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Home From RainFurrest!
10 years ago
General
My first time at RainFurrest went well overall! I roomed with my friends Vantid, Xyk, and Wintersoul, who were excellent roomies (YOU GUYS GON GET PRESENTS), saw old friends from afar and made some wonderful new friends! I was even greeted by GIFTS at this con, wow! I got some delicious zingy herbal loose leaf tea from Draphilius, an ENORMOUS tea gift pack from Syng Stripetail (oolongs, puerhs, tea mints, and ancient coins, wow!), and a gorgeous full color badge from Zardis! I feel so loved, thank you all so much. <3
The four day con was actually much more relaxing than I expected. Instead of feeling like I had more work to do with the extra day of dealing, I was afforded extra time to complete commissions at the con. This helped me get enough sleep at the con and go at a relaxed pace with badges and sketchbook work. I even had time to go to the dance one night, it was so much fun! I also very nearly SOLD OUT of prints! This is pretty amazing to me actually, I thought I was bringing too many. I want to thank each and every person who has bought a print from me recently. Because of you, I don't have to loose sleep at conventions, doing dozens of commissions to try to break even. This makes a tremendous impact on my well being. So, shout-out to those who essentially are making it easier for me to take good care of myself at conventions with your purchase! <3
There were a few down-sides to my trip, including the fact that I caught the con crud. I haven't been sick in many years, I forgot how much it sucks, lol! But the real awful thing about this is that it could jeopardize Preston's opportunity to see his grandfather before he passes away... Our trip to Montana is in just a week, and if either of us is sick we won't be able to see him (he is immune-compromised from his illness). Right now it's pretty mild, and I'm doing my best not to give the crud to Preston. Maybe we can both work through it before we go and not be contagious by the time we get there. Let this be a MAJOR lesson to those of you who are sick (and know it) at cons! Having a cold is more than just feeling cruddy for a while for some people! If you are knowingly in public and sick (making contact with others), you are risking people whose bodies are immune compromised! I know that being sick at a con is sad, because you miss out on all the fun by sequestering yourself. However you risk the health of others in a big way by ignoring that simple courtesy; stay away from others when you're sick! I could have picked this up anywhere, but I did come in contact with a few people who told me they were sick AFTER giving hugs, shaking hands, or otherwise coming into contact with them. Not cool.
I want to end on a good note here, so I'll say this about the food in Seattle; Good god damn, you guys have some tasty foods! I got to eat at 13 coins and Mango Thai, had some of the best food I've had in a long while. I am really hoping I can come back in 2016 as a dealer, so I can see all you wonderful people again and eat at 13 coins for breakfast every day. XD
I'm going to rest up for a few days and hope this con crud blows over quickly. You might not see much of me for a while as a result. Hope you all are well!
The four day con was actually much more relaxing than I expected. Instead of feeling like I had more work to do with the extra day of dealing, I was afforded extra time to complete commissions at the con. This helped me get enough sleep at the con and go at a relaxed pace with badges and sketchbook work. I even had time to go to the dance one night, it was so much fun! I also very nearly SOLD OUT of prints! This is pretty amazing to me actually, I thought I was bringing too many. I want to thank each and every person who has bought a print from me recently. Because of you, I don't have to loose sleep at conventions, doing dozens of commissions to try to break even. This makes a tremendous impact on my well being. So, shout-out to those who essentially are making it easier for me to take good care of myself at conventions with your purchase! <3
There were a few down-sides to my trip, including the fact that I caught the con crud. I haven't been sick in many years, I forgot how much it sucks, lol! But the real awful thing about this is that it could jeopardize Preston's opportunity to see his grandfather before he passes away... Our trip to Montana is in just a week, and if either of us is sick we won't be able to see him (he is immune-compromised from his illness). Right now it's pretty mild, and I'm doing my best not to give the crud to Preston. Maybe we can both work through it before we go and not be contagious by the time we get there. Let this be a MAJOR lesson to those of you who are sick (and know it) at cons! Having a cold is more than just feeling cruddy for a while for some people! If you are knowingly in public and sick (making contact with others), you are risking people whose bodies are immune compromised! I know that being sick at a con is sad, because you miss out on all the fun by sequestering yourself. However you risk the health of others in a big way by ignoring that simple courtesy; stay away from others when you're sick! I could have picked this up anywhere, but I did come in contact with a few people who told me they were sick AFTER giving hugs, shaking hands, or otherwise coming into contact with them. Not cool.
I want to end on a good note here, so I'll say this about the food in Seattle; Good god damn, you guys have some tasty foods! I got to eat at 13 coins and Mango Thai, had some of the best food I've had in a long while. I am really hoping I can come back in 2016 as a dealer, so I can see all you wonderful people again and eat at 13 coins for breakfast every day. XD
I'm going to rest up for a few days and hope this con crud blows over quickly. You might not see much of me for a while as a result. Hope you all are well!
