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Place : Days Inn Number of People in Room : 4 (2 double-bed room) Hotel Staff: Very polite. The dude with the moustache and flat top haircut (manager perhaps?) was VERY friendly and helpful. They also were nice enough to let me check-in early. Check-in time there is 3pm. I got there at 1pm and had no problems. Walk to Otakon: Not far at all.. 2 or 3 minutes depending on traffic and how slow people in front of you are walking. The good : Room was clean, free wi-fi was nice. The bartender in the hotel bar was awesome. I had breakfast in the restaurant a couple of mornings and t

I prefer the lower rate. I'm in a position that I could afford the entire room myself, though, so even if I don't get others into the room it's not a hardship. Having people come along is always fun, of course, but if I can't get others to go along then that's how things go.

I'm gofering this year so I'm not positive if I'll be waiting in a line (in the classical sense at any rate). Out of curiousity, to the people who DO line up ridiculously early -- is there any reason that you do that? Apart from the obvious "bragging rights" (??) of being one of the first through the door?

Depends. If I only have to go a floor or two, I take the stairs. Any more then that, I take the elevator.

I'd been a fan of anime since the early 90s.. I forget what year my friend Sashi introduced me to it -- probably 1991 or 1992. I'd never heard of conventions, though, until 1998 when my friend Dave invited me to go with him to Otakon in '98. I couldn't go that year but it looked like awesome fun so I vowed to go in '99. Well, '99 rolled around and I went. It WAS awesome fun!! I couldn't go in 2000 because I'd just started a new job and couldn't get the time off.. but I've been to every Otakon since then. I'll probably continue to go as long as I can.. or as long as Otakon exists.

I can't say that I remember ever being able to wear anything smaller then a "Medium" of anything. That aside, as far as size stuff goes, the only thing that annoys me is that if I want to buy pants, I need to buy them online any more. I can't buy them at a department store because they tend to only stock ONE pair in my size and it's usually purchased right away. Yet, I can't shop at "big and tall" stores because that size is too small for them. The only store locally that tends to stock the pants size that I need is Wal*Mart. I don't like how they fit, though, and the pockets tend

Most years in the past, my friend Steve and I would leave the con anywhere between 10pm and midnight and head back to the hotel room where we'd play video games or watch a movie until about 2am then get to sleep. Last year, Steve didn't go.. I headed back to the hotel bar and sucked down Bombay Sapphire Martinis while talking with other folks staying in the hotel.. that was a nice way to wind down after a busy day. THough one of the days I met up with some of the Baltimore locals at a local pub and had some drinks and great chats there. This year? Who knows. I'm actually staying w

I play Pokemon Diamond and will be bringing it to Otakon.

Micky Dolenz was the best Monkee. Hands down. I remember loving "The Electric Company" as a kid. That's probably the earliest show that I remember being my favorite. I DO remember watching Sesame Street as well but I don't remember if it was a favorite or if I just enjoyed it because.. well.. what kid doesn't like Sesame St.. seriously.. I remember that I used to love watching "Tom and Jerry" reruns as well. They were pretty much a staple morning cartoon around the house. ^^ That would probably have been my first favorite animated show.. followed by GI Joe and then probably Voltron.

Wow. Otakon is only 3 and a half weeks away. O.o .. I thought it was longer. Anyhow, apart from finding people to fill the remaing spots in my hotel room, nothing other then what I usually do week-to-week. OH.. I'm deciding what movies to encode to my iPod for any down-time that I have as well.

Last year there was sort of an "older otaku/come hang with the locals" meetup at one of the local bars. Not sure if the same people are doing it again, but that was fun.. even though I was the only non-local to show up. Regardless, I certainly wouldn't mind meeting up. Bar is fine with me, or a restaurant, or whatever. I'm open to pretty much anything.

*waves hand around* Me! Me! I'm 30 yrs old or so!

*waves* Me! Me! Though I'm doing the gofer thing this year so I doubt I'll be doing much photography. It's been fun in the past though.

I usually just park at whatever hotel that I'm staying at and leave the car there the whole weekend. I checked the Days Inn (where I'm staying this year) and they said that parking is $18/day. That rate may only be if you're staying at the Days Inn, though. Last year, I stayed at the Peabody Court. I think that parking was closer to $30 because it was valet.

Normally, I'd go down with my best friend but he forgot to get the time off from work this year and at this point he's pretty sure that he can no longer get the time off. (d'oh!) Most of my other friends and family don't like Anime enough to go to a convention. So it looks like I'm on my own this year.

Let's see. For hotel maid service, I don't think I've ever left a tip unless my room has gotten exceptionally messy for some reason. For bell boy-type service, what I tip depends on how fancy of a place that I'm staying -- but 99% of the time I'd rather just cary my own bags. Airport van drivers I usually tip $5. Bag holding service? I've never used one so there's no "usual amount" there. Restaurants, normally I'll leave 20% if they do a great job, 15% for "normal" service.. less if the service is poor.

Vis a vis the Thursday pre-reg line.. yes.. it's gotten TONS better since the first year that it was offered. The first year that it was offered, I remember hopping in line when it was just about at the doors to the lobby and it was literally a 2 hour wait from there to get my badge. This past year the line wrapped around the building and I was in and out in about 30-40 minutes. As far as what I do to pass the time? Either chat with people in line or pop on the internet on my cell phone to decide where to go around town when I'm not at town.. either finding new restaurants or bars or wh

My friend Steve and I have come down to Baltimore on Thursday since early pickup started. Typically we'd head over to ESPN Zone and have dinner there followed by picking up our badges -- we never saw the point in getting ther early; we'd usually get there later to avoid the majority of the line. Then we'd head back to the hotel room to play video games until the small hours of the morning. Last year, Steve wasn't able to make it so I went to a much better restaraunt in the inner harbor, had some wonderful fish tacos and a few beers followed by a trip back to the hotel for a couple of mar