Onto my next installment of my favourite blog posts – this time covering 2002 through 2004!
There was a lot of change in these years; I self-published SunDowner in 2002 but then kinda burnt out, art-wise and focused more on costuming going into 2004.
January 14, 2002: WHEN THE PEE DIDN’T SOAK IN
It’s an older story but it checks out, sir.
January 28, 2002: GALADRIEL
This was my first full drawing with my wacom tablet I’d just gotten for Christmas! I should redo it one day…
March 23, 2003 MIDSOUTHCON 2002 & SHE-RA PICS!
Went back to MidSouthCon for the first time since I was a kid! And took Kevin and Ash! It ended up being a weird night, and there was some weird drama afterwards which resulted in me saying I’d never go back to MidSouthCon again. So I didn’t in 2003. But eventually everything was ok and reconciliations were made. And then I was a GoH in 2011!
April 3, 2002: DRAGONCON!!
When we decided to go to Dragon Con. Notice where I said I was only going to make one costume. LMAO.
May 3, 2002: ART POST: ANIMAL CRACKERS
Probably my favourite play poster I did over the years. I wanted to include one of them in my fav posts section just to say that the sales from these posters paid for a whole lot of cons and costumes back in 2001-2004, so I’m eternally grateful I got to do them.
May 12, 2002: WHEN I WAS 12
When a random dude thought I was 12. I’d forgotten about this and it cracked me up.
May 16, 2002: WHEN WE DRESSED UP FOR STAR WARS
Thoughts from the Attack of the Clones midnight show, and the reason I made my first Star Wars costume!
June 12, 2002: WHEN I GOT PERMISSION
I finally had enough of my Harry Potter website and its’ associated drama so I dumped it on geocities and stopped updating it.
July 14, 2002: WHEN SUNDOWNER WENT TO THE PRINTER
VERY EXCITING! Finished my print version remake of SunDowner.
Honestly the whole thing was a clusterfuck and I kinda never wanted to repeat it. But still, getting to hold your own comic in your hands was exciting. And still is.
Funnily enough, the only copies I have right now are 2 my grandparents originally bought, and I signed them “to Mama Gin and Papa.” When my Papa passed and Mama Gin downsized I “inherited” them back. I think I may still have a few “unsigned’ copies somewhere at my parents, I should find them…
August 5, 2002: OTAKON PICS ARE UP
This was the ONE time we went to Otakon – it was partially a family vacation with my grandparents, so that’s why we got to go.
August 21, 2002: LOL COMIC CON
In which I laughed at Cath for suggesting we go to San Diego Comic Con. AS IF.
(Just wait 2 years.)
September 3, 2002: BEST. WEEKEND. EVER.
Our first Dragon Con knocked our socks off. Honestly nothing has ever measured up to it. Except maybe Dcon 2005. It’s a close call.
September 7th, 2002: WHEN MY SITE GOT A NEW NAME
Bad Candy became Lunatic Dingo.
September 9th, 2002: WHEN I WAS FEATURED ON COSPLAYLAB
My first costume-related feature. RIP, Cosplaylab.
September 13, 2002 WHEN I DOUBLED MY SALARY
I got my first “real” job. Stayed there for 13 years.
September 20, 2002 – WHEN THERE WAS A POWER OUTAGE ON MY BIRTHDAY
This was a weird birthday.
November 1, 2002 – WHEN I WORE ARWEN TO SCHOOL
I wore my Arwen costume to classes Halloween day. Only after that did my school reveal there’d been a shooting threat against students who wore costumes to school that day. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP
November 11, 2002: UTENA PHOTOSHOOT!
My first “real” photoshoot!! I still love these pics.
November 30, 2002 – WHEN I WAS SARUMAN
I still do this sometimes…
January 18, 2003 – WHEN I TOUCHED A BABY KANGAROO
We went to see a movie and they had a real baby kangaroo in the lobby?! And I got to pet it?!
I don’t think I have a blog post about it but at one point Ash and I were out and about and drove by Toys R Us and there was a table set up with a real monkey on it and you could get your picture with the monkey. The early 2000s were a strange place.
February 8, 2003 – WHEN KEVIN DECIDED WHO I COULD BEAT
Kevin determined who I could and couldn’t beat in a fight.
February 12, 2003 – WHEN I SHARED MY ROOM
LOTR has taken over.
