Generic Update

Hey, followers!

I'm a little late with the blog post this week, I know. It's Thursday. I usually update Mondays or whenever I feel like it, but foo. I'll have a bigger blog update tomorrow.

Right now I just wanted to give an update and post about a cool event going on here in Wichita, KS for the flow artists.

First of all, for those of you that are flow artists, there is a page called Wichita Burners for flow artists in the Wichita and surrounding areas. They not only invite burners, but other flow artists. So, all my hoopers, poi stars, and fire spinners, go hit up the group and become members. What's really neat is that they are hosting a festival later, which you can find at the following link:

Resonance

Resonance is held September 27th through the 29th and is a festival/camp out. They are a Burning Man inspired group and this is their version for us midwesterners that can't make it to Burning Man, EDC, or any of the other big festivals. 

PLEASE go out and support them if you can!

Speaking of flow arts, I hit up the Neon Dance at the River Festival on Friday and got some killer pictures.
(This is where I heard about Resonance.)

A lot of good hoopers showed up, a glover, and a few amazing fire spinners. Hopefully at my first Wichita Burners meeting, I'll be able to spin fire for the first time!

Fingers crossed.

Pictures are done by David Freeland.

Lastly, I'm gonna post how I did on the "5 Things Challenge".

1. Get Graphics Done-- 0/2

Haha. I was so busy with classes that this one didn't even come close to happening.

2. Hoop Dance 20 Minutes a Day-- 5/7

I did fairly well on this last week, but I feel like I could have done better.

3. Morning Yoga-- 5/7

Pretty much the same as hoop dance.

4. Take more pictures for the blog-- ?/7

Kind of?

5. Fix my sleep schedule-- 0/7

HAHAHA.

-----

New 5 Things--

((Been working on these throughout the week))

1.) Get those stupid graphics for the blog done.

2.) Continue hoop dance.

3.) Get HW turned in at a decent time in the week.

4.) Fix sleep schedule.

5.) Update blog on time? More often? Something?

~Nina G.

Wichita River Fest

Hey, all!

Tonight is going to be the first of my weekly "5 Things" challenges. Along with that, I have a little bit of fun to share with everyone about my day.

So, as my locals know, it's that time of the year for Wichita River Fest!

(Side Note: The theme this year is "Let the Good Times Flow", which just makes my whole dang week when taking part in these things.)

Today was the first day that I decided to go out among the crowds to explore the area-- I wish I had kept track of steps.

Seriously.

Usually, I don't have anything to do with the river fest, except the "Medallion Hunt". For those unaware of what that is-- it's basically where the City of Wichita hides a medallion in one of the public parks. They release clues throughout the week of the festivities and whoever finds the medallion first, gets a new car.

It was found.

Literally a few hours before we got to run out and check the places we expected it to be.

Sad face.

Either way, we found some good things, as our badges were already purchased. Today was the start of those good things--

JET SKIS!

And lots of sunburn. Lots and lots of sunburn.

Really, the only flaws I saw today(other than my lack of sunscreen) were 1.) There were no water stations where they were giving free water to people.

And 2.) Prices were completely ridiculous. Buying tickets so I can buy food? Nah. Not going for that, guys.

That's the day.

Now, it's time for my "5 Things Challenge"!

For my fellow bloggers who have no idea how it works, you need to pick 5 things that you are going to try to do this week. That can include little "to do" items, if you need to make graphics for your blog, get your car checked out, etc. Then, next week, report how well you did and make another five things to do.

Here are mine for this week:

1.) Get graphics done for the blog!
Seeing as this is a blog for me and my corgi, I see it fit that we need to have our signatures at the bottom of our posts. No more "text" signatures for us.

2.) Hoop dance at least 20 minutes a day.

I love hoop dance and I practically live and breathe with a hoop in my hands at all time. However, now that it's summer, I've found it really hard to get the motivation to hoop a moderate amount of time per day. I find it more appropriate to browse Pinterest or Facebook stalk old classmates...whoops.

