Anime Detour 2011: All Good Things

So I finally got my cosplay in the mail. I was an Anbu Black Ops ninja from Naruto. The day of the biggest anime convention in MN is finally coming my way and I couldn’t wait. I started going to anime conventions in 2008, my first one being KakkoiCON. Before, I just had a jacket made to look like the one Kaneda wore in Akira. But I decided to go all-out at the biggest convention in MN. I even got a deal from Tony, a friend of mine, for a room for the weekend. He was also sharing with some other friends of his as well. So my share of the fee was rather cheap.

My Anbu Black Ops cosplay.

I packed up my things and headed out to the Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington, MN where the convention was going to be held. I had been there before, as KakkoiCON was held in the same hotel. When I got there, I pulled up into the parking lot and waited for some of my fellow cosplayers to show up before I left the car in my ninja gear. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a few Bleach cosplayers could be seen through my rearview mirror. This was definitely the place. I suited up in my ninja outfit and headed in. After a few minutes of trying to find the registration counter, I got my badge for the convention. Afterwards, it was off to find Tony so I could get situated in the room. After a few texts, we met up in the convention’s gaming room and I paid my share of the fee. He even had an extra card key, so I could come and go as I pleased. A nice touch indeed.

The Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington, where the convention was held.

I started my weekend by walking around the first and second floors of the hotel, where the convention was being held, just so I can get an idea of the layout. Afterwards, my stomach started to growl. Made sense–I hadn’t eaten anything since I got up that morning. I headed out of the hotel and over the fence on the other side of the parking lot. On the other side, there was a Subway, Burger King, and a Dairy Queen. Since I haven’t had Dairy Queen in a long time, I made that my choice of dining for my first meal there. I got my meal to go and promptly returned to the convention, where I found a nice spot to sit and eat while I enjoyed the view. There were cosplayers everywhere. This was great.

After I was done, I decided to head into the main area by the pool, where most of the cosplayers were congregating. I heard my name being called shortly after. I turned around and got a hug from my old friend Katy (who was cosplaying as Simca from Air Gear). We had met the year before at the Ubon Lantern Festival in Saint Paul and became friends shortly after. We had been texting each other off-and-on for a while after. But this was the first time we had seen each other in a while. I decided to hang out with her and her friend Amanda for a while.

Me and my friend Katy.

After about an hour, I was ready to take a few pictures of the convention, as well as some of the more talented cosplayers there. We had some that were done really well. And there were a few that stood out simply because of the skin showing. There was a Yuna cosplayer (from Final Fantasy X-2) that I could have sworn that she wasn’t wearing a bra. The shirt was just hanging off of her, restrained by a small black thread. From the same game, there was a Rikku cosplayer whose skirt was just a bit too small. Just walking behind her, you could see her cheeks popping out from underneath. She was wearing a thong (like the Rikku from the game does), so it wasn’t too troublesome.

Take a good look at Yuna (right). See what I meant?

But there was one thing that bothered me. All this fast food I would be eating. No, I’m not a health nut. But all this fast food isn’t going to come cheap. Luckily I was informed of the “consuites” there. These four hotel rooms were reserved with the sole purpose of providing free food and drink to convention members. I would be taking advantage of the free Mountain Dew for the rest of the weekend to keep myself going. My first taste of the food there was some steamed rice with soy sauce, nachos, and cheese. Yeah, not a good-sounding combination. But it was damn good.

The rice wasn't that bad. The stuff saved me a lot of money over the weekend.

The first day ended rather well. I returned to the hotel room to call it a night and found out that the two beds were already taken. There was a chair in the corner where I decided to curl up and try to get some rest. But with the combination of the room parties on the floor lasting until the wee hours of the morning and the unconformability of the chair, I didn’t get much sleep. Normally, this would have been bothersome. But not this weekend. I finally fell asleep at 4am and woke up four hours later. I decided to head to Burger King to get a burger. But they were still selling breakfast items. Since Dairy Queen had lunch items (not too big on breakfast items, especially from fast food joints), I decided to make a DQ fish sandwich my breakfast.

Taiyaki and carrots. Taiyaki is a lot like a pancake with bean paste in it. The bean paste has a rather sweet flavor. Tasted like I was eating a dry syrup. It was rather tasty.

While the first day of the convention was really good, it was Saturday where things really took off. I headed around and checked out the dealer’s room, where they sold all sorts of anime-related merchandise. I wanted to get a drill necklace like the one Simon wore on Gurren Lagann, but I couldn’t find one. I did buy a pin with the Anti-Spiral (from the same series) on it though. 50% of the money I paid for that was donated to Japan. I would later donate another $10 to the same cause. I proudly wore the pin for the rest of the convention.

