Comic-Con Hangover

July 13, 2015 Nina Penalosa9 Comments

I set my alarm for 5am this morning so I could finish packing all my things for my flight back home tonight, and do a write up of the Her Universe show for Wear Your Voice Mag, but my body was like, “OH HELL NAH, GIRL. SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.” And OH HELL NAH indeed. My head felt as if Iron Man was inside the Hulk Buster suit brawling with the Hulk, and the rest of my body felt like it got the 100 hand-slap treatment by E. Honda, and topped off with a Care Bear stare.

Comic-Con, why do you hurt me so much???

Besides the physical pain I’m in, I had so much fun this year! I was extremely anxious with all the social gatherings I decided to go since I’m super introverted and socially awkward (unless I’m with people I know), but when I met Travis, Gwen, Gladys, Joie, Megan, Mia, and Liz, they were all so fantastic and welcoming. Thanks for making this year’s con so awesome! I miss you guys. 😦 #superfunfetti #staydumb

I’m still recuperating, but I’ll be putting up some posts throughout the week about my geeky adventures from SDCC, and I’ll let you all know when my Her Universe article goes up on Wear Your Voice Mag. This is just one of those hey-I’m-still-alive-I’m-totally-not-dead kind of posts. Stay tuned!

5 Fandom Friday: Conventions I Wish To Attend

January 16, 2015 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

This week’s 5 Fandom Friday prompt is about one of my favorite things: CONVENTIONS!!! I’ve been lucky to go to a few — some big, some small, and some multiple times — such as San Diego Comic-Con International, WonderCon (but only when it was in San Francisco), Anime Expo, Stockton Con, Sac-Con, and BookCon. One of my favorite things about going to conventions are all the artists and small brands. I remember when the Tokidoki booth wasn’t always flooded, and you could actually just go up to Simone Legno and say, “Hey!” Gone are those days. But still, I think it’s so cool to watch these companies and artists grow more and more each year I go! 🙂

SDCC circa 2008 when I was hella into Tokidoki

There’s a plethora of different conventions going on all year, and so little time (and definitely little money) for me to get to them! But here are the top 5 I’d love to go to one day:

1. D23 Expo

This is a definitive DUH. A convention dedicated to all things Disney? YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. No need to further explain my extreme desire to go.

2. Star Wars Celebration

See explanation for D23 Expo, but replace Disney with Star Wars.

3. Gallifrey One

A convention dedicated solely to Doctor Who! Same explanation as #2, but this time replace Disney with Doctor Who. 😉

4. New York Comic Con

I’ve heard really great things about NYCC, and a lot of the people I follow on social media always post pictures every year and it just looks like so much fun!

5. Geek Girl Con

A convention that celebrates my tribe! I don’t remember how I heard about Geek Girl Con, but I remember looking into being a vendor a couple years ago, then deemed that would be a bit much since it’s all the way in Seattle. I’d love to just go as an attendee though and be amongst all my fellow lady geeks. 🙂

What conventions are you aching to go to? Lemme know in the comments!

To find out the origins of 5 Fandom Friday, go here. And check out The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick to catch up with the latest prompts!

5 fandom friday

5 Fandom Friday (or Tuesday): New Years Fandom Resolutions

January 6, 2015 Nina Penalosa11 Comments

It’s obviously not Friday, but I wasn’t able to do the last 5 Fandom Friday post since I was galavanting around Disneyland. Weeee! Since I’m stuck at home with a case of the sniffles (booo) and a noggin that won’t stop pounding (more booing!), it’s the perfect time for me to catch up. The prompt from last week was to share “fandom” resolutions for 2015. I was a little stumped on coming up with 5 different resolutions relating to the fandom world, but I managed to figure out a few!

So without further ado here are my fandom resolutions for this year:

1. Re-read the Harry Potter series/read more in general

I’ve been meaning to re-read the Harry Potter series for quite some time, and I definitely want to buckle down and get it done this year! If only I knew where the hell I put my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. RUGH. I feel like I read a lot more in 2014 than I did in 2013, but at the same time I don’t think it was enough. This year I’m going to follow this reading challenge guide by Pop Sugar that my sister sent me on Pinterest. I’m going to kick things off with Steve Brezenoff’s Guy in Real Life.

2. Cosplay at a convention

I stepped out in a femme Han Solo cosplay at SDCC last year for about, what? 3 hours? My friends Megan and Jen worked sooo hard helping me realize the design I had in my head, but when it all came together I didn’t feel completely comfortable or confidant with how I looked (it had absolutely nothing to do with the holster Megan made, or the skirt and vest Jen sewed because all those things turned out rad as hell!). My hair flattened in the humid San Diego weather and the bra I wore (the only neutral colored one I had that wouldn’t show underneath my white top) made my boobs look odd. I don’t even have a picture of me wearing the cosplay, so here’s my Mabel Pines Halloween costume! This year I’d like to revisit the femme Han Solo cosplay or maybe do a retro Snow White or Wonder Woman.

3. Go to more conventions

This might be tricky since conventions can be pricey. Sure, some may have a decent fee to buy a badge, but once you hit the floor and see all the booths with all the amazing geeky knick-knacks, all bets are off! I mean, budget? What budget? No, I’m kidding. I always tend to [barely] stick under my budget.

I have a Sunday badge for SDCC and a pass for Anime Expo (not sure how that’s going to work out travel + money wise since SDCC decided to bump their festivities a week after Anime Expo this year (Tina Belcher groan), but I’d definitely like to check out some cons that are closer to me to cut on some expenses like Big Wow ComicFest in San Jose or Wizard World in Sacramento/San Jose. I would love, love, LOVE to go to the Star Wars Celebration in April and Disney’s D23 Expo in August, but I have a feeling that’s probably not going to happen. wha- wha-whaaaa

4. Look into shows people keep telling me to watch

arrowimages10

I don’t remember what show I had just finished binge watching a year or two ago, but I remember lamenting on Twitter about how I didn’t know what to do with my life since there weren’t any new seasons of whatever to look forward to, and Amanda of Prim and Propah suggested that I watch Arrow…. which I have still not gotten around to watching. Sorry, Amanda! Fast forward to last month, my sister kept telling me I needed to watch Arrow ASAP. And apparently our cousin Nicole watches it too, so because of that they’re both telling me I have to get on it. My sister even showed me a montage of gratuitous workout scenes featuring Stephen Amell to encourage me and oh-mah-gawd… fans self. You can watch it here if you’re curious.

I can’t think of any of the other shows that have pretty huge fandoms that have been suggested to me by friends because I feel like Arrow keeps getting shoved down my metaphorical throat. I’ll get to Arrow eventually. It’s on Netflix, so I have no excuse!

5. Get back into toy photography

8 years ago I was really into taking “artistic” pictures of my toys, particularly my Blythe doll Tigerlily — many have said she’s my little doppelgänger. 🙂

I used to be OBSESSED with Blythe dolls, but then I realized that the money I was spending on doll clothes and accessories could’ve been used to buy clothes and accessories for myself! They’re also a bitch to lug around. Anyhow, by no means did I/do I consider myself a great photographer, but I used to have so much fun taking my toys out while I went on little excursions with my family or friends despite the random weird looks I’d get as I’d shoot away. And I thought I took some pretty cool pictures if I do say so myself! I still take pictures of my toys every now and then and tend to have a couple in my purse at all times, but it’s usually just a quick thing to put on Instagram. I want to actually take the time and do photos the way I used to.

Do you have any fandom resolutions for this year? Let me know in the comments section!

To find out the origins of 5 Fandom Friday, go here. And check out The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick to catch up with the latest prompts!