February 18, 2003 – WHEN I WAS STRANDED AT KATSUCON
My grandparents took me to Katsucon that year…. and we got snowed in. We were stuck there for 2 extra days. I’ve never seen that much snow in my life!
March 4, 2003 – WHEN MY PHONE EMBARRASSED ME
I still think of this everytime I hear “Concerning Hobbits.”
June 21, 2003 – HARRY POTTER
When we went to the midnight book release of Order of the Phoenix, found out you couldn’t get a copy if you hadn’t pre-ordered, so we left and went across the street to Walmart to buy it and while standing in line I happened to open up to the EXACT PAGE where Sirius was killed and getting spoiled.
July 10, 2003 – SKETCHBLOG: DISPATCHES FROM ANIME EXPO
Me, Ash and our parents went out to LA for a vacation/Anime Expo. Only time we went to AX! It was a lot of fun except Ash getting sick and me getting my foot eaten by an elevator.
August 17, 3003 – WHEN I GOT A NEW CAR
I got a new car! THE BUG! I miss the Bug.
Also I just had this flashback to getting all my Anime Expo boxes back – I had them sent to work, like 3 huge boxes including my angel wings of all of my costumes I’d taken to AX. And instead of putting the boxes in the car to take them home, I backed my brand new bug up to our dock, opened the trunk, and just THREW all of my costumes and stuff into the trunk. What an absolute madman.
September 2, 2003 – DRAGONCON 2003 PICS!
Our second Dragon Con and this time we dragged Cath with us.
November 3, 2003 – SHAKE IT, BABY
At Dragon Con 2003, while waiting in a forever long line, Cath, Ash and I wrote a round-robin LOTR “fanfic” to pass the time. I came home and illustrated it.
November 10, 2003 – WHEN I MADE A COSTUME CLOSET
My costumes had outgrown my closet in my room so my parents let me convert our half-bath into a closet.
December 18, 2003 – NEW ORLEANS!
A crazy weekend. We drove to New Orleans, went sight-seeing for a day, went to a parade on Bourbon Street that night, went to a football game the next day, went to the midnight showing of ROTK afterwards (where there was no line, we had to take the last seats available in the front and I was in full costume), came back to the hotel, slept for a couple of hours, got up and drove the 6 hours back home so I could get there in time to go see The Lion King at the Orpheum with my parents.
To have the energy of youth!
February 1, 2004 – WHEN I GOT MY FIRST LAPTOP
I bought my first laptop!!! So exciting.
March 8, 2004 – BONJOUR FROM PARIS!
Ash, Kristie and I went to Paris and London!
April 2, 2004 – MTAC 04 PICS!
Kevin’s first “full” con experience!
May 20, 2004 – ART POST: ARAGORN, GIMLI AND LEGOLAS
So for several years there, the school my mom taught at would have an auction to raise money, and I would often offer a commission. I think I ended up going 6 or 7 over the years? This one was my fav.
May 31, 2004 – WHEN WE SENT TO SPRAN DIGGEDI
Ash and I decided to finally give San Diego Comic Con a try – but Ash mistyped it in a text as “Spran Diggedi.” So that’s what we kept calling our trip.
July 20, 2004 – WHEN OUR LUGGAGE GOT LOST
So the trip out to San Diego for SDCC was the first trip either Ash or I had taken without an adult present. And our plane to our first connection had an issue so they had to rebook us, and in the madness our luggage did not make it to San Diego. It was a harrowing 24 hours but they did finally find it and bring it to us. And then we had an AMAZING WEEKEND.
August 13, 2004 – FURRY
Indy looooooooved the fur I bought for Lessa. I tried to always kept a cut of faux fur for her around after that.
August 20, 2004 – WHEN I WAS OFFICIALLY 501ST
I joined the 501st! (I apparently don’t have a post about being RL approved; it was the year before.)
September 7, 2004 – WHEN WE HAD A GREAT DCON
This year the moms went with us. It was so funny.
December 2, 2004 – WHEN MY BLOG BECAME A DAY AT THE RACES
Renamed my blog to match my costume site’s name (“A Night at the Opera”).
December 4, 2004 – WHEN I SETUP THE NATIVITY SCENE
It’s been a holiday tradition for years but this is apparently the first time I posted pictures of it.
Next up… 2005 through… something I don’tknow.