3.) Do my morning yoga~

I found this awesome "wake up" yoga routine to do in the mornings. I really want to try this.

4.) Take more pictures for the blog.

Duh.

5.) Fix my sleep schedule...

Recently, I've been staying awake for a godawful amount of time. Whether that me on my own will, or just because I can't sleep, it's not helping me any. Staying up late, only getting about 6-7 hours of sleep. Eek.

That's all for now. See you all in the next post!
((Expect some fun tomorrow, I think))

-Nina G.

Hey, followers~ Long time, no post. While I haven't posted in awhile, I do want to give a few random little updates and some future plans for this blog--

1. Spring classes are over, summer classes are on the way. Most of my classes are online for the summer, which is perfectly fine with me.

2. As of right now, all my stuff is packed away and either in a box in my room, or in the storage unit, awaiting the day it must be moved to my apartment. With that being said, I don't have my camera here-- minus my iPhone, which shouldn't count as a camera, but I count it. So. Yeah.

3. Some upcoming things in the near future--

- The "5 Things a Week" Challenge: If you haven't heard of it, it's a thing that bloggers are doing where they choose 5 things to do for the week; these things can be as broad as "drink water all week" or really specific like "walk the corgi for an hour a day before fixing dinner". At the end of the week, you report how well you did in all of these things. It's meant to build habit or something along those lines.

- Product Reviews: Simple. I get to pick a product that I already use, or I've wanted to use, and I make a post about it.

- Restaurant Reviews: Exactly how it sounds.

- Movie Reviews: There are A LOT of good movies coming out this summer and I need to see them while I'm in town with the good movie theater.

- Recipes, corgis, cosplays, crafts, and more.

Also, have a picture of some Boba.

With Love,

Nina G.

Naka-Kon Day 2

I'll fix all of the ridiculous spelling and grammar mistakes I know I'll make later...

Anyway, day two has drawn to a sad close. Sad? Because I actually enjoyed myself. The day itself was actually very uneventful in terms of me going to con events.

Our day started off at some stupid hour in the morning. I said it was 6am, our neighbors declared it was more like 7am. Why does what our neighbors say matter? Because they woke me up this morning. Not that I was complaining. They continued through most of the morning giggling and squee-ing like small fangirls. Ugh, right?

Watched Green Lantern and Young Justice. Last episodes. My feels.
Those reviews might come along later, when I know most of my followers have watched it. Kelly.

Anyway, the giggling continued well into the time that I was getting cleaned up. Many thoughts went through our heads and many ideas sprouted.

1. Tell them to shut up.

2. Take that picture of the Edward Elric face with the tongue sticking out and put it on the inside of our conjoined door... because, well, we have one of those rooms where it's connected, but you have to open both of your doors to see each other? Yeah.

3. Slenderman notes.

After much(five seconds) of debating what to do, we decided to try the Slenderman letters. We figured we had a 50/50 chance that the room next door would understand it.

A few screams later... they understood it.

We then decided that this would make a much better thing to do with our time and slipped another note under their door.

Hilarity ensued.

Now, now... before you say "YOU KNEW THEM, NO FAIR", I'd like to point out that WE DID NOT KNOW THESE PEOPLE WHATSOEVER.

At this point, I was hungry, Sam was hungry, Adam was hungry, David was hungry... we were all kinda digging the idea of noms.

We ran out to Jason's Deli and got some delicious freaking sandwiches.

After that, it was time for me to force myself into the corset and brave the idea of parading around a con as a pin-up version of Poison Ivy. Pics to be posted later.

Getting to the con, of course we had to check out the vendor's room. I mean... after the clusterfaygo that Friday was? We needed it. The vendor's room hasn't gotten much larger than it was last year. Not surprising, but still kind of disappointing.

Saw a few vendors I knew and loved.

No, I haven't bought anything yet. I still have to grab a present for my mother, though.

FUN FACT: The original Playstation 1 game, Legend of Mana? $89.99 market price. So, apparently I have a freaking valuable game sitting in my basement somewhere?

