Washington, DC, December 6, 2023

I had decided to attend a tech oriented meetup that was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown Washington, DC. What I hadn’t realized until I after arrived that the area is also the location for its annual Downtown Holiday Market. I confess that I had never attended that event even though I have heard of it for years. When I arrived I was amazed by that event and I began to kick myself for not going there in previous years.

The Downtown Holiday Market had vendor booths that were all staffed by local artisans. There were a variety of handcrafted items available for sale, including bags, clothes, and even matryoshka dolls.

There were also giant nutcrackers, holiday statues, and large light displays. It was a total feast for the eyes.

They had food vendors and there were chairs and benches available, including this picnic table that had swing seats so you could swing while talking, eating, and drinking.

I only bought one thing at that Downtown Holiday Market—a box of freshly made hot donuts. They were incredibly good, especially since it was very cold outside that night. I only ate a few of the donuts because I hadn’t eaten dinner and they weren’t exactly a substantial meal. So I went over to the nearby Shake Shack where I ate their Shake Burger with a Diet Coke. I brought the remaining donuts home with me and I ate the rest over the next week or so. Those donuts tasted just as good cold as they did when they were hot.

After dinner I walked over to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library because it was time for my meetup. After it ended I saw that the library had a temporary holiday pop-up store of its own where people can purchase holiday gifts. They had plates and toys based on the DC Metro system.

They also had wrapping paper that was designed by a local artisan.

They also had this locally-printed t-shirt that had this cool slogan that’s clearly aimed at punk rockers: What’s more punk than the public library?

I kind of regret not buying that one but that’s life. Maybe if I ever see it on sale again somewhere I’ll buy it.

VidCon, Baltimore, October 1, 2023

I attended the final day of the first-ever VidCon that was held in Baltimore earlier this month. It sounded really interesting and I wanted to check it out. I only paid to attend the last day because that final day had the most panels that I was interested in, and the prices were a bit high. I also wasn’t sure if I would like VidCon at all and I felt that it would be less financially painful if I paid only for one day only to have it turn out to be a bust than to pay for a full weekend.

There was already one disappointment before I even went to VidCon. The previous month I had gone to the 1A Fest in downtown Washington, DC where V. Spehar from Under the Desk News (available on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram) spoke at a panel. They said at the end that they was going to be in the general area so fans can come up to them and say hi. Except V. was whisked away from the area and the rest of the crowd were told to leave because this rainstorm was due to arrive soon. The storm was incredibly bad with lightning and heavy rain at times. The storm became so bad that the rest of the festival was cancelled.

But then I learned that V. Spehar was going to be at VidCon as a Featured Creator and I felt that at least I would have another chance to meet them. But then, about a week before VidCon, V. made this video announcing that they had to cancel VidCon because they tested positive for COVID-19. So that was a disappointment but I was still looking forward to seeing VidCon.

Usually I would drive my car to the North Linthicum light rail stop and take the light rail the rest of the way into the city because the round-trip fare is cheaper than the parking garages. But one of the panels I was interested in started early in the morning and the light rail doesn’t begin before 10 a.m. on Sundays so I ended up driving into the city. I was lucky that I found a parking garage that was a 15-minute walk from the Baltimore Convention Center that charged a special Sunday rate of $15 for the entire day.

Unfortunately I took the wrong path trying to walk from the parking garage to the Baltimore Convention Center so I ended up missing this early morning panel on animation that I was interested in. So I took a few photos of the convention in general, starting with this selfie where I wore my sparkly Minnie Mouse unicorn headband.

I know I had typed in a previous post that I was going to wear my Stitch hat to VidCon but I ended up changing my mind at the last minute because the temperature went into the low 80s that day and the Stitch hat tends to be a bit on the hot side when wearing in on a warm day. So I arrived wearing my Minnie Mouse unicorn headband instead while taking some photos of the entrance to VidCon.

Here are my badge and bracelet that I got from the registration booth.

The bracelet had this metal chip inside that I had to use to tap gates at certain areas of the convention in order to get inside of certain areas like the Exhibition Hall or to get readmitted to the convention if I had to step outside of the convention center for any reason. Pictured below is one of those gates that I had to tap with my bracelet if I wanted to access another part of that convention.

Since I missed the first panel I had plenty of time to get a seat to the next panel that I was interested in. It was held by Desiree Martinez on “Monetizing Your Passion: How to Make Money as a Small Creator.”

I found her workshop very informative with plenty of tips and, yes, I took a ton of notes. Whether I can be as successful as her remains to be seen.

After the workshop ended I found that the second panel that I was interested in was being held in the same room as the one that I had just attended so I basically stayed in that room and ate my lunch that I brought with me. (I purchased a chicken caesar salad along with two sodas from Wegmans the day before VidCon and brought it with me because it’s cheaper than buying food and drink at the Baltimore Convention Center. The nearby Harborplace is literally a dying mall that is going to be torn down sometime in the near future so going there for lunch just wasn’t an option for me.)

