DragonCon!

Back from my trip. Kind of a whirlwind, but definitely fun! On Friday, Jacob and I drove to Philadelphia to go see Nine Inch Nails in concert. We stayed at my cousin’s townhouse (she and her girlfriend were away) which was really cute and in a fun neighborhood in South Philly. It kind of reminded me of Williamsburg, Brooklyn here in NYC with lots of fun pubs/restaurants and young people. We walked around and ate dinner and then headed to the concert. Trent was great – he still really has it – and the light show was very cool. I don’t know a lot of NIN’s new stuff, but Pretty Hate Machine, his debut album, was like an anthem for me in high school.

The next morning we awoke BRIGHT AND EARLY (aka 5am – bleh!) to head to the airport. Problem was, we forgot to pay attention to exactly where we parked after the concert (as we had both been on our respective cell phones – duh!) and so we had to wander the streets of pre-dawn Philly sleepily searching for the car. NOT fun. We finally found it, but at one point I was really afraid we’d miss our plane. We got there on time, however, and flew down to Atlanta to DragonCon.

DragonCon was certainly an experience! I’ve never seen anything like it. Forty-thousand people – mostly dressed in outrageous and creative costumes – wandering around a nest of hotels in Atlanta. There were tracks and panels for everything – from Joss Whedon to Star Trek. From gaming to gothing. We were so overwhelmed by it all, we didn’t go to as many panels as I would have liked, but it was still really cool. I did attend one with James Marsters (aka Spike from Buffy!) and the guy who played Lex Luther from Smallville. They were really funny together.

I also attended a panel on steampunk – which was REALLY popular this year at the con – and learned how to make steampunk costumes. Pretty cool. I was inspired. This girl below is my favorite. She talked about how she made each part of her costume. She's pretty hardcore. Oh and the hair of hers? It's real!





At night we went to various parties and gawked at all the costumes. They were really amazing. And yes, I costumed, too, though I was practically invisible with my amateur dress-up compared to everyone else. Next year if I go, I need to step it up about ten notches. I made my best effor though, as you can see below:


Day #1




Day #2




We didn’t really meet any celebrities. Jacob really wanted to meet Adam West (the original 60s tv show Batman), but he didn’t show up to his panel. So lame! And we had just left a group of our friends to get dinner when who should show up but the cast of Firefly! I would have loved to have chatted with Nathan Fillion.

In all, it was fun, though overwhelming. I wished we had registered early – to get a hotel room on site of the convention. Ours was over a mile away which made it difficult to rest in between activities. Next year I’ll be booking that hotel as soon as they open it up.

I took a gazillion pics – both of me and my friends costuming and some of the random cool costumes I found. I’ve included a some below.




Shomi flyers!






Me and my new friend Cherie!


Me and my new friend R2D2!


Chris came costumeless, so Cherie had to improvise.


World of Warcraft Quest Giver


Of course no con would be complete without a Klingon. We even attended a Klingon beauty pageant!


Make like a tree and...oh, never mind.


A stormtrooper with some girth.


Hurley from Lost!!


I really wondered how some people got all this armor and weapons on the airplane...


These two had the awesome wings I featured on this blog a few weeks ago! They were even cooler in real life - and had mechanical controls with which to expand.


Not all costumes were fantasy related. Here's Sgt. Pepper!


Blues Brothers flanking Darth Vadar.


Michael Jackson Thriller.


Zombie Dorothy


Me distracting Jacob while he tries to look at the menu. He looks very vampirish here.


Attacked by zombies? Or just passed out from too much to drink?


Cherie as a demented Cinderella whose mice attacked her dress after she didn't pay her tailoring bill. (She's so creative!)


Cookie Monster! (He was giving out fortune cookies.)


This was maybe the coolest costume of the night!