I proceeded to walk around the convention area again, this time with my camera in hand. I got many pictures of cosplayers there, cosplayers that wanted to take a picture of me, and ones that wanted to take a picture of them with me in them. Since this was my first time cosplaying, I didn’t mind this at all. It was really fun. I collected email addresses and Facebook accounts of those that I carried a conversation with, as well as a Facebook from a very lovely lady (who I will not reveal the name of at this time) dressed up as Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon. What made me laugh was when I asked to take a picture of her friend (who was cosplaying as Sailor Mercury) she seemed jealous. I got another picture with both of them, holding Sailor Venus just a bit closer just to prove that I like her better. I did find her on Facebook, but she has yet to accept my friend request. No matter–it’s only been a few days since then.

She's the one on the left.

I started to get hungry shortly afterwards. This time, I really pigged out at the consuite. I had a handful of gummy bears, M&Ms, carrots, and my favorite rice and nachos. I even went to the gift shop to get some Combos for later that night. Never did need them–it was just in case. After that, I visited a few panels and hung out with some fellow Naruto cosplayers as well. I visited some of the room parties and stayed up even later than the night before. I didn’t go to bed until 6am the next morning. This time, Tony made it so one of the beds was available to me, as I didn’t sleep well the night before. What was even cooler is that all his friends agreed as well. They heard me tossing and turning the night before. I decided to give my sheets to Alex, one of the roommates, since he was sleeping on the floor.

I woke up on Sunday at noon. Since this was the last day of the convention, I got ready quickly and headed to Burger King for lunch. I took a few more rounds and said goodbye to a few of my new friends. At about 3pm, I was handing the key back to Tony and walking to my car, luggage in hand. I took one last look at the hotel and felt somewhat depressed. It was understandable–it was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. I started up my car and headed home, taking a slight detour to get some groceries along the way.

I took this photo just as I was leaving on Sunday *sniff*

One of the biggest problems I have with these conventions is when they end. I have such a bloody good time at all of these, that it is hard to get back to reality. Luckily, I had taken Monday off as well. But a lot of my new friends were there for me. I left my laptop on with the browser on Facebook so I could hear from my new (and old) friends.
But today, I lucked out. I don’t know why, but I found myself to be rather ill. I couldn’t even get up out of bed in the morning. I called in and took the day off. I am feeling a bit better, so I might return to work tomorrow.

So that’s my awesome weekend at Anime Detour 2011–the first Anime Detour I had ever gone to. I am anxiously waiting for pre-registration for Anime Detour 2012: It Came From Japan…

…and a response to that friend request from the Sailor Venus cosplayer.

Isn't she cute?

ADHD…My Thoughts.

“*Banging on podium* Mr. Joe!! RISE AND SHINE!!”

-My 4th Grade teacher

Yeah he used to do that all the time when I would stare off into space. Ever since I was a child, I have had trouble focusing on the subject at hand, always retreating into the recesses of my imagination. Back then, there was no such thing as ADHD. I was always thought of as a slacker by teachers and brought my much-loved parents a lot of pain. Bad grades, trouble with teachers, and being picked on by other kids because I just couldn’t cut it became the norm after a while. My life was in shambles and I seemingly had no future. The only thing I was good at was art. But art was considered by a lot of people to be a “starving” career, where I would make little or no money.

In 1993, I was diagnosed with ADHD and given Ritalin as my prescription. I never saw a difference. Hell, it was the first that me and my family had ever heard of this condition. But the addition of this seemingly non-effective medication was only the start of my problems. You see, we had just moved from Seattle to Rugby, ND–a town of around only a thousand people. Being the anime/video game/computer hobbyist that I was, it was hard enough being in a town of sports-lovers and farmers. Now I had to stop by the doctor’s office every day after lunch to take this “medication.” In a small town like this, especially since I was still in high school, it certainly didn’t take long for word to get around. It was open season for bullies on this one, that was for sure. I was often labeled as a “retard” because of this condition simply because they didn’t understand it. What made matters worse is that I was placed into a counseling group that consisted of two other students that had Down’s Syndrome. And this was all approved by the principal, of all people. This finally came to an end two years later, when a middle-aged woman (and an attractive one at that, lol) came to the school and did a presentation about ADHD and the hell she went through. I never got her last name. Take a guess why. No really, go ahead. But I recall her first name was Heidi. She reached a lot of people that day. People now understood what I was going through. I received a lot of apologies that day.

After high school, I tried to live life without the medication, as it really didn’t have too much of an effect on me to begin with. I started working part-time at a Pizza Hut during the summer and moved to a full-time job in the fall. I was doing well. I still had times where I would space out, but they were few and far between. In the event I had to do additional training at my job, I would chew a stick of gum to keep me focused. I had finally figured life out.