The second panel I attended in the same room as the first was interesting. It featured Amanda Golka of the YouTube channel Swell Entertainment and Hassan Khadair, who I mostly knew from his hilarious videos that he makes with this Mickey Mouse puppet. Here’s a video that’s a compilation of some of his Mickey Mouse puppet shorts that he’s uploaded on TikTok and YouTube.

Hassan Khadair also has a second YouTube channel called Bad Days, which is devoted to general commentary and he doesn’t use the Mickey Mouse puppet at all. Here’s a recent video from that channel where he tries every pumpkin spice food in America.

I confess that I wore my glittering Minnie Mouse unicorn ears because I had the chance to meet Hassan Khadair. I also brought three of my Disney Nuimos for that same reason—Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Here’s a photo I shot of the trio before the panel began.

So Amanda Golka and Hassan Khadair did a panel titled Creator to Creator. They spoke about their experiences with starting their YouTube channels and similar topics. It was pretty entertaining seeing them interact together.

After the panel ended Hassan Khadair hung around talking to those who attended the panel.

Here’s a shot of the Mickey Mouse puppet that he uses in his videos.

I approached him and told him that he influenced my style while showing him my three Disney Nuimos peeking out from the bag where I carried my lunch in.

He recognized the Disney Nuimos and he was very knowledgeable about that line. When he mentioned that the Nuimos have magnets in their hands a woman who was there was curious about the magnet part so i took two of my Nuimos out of the bag and showed how they are able hold hands due to those magnets.

I didn’t talk with him for very long because there were other people who wanted to talk to him and the room was getting prepared for another panel that was being held there.

I didn’t see much of Amanda Golka after the panel but I saw that she made this YouTube video about her experiences at VidCon a few weeks after appearing at that convention that’s worth watching.

I can understand her being disappointed by VidCon Baltimore because she had previously attended the one in Anaheim. From my perspective, I had never attended any other VidCon before so I was a total newbie at this convention. There is one thing that I have to admit though. I’ve been to other events at the Baltimore Convention Center, such as Otakon (before it switched locations to DC) and Baltimore Comic Con. VidCon was small compared to those other events (especially Otakon). I’m hoping that VidCon was small because it had never held that event in Baltimore before and it’ll be a bigger event next year with more panels and other type of events.

After that second panel ended I walked over to Exhibition Hall. Here are a few of the booths that I saw there, starting with one large booth where people were playing video games on the provided computers.

Some of the participating content creators had their own booths where you could purchase merchandise or contributed to a Kickstarter campaign to fund a project that they have in mind.

Some of the more popular YouTube channels, such as Gaming Mermaid, had larger booths.

VidaFair had this idea where you could get people to rent your content per video instead of subscribing to your video channel. It’s basically another method of monetizing your content so you can profit off of what you create. Their booth had props where you can get your photo taken while wearing or holding them.

Sune had this pretty elaborate booth. Basically Sune is a place where individual artisans can sell their handcrafted wares while providing videos about their work. It’s like a cross between Etsy and video hosting sites like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

I found that the people running the booths that featured hair and makeup products were the most aggressive. Every time I was on the periphery of those booths there were people who were waving at me to come over to their booths. They reminded me too much of the people who run the hair and makeup kiosks at some of the more upscale malls where they will wave you over to their kiosk then attempt to pressure you into buying their products. I didn’t go anywhere near those booths at VidCom because I wasn’t in the market for buying new haircare products and makeup. I managed to take a photo of that area from a distance.

If there was a booth at Exhibition Hall that I felt was the most memorable at VidCon, it was PBS, which was promoting an upcoming nature documentary called Spies in the Ocean.

The PBS booth had giant screens that showed underwater nature scenes while animatronic undersea animals like a dolphin, a shark, and a manatee moved their heads, fins, and flippers at various intervals.

Exhibition Hall had places where people of all ages can just chill out, such as Camp VidCom, which is pictured below.

Off to the side of Exhibition Hall was the Meet and Greet area where you can have the chance to meet your favorite creator. That area was only open to those who purchased the two-day Community pass or the Industry track. Since I had only purchased the one-day Community pass, that Meet and Greet area was off-limits to me. I didn’t mind since Hassan Khadair was the only participating creator whose name I even recognized and I managed to meet him after the Creator to Creator panel had ended. As for everyone else, I would’ve been awkward at meeting them because my first questions would’ve been “Who are you? What do you do?”

There was a Community Mainstage at the end of Exhibition Hall where the participating content creators were doing things like doing a quiz show or dancing or singing karaoke. (I didn’t stick around that area too long.)

Exhibition Hall had a booth that was staffed by the local tourist promotion group called Visit Baltimore. Basically they had a QR barcode that you scanned in order to bring up a video game on your smartphone.

