Friday, April 13, 2012

Anime Boston


It was amazing. Everywhere I looked was something new and exciting to see. But if I stared too long at one thing, I was sure to miss another. This was my second time attending Anime Boston – a convention dedicated to everything and anything anime-related. The good panels are informative, fun, and worth the thirty minute line wait. The bad ones, notsomuch. But the real beauty in the con is the cosplayers.

Cosplaying is when someone dresses as a character from a TV show, movie, game, comic, etc. Some people go full force and act like their chosen character, while others are only wearing a costume, sort of like Halloween but in April and for a weekend instead of a night.

Strolling around the Hynes Convention Center’s three stories is a treat for the eyes. The colors alone inspire infinite ideas. It is as if a Crayola Crayon SuperPact box and a rainbow had babies. The darkest black of Batman could be standing next to the neon yellow of Super Saiyans with everything in-between only a turn of the head.


The people are just as inspiring as the colors. This year there was a Catwoman in skintight leather, and it was if skintight leather was invented for her. Not only did she have the body to rock something so bold, but she had the curves to fill the suit. I’m gay and proud, but even I had to say, “Damn!” There were treats for girls and certain boys too! Shirtless Mad Hatter (above) had everyone desperate for a photo and gave my cell phone a new wallpaper. There were some people in “did-you-really-think-you-could-wear-that?” attire, with buttons straining against rolls of flesh. But in the spirit of the con, you take a photo anyways.

Some outfits were obviously store bought, others painfully homemade, and still several that were surprisingly completed in living rooms. It didn’t matter though; every person helped fill the air with electricity.

The hallways were full of the scent of activity. Not the pungent smell of body odor (though that could be found), but the smell of passion and adventure. Similar to the morning of the annual beach trip, excitement flew from person to person, gaining momentum. It was easy to get swept into the exhilaration and ignore grumbling stomachs and aching arches. Those were trifle emotions; I fed off the energy in the building and every adventure needs a battle wound.

I couldn’t stop; there were too many pictures to take, too many people to talk to, too many memories to make.


All models over 18.
-Z

Monday, April 2, 2012

Where Lafeyette Crosses Holly Street

I’m going to die in that intersection. I just know it. One of these mornings, something is going to happen and my life will end. A car will run the red light as I’m crossing, someone on their phone won’t be paying attention, or a bus’ brakes will fail at the worst possible moment. Somehow, some way, I’m going to die there.

I know this because I feel it. Every morning I approach the crosswalk, my skin crawls and I become more alert. I feel pressure on my left shoulder and I have to shake it off. And even on the hottest day of the year, my skins breaks into goose bumps and a chill settles around me. I believe the universe is trying to tell me something, to warn me of the dangers – what else could it be?

It may be vain to think that the universe cares about what happens to me, but I believe it has a grand plan for everyone - we all have a destiny of sorts to fulfill. In the past, I have gotten signs and feelings that have led to big moments in my life.

Two years ago when I was interning in the Governor’s press office, I awoke unmotivated and considered using my only sick day to skip work. But that’s immature and inappropriate. To settle the internal debate, I decided to flip a coin. Heads: go to work, tails: stay at home.

A flick of the thumb and I saw Washington’s face. It wasn’t the answer I wanted, so ‘two out of three’ was invoked. Heads again. ‘Three out of five’ was used. Heads again! Thinking that maybe this coin could only land on heads, I changed the rules: heads goes to bed, tails gets to work. I palmed the coin and threw it in the air. Tails.

That day, my fellow interns called out last minute, three press releases were dropped and Senator Kerry’s antics made the front cover of every newspaper. It was the busiest day that summer and I handled every intern task alone. My boss was impressed and invited me to not only write a speech for the governor but to be present when he read it out loud. The final product was dramatically different from what I wrote, but he kept the opening and part of the closing. Words I wrote came out of one of the most powerful men in Massachusetts!

So call me crazy, say I’m being ridiculous, or whatever other small-minded insult you want, but I know I’m going to die in that intersection.

-Z