neighborhoods. It was a really nice area now, but he kept giving examples of how it had been a pretty scary area twenty years ago when he'd lived there. Finally, we headed back to the subway and returned to the hotel, where we ended up just sitting around in Greg's room for a while, eating peanut M&Ms and watching TV until Greg decided we should call it a night.

Tuesday, July 1

My last day in NYC was pretty much a nothing day. I slept until about 10:00 am, then got up and ran downstairs for a Snapple. Mooncat and Princess Alexandria spotted me, so I stopped to say good-bye since I'd be leaving soon. On my way back to my room, I stopped by Mara's room to say more good-byes and pick up the art she'd done for me that she'd been telling me all weekend to remind her to give to me before I left. Then I went back to my room, ate my leftover Ruben sandwich, and finished packing. I checked out around 11:00 am, then headed out front to catch a cab to LaGuardia. The trip back to the airport took maybe a half hour at most, so I was left with lots of time to nap before my 2:30 pm flight. The trip back to Cleveland was uneventful, and I was home in time for dinner.

And thus ended another Gathering adventure. Coming home at the end is always a little bittersweet, but I know I'll see many of my friends again next year in Montreal at The Gathering 2004. At least, I'd better see you all there! ;)