Basically the video game was a Pac-Man clone where you get to control a crab who’s eating snacks while avoiding seagulls who are out to stop your crab.

Once you use up all of your three allotted lives you go back to the Visit Baltimore booth where you show your score and you get rewarded with a cookie. They originally had a variety of flavors to choose from but by Sunday the only cookie flavor they had left was a sugar cookie with chunks of peppermint candy so I took it. I found the cookie to be pretty tasty.

I expected people to wear cosplay costumes at VidCom. In fact, that was one of the reasons why I wore my Minnie Mouse unicorn headband. Compared to a comic convention or an anime convention, there were far fewer cosplayers at VidCom. I managed to shoot a photo of one of the few cosplayers I saw at VidCom—two people were dressed at Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros. video game series.

I’m glad I only purchased a $59 one-day pass because there was so little at VidCon in terms of the panels and the Exhibition Hall that I would’ve been pissed had I purchased a $110 two-day pass or the $699 Industry Track. I don’t regret going to VidCon because I had fun and I enjoyed the two panels that I attended. Would I go to VidCon next year? I don’t know for sure. It would depend on who would be there, what panels and events were being offered, and whether I would have the time or money to go.

The 1A Fest, Washington, DC, September 9, 2023

I learned about this festival when a local Meetup group known as Geek Nights Out were organizing an outing there. I’m still trying to meet new people and the theme of the festival sounded intriguing so I signed up. (After all, I hold a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Universit of Maryland at College Park.) That event was known as the 1A Fest and it was described as a celebration of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that guarantees the freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to redress grievances to the government, and the freedom of religion.

Then the week before that festival I came down with a cold. I took the last couple of unused COVID-19 tests that I still have at home and tested myself for two days in a row (per the instructions). Both times the tests came back negative but I still felt bad.

By the day of the festival I felt a bit better even though I wasn’t at my full 100% strength. I was so determined to just go out and meet people that I decided to go to downtown Washington, DC. Besides it gave me a chance to actually visit The Wharf in person for the first time in my life. (The Wharf is this relatively new development that was built near the historic Municipal Fish Market, which has been in operation since 1805.) That day also happened to be National Teddy Bear Day so I decided to pack my Disney Nuimos Winnie the Pooh in my purse and take a few photos of him while I was at the festival.

The weather was really crazy that day. It began with high heat and high humidity with temperatures in the low 90’s. I felt initially crabby because I was supposed to meet with the rest of the group at this indoor event that included free food and I was running late because I was relying on the Metro and, well, public transportation in the DC area isn’t always punctual. Plus I still felt a little tired from my recent cold and I was walking like crazy to The Wharf from the Waterfront station. I managed to take a picture of this place known as Makers Union.

The place is new and it hasn’t been opened for business yet when I was there. At first I thought it was a makerspace because of the name. But then I looked inside of the windows at the piled-up boxes along with counter space and I realized that it’s yet another dining place. It was later when I saw the photo I took of the sign that I realized that I should’ve gotten a clue from that sign, which said: “Made for The Wharf. Estd 2023. Makers Union. Pub for the People.” I still like the cool mirror effect that I captured with my smartphone camera.

I also paused while I was walking when I came across this really colorful electrical utility box and I took photos of all four sides.

I soon came across some signs indicating that I was close to the festival.

By the time I arrived, the free 11 a.m. show where I was supposed to meet the other people from the Meetup was halfway through the hour-long show. Since I had a ticket, I was given the option of either going into the show that was halfway done or wait until the 12 noon show. I looked down at my phone and I saw another person who was also supposed to be at the Meetup who was running behind due to relying on the DC public transportation system. I decided to go for the 12 noon show and watch that one with her once I found her.

I spent some time walking around to the festival grounds. I didn’t partake in any of the games because it was so hot and humid outside that I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything other than walk around and take these pictures.

This booth in the next photo was giving out free popcorn and water so I took a bag and a bottle.

A woman was getting a caricature of herself drawn by an artist.

This guy was making hats, swords, and animals out of balloons.

This electronic billboard was flashing the front pages of various newspapers from all over the world.

There were a few exhibits that were created with kids in mind.

There were also a few large version of games (like checkers) that were supposed to appeal to families but I didn’t see anyone play with them when I was there. (I think the fact that it was very hot and humid had an effect on that.)

The next photo shows The Wharf stage where panel discussions were going to take place.

The other person who was running behind had finally reached The Wharf and she posted a message indicating where she was waiting. I managed to find her just a few moments before we had to line up outside the place that was temporarily known as the Freedom Lost Cafe for the 12 noon start of that free show with free food was taking place. The idea was that you had the chance to sacrifice your freedom in exchange for free food. Since the show’s runtime was a little over an hour, I had no problem with temporarily giving up my civil liberties. We were given passports to a country known as NoFreedonia. along with a lanyard. We had to get our passport stamped then put it in the lanyard and wear it around our necks for the duration of the show.

