Yesterday Fresno Ani-Jam’s annual cosplay picnic was held at Woodward Park. And this years theme was “Cosplay de Mayo”. The picnic was potluck style, so after our little Eta Aquarids (but not really) and sunrise stint, Jonathan and I made a 5 pound batch of Bonito Onigiri and Shiso Onigiri to take to the park! (Here is the recipe, with photos!)
Ani-Jam is basically the Central Valley’s sole anime convention and it’s got a great selection of guests, panels and booths that focuses on Japanese animation, manga, gaming and music. The cosplay picnic serves as a kind of get-the-word-out pre-party for the convention in August. There was lots of yummy food, music, yard sale tables set up, contests, a pinata and of course, otaku running amok in cosplay everywhere!
I served on staff with Ani-Jam as the Cosplay Coordinator last year, and even though I did a rather bumbling job as a novice in organizing the Cosplay Masquerade, I’ve somehow found myself on the 2013 staff as coordinator once again. And even though Jonathan will be in boot camp / A school during this years show, he is lending his services as part of security.
Since we were bringing onigiri, Jonathan went as Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket and I wore a Kyo t-shirt (since my Tohru Honda doesn’t fit my 20 week pregnant belly, *sobs*). I was pleasantly surprised to see that in most of the photos from the day, I actually look pregnant! Wonder of wonders! My friend Eliza had the camera most of the time, so I was blissfully camera-free for the most part and now I have some sweet photos of me and my honey.
Part of the fun of the day included a three legged race (always hilarious watching people in self-imposed bondage strain not to break a femur whilst running for no real reason other than to possibly break a femur), the piñata (“Who wants to beat Hello Kitty with a stick?!” *Otaku’s go wild*) and the staff signature scavenger hunt. My clue was, “Find the cosplay coordinator” and Jonathans was, “Find a member of WING who is married to member of staff.”
Then there was the cosplay contest that Belle, Tony and I judged. I have a lot more fun judging otaku in costume than I should have, so apparently I’m really good at being judgmental? There were some great costumes out and about and I’m excited to see what’s brought to the actual convention masquerade.
The closer it gets to Jonathan leaving for boot camp – only 4 weeks now – the more we run into events and plans that Jonathan won’t be around for. Ani-Jam being one of them. I’m trying not to let these get me down and instead view them as things to keep my busy while he’s off getting a mega hot military body and some spunky Gene Kelly-esque sailor suits. But still. We’ve never really been apart. I’m going to need as many distractions as possible in the coming months.
Here’s the Ani-Jam banner for those of you in the California area. It’s the place to be this August. ^_^