Other than that, no pictures, lots of rude people, and very...very claustrophobic for some reason. Maybe it was because I kept being attacked by rude people. 

We checked out the game room next.
Guys.
The game room was larger than the vendor's room.

It solved con funk.

It solved con funk.

Kind of.

I ran into my favorite baby momma, Crystal, who had her girlfriend in tow. We got along, we complained to each other, we laughed, we cried about Mass Effect.
Yeah.

Other than that, I spent most of my con people watching and getting pictures with random cosplayers who were walking by.

This is where I tell you about the good deed I have done.

There was a young girl, not too far away from our group, who had a cardboard sign. Usually, I'm just kinda huff and puff and asking why she's allowed to have a sign and people I know get theirs taken away on a semi-hourly basis.

Her sign read: "Dumped yesterday. Birthday today."
With some more information underneath it.
I'll post her picture below when I get it uploaded onto this computer.

Guys, I ask you to send me well-wishes for this girl so I can pass them on, or I have her phone number available for you. She was a very sweet girl and I was glad I grabbed a picture with her.

Please do that for me!

During my people watching, I met tons of characters. Some of which will be posted below.

I noticed something a little odd about this convention, actually. In terms of cosplayers, no one was really going for the "wow" factor. At least anyone that I was really aware of.

The cosplays that were attracting the most attention seemed to be Homestucks, ponies, and Adventure Time. And, while I have no problems with this, it just kind of bummed me out that I only had one person ask me for a picture/recognize me. She was super nice, by the way. Shout out to that girl. <3
Asking around, it turned out that a lot of the DC and Marvel cosplayers had that issue. I guess it just wasn't our con.

After a few hours of people watching, we ran to get food at Korma Sutra-- one of the best Indian food restaurants I've ever been to. Trust me, 4-5 courses of food, and a show.

I'll post that picture later.

Let's just say dinner included lots of random singing, insults, and laughing/crying at the same time.

Returning, we were wondering if it was time to strike against our loud neighbors again. We wrote up another note when they got audible and slipped it under their door.

With that, we heard a "BRING IT ON".

So, we did.

We decided to play some static noise and the "Gimme 20 Dollars" song.

At that point, it was time to go all out.
Dressing Adam up in Slenderman garb, using a pillow case as a mask, we prepared two more notes.

One note was slipped under their door as a distraction so we would have Adam go stand outside the front entrance to our room, covering the peep hole with a sticker. We then added one more note, beckoning these girls to open their front door.

It opened.

Screams.

Yes, we do have video.

Yes, it will be posted later.

Deciding we had done enough to these poor girls, we brought Adam around to the conjoined door and stood him outside of it and got them to answer the door, so they could see who was behind the antics.

Turns out it was five Homestucks.

Man, just my luck.

Now, if you aren't familiar with my history of this fandom, long story short...

1. Metal bucket to the head.

2. Horn in the ear.

3. Plan to break into a closed vendor's room, which was stopped short by an increase in security.

These girls came out to be some of the nicest people we'd met at the con all day. And it wasn't even at the con. Now, as I type this, we're all about ready to be asleep and we're probably gonna all go swimming and enjoy each other's company tomorrow morning.

Lastly, we went to the dance DJ'd by Greg Ayers. I love his sets. I always have. However, this is when I realized the convention's dance room was too small. 6-7 hoopers is fine in a room that isn't being dominated by a giant circle of shufflers.

That circle took up 1/4 of the room and left me with no hooping room, leaving me with no hoop time...sad face.

I did get to listen to one of my fave DJs, though. :)

I'll post important links and things in the morning. It's time to pass dah fooq out.

** PICS AND VIDEO TO COME LATER **

Naka-Kon Day 1

Kind of a late post, but I figure most of everyone will read this while I'm asleep and that's okay.

First off, we really started late-ish. Left Wichita and had to get some con money. We stopped in Wal-Mart in Manhattan while picking up a friend, but eh. That didn't take too long. I think it just felt rather long because of some car issues while holding our breath.