So we got in line, got our choice of free food along with our choice of a non-alcoholic beverage then sat down. We sat at a table across from a group of people who said that they were with a church group. They didn’t communicate much with us. In the meantime I looked around at the imposing signage that made me think of North Korea.

Then the show began and we saw various people standing up demanding their rights only to have the authorities drag them away to this makeshift jail that was located at the far sign at the restaurant where it all took place. At one point we realized that there was a reason why the church group that sat opposite us didn’t talk with us very much. They were part of the show where they suddenly got up and started praying only to get taken away by the NoFreedonia authorities.

There were more people who got up and started to demand their civil liberties only to get taken away by the NoFreedonia authorities.

At the end of the show we learned that we could keep the koozies that came with our drinks. Here is what one of the koozies looked like.

After the show ended my meetup contact and I looked at our phones and saw that the rest of the group were at the area near The Wharf stage. We found them and we all introduced ourselves and socialized for a few minutes until the start of the first panel. This panel featured two men who work for the satirical news site The Onion.

Some in my meetup group decided to leave and walk around the area so there were three of us left. The next panel was even more interesting. It featured V. Spehar from Under the Desk News, which you can find on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

At the end of the presentation, V said that they was going to be sitting somewhere so people can come up to them and say hi. I thought it would’ve been cute and cool to get V to hold my Winnie the Pooh Nuimos for National Teddy Bear Day while I took a photo. But then V was immediately whisked away from the area by festival workers and I couldn’t find where the festival people were taking them. (I never got a chance to meet V in person and have them hold Pooh Bear on National Teddy Bear Day.) I also noticed that more clouds were gathering in the area and this wind started to suddenly kick up.

Moments later someone from the festival announced that the management of The Wharf had asked people to immediately leave the pier where the festival was held because a major storm was coming. As the three of us were leaving the area it began to rain and I began to secretly curse myself for leaving my umbrella in my car that was parked outside of the Greenbelt Metro Station.

We walked over to a nearby Shake Shack, which was crowded inside because so many other people had the same idea. We were still full from that free lunch and show in NoFreedonia so we basically ordered milkshakes then walked over to one of the outdoor tables that were under an awning where we were shielded from the rain. It rained off and on for a long time and there was one time when I saw a bolt of lightning.

At one point the rain had subsided to a light drizzle. We saw a group of people walking around on the wet ground holding signs about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A flash mob broke out where people were dancing to a prerecorded hip hop version of the classic Woody Gutherie song “This Land is Your Land.” I shot a short video of the flash mob that I uploaded on TikTok, Clapper, Instagram, and YouTube.

The rain started again soon after the flash mob finished. We briefly walked past the dock where the 1A Fest took place but the whole festival area was still closed. We decided to just walk around The Wharf while waiting to see if the festival would begin again. We found a couple of stores but the vast majority of the businesses there were either bars or restaurants and we were all still full from lunch. I began to feel increasingly tired because of both the weather and my recent cold. The other two wanted to continue waiting to see if the festival would start again and I decided to just walk back to the Metro station.

Minutes after I began my walk back the rainfall suddenly became very heavy so my clothes became totally soaked. It was also hard to see where I was going at times and it didn’t help that the Google Maps app on my smartphone had my current location still at The Wharf while I was two or three blocks away from that location. I had to rely on my memory in order to find the Waterfront Metro station so I could take the next Metro home.

The only silver lining is that the temperature had dropped to the low 70s so it was far less hot to walk. But that heavy rain still made that walk totally unpleasant.

So I got home and had a hard time peeling off my very soggy clothes. On top of that, my cold began to flare up and I realized that I made a mistake in going to the festival because I wasn’t fully recovered.

I also had to pull out my blow dryer because not only my hair was soaking wet but my smartphone had gotten so wet that some of the water went inside of the phone’s USB-C port so I got that dreadful notice (complete with a water drop icon on the screen) that the port had gotten wet so I could not hook my phone to any recharging cable until the port was dried on the inside. So I aimed the blow dryer at the USB-C port and it was fully dried enough within a minute or two that the water drop icon disappeared from my phone’s screen. (By the way, having a blow dryer is really handy for times when water gets inside of your phone’s USB-c port. I learned that a long time ago through a few Google searches.)

I later learned on Discord that my two acquaintances decided to stay at The Wharf for about a half-an-hour or so longer until they got word from the festival organizers that the rest of the event was cancelled.

One result of my going to that festival is that I suffered a relapse and it took me an extra two weeks to fully recover. If I ever come across a situation again where I have a cold on the day of a planned meetup, I’m going to just cancel for the sake of my own health.

