by Paige Priddy, Guest Reporter

My feet hurt.

It is currently 10:34pm Pacific time. I’ve spent all day wondering around the vast vast collection of art, writing, video games, and various other forms of nerdery since 9:00 this morning. It’s a beautiful day here in Anaheim, California, a whopping 66 degrees, perfect weather for people watching. And boy, there are a lot of people to watch.

This is my first WonderCon. Since all the nerdom conventions seem to shun the southern area of the US for some reason, I have not had much opportunity to attend anything like this before. The last convention I attended was Youmacon 2010, in which I had to drive 13-14 hours. It was totally worth it, though. I met a bunch of friends that I’ve known on the internet for years (including our very own Kroze), and had some pretty awesome adventure stories to tell. But, I digress.

How’s WonderCon this year, you ask? Crowded. Very, VERY crowded. At least compared to Youmacon, which is a much smaller convention in comparison. Regardless, I don’t think I’ve seen this many people in one area since…ever. This is a good and bad thing. I love people watching, and conventions provide the most entertaining people to watch without actually stalking them or intentionally finding people of interest to watch because they’re EVERYWHERE. I’m mostly talking about cosplayers. Man, looking at all of these amazingly well done costumes makes me want to learn how to sew. These people are DEDICATED and it shows. Also the Bible picketers outside the convention makes the Christian in me cry a little inside. Seriously, guys? Seriously?  Where in the Bible does it say “Thou shalt picket in front of conventions because those people are ENJOYING THEMSELVES and you should let them know that they are all going to HELL.” Ugh.

The downside of this is that it is a bitch to get anywhere around here because it’s so crowded. For example, Kroze and I wanted to go to the panel about Zuko’s mom, but it was already filled up by the time we got there, on time. We were very, very sad. I also have this thing about crowds. I tend to be in the way of everything despite being so short and small. It’s a curse. Then AGAIN, the ATLA panel was held in a very, VERY small room. Other than that, it was pretty easy to get to the places we wanted, it was just crowded. As compared to Youmacon, where line waiting was a way of life. They also let us in the convention 30 minutes early, which was nice.

I’m also much more aware of the little money I have in my possession. Just looking at everything makes me feel poor because I WANT IT ALL (well, not ALL of it. I could live without all the forbidden equine merchandise). I’ve been wandering around all day and I still haven’t seen everything. Luckily I have two more days to look for things (and possibly buy these things. Maybe).

In conclusion, I am enjoying WonderCon to the fullest, despite the crowds and my feet constantly reminding me that I am in terrible, terrible shape. Here’s to another two exciting days to go! 

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