This year has had some interesting challenges, but I am trying to focus on the positives of the year.
Journeys
This year, I was more active in my traveling. I started the year off by visiting Pensacola, Florida again for another wonderful Pensacon. The place I enjoyed visiting the most would be Detroit. We flew up for Motor City Comicon this year in the early part of May. This will mark the farthest North I have ever traveled. Detroit and the small suburb of Novi were a wonderful experience. The food was tasty, the people were friendly. It even snowed on us while we were up there, which was a treat. Snow, in May!
After this big trip, I stayed at home, up until I took a nice trip up to Denton, Texas to visit some friends and meet some old friends for the first time. This was a wonderful trip because I finally met one of the cohosts from our old podcast. It was really interesting to talk to him, and it revitalized my passion for photography hanging out with so many photographers that weekend. I also had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Carla, from Boston. Carla is a kind person who entertains my shenanigans on the internet. It was neat to hang out and chat all weekend.
Cons
Oh boy, I started the year planning a recap for every con I went to. But I forgot to do it and got sidetracked. So here is a list of every con I worked in 2016:
- Pensacon
- Richardson TX ComiCon (i forgot the name. Might have been Dallas Comic Show)
- Motor City Comicon
- Frightmare
- Alamo City Comicon
- Marvelous Nerd Years Eve
Only 6? I feel like there was more this year, I may have forgotten them.
Concerts
This year was light on the live music. I did attend the Warped Tour and saw some truly fantastic bands. The surprise band that I fell in love with at that show was The Interrupters. They have a killer sound that I really recommend. I’ve actually seen them twice now since they came through town on their own tour.
Awolnation was another surprising band, they came through twice this year as the opening act for Prophets of Rage and Fallout Boy, and both times had a sound that was really interesting and entertaining.
Volunteer work
This year, I had the opportunity to volunteer at some really great events. The first opportunity came when the local library was looking for volunteers for their Mini Maker Fair. I have wanted to attend a Maker Fair for a number of years now, and I thought it might be very enjoyable to volunteer at one. I had a blast and it was really great to see the tech side of San Antonio coming out in force for this event.
In addition to this, I worked two start-up weekends as a mentor/coordinator. We helped some entrepreneurs work on the business plan for their idea and turn them into full-fledged businesses. One of the small companies we mentored actually just launched their product and I am excited to see where they go.
Fun Shenanigans
I was unfortunately very busy this year, and so my fun shenanigans were very limited. I did get to visit Enchanted Rock, which is a large dome of granite thrust up into the sky in the middle of the Texas Hill Country.
Additionally, I was able to visit SXSW and get a glimpse of what the future might hold some very large Tech companies and play with some neat gadgets. I hopefully will be able to attend again in 2017.