I Signed Up for VidCon Baltimore

When I learned that VidCon was going to have an event on the East Coast of the United States and it would be held at the Baltimore Convention Center, I felt that I had to sign up. I’ve been making so many videos these days that it makes sense for me to go. I signed up for one day only (October 1) due mainly to money and concerns about whether my aging body can even tolerate a large multi-day convention anymore. (I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it but over the last few years whenever I went to large conventions for two or more days my body would end up feeling exhausted after one day. I would force myself to go for a second or even third day since I paid for it but my body would just feel awful afterwards.) I chose Sunday because there happened to be more panels on that day that I was interested in than on Saturday.

I also signed up on the Community Track because of money. (The full four-day Industry Track—which runs from Thursday to Sunday—costs $699. Going on the Community Track for both Saturday and Sunday costs $110. Going on the Community Track for only one weekend day—either Saturday or Sunday—costs $59.) Since I’m going for one day instead of both Saturday and Sunday, that means that I won’t be able to participate in this Meet & Greet Matchmaking event where you get paired with one of the Featured Creators at random. I looked at the list of Featured Creators and there were only one or two people whose name I recognized because I saw his/her video at least once so if I had qualified for the matchmaking event, chances are I would’ve been paired with a stranger and I would be asking that person questions like “Who are you?” So it’s no big loss for me to miss the Meet & Greet Matchmaking.

What do I expect to get out of it? Maybe I’ll learn some new tips on how to improve my videomaking skills or find new opportunities for monetizing the videos that I make. If VidCon turns out to be a bust for me, at least I only signed up for one day and I’ll only be out $59 so it’s no big deal.

So see you at VidCon Baltimore on October 1.

Dacha Beer Garden, Washington, DC, April 20, 2023

I’m still on a quest to honor my New Year’s resolution to expand my circle of friends and acquaintances by going to various events that are advertised on MeetUp.com on a regular basis. So far I’m floundering on the meeting new people part (there have been times when an event gets cancelled at the last minute or an event is so crowded that I can’t find the organizer of that particular meetup) but at least I get a chance to see more of what the Washington, DC metropolitan area has to offer.

I decided to attend a meetup of the DCXR group (which consists of those who are either professionals or are just into the various types of XR, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence) that was held at the Dacha Beer Garden, which is located near the Navy Yards stadium where the Washington Nationals baseball team play their home games.

It was an unusually hot April day (temperature was in the 80’s) but it was otherwise nice weather. I passed this set of airplane sculptures that are located near the U.S. Department of Transportation.

I soon arrived at the front entrance of the Dacha Beer Garden.

It’s mostly an outdoor bar and restaurant with some areas having wooden planks (which gives it a beach resort boardwalk feel) while others have gravel flooring.

There are trees which literally grow beyond the top of the place.

People are actually allowed to bring their dogs inside of the place.

As for the bar itself, people could order from a parked vintage 1950s recreational vehicle that has been refurbished as a bar. The Dacha Beer Garden was having its happy hour when I took this photo, which explains the long line of people waiting to order the alcoholic beverage of their choice.

The Dacha Beer Garden provides breathtaking scenic views of the Anacostia River. I had arrived to the place an hour before the meetup was scheduled to begin just so I would have time to eat dinner. The next few photos show the view from my table.

For dinner I ordered this bratwurst that was served on a pretzel roll. It tasted amazing!

I was even impressed by the glassware, which included images of a woman who looked like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

I managed to find my meetup group and I have to say that it went pretty well despite the fact that the place was very noisy with so many people taking advantage of happy hour. Our meetup ended around the same time that the happy hour ended. By that time it became dark outside. Here’s a final shot of the front of the Dacha Beer Garden with the lights on.

Unallocated Space, Severn, Maryland, March 25, 2023

For the past few years I subscribed to the Unallocated Space announcement feed on Meetup.com mainly because I’m always interested in visiting makerspaces and this place is located in Severn and I grew up in the southernmost part of Glen Burnie just a mile or two from the town border with Severn. I haven’t gotten around to finally drive to that place until last month and that was because this place had sponsored a free model making day and I was intrigued.

Unallocated Space is located in the middle of an office part. Here’s the front entrance.

I found this place to be pretty nice. I loved the cozy corner, which has a TV set and comfortable couches where people can watch various shows both on TV and on streaming sites like Disney+.

Here’s the main area of the Unallocated Space where people can work on all kinds of projects. This place has a variety of tools and equipment available to help you achieve whatever it is you want to make.

Here’s a Ms. Pac-Man machine that someone at the makerspace is currently working on.

I found the people there to be really nice. If I lived closer to the Unallocated Space I would be a regular there (that place is about a 30-40 minute drive from where I live), just like how I’m a regular at The Space and I used to be a regular at the old Greenbelt Makerspace (before the latter cleared out of its old location a few months after the original founders moved to Vermont). If you are in the area and you’re into making and creating, I highly recommend checking this place out.

