Beware the Chartnado

Sitting on my desk is a lanyard and a memo pad.

The lanyard, purchased from Five Below is green and has multi colored robots covering it. The memo pad contains a planning list of items to purchase. Both are in anticipation of my upcoming trip to the Transformers convention Charticon (combining Charlotte North Carolina and Sharkticon). Inside my head is the list of things to have ready for when I leave out Friday morning.

My sling backpack waits hanging on my closet doorknob with a fresh bottle of Germ X attached (because germs are everywhere), waiting to be worn while walking around the convention floor for storage of those items on the memo pad list and any instabuys as well. My 3DS sits on my nightstand receiving the newest system update, which will be important over the weekend. The new update updates SpotPass, which will be necessary as conventions provide ample SpotPass opportunities and I don’t want to miss out on any potential content.

I guess everybody’s 3DS will be having their own con.

My cars oil was changed yesterday (a must for any road trip) as well as the safety system firmware was updated (because… safety). Aside from packing and some last minute printing (backup mapquest, confirmation materials, etc), all there is now is the wait.

Damn the wait.

The last few days is like Christmas Eve night when you’re 7. Sitting, waiting, hoping the time will pass and the culmination of all this waiting will show and all will be right with the world for a few days.

Anticipation is a killer.

A con is a great thing, you get to spend a few days immersed in your fandom with your fandom friends. Checking out the panels. Scouring the dealer room for things you’ve been wanting and things you’d want. Talking to the guests and getting to know them more as a person than just a contributor. Seeing old friends and making new ones. Those group outings where everybody wants pizza and the place doesn’t have enough seating. That trip to a local store where you find that Generations Sandstorm (hoping) and your friend buys antacids (the pizza was spicy). The blur of a few days that will be over before you know it and the next week is filled with slight moping from post con depression.

Man, post con depression. Post con depression saddled with that sense of ‘well, what do I do now’ that follows after the con is over and all that waiting is over.

Then you wait for the next one.