But it made me wonder. Did I really have ADHD to begin with? Was I mis-diagnosed? All answers pointed to “no.” I was still having trouble focusing at times.

A few days ago (about ten years from the last paragraph), I thought about it again after seeing an advertisement on TV about ADHD. The symptoms still matched my behaviors. I was still having trouble focusing. I reflected back to earlier last year when I started a new job and had to go through a six-week training class. I did alright and got the job, but it was a lot of work. The other trainees, however, showed little or no difficulty at all during the training. Even when I first hit the sales floor, I watched others at my exact skill level excel on the sales floor while I was still struggling to keep my seat there. Again, I managed to make it. But not without a lot of sweat and tears. I talked to people about this and they told me that this might not be the right career field for me. Then it hit me. Even when I thought I did alright these last ten years, I was still struggling to break even. It didn’t matter what I did. I explained this to those people and told them that quitting my job isn’t the answer. Of course, they didn’t understand me and I found myself at square one all over again. This time, I held my head up high and pretended that it didn’t bother me, even though it was tearing me apart on the inside.

I thought about going back to the doctor and seeing if I still have ADHD. If I did, I would have no problem in taking the medication (as they have been working on it for over ten years now–they must have made some progress). But the only issue that I have is how it would affect me. After pondering it for some time, I came up with a few theories:

1.) The medication would still have no effect on me.
2.) I am now used to living life with ADHD and now understand how my brain works after so many years without medication. What if by taking it again, I would have to start all over again?
3.) It would work with no problem at all.
4.) This sounds a bit outrageous, so bear with me on this last theory. After over ten years, I have adapted to focusing without the need for medication. What if, by adding it again, the medication would actually add to my improved focus over the years?

What do you all think? I’d like to hear your opinions.

-Joe

I Think My Car is Evil!!

“Oh, my car!! *sob*”

-The thug from the Final Fight bonus stage

I’ll give a cookie to anyone that remembers that classic video game scene.

Yes, I honestly believe that my car is evil. I bought it from a used car lost in 2009 and right out the door, I had to replace the alternator and power steering pump. Of course, since this all happened the day after I got the car, the dealer offered to fix it without charging labor. And for those of you that have never have had a car repair done (lucky you), you know that labor cost are a lot more than the parts. Plus he fixed it using used parts, saving me even more money. And I thought my troubles were over.

Ha!! Was I ever wrong.

A few months later, I was driving from a job in Plymouth, MN (about an hour’s drive from where I lived, when the car started smoking like an angry dragon. I pulled over and released the hood, only to see boiling antifreeze running out the bottom of the car. So here I am in a run-down neighbor hood wearing a suit and driving an Audi. Glad I didn’t get mugged while waiting for the tow truck. Turned out that the thermostat had gone bad. $300 was the total to fix it, parts and labor. Okay…

The car ran for a good year and a half after that. I began to trust it and relied on it to get me from place to place (who doesn’t nowadays?). But a few months ago, the axles gave out and I had to have them replaced. $600!! Ouch!! But it had been a while and it was an old car. It was going to happen sooner or later. In December, the car failed to start. Took all day to find out what was wrong with it. Turned out that a battery cable had gone bad. Only $65.

But last night, I was on my way home from work. I went to a gas station to fill up my car and get some fuel for me too. But when I got in the car and tried to start it up, it made a whining noise and didn’t turn over. Great…what now?

So now I sit at home waiting for the mechanic finds out. And he hasn’t called yet. He might not even get to it until tomorrow morning. If it costs too much, I’m thinking it might be time for a new car.

…because I think my car is evil!!

So Far, So Good…

“Go beyond the impossible, and kick reason to the curb! That’s the Team Dai-Gurren way!”

-Kamina, “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann”

Yeah, you heard right–another good day. Hell, it has been a good few weeks for me.

Work has been getting better. But, there are some of my coworkers that still think I’m not cut out for the job. Last week, a good friend of mine told me why I keep pushing myself in a career not suited for me. Not suited for me? How do you know that? It’s my first sales job. Before, I worked customer service for seven years. Why did I go this new route? Seven years and never saw a promotion, that’s why. When I was offered a sales job with base pay and commission, I jumped at the opportunity. Sure, it was going to be hard. There’s no doubt about that. But I needed a change. Gone were the days of cramped cubicles and micro-managing. Gone were the days of customers yelling at me all day for something someone else did.