A Tribute Video for a Dead Online Friend

Late last night I learned that a friend whom I mostly knew online has died. In a way I’m not surprised because a few months ago he posted on Facebook that he had cancer that started in his colon but, by that time, it had spread to the rest of his body. I knew that his days were numbered and I’m sure that he probably felt the same way. It’s still a shock that he died because he wasn’t that old (he was around in his 40s or 50s). What’s really sad is that he passed just a few days before Christmas, which is probably very hard on his family right now.

He was known as John V. and my husband and I met him through a now-defunct political discussion board. In 2006 some members of that board decided to have a real-life meetup at the apartment of one of the members in Montreal. My husband and I drove up there and we had a splendid time meeting the members of that board in real life while exploring Montreal. My husband had recently bought me my first digital video camera, which was a Samsung DV camera that used those tiny MiniDV tapes. (In order to upload whatever footage I shot into the computer so I could edit it, we had to purchase a peripheral that served as an interface between the computer and the DV camera.) Before that trip I shot a short three-minute video in the front lawn of my home featuring bumblebees and a lavender bush just so I could learn how to shoot and edit video. The resulting video, Bees and Lavender, was not only the first video I’ve ever uploaded on YouTube but it was also my first video that I’ve ever uploaded online period.

My husband and I decided to do a major car trip where we visited a variety of family and friends. We first visited his father and step-mother in New York City. Then we drove further north until we reached Montreal. We met a variety of people whom we’ve only previously knew through that online forum while touring Montreal. Then my husband and I drove back to the U.S. where we visited the New Hampshire home of local political columnist Susan Bruce, who died earlier this year. Susan was also a member of that same political forum but she was unable to make it to the meetup in Montreal. Afterwards my husband and I visited his aunt and uncle who lived in Scituate, Massachusetts at the time and we took a side trip to Boston before finally returning to our home in Maryland.

I shot footage of that meetup but I waited until after we returned to the U.S. before I started editing it. I had some challenges dealing with the fact that, at the time, YouTube had limited its videos to no more than 10 minutes long. I managed to cut the footage down to something coherent, uploaded it on to YouTube, and posted the link to the political discussion forum. About a month later one of the attendees of that meetup had asked me to remove that video because she was self-employed and she feared that her participation in that video would come back to haunt her (there was a lot of liquor flowing that night of the meetup) and she would lose out on getting jobs as a result. By that point everyone on that political discussion forum had seen what I shot so it was no big deal deleting the video.

A year and a half later another participant in that meetup, Julie, was brutally murdered by her boyfriend. It was very shocking to the forum, especially since she was only 39 when she was killed. I decided to create a tribute video to her using both excerpts from the original video that I had briefly uploaded online and some additional footage that I hadn’t previously used because of YouTube’s limit at the time. I took great care to not include the footage that caused the other attendee to worry that it would hurt her when it came to looking for work. I decided to upload that video, called A Tribute to Julie (a.k.a. Polyestre) on the Internet Archive because it didn’t have any limits on video length and it also allowed for downloads. (I figured that her family and closest friends would want to download a copy for their own personal use.)

In the years since that meetup my marriage had abruptly ended (next week will be the 10-year-anniversary of the day that my husband came home from work, announced that he was moving, then bolted out the door before I could say anything else) and the forum eventually went offline for good. Some members have attempted to create a private Facebook group and another group on the Discord server. Both groups are only sporadically active, compared with the original political forum, but they are occasional posts when there are news of a death of another forum member or some really major news. (I remember the Discord server was very active last January 6 when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.) I found out about John’s death on that Discord server last night when someone posted about it. Today I went to the private Facebook group and someone had posted about John’s death as well.

Even though his death wasn’t a surprise given that he was battling cancer, people were still upset because he had been among the most frequent posters on that old forum. As for me, while I didn’t always agree with him on everything, I felt that he was basically a decent intelligent guy and it sucks that cancer took his life at a relatively early age. (Fuck cancer!)

Today I decided to go through old video footage that I shot at that 2006 meetup (I can’t believe that it’s now been 15 years since that meetup) to cull together something that featured John V. I went through the original video that I had briefly uploaded online and my tribute video to Julie. I once had a lot of footage of that meetup but sadly I lost all of the unused footage about two or three hard disk crashes ago. The only footage I have left from that meetup are the two videos that I edited and previously uploaded online.

I also went through John’s Facebook account where I found one of the last posts he made on his personal account before his death. It was his own rewrite of the famous Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme.

Humpty Dumpty, an anthropomorphic egg, sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty—who, remember, is an anthropomorphic egg—had a great fall.
All the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.
They didn’t ask the horses to try, because that would have been stupid.

