Failing at the Things I Love

Sometimes, I get a little discouraged that the only sites that seem to link to my blog are sites for porn and stupid infomercials. You know, it can really grind a person's self-esteem; not that my opinion isn't more interesting than everyone else's opinions on the internet... but it would be nice to have someone read and comment....

This weekend was the second annual AMA-con in Amarillo TX sponsored by the Friends of the Amarillo Public Library. We were a huge success with gaming stations, an anime viewing room, tons of vendors, a cosplay contest, and even a geek prom to finish the night off with! I worked my butt off from 9AM to 9PM, and was so tired that my head hit the pillow and I was out. I had a really good time.

In retrospect though... the events I was running just didn't work. I thought it would be really neat to hold an official Pokemon handheld tournament and people would come in and trade and battle and we would all have a really good time. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have like a prize to hand out, and people seemed to be genuinely unhappy and uninterested because of it. I also didn't really feel like I was part of the event itself; there were two guys from Odessa TX who came out to help and they knew tons more than I did; I just kind of sat back and watched. I did get to battle with a few people and I got traded a shiny Stunky which was really nice, but the numbers for the events just wasn't that high so I don't think they plan to hold one next year.

Stunky is my favorite Pokemon! <3


.... I was going to use the tournament to judge whether or not I should try to organize a Pokemon league here in Amarillo, and frankly, I'm not sure it's worth all the time and effort. Nobody expressed interest in getting together and playing again some time. I was bummed out about that...

The anime viewing room that I put together did have a successful turnout and big interest so I am already putting forth the effort to get viewing licenses for next year through FUNimation and Viz Media. This year we showed a lot of 'old school' anime (mostly Osamu Tezuka's work- Kimba the White Lion, Astro Boy, etc) which was a lot of fun for older anime fans like myself, but since we are shaking things up next year, I want to try to get a hold of some of the newer anime titles. I'll likely purchase a lot of them for personal viewing anyway, and it will be neat to share them with other anime fans.

'Summer Wars' stole the AMA-con anime show with the highest number of viewers.


There is one thing that I am kind of excited about (providing that it actually happens and it isn't just a daydream for me again) .... I may get to take over the little teen anime group that we run here called Amarillo Anime. It's not much, we just watch anime and hang out... but I'd like to be a part of something that I really enjoy and get into, you know? My only fear is that no one will show up and they will eventually cancel the program (which I heard through the grapevine may be a possibility)  - why does everything I touch die? ; u;