I have to admit, we were Mango Thai addicts. It is hard to find a Thai place that uses fresh chilies and actual kaffir limes for kaeng kiew wan (sweet green curry). I can find galangal, Thai basil, and lemongrass all day at specialty grocery stores, but no kaffir lime ;_;
Also super glad I got to meet you! It definitely contributed heavily to an awesome first con experience for me :D
It was fantastic to meet you too, thank you so much for the AMAZING tea care package! Preston went bonkers over those coins by the way, he loves little pieces of history like that.
The coins were cast in such vast numbers (tens of millions each run) in almost every single dynasty, that commonly-issued coins going back 2000+ years can be had for 25 cents to $1 from a reputable dealer. I was buying small lots and picking out the best for my reference collection, so I have an excess/duplicates to give away as strange little gifts XD
And omg, I saved some of the puer toucha miniballs for myself. It's hard to find miniballs made of whole leaf; most of them are crumb balls and look like wet ashes at the bottom of your teapot when you're done brewing. The Yiwu Mahei raw puer has a strong 甘 flavor, a sweet astringent herbal aftertaste that stimulates saliva flow. There's no taste profile word for it in English XD Hopefully it helps you get your immune system back to normal in time for the upcoming trip!
I'm glad you had a great time, though, and I'm so happy I got to meet you~
13 Coins was pretty great, I went there one of the nights with a few friends and was surprised at how good the food was for a decent price o:
I hope to see you next year!
It was wonderful to meet you as well! Hey maybe we can actually do that MachWarrior trip thing we talked about years ago sometime? If I can make it back out to RF next year of course. :3
ah, well, i wish you a speedy recovery!
I'm glad you had fun, I didn't see ya this year! But I wan kinda bumblein' around lol
I'm sorry you caught a cold. I'd be pissed about that too, especially if you had plans to see someone who cannot afford to get sick.
As sad as it to say, the average con-goer simply doesn't care about all that. They paid $500 for plane tickets, got time off work, shelled out for the hotel, and have been anticipating this event all year, and they're going to go unless they're so ill they can't get out of bed. The best you can do is take that into consideration the next time; assume there'll be sick people there and decide whether it's worth the risk to your own plans to expose yourself.
The thing is, it's STILL up to the person who is infected to protect the public, not uninfected people. I can weigh the risk all I want and take every precaution necessary, and yet the weight of responsibility is on the person who is sick to sequester themselves and not risk the public health.
We ended up having 13 Coins on Sunday, so good! I wish we would've gotten sushi. It seemed really hard to find anywhere to eat that was close that wasn't 711.
I hope you reapply next year. I feel like RF is going to be annual con for me. Also props for having prints with Bristol board (cardboard?) in the back to protect. I actually acid free double sided tapped the print to the board and then tapped that to my wall, so I didn't have to actually tape the print! Very nice.
It was nice meeting you again and I'm so glad to hear you got even more gifts!
But yeah, I've been sleeping a lot the last couple days (when I wasn't trying to locate my phone, which seems to have gone on to Chicago on the train without me :C It still hasn't turned up yet, despite the Amtrak people saying they'd look for it when they clean the train at the end of the line, which was supposed to be this morning. Good thing I got phone insurance...>_>) trying to get rid of this thing. I haven't gotten con-crud since maybe my 1st or 2nd con...and this is my 5th or 6th...it's not fun. :( I should have gotten a flu shot before I left...but then...a flu shot doesn't stop a cold, as they aren't the same sickness.
I'm rambling. Here's hoping we both get well soon!
My fiancee got bit with the concrud bug too and i think i'm a little slower because i got nibbled. There were quite a few sneezy people there this year.
I'm so super happy you almost sold out of Prints! That's so super cool! and is certainly a stress of any artists back.
I really hope you return to Rainfurrest in the coming years. As a staff member we are all working very hard already to prepare for next year ~!
It was super awesome to meet and just chat, hopefully i wasn't a bother or anything haha
How was Pikes place? did you try the salmon jerky? I'm told its amazing for any fish lover <3
For the sickness, so sorry to hear that part :(
I always keep some hand sanitizer at the table and make sure to not eat with my hands if I can help it (at least while at the table). 3/5 cons down so far, no sickness yet and fingers crossed lol
It was also nice to meet you and hope that you find yourself in Seattle for future cons!
Honestly, it's nice to just take a non-con day to bop around and enjoy it if you can!
If you get a chance next time, try to make it over to 909 Coffee in Burien for breakfast, it's imho the best breakfast within 5 miles of the con. They have a french toast sandwich with cheese and bacon which is amazing, and their cinnamon rolls are world class. And if you ever make it into Seattle proper the food is really something, definitely one of the top 10 food cities in the US!
I'll have to check out Mango Thai next time I am down in the SeaTac area. I have seen it but never given it a try! Sounds delicious. :)
I also got the con crud, btw. Thankfully this one seems to be pretty weak and I'm mostly back to normal after just a couple days. Hope your recovery is quick!