I took a screenshot of that poem and added it to the end of my tribute video. So here is A Tribute to John V. in all of its glory. (NSFW WARNING!: There is a brief shot of John V. showing off his bare ass.)

BEYA, a STEM-Oriented Job Fair, Washington, DC, February 15, 2020

I was looking for work when I learned about a STEM-oriented job fair known as BEYA. The admission was free for job seekers and I thought it sounded promising since I’ve delved into STEM a little bit, thanks to my past associations with makerspaces like The Space and the now-defunct Greenbelt Makerspace.

The big hassle was that BEYA came on the heels of a really trying week for me, starting with my mother’s funeral. On the following day my housemate was home with the stomach flu. I caught the stomach flu myself the day after. By Friday I was mostly better but I tended to tire easily. I forced myself to go to BEYA because my bank account was dwindling and I really needed more work.

I arrived at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (where BEYA was held), where I took a photo of this very arty panda bear statue.

BEYA was one of the more elaborate job fairs I’ve attended, which also included workshops and meetups. I basically focused on the job fair itself.

BEYA had some really cool swag, including free playing cards. It also provided plenty of extra decks on hand in case anyone needed more than one deck.

There were really fancy displays that were definitely eye-catching. It was also very crowded, as you can see in the pictures below.

The biggest obstacle I had was that I was so tired from my recent bout with the stomach flu plus dealing with the immediate aftermath of my mother’s death. I had to take frequent breaks because I realized that I hadn’t regained my full strength. Looking back on it now, I should have stayed home because I was really in no shape to do any kind of job hunting on that day. In fact I ended up not submitting my resume anywhere because I just didn’t feel up to it. At least I got some photos of the event. I’m hoping that by this time next year I will be gainfully employed so I won’t even need to attend BEYA.

Baltimore Comic-Con, October 19, 2019

Thanks to holding down a few jobs this year, I was able to afford to do some more fun things, such as going to this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con. This was the first time I attended since 2017.

Here is my bracelet and the cover of the program guide.

This year’s convention was just as good as the other years I’ve gone, as these photos show. There was all kinds of comic books along with other kinds of arts and crafts on sale. Yes, there were plenty of cosplayers around as well.

I only managed to attend one seminar or workshop this year. It was based on the book Sketchbook Dares and it was given by the author, Laura Lee Gulledge. The only problem was that this workshop was held in the children’s area right in the middle of the Dealers Room so it was incredible noisy. It was hard to hear Laura speak at times and she had a microphone.

I managed to make two pencil drawings but the noise was so overwhelming that I couldn’t hear what Laura was saying so I left that workshop before it ended. One of the drawings I did was with my non-dominant hand (which is my left hand).

The other one I did was where I used two pencils to make a symmetrical drawing using two continuous lines.

It was too bad that it was too noisy for me to hear very well because it was an interesting seminar. This is one of those things that should have been held in a separate room instead of in the middle of the Dealers Room.

I basically spent the rest of the time checking out the various vendor tables at the Dealers Room. I ended up not buying anything this year because money is still a bit tight with me even though I was working. I just took a bunch of pictures instead.

The Last BronyCon, August 3, 2019

I had a busy summer where I was juggling two part-time jobs while trying to keep up with my creative side during whatever spare time I had. I decided to take part in the Internet-wide collaboration with the YouTube channel Dollightful where I took a doll I purchased from a dollar store and customized her into a Pink Flamingo Mermaid. I spent the last week before the deadline shooting photos of this doll against various backdrops in order to find the one that I could submit to the Dollightful video.

I decided to do some final shoots of the doll in Baltimore. Like I wrote in an earlier post, I decided to travel to Baltimore after President Donald Trump issued a series of insulting tweets denouncing Baltimore as “this very dangerous and filthy place” (among other insults). I found out that there is a beach-like place located near Fells Point called The Sandlot, which I felt would be the perfect location to shoot photos of my mermaid doll.

But then I discovered that BronyCon, the convention devoted to the hit cartoon show My Little Pony, was the same weekend. I previously attended BronyCon in 2013, 2014, and 2015 but I stopped attending for a few years due to increasingly tight finances. I wasn’t sure about squeezing BronyCon between my other project whose deadline was looming.

I thought about skipping BronyCon again this year until I found out that this was going to be the last BronyCon ever. One of the reasons given was that this year is the final season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the convention organizers wanted to end BronyCon on a high note.

So I had to choose whether to go to the last BronyCon or take those mermaid doll photos at The Sandlot. I decided on a third option: I would try to do both.

I was only able to attend BronyCon on Saturday (the second day) due to scheduling conflicts. In fact, Saturday was the only day I was able to go to Baltimore, which was why I had to compress everything on my visit. I left early in the morning in order to have time to fully experience the last BronyCon.

