"Feel the Illinoise!”

Strangers in fedoras, anime-character identity crossovers, very confused marketing executives, and somebody threw a tank. I’m speaking, of course, about the recently concluded Midwest Furfest convention in Chicago!

We had a blast, and got out alive - the primary hallmarks of a successful convention. I must add, it’s always fun when a non-furry, 'Business Leaders Roundtable’ or something is meeting in the same hotel and weekend as a furry con. Executives in suits just wander shell-shocked around the lobby, looking for all the world like they accidentally woke up in Dr. Seuss Hell.

Interestingly, they often seem to pick Liz out of the crowd to demand an explanation from. Bouncing around, she looks too fun not be involved somehow, yet she’s tiny and blonde and therefore safe to speak to. So far as anyone knows.

The convention was a blast - we saw old friends, and had the opportunity to meet for the first time (in person) some of the folks from our forum. Oddly enough, there seemed to be a tendency for everyone to be wearing fedoras - which I wholeheartedly approve of. We wound up having a little fedora flotilla around our table - even one total stranger was pulled in by it’s dark, rakish gravity.

Apparently, Liz & I also made quite the impression on another con-goer, with the fursona 'Steven' who declared unwaveringly that he recognizes us - as characters from the anime series ‘Baccano!’. Evidently my choice of wardrobe and Liz's pantomimes were enough to give us away. After acquiescing to a photo-op, curiosity over our animated doppelgangers motivated us to look it up:

I think Liz matches all too well, which is consistent with her animated cinematic track record:

But clearly, my double is missing the crucial glasses, and I need to cultivate some sideburns to keep up. But on the plus side, Isaac and Miria rob places dressed in outrageous costumes - which is, of course, the Way It Should Be Done. I don’t countenance boring criminals. Although I’ve found a subtle crime is impossible in costume - the time I went shopping in Michaels dressed as a WWII soldier, I was lavished with attentive customer service. Too bad for them I was just browsin’ for Krauts.

Cartoonish antics aside, most of the convention was spent with my nose to the grindstone, sketching out... cartoon characters & commissions. (Currently available only at conventions.)

Even my pencil commissions are getting increasingly elaborate and fun, and we’re getting more and more requests for them at conventions.

The result, which we were forced to face this con, is that I’m getting severely overbooked - pun, INTENDED! HA ha! I’m the only one laughing...

The easy solution, of course, would be to start saying ‘no’ to people. I tried that, but it turns out my heart has all the toughness of a delightful custard. One hopeful set of eyes, and kaPOW! My willpower disintegrates faster than an executive’s grasp of reality at a furry con.

As a result, we’ve got to integrate some price hikes and a first-come first-serve slot system for the next round of conventions. This should provide the structure and firmness which my spine currently lacks - I’ll post up the details when we get closer to our next convention.

And in closing (You’re still reading? Wow! I could just write anything in here and you’d seriously read it for this long? Well- Ahem; Dear, dear, dearest internet-Diary, let me count the ways...)

Or not. In closing, we're home - and we've got some fun in store for you. A lot of fun. We've got a salvo of mind-exploding Dreamkeepers announcements which, if unleashed in one blog, might just be too much fun for any one reader to withstand. Heck, we've been having enough trouble ourselves, just containing our enthusiasm - our tendency is to play things close to the chest until they transition from a 'what if' to a certainty... And a whole pile of fun has just made the transition. So to protect us all from enthusiasm overload, we'll be releasing the news in bite-size chunks all month - during our December news marathon, Bullets in the Hole. Right here, every Thursday, we'll be slapping down glittering, untold Dreamkeepers news - see you next week!

Meanwhile, we have much to do - to observe, enjoy our newly designated, self indulgent webcam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzI-hp9x_6M