A good time was had by all... I think. This year marks my fourth year going, my fourth year making fake passes for the event, and my first year sleeping on a hotel floor and getting pink eye. My friends probably wonder why I never shut up about Acen, and for good reason. It's just like every other big, sweaty, occasionally uncomfortable convention. Once you go, you don't really need to go again, it's pretty much the same thing every year... but idk. If nothing else it's just an excuse to run around with my friends for a day and talk about the things we like in a hotel room overlooking the northwest suburbs- beers in hand. A micro-vacation if you will.

I think there's still fun to be had wandering the floors of the bustling Hyatt late into the night, going from room to room meeting and chatting with strangers, it's probably the highlight of the whole thing (it kinda feels like an irl version of surfing internet chat rooms). Even so, I'm debating going back next year. I think I've just been riding the high of how fantastic AC2023 was for the past two years. (Making fake passes for next year is a maybe tho, I might still do that fr $__$)

Went in June with some good friends. It was a fairly standard, low budgeted, touristy fare. Got to skate Tompkins and the newly re-opened Brooklyn Banks (Big thanks to Michael for keeping me company). Ate some good meals (two), and bought some shit I don't need. The real highlight was getting to hang out with my friends in a new* and interesting place. (*i went with family when I was 15, but I was damn near glued to my Switch and Splatoon 2. Definitely ate better on that trip though lol.) Currently slowly putting together a multimedia scrapbook-style slidepost to commemorate the trip.

This honestly could fill its own blog post, but here's the gist. My good friend and collaborator Mello recruited me to make the visuals for their latest beautiful track called Decoy Octopus (ft. Stacia's heavenly vocals). This project was a lot bigger- and took a lot longer then expected, but I'm really satisfied with the end product. I'm so thankful to be around people making work as mind-blowing as Mello and Stacia, and even more; to be able to lend my skills to them. Over the video's entire production, the song never got old. It's that good. You can watch the video here

If you've had your head on a swivel, you knew Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars came to US theaters this past month (IN FOUR KAY). Watching SW during the summer is a yearly tradition of mine so I was elated when I found out. Ended up seeing it two days in a row, first the sub then the dub. Thanks Mello, and thanks Collin for accompanying me to each respectively. I'll try not to prattle on too long, but Summer Wars was kind of pivotal for me.

I think most artistic people can recall a single work they witnessed fairly young that really woke them up to what (insert artistic medium) could be. In fifth grade, I think Summer Wars was that for me. Hell, the opening sequence alone could've been that for me. Getting to see this movie in theaters is proof enough that I was born at the exact right time in human history (and maybe even proof of a higher power). Also, the dub blows the original audio out of the water and into orbit.