I had the idea of seeing if there were any kind of tropical displays that I could use as a backdrop for my mermaid doll photo. I never found a suitable display for my mermaid doll but I took a bunch of other photos while I was at BronyCon. Here is one of the BronyCon banners that were on display outside of the Baltimore Convention Center for the last time ever.

Like I wrote earlier, I hadn’t gone to BronyCon in four years. The one big change I noticed is that people can now display on their badges their preferred pronouns, which definitely makes this convention more open and accepting of transgender people and people who are currently struggling with their own gender identity.

Each badge also came with something called Color Communication Cards, which you display on your lanyard in order to let others know whether you are in the mood to socialize with others or not.

I also got a program book, which looks like it had a Mission: Impossible theme. Here is the front cover.

Here is the back cover.

Here is the entire cover when it’s spread out.

And, finally, here is the inside back cover, which is pretty poignant considering that it’s the last BronyCon ever.

When I last went four years ago I stood in line for over an hour before I was able to purchase my pass. This year I was in and out in less than 20 minutes (which was reminiscent of the 2013 and 2014 BronyCons). I found this year’s BronyCon to be just as exciting as the previous ones I attended. People were mostly in high spirits but there was also a bit of sadness since it would be the last BronyCon ever. And, yes, there were plenty of people in costume as they cosplayed their favorite My Little Pony characters. I shot this short video showing the highlights of my day at BronyCon.

I also shot plenty of still photos as well, which you can see below.

Like previous BronyCons I attended, the organizers had a few gender-neutral restrooms, which further indicates how open that con was to transgender people.

I’ve long played the video game Dance Dance Revolution on both my Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii. I tend to use the soft pads because they are cheap to buy and they are easy to store when not in use. (There are also metal pads but prices start at $200 compared to around $20 for a soft pad.) BronyCon was the first time I’ve ever seen a Dance Dance Revolution pad made from wood. I saw people play it and it seems to work just as well as the soft and metal pads.

I’m going to pause here to share a personal memory that, on the surface, seems unrelated to BronyCon but it does. (Trust me.) When I was growing up my mother had a manual Royal typewriter that she purchased for home. She occasionally used it herself but she thought that by the time I took my first typing class I would be able to use it. Except both my middle school and high school where I took typing classes had electric typewriters only and I had a difficult time switching to a manual because I had grown used to the electric version. My parents ultimately got rid of the manual typewriter and bought a Sears electric typewriter that I used throughout my senior year of high school and all four years of college.

So I go to BronyCon and I walked in this room where there are manual typewriters available for anyone to use. What’s more, I saw plenty of people actually typing of them. I thought it was kind of amusing since I had initially learned to type on a typewriter long before the people in this next photo were even born. (LOL!)

That same room had drawing paper and drawing supplies where people could create their own art. I did this quick ink drawing sketch featuring a circle of hands while I was resting from all that walking around.

Other people tried their hand at drawing as well.

It was the last time I would see official signs referring to the BronyCon venue as the “Baltimare Convention Center.”

I started to notice more people cosplaying as Marvel superheroes at this BronyCon compared to the previous ones, where the majority of cosplayers stuck only with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Someone known as the Sweetie Bot Project created a couple of really cool looking pony robots.

There was an impromptu memorial that was dedicated to BronyCon’s imminent demise after the last day on Sunday, August 4, 2019.

I attended a workshop and a panel during my time at the last BronyCon. The workshop I attended was on voice acting where I learned one new thing about My Little Pony: All of the voice acting was done at this studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and the majority of the voice actors in that series were Canadians.

I attended a panel which featured Lauren Faust, who was the original creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

 

She spoke about her experiences with working on that series and I found it to be quite fascinating. Fortunately there is a YouTube video of her entire presentation that is definitely worth checking out.

Parked outside of the Baltimore Convention Center was this car that had the design and color scheme of Rainbow Dash (a pegasus pony who is one of the main character on the show).

I purchased some swag but it wasn’t as much as previous BronyCons because I’m still trying to watch my finances. Everything I purchased this time were ones that were sold to raise money for charity. I made a donation to get this button that benefitted a charity known as Extra Life.

I made a donation in order to get two other items whose proceeds were being raised to benefit organizations that are fighting cancer. Here is the button I received.

I also got a 2020 wall calendar, where each month features a mashup of My Little Pony characters with various Japanese anime series.

I purchased one non-charitable item at BronyCon. It was a My Little Pony microfiber cloth that I purchased for $5. I bought it because I noticed that the screen on my smartphone was starting to look very smeary and I just wanted to clean it up a bit. That cloth did the job on my smartphone.

That’s it for the last BronyCon. I had just as good of a time at this one as I did at the previous ones. I’m sad to see it go but I’ve seen other conventions and events I’ve attended in the past become defunct (such as Interventioncon and the Silver Spring Maker Faire) so I’ve been through this before. BronyCon may be gone for good but I’ll always have the happy memories of the times that I’ve attended.