I don’t know if it was a
mistake or not, but I slept in today. Then again, I was up later than I
expected last night. During my late breakfast, I decided to start a new anime
since I recently finished Code Geass. So, I did
what I should’ve done a long time ago: I started RoboTech,
a classic of anime. Let me tell you, in just one episode, I found myself reveling
in the ‘80s anime goodness.
This was my first week
back to university after the extended spring break, and today was the first post-coronapocalypse
deadline for my students’ paper drafts. From about 11am until 6pm, most of my
time was spent grading papers. I had “online office hours” from 11am-1pm, which
included a videoconference Skype call with one of my students. That was
different. I took a lunch break at 1pm and watched UltraSeven with Jarod.
Unfortunately, I battled
distractions throughout the rest of the afternoon. Friends kept messaging me.
Amusing things kept happening on Twitter. I kept wondering if it would’ve been
easier if I was on campus, but I’m not sure. What was happening probably wouldn’t
have happened if not for the current crisis, I’m sure.
One of the downsides of
being a writer is the constant “what ifs…?”
Regardless, I managed to
get through all of my first class’ papers. Tomorrow I do my second class’
papers.
On a whim, I decided to
try streaming Street Fighter V on my
YouTube channel as practice for when I do it on my podcast’s
channel tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm EST. I was joined by several friends, including
Sergio (who played against me), Josh (who commented), and Mike (who was on chat
for ten minutes).
Here are the videos (with apologies for my mic issues at first):
I think I might try to
make this a more common occurrence.
After that, I got to work
on the trailer for Kaiju
Quarantine, a big watch party being organized by me and several of my
fellow podcasters. (More on that later).
All the while, I never
left the Fortress of Solitude. I guess that makes me a good citizen.
I will admit this
lockdown has made me try new things, and I’m finding that I like them.
What’d you do today to pass the time in lockdown? What
new things, if any, have you tried?
I’m getting into a bad habit of not blogging in a timely fashion. Or on time. My friend/co-author Eric Anderson definitely kicked my butt on this one since he blogged about it two weeks ago!Hence why you’re getting this and another blog today.
Anyway, Eric asked me to join him at Alma-Con, a small but growing anime/fandom convention held at Alma College in Alma, Michigan (seeing a pattern here?) 😛 He purchased a table to promote his nerd/geek outreach ministry, Nerd Chapel, but he was selling copies of our devotional book, 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom, so he wanted me present. He’d asked me to attend other cons with him, but I wasn’t able to make it, so this was exciting.
What follows will be similar to write Eric wrote about, but we did have some different experiences.
I arrived an hour or so after the con began. The vendors’ hall—at least the one we were in—was only open for a few more hours. Not much happened while I was there except we met a panelist (whose name escapes me) who saw the title of our book and said, “That sounds like something Vic would say.”
Quoting Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy, I said, “Who?”
He explained he was friends with Vic Mignogna, a popular anime voice actor (among other things). I was surprised to (re)learn that Vic was a Christian and went to panels to discuss faith in anime. This gentleman, Eric and I learned, was a practitioner of sect of Buddhism strangely similar to Christianity. He shared his story of how he came to this faith. He said he’d come back later to talk with us, but sadly, he never came. (If you’re reading this, please contact Eric and/or I!)
Eric (right) and I (left) as Martian Manhunter and Superman, respectively.
Saturday was the long day. Eric and I cosplayed. He was Martian Manhunter and I was Superman. I enjoyed wearing the costume because I’ve gotten into better shape since the last time I wore it, and given that it’s, well, spandex, I was glad for that. The most interesting stories that came from that day was meeting a young man who was a member of the “Church of Satan,” yet they didn’t worship Satan or even believe he existed, which was interesting. While Eric was gone, though, a belligerent cosplayer dressed as some blue-haired anime mad scientist (or something) came over and proceeded to insult me and denigrate Christianity while in character. I wasn’t sure what to think of it, so I just ran with it and smiled.
Two Alma College students were kind enough to give Eric and I their lunches from their meal plans, so we got some food from the college diner, Joe’s.
