Systemdown Chronicles

Around this time every year I start to feel the call of the wild urging me to go camping. Time to drag out all the camping gear from the past year and see what condition its in. Between the different members of my family we have enough equipment for a small army to survive for weeks in a forest. So this weekend I need to travel down to where it is all stored and pick up the things i need to start the season. This means I have to setup all my tents and see if they need to be cleaned again. This is always a pain to do on your own, as my big tent is on its last leg, or poles in this case. It has been put up so many times by just one person when it really is a three person job, and this has caused the poles to start to crack from the stress. I will be using my big tent as the community tent during events this year as I have done at past events. This makes it very easy for people to bring new comers to pirate events that are not equipped for camping. So it looks like we will be inheriting a new tent this year, a ten by ten tent from my girlfriend’s parents. Now we will have a total of 4 tents that I will be bringing to events this year.

With spring in full force, I am inclined to get out and do things outside of my basement home. Its time to explore the options outside, such as going to the drive in. I have not been to the drive in in a few years. Ever since they tore down the drive in that was in Lebanon to put in the Super Walmart a few years ago I have not been to another one. So this weekend we will try to make the drive up to Dallas to the Motor Vu and see Monsters vs Aliens and Knowing. I am excited to get out of the house and do something, so this should be fun.

The boring winter has ended and the events of the summer are
beginning. The first event of the year was Sakuracon. This would have been the forth or fifth time that I have gone to Sakuracon, can’t quite remember how many times. I will have to dig out my badges and count them up. I truly forgot how long it takes to get through the registration line. Last year I was given my badge by the convention chair since I was there as an exhibitor for Kumoricon. We had a great weekend this year, very laid back and relaxed compared to other years. We were all at different stages of the same cold though, my girlfriend ended up hitting the worst part of the cold during the second day. I felt bad about leaving her up in the room all day but she was ok with it since all she was doing all day was sleeping. This has to be one of the nastiest colds we have had in a while, a constant cough and a stuffed up nose that lasts for more than a week.

There were some great cosplays, but I unfortunately can’t seem to find the bag with my camera in it. So I lack pictures from our trip, minus the one that my girlfriend snapped of us under the cherry blossom. Next on the agenda is to get prepared for pirate season. I need to make some new garb for myself and my girlfriend before the season starts. She needs an entire outfit made and I just need some better outfits, mine are kind of generic and bland. I would like a more vibrant looking outfit and one that matches my girlfriends.