For those of you who think outbound sales consists of people yelling at you because you called them during the game, during dinner, etc., then you need to open your eyes a bit. Just because I’m outbound sales doesn’t mean I’m gonna call you and shove some random product/service down your throat. No. I’m gonna treat you like a friend of mine. If you need help, I’m there. If not, I’ll go to the next caller and leave you be. That’s my approach. And you know what? It works!! I’m on track to hitting my sales goal this month. My manager talked to me the other day and said that I’m doing well. She’s even talking to me about how I can get promoted. Seven years in customer service and I never got this talk. One year in sales and I get it without asking. If my manager sees this in me, then I must be doing a good job.

Things at home are good too. My noisy neighbors have quieted down some, leaving me with plenty of relaxation time after work and on the weekends. My friends are starting to Facebook, text, and IM me more and I love all the extra attention. In April, I will be headed to Anime Detour, the biggest anime convention in Minnesota. Yeah, I like anime. I think the quote at the beginning of this blog sums it all up. I had to do a quote that was said by someone other than me. Kinda makes it sound like I’m self-centered when I think about it. And who likes that, right?

Not Too Bad

“I always believed that the final battle between Heaven and Hell is being fought right here on Earth. Because good and evil co-exist on this planet. One cannot exist without the other.”

-Me

Okay, so last month was a total disaster. So what!! Does that mean I slump into a “I-don’t-give-a-fuck” state, or do I simply press on forward? Well, I never really gave up on anything my entire life. Why start now? I know times are tough, but giving up is not an option to me anymore. And even if it was, I STILL wouldn’t give up.

The start of the month has been really good for me. It was a welcome change, as things last month got me to the point where I didn’t know what to do. First of all, it looks as if I’m poised to hit my sales numbers this month already. Work still blows though. The new sales campaigns have us selling to 85-year-olds that don’t need new loans or mortgages, or anything else for that matter. Despite this, I pulled off somewhat of a miracle as I made three sales on Monday, six on Tuesday, and another three yesterday. Today left me with nothing. But I’m not gonna sweat it. I had a really good start. Oh, and did I mention my birthday is tomorrow? Well, I did now!! My boss even approved vacation time for me so I now have my birthday off. That’s a good thing–I need to take my mind off of work for a while.

So why am I writing about it? Good point. I just thought that a little good news on this blog will hopefully cancel out that dreary one that I did last time.

A Wintery Hell

“When I was a child, I believed that Hell was just like the mortal world. Only everything goes wrong. Let’s just say that I’m in Hell.”

-Me

Well to start it all off, I was put on probation last month for not hitting my sales numbers. At first, it got me down as it was something I was trying to avoid. But to try my hardest not to get to that point and I still got there. It was as if fate itself did not want me to succeed. I did find some motivation that got me to keep going forward. I mananged to pull off a classic Christmas miracle as I DID hit my numbers that month.

But this month proved to be a lot more than I can handle. I thought hitting my sales goal would get me off of probation. A lot of others thought so too. But, sure enough, I had a meeting with my boss and she said I was still on it. I decided to push forward and hit my goals again. I did it last month–I can do it this month.

But this month proved to be a monumental challenge. I sold as much as I could and would have more than likely hit my sales goal without so much as breaking a sweat. But half of my sales were turned down by the credit bureau. All our sales go though them and the approved sales (obviously) are the ones to count. This is a natural part of the job. I still had another 10 days to go and knew I could do it. The beginning of these last two weeks has been hell for me. I couldn’t get anything, no matter how hard I tried. What little I could get was turned down by the credit bureau.

Outside of work, things are escalating too. We have new neighbors…and they are pretty much thumping around non-stop. I am wearing my headphones now (listening to Darude, XD) to drown it out. My schedule’s pretty jacked at the moment, so I hardly have the time to talk to the landlord about it. I work second shift. When I get home, I listen to it all night and have to leave in the morning with little sleep. The cops don’t do anything about it neither

On top of all that, the SIM card on my phone died earlier this week, pretty much cutting off all communication to the outside world. When I went to my car to get to work, it wouldn’t start. So I couldn’t even call my boss and tell her I was going to be late. I spent all day at the auto repair shop waiting for my car to be repaired. I should have brought my PSP, lol. Finally got it fixed too. Guess what it was. A battery cable went bad. It only costed them $5 to fix it. Geez!! I decided to take the rest of the day off and make up for it tomorrow. I went to Rosedale Mall to cool off a bit and to get the SIM card in my phone switched out. Easy enough. And the service works a bit better too.

But now, my weekend is kinda screwed up. Tomorrow I have to go in at 9am for work (there is no second shift on Saturdays) and work until 3pm. Not too bad. I’ll need about three Mountain Dews to get me though the day though.

Ugh!! That is my month. Screwed up as all hell. Now you know what I’m going though.

…what is that? MORE thumping!? FML.