What I have been doing these past several months.
I first started writing this entry on February 16. I apologize for taking so long.
Another several months gone by with nary an update. This time, however, this because of some very important updates in my life. Many of them are good, while few others are somewhat fearful. Many of these updates are events in my life that I should have done years ago, while others are completely new to me. One of the most significant ones is honestly hard to talk about without going into the territory of TMI, but rest assured, I will do my best to do so.
First, an important personal update: I moved out of my mother’s house and am now living in an apartment with my fiancé! Actually, fiancé is no longer accurate: As of one month after moving out, we became married at the courthouse! I can happily say this is easily one of the happiest events in my life so far! That being said, as happy as I am, I honestly don’t feel any different than I did before. We knew each other for years, started dating, became an item, became engaged (for almost ten years), and the rest is history.
In the time I have spent living in our apartment, I have honestly not felt very different than I did before. My friends and close family, however, have told me that I don’t feel as anxious as I was (at least, as anxious as they think I was). I must admit, I do notice myself (albeit slightly) not as mentally stressed as I was before. Do not mistake that statement as me hating living with my mother: I am thankful I was able to live with her as long as I did. Not having to pay rent was good, but at some point, one must strike out on their own and exercise ones right to seek personal independence.
After typing the previous paragraph, there is one detail I forgot to mention: before moving out, my cat Cheese had to be euthanized due to rapidly losing weight. We suspect that cancer is the culprit, but we never had a definitive answer. Thankfully, we had a veterinarian come to the house to carry out the procedure in the living, with her in my lap during her final moments. I was crying during the whole time. As much as I wanted to take a cat or two with me when moving out, my mother is attached to the three remaining cats. She wouldn’t want to part with any of them. I don’t blame her. Not only that, but the apartment complex I live in not only demands that cats be neutered and spayed, but they would need to be declawed. My family never wants our cats declawed in case they should ever escape from home.
This window decoration on my apartment window was given to me by some of my closest friends as a gift, in honor of my cat.
I have been going back to my mother’s house around once a week to have dinner with her and my older brother. Sometimes she will cook a meal, sometimes she will order out, other times she will simply heat up a frozen pizza. Don’t get me wrong on the last one, frozen pizza is also a good meal. What matter most is the brand, how well it is cooked, and if the toppings are to everyones liking.
As for my yearly attending of Anime Milwaukee (AMKE) and the Midwest Gaming Classic (MGC), I only attended AMKE for one day, but I went to MDC for three days instead of my usual two. I only attended AMKE once due to financial reasons, but I had access to the Friday Night Preview for MGC. With going into too many details, I didn’t spend as much as had hoped due to a combination of wanting to save money and bad financial choices.
Lets start with AMKE. What you see here are the only cosplayers that I captured at AMKE. This does not mean that I am unsatisfied with what is on offer, it simply means that I didn’t see anything that grabbed my attention as in previous years. (Before you ask, yes, someone was dressed iconic silent film actor Charlie Chaplain.) There are, of course, exceptions. Three, to be exact.
Here we have Keith Silverstein. While he done much work as a VOA (Voice Over Actor) there is one reason I wanted his autograph. He provided the voice of the character Masayoshi Shido, a main antagonist of Persona 5 Royal (P5R). I couldn’t afford an autograph from him, but he told me that he is proud of me and my husband for my marriage.
This is Erica Lindbeck. She has a highly prolific VOA credit list (including voicing Felicia Hardy/Black Cat in the Spider-man Playstation games), but my reason for wanting her photo and autograph is for voicing the character Futaba Sakura of P5R (noticing a theme here?). I wanted her specifically because her character is (out of all the main characters of P5R) the one I identify with the most.
Lastly, is Sean Chiplock. He too was in P5R, voicing a side character named Yuuki Mishima. With going into details, he wasn’t a playable character, but (to simplify it for readers) but helping him with his problems when the opportunity rises provides useful benefits when battles are over.
With AMKE out of the way, let us move on to MGC.
Here we have everything I found of interest in the Main Game Room. I was surprised to see a section selling merchandise in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Atari. This ranges from hats, shirts, and a partnership with a coffee company. There were also game made for the Atari 2600 console that were made within the past few years available for purchase. Of course, there were games made for retro platforms (as well as being available on digital storefronts) being showcased for people to see.
While attending a section of the convention dedicated to “Live Action Role Playing” (LARPing), I saw an attendee with her emotional support ferret. The little fella was so cute, I had to take some photos!
These are the only three cosplayers I photographed.
This a room occupied by a store near my apartment complex called “Game Together Milwaukee (MKE)”. I bought and sold games/systems from this place ever since I learned of its existence. If I remember correctly, the owner has wanted to open his own game store for years, and he spent all of his money to open this place.
Here is an accessory that I am surprised is getting heavy use at these kind of conventions: the Game Boy Camera. This was released in 1998, during the lifespan of the Game Boy Color. As the name implies, it is a camera of taking pictures, but you could also use those pictures in some built in games. There was also a printer released for it, so you could share your pictures with friends and family. I am always impressed to see them being used on HD monitors in places like this. Judging from the above photo, one could use this as a low quality web cam (why one would want to I don’t know).
Here we have an exhibit that made me feel like a child again: The World of Nintendo. From what I can gather, it is a visual history of what it was like being a gamer (or specifically, a Fan of Nintendo games and services) during the era of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). To be more specific, it aims to look like a video game store from that era, complete with various pieces of paraphernalia you might find in such a place. What I did not expect to find, however was the sword on display. When commercials were filmed for the upcoming SNES entry in the Legend of Zelda Series (called “A Link to the Past), there were two swords used as props for said commercials. One of them was either lost or destroyed, but other one (that both my husband and I are seen holding onto) was saved upon being nearly thrown away. I must admit, it felt AMAZING to hold!
There is much more to talk about, but I have delayed this post for too long, and that would take more time than we all have. I will start talking about those topics when the time comes, but for now, I will leave it here. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and please (given the current state of the country and the world); stay safe, stay sane, be kind, and be happy whenever you can.