Meta Con. I neglected to write about it. Hayley and two of her friends wanted to go. Meta Con is a convention held in Minneapolis for people who are fanatics of anime, sci-fi, gaming, and who knows what else. The cool thing to do when going to a convention of this kind (and there are many around the US) is dress up. Hayley and her friends decided on "Steampunk" as their theme. There aren't really any characters associated with steampunk; it's more of a style of dress and a literary genre (think sci fi of the Victorian era).
Hayley made her vest and her bloomers (I helped with both, but she did most of the sewing). She and her friends painted nerf guns to look more metallic and wood like (Hayley's "piece" is tiny and in a holster on her left leg).
I went along to chaperone. Not that I didn't trust the kids, but it helps to have an adult around to corral and make suggestions. And to drive.
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| Lovely face |
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| We found a room filled with board and card games to play. The kids sat down to play Settlers of Catan |
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| Giant Chess with Gumby. |
The kids were pleasant to be around and they didn't balk at being shadowed by a mom. I didn't take pictures of the costumed masses (Hayley got several pictures of characters). There were just too many. And lots I didn't recognize. Besides I was only there to see what a "con" was like, since Hayley seems keen to attend these things. I think had I been 20 years younger, I would have dressed up too.
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| We went to a panel on Steam punk. |
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| Our three teenage steampunkers with three of the people who talked about being "Steampunk." One of them is a steampunk pirate. |
Meta Con was a two day event (actually a three day, but we didn't go on Friday because Hayley had to work and I wanted to see Matt march at the football game). The second day the kids spent the first hour waiting in line to get autographs from band members of a steampunk band called Steam Powered Giraffe.
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| The kids getting autographs |
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| The band members without make up. In concert, three of them are in heavy makeup as robots (the guy in dreads performs makeup free) |
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| Hayley asked them to sign her Steampunk book and the band members drew little cartoons around the large drawing in the front of the book. Hayley was charmed. |
We actually went outdoors for a bit--Hayley's friend saw a sculpture in downtown Minneapolis and wanted to get pictures by it.
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| Hayley by a steampunk-ish piece of "art" |
We all had a good time. The kids were good, the con was mostly entertaining--it is in its second year so still kind of a small-time convention. Steam Powered Giraffe and two sort of movie stars were the biggest draws.
And yes, I am ok with having a daughter who goes to these nerd conventions, even dressed up.
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