________  ________  ________
   2017-09-22                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /       __/         /_       _/
   Ok,   so   I've  been  going   to   anime  /        _/         /         /
conventions  for  a   long   time,  probably  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
somewhere around  15 years,  and before that    /        \/        \/    /   \
there was  the anime clubs and whatever, but   /        _/         /_       _/
I'm  not getting any younger and  I've  been  /-        /        _/         /
feeling my age for a while. I was one of the  \________/\________/\___/____/
younger ones back in the old days but now it
feels  like  the new fans just  get younger and younger every year which isn't
helping my situation.

   There's a few  people I remember  from  my  time with  the Melbourne  Anime
Society in the late '90s, one in particular was older  and awkward,  he'd roll
up to every  meeting, just  watch  the shows and then vanish. I don't remember
him even borrowing tapes or  anything,  just came  to watch.  He was a classic
anime fan for the time, overweight, dressed-by-mom, etc.

   I left the Society,  moved to Adelaide for a while and forgot about the guy
for the  longest  time until I  moved back  to Melbourne  and started going to
anime conventions  here. He was at every one of them and it was the same deal;
he'd never interact with anyone that I  saw, just came to see the event, maybe
buy some merch and then drift off to wherever he goes between anime things.

   It started  out just as a  spark of recognition, glad  to know someone from
the old days was still around but  as we both got older and I started  feeling
too old  for  this shit he  became my tether to the  convention  scene. I told
myself as long as this guy keeps going to these dumb things things so will  I,
two fossils representing a bygone era.

   And  that's  how it stayed,  I locked myself  in  a weird  orbit  around  a
stranger for  like maybe four  or  five  years until this past weekend when he
didn't show, marking Animaga 2017 as my last anime convention.

   So, with the exception of  any events I  have a specific reason  to  be  at
(there's someone I  desperately want to meet or if I'm there on behalf  of the
doll crowd for example) I'm out.

   Done.

   It's been a good run.



EOF