That's fine. We got to the hotel, didn't get lost, got checked in, and got to our room. Not the best room we've ever stayed in, but it's not the convention hotel either. It was within our budget and still across the street from the convention center, so great.
We totally didn't get here in time for a roll-away.
Oh well.

So, we're here at about 6pm, watching people come and go. Apparently we weren't the only ones to choose this hotel. We've met tons of people in the elevators who all have turned out to be fairly awesome.

Dance didn't start until 11pm, but registration was closed at 9pm, so we ran down at 8pm, thinking maybe it had cleared out since it's the end of the day.

A line leading through the entire hotel and out the door later...
Actually, we didn't even get a chance to stand in the line. We were told up front by a security guard that they were closing the pre-registration line entirely and that we wouldn't be able to get our tickets tonight, leaving us unable to get the Friday of our convention.
Guys, I'm not usually a mean person..but I was livid.
It took the security guy running to see if there was anything he could do for me to calm down and nicely ask for Con-Ops.
I spoke to Con-Ops and things started to look better. Let's chalk this screw up to miscommunication between the departments. That's okay, though. It happens.

What doesn't happen is a near yelling argument while I'm about to pass out. I seriously had to grab another security guard to escort me to the bar to get a drink of water so I didn't die...

I'm going to tell you now that I was livid to the point of laughing and I was borderline maniacal. I don't want to detail the story further than this because, well, I don't want to be the bad guy. Though, thank you Mr. Fedora, K, everyone.
You know what you did.
DISCLAIMER: The person behind the argument has since then apologized and it's all water under the bridge. :) Don't ask me about it, because no one needs to have more trouble on their plate...

Though, I have to thank Tokyo in Tulsa for building me to be a person who takes things in stride! I have stayed positive and not once have I thought of leaving the con.

Once again, thanks, Naka-Kon. Your staff has been incredibly patient and everyone has worked SO HARD. I just wish I could hug all of you. I've hugged most of you. But I wish I could hug all of you. Most importantly, registration, security, and con-ops.

I had to go back to the hotel room after achieving badges. *Insert Zelda music here*

So, before the rave, we needed to get food. Guys. Seriously. I hadn't eaten since 2pm today and it was now 11pm. I was missing the beginning of the dance. UGH.
That's okay. We went and got McDonalds, waited stupid long for our food, almost beat the cashier, and sang Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a truly magical moment.

Next, we hit up the dance. It's a rave, but I think Naka-Kon prefers to call it a dance? Okay. I met Gemma there, who, by the way, has a new hoop and it is fan-freaking-tastic.

The DJs were by the names of DJ Willis and Revolution Boi-- I'll put links at the bottom of the post.

Now, guys, I listened to Revolution Boi's samples and I wasn't too terribly impressed, but... in person? It was so much different. RB had a slower, flowing style, while DJ Willis pumped the heavy house music and it was such a rush to dance with all the others.
I kinda realized something, though. There are two scenes in the rave culture-- the dancers, who are moderately oblivious to each other and don't want to really talk to each other, then there are those who flow. And those who flow have an unspoken connection between them that just makes everyone happy and it makes the dance a better place.

I'm serious. I thought I didn't have the skill to perform next to some of these guys, but they were the best. I felt like, even for a couple of minutes, that I was part of a big family-- a big performance.

The stage was huge. Four or more dancers at a time and hoopers had an easy time using the stage. Fog machines, lights, and a huge area made this dance a success.

Not to mention that I think I finally found the perfect blend of anime, vocaloid, pop, and all brands of techno music in this. I'm sure someone out there wasn't happy with the mix, but I was. The DJs worked well together and blended enough that it made things great.

So, guys, it is with a tired body that I have to bid you a good night. Be prepared for Day 2, and if you're following my tumblr, I will be posting regular updates from there.

** PICS AND VIDEO TO COME LATER **

To check out the things I mentioned, follow the links below.

Naka-Kon's Website

DJ Willis

Revolution Boi