Sunday quickly became another late start that was delayed even further by datacat and I both forgetting our badges. I sent a text to sixteenbynine so he knew I'd be late, and waited for datacat to make a mad dash to the apartment and back to the train station, since my Metro card didn't have enough trips for me to leave and come back. We arrived at the convention around 1:00 p.m., where I headed straight for the Media Blasters booth again to say hi to Merideth and the gang. We headed pretty swiftly from there to the Kinokuniya booth right behind Media Blasters, where datacat quickly disappeared in a search for merchandise and sixteenbynine dragged me away to see an artist's finished, giant, chalk depiction of Vampire Hunter D.



We wandered back to collect datacat from Kinokuniya, and I requested we head in the direction of the booth where I'd bought my Ergo Proxy Monad cross the night before. This proved a more difficult task than expected, as the journey involved passing through the Funimation booth, where we caught previews of their many rescued titles and ogled their DVDs, followed soon by the cheap manga-and-DVD booth. datacat and I had previously abused their 10 for $40 manga deal, but we hadn't gone for the 5 for $40 DVD deal; this time we did. Finally we made our way to the jewelry booth, where I purchase pins from Ergo Proxy and Azumanga Daioh to attach to my Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex messenger bag with the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya armband attached by Devil's Panties pins (gangsta octopus and "Truly Value the Shiny Things").

From there we passed a booth full of curious T-shirts where a young lady handed us all fliers for a new Web site likened to Suicide Girls that's part of the new company she's developing. datacat quickly declined the fliers, as she's a high-school teacher and that could cause some problems. I am somewhere between confused and flattered to have been offered an opportunity to model for them. After making sure datacat got some pictures of the D mural, I made one more stop at Media Blasters while she and sixteenbynine made a stop at the Vertical booth. I said my goodbyes to Anna the Red, Joe, Sean, and Merideth, while of course getting caught in another extended conversation, as it's so easy to do. We discussed their films and the props they have from them, including what is apparently the most gruesome chair ever from their recent flick Tokyo Gore Police. We capped things off with Merideth asking me when I was moving into the city so they could hire me to work cons for them, and I said I was seriously considering it and that I'd start applying to schools once I get back, which I'll do after my bank account recovers.



As had been planned since before the weekend started, the three of us left to visit Risotteria, a wonderful restaurant that specializes in risotto, pizza, and gluten-free products. Back in May, when mmsword and I visited datacat and we all attended the progressive-rock concert featuring Dream Theater, I ordered a feta and arugula thin-crust pizza and a gluten-free brownie with whipped cream for dessert. We all shared desserts, including the chocolate tiramisu and the lemon cheesecake. At the end of that night, I'd noticed a sign that they have gluten-free deep-dish pizza, which made for a very excited Kasha. This time I ordered the gluten-free shrimp and fontina Sicilian with a "fudgie" for dessert. A fudgie is two very large, very soft gluten-free cookies with a soft chocolate fudge filling to make a kind of sandwich. I was already feeling the pressure after half the personal-size pizza, and only barely choked down dessert, not being used to so many carbs. I'd been saving myself for this treat, though, and I still think it was well worth it. I'm going to try and exercise my way through the carbs and keep my diet clean before I finish the leftover pizza. I got a lot of good exercise over the weekend, and I'm coping decently well.

After a quick stop by a local record shop, we all parted ways at the subway station. datacat watched the first disc of Phoenix and the ultra-cheesy Maetel Legend while visiting her parents' house in Bronx before being driven back to the apartment and getting to bed around 3:00 a.m. We all left the apartment just after 7:00 a.m. on Monday, and I left for NJ while datacat and her mom headed to work. This is when I got my ticket on the Garden State Parkway, for which I intend to show in court, since it's a Monday at the end of October. I've since been unable to find the battery charger for my mom's phone, even though datacat and I both recall my specifically making sure it was packed safely with my things. It's not in any of my bags, with my laundry, on my person, at my parent's house, datacat's apartment, or in her mother's car, so for now we're blaming gnomes.

I really do intend to seriously look into going to school in New York so I can take a job or an internship at Media Blasters. It's the most viable plan I have for myself so far, apart from applying to Maryland universities and living on campus. I just don't have it in me these days to manage the kind of hefty full-time corporate work to make the money I need to thrive in the area, so school is the best option for me. I can live off loans and develop a career to make decent money after graduation. I'll just need to start applying now and make sure I can survive until then.

Next week—BlizzCon!