The Alma College students who kindly offered their lunches to us.
I, too, wandered around. It was then I learned one of my few gripes with the con: the buildings it was held in were too far apart. It was a Michigan winter, so obviously it was cold, and tights provide little protection against such weather. I did go check out the other artists and vendors, and as usual, I had to refrain from buying a bunch of stuff (including a book self-publishing comic books). I did purchase a replica of the fob watch used by David Tenant in two episodes of Doctor Who, though. It went great with my cosplay.
Speaking of which, once the vendor hall closed for the day, I changed into my 10th Doctor cosplay. Eric and I got dinner at Joe’s, where we met a fellow Whovian/cosplayer.
The fob watch I bought for my 10th Doctor cosplay.
Me with a fellow Whovian cosplayer.
We then went to see MacSith, a play performed by a traveling theatre troupe from Chicago. It is Shakespeare’s MacBeth if it took place in the Star Wars universe. It. Was. FANTASTIC! It combined two of my favorite things—Shakespeare and Star Wars—in a seamless and wonderful fashion. Thankfully, I don’t have to describe it all to you since, unlike most theatre, they allowed (non-flash) photography and video to be taken. The costumes, the fight choreography, the little Star Wars flavoring to the original dialogue—it was amazing.
Sadly, I couldn’t say the same for the next event Eric and I attended. It was billed as a “masquerade ball.” Since we’ve had ballroom dance training, we were interested in going to this unlike the rave that was held the night before. The con program even said there was a dress code, and the organizers reserved the right to turn people away if they didn’t abide by it (hence my 10th Doctor cosplay). But when we arrived, this “ball” was essentially a rave with fancier clothes and no glow sticks. Seriously. The attendees broke off into a few cliques like this was a school cafeteria and gyrate to the music…sometimes. The liveliest they got was during a line dance I didn’t know. I asked the DJs to play “Tank!” by the Seatbelts, which is the theme song to Cowboy Bebop, since the Pokemon theme song was played earlier—and almost nobody got excited! “Haven’t they seen this show?” I wondered. The kicker, though, was every girl Eric and I asked to dance either didn’t know how or flat-out turned us down. The best I could get was doing a line dance when “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show played, and even then people didn’t seem that excited and even fewer knew the line dance, so I wasn’t able to learn it. Eric and I left after an hour.
Seriously, Alma-Con. If you say it’s a “masquerade ball,” make it a masquerade ball! You have a swing dance group on campus: try appealing to them a bit better to run this event.
::steps down from soapbox::
The next day was gonna feature our big event: the Nerd Chapel worship service…
…and nobody came. L
So Eric and I shared communion and I recorded his sermon (which, come to think of it, I need to send to him to post online…).
I left soon afterward so I could return in time to go to work that evening.
This poem was inspired by a scene from Rurouni Kenshin, one of my favorite animes/mangas. The titular hero is about to embark on a dangerous journey to battle an old enemy. He has no idea if he will survive the coming battles. Rather than worry his new friends, he decides to leave late at night, but not before saying goodbye to Kaoru, the young woman who took him in and, incidentally, fell in love with him. You can watch the scene here. Admittedly, I hadn’t seen it in a while, and I forgot there were fireflies. Perhaps I’ll add them when I edit the poems after NaPoWriMo. I hope you like it.
Farewell
I feared this day would come.
I prayed it wouldn’t since the day we met,
When one glance at you struck me dumb,
But I must wander again to pay my debt.
Alone, we meet at midnight.
My sadness is masked by my melancholy smile
As I say, “I must go fight with all my might,
For my cause is just and most worthwhile.”
You beg me to stay, your face illumined by the fireflies’ glow,
As trees shed their cherry blossoms
To mingle with the tears you cry so,
But our hearts are broken within our bosoms.
I hold you in one last embrace,
My neck wet with the tears flowing from your eyes.
I wish I could look you in the face,
For this could be our last goodbye.
“Farewell,” I say, releasing you,
Slinking into the dark, knowing I can’t remain.
You are the only one I could say that to
Because yours is a love I thought I’d never have again.
A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe
