OMG! I am about to leave for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where I will be staying at the Historic Lincoln Hotel (and don’t think I’m not scared…). I must remember to pack stamps, because the hotel postcard ought to be brilliant.:-)

Anyway, here’s my schedule for the next couple of days for those who might be interested. Today I’m in transit.

March 2:

2-2:50PM Introduction to Japanese Culture (EALC 250, Prof. D. Kim)
Manga and Geek Culture

5:15-7:00PM CQS Reading Group (Moderator Cris Mayo)
Discussion of Shoujoai ni Bouken

March 3:

3PM EALC Queer Asia Lecture Series (Lucy Ellis, 1st Floor, Foreign Languages Building)
“A Flower of One’s Own: Yuri Manga and Lesbian Japan”

I wonder if anyone will serve cookies and coffee….

I am not entirely sure I’ll have good online access, so I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to report back. But I have my camera, and I promise to take pictures of the hotel’s Camelot Dining Room and the heads of the English nobles strung there for decoration. LOL

One last personal note – this trip will add not one, but *two* new states to my “been there” list that we all carry around in our heads. I will be in Michigan at the Detroit airport for a layover. Whoo. I think that means I’ve now been in half the states in our fair union. I’ll be adding Washington in at the end of the month. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to say I’ve been in every state….

Anyway, read good Yuri and watch good Yuri and I’ll be back next week!

Check out Revolutionary Girl is Watching Over You by Margaret McConnell on Sequential Tart for an interesting view of Onna!, Yuricon and Shoujocon’s joint venture celebrating women’s roles in animation and comics (and to a lesser degree, gaming). Despite the article’s subtitle, she actually talks about yuri as much, if not more than yaoi, and the three pictures for the article are all yuri. :-)

Other Onna! coverage can be found at:

Newark Star Ledger Friday, October 8

Newark Star Ledger Sunday, October 10

Publisher’s Weekly Comic Week

And this amusing comment from AfterEllen.com:

FEMALE COMICS FEST
A reader wrote recently to let me know about a conference in Newark, NJ this weekend called Onna!, which she described as “a collaboration between a girls in anime/manga convention, and a lesbians in anime/manga event. They’ve created Onna! to expand to female representation in Western comics/animation as well. Pretty much if you’re a fan of any of these things it’s THE place to be. It’s like an event that has a pink ribbon in one hand, and a Hello Kitty vibrator in the other.” Now there’s a logo I’d like to see!

The funny thing is that our gift to guests and staff for Yuricon 2003 was…you guessed it, the Hello Kitty Vibrating “Massage Wand.” So there, AfterEllen, you think you’re so clever… ;p

You are invited to join me on November 5th at the grand opening of Comic Fusion at 42 Main St. Flemington, NJ.

Yuricon staffer and long-time friend Stacy has been running Comic Fusion online for some time now, and she and her business partner have decided to expand from clicks to bricks, with a move into a nifty store in Flemington. I was there this past Saturday helping set up and I have to say it’s a really nice store!

While Comic Fusion is primarily a collectibles and American comics store, they do have a very nice anime toy section, with some lovely items of interest to the yuri fan. I’ll be highlighting some of the great stuff you can pre-order from Comic Fusion all week, but I’ll start off the week by mentioning some of the fun items that they have in stock – just to entice you to drop by and join us. :-)

While setting up the anime section I found this nifty Kanzaki Akari from Battle Athletes figurine. I didn’t even know there *was* an Akari figure. Now if we can only find a Kris Kristopher, or a Mylandah one, huh? LOL

When I saw this Maggie from ROD The TV figurine, I nabbed one for myself. Most of the Maggie figures make her look a little vapid and passive and this one has her in full cool Paper Master mode. Plus you can’t beat the price. :-)

What collection of yuri-flavored figurines can ever be complete without Shimei Ryomou from Ikkitousen, aka Battle Vixens? There’s also at least one Sonsaku Hakufu statue in stock and two, (cooler, IMHO) available for pre-order.

Comic Fusion does do manga pre-orders and they discount pretty deeply online, as well as have contests every month with cool giveaways, so if you don’t have a specific favorite store and want exceptional customer service, discounts and to suport a close friend of Yuricon, drop by Comic Fusion for your cool toy and manga needs! :-)

And don’t forget – I’ll see you on Saturday, Nov. 5th for the grand opening. I’ll be bringing fun yuri giveaways for anyone who shows and says they love yuri!

To quote Paulette Hodge, the co-chair of Onna!, “That was the best con I’ve ever attended and didn’t see anything.”

Seriously. Onna! was, without doubt the most amazing con, full of energy and fun and great things to do and see and buy, and people to meet, and little miracles that just kept happening, that I am still processing it all.

The best thing about Onna!, to me, was how magnificent my staff was. Every department ran smoothly because the folks who ran our committees and the people who helped them gave 149%, and then a little more, because that’s the kind of folks they are.

Sunday night at 3AM when I was wrapping up the video rooms, there were small crowds of kids still hanging about, talking and asking if we were doing it again next year. :-) And this time, the idea didn’t make me nauseous. Mostly because of Paulette, who was great about letting me get some sleep. (I returned the favor the next day.)

Our guests were all gracious, charming and alot of fun, so my thanks to Paige Braddock, Euralis Weekes and Tania Del Rio. They can totally consider themselves invited to anything I ever do again.

Also, big hugs to Tran and her sister from Drama Queen, who rock my world. Thanks for everything.

The new manga talent contest “Be Discovered” uncovered some exceptional artists indeed! Expect to see at least some of our finalists publishing some great work…and soon. :-)

Two miracles occurred in the form of invited masters. The martial arts demo group – the NY Budo Kai – showed up, totally controlled their demo, wowed their audience cleaned up and then wandered around taking in the con. Zero maintenance needed. Deb – your group was amazing. Please come again!!

And the second little miracle came in the form of Anna Nakada, an Ikebana master who was the most *amazing* (by which I mean breathtaking, adorable, talented and elegant artist I’ve met in years). She positively captivated the audience and when I walked in on the end of her workshop I simply went breathless. Her ikebana was indescribably gorgeous. In any future Onna! I run, she will get a bigger room and and longer workshop, and I will literally herd people into it to get a taste of something refined and spontaneous in a way we almost never get to experience. I can only say this – if you did not see Anna’s ikebana creations, your life is poorer for it. I mean that. I feel quite uplifted and enriched having simply *seen* them.

Sigh.

Back to the topic – Onna! was a great success, nearly everyone had a fantastic time (except for those people who come to cons full of dissatisfaction and loathing and whose only joy is to ruin things for other people.)

Lastly, let me thanks all the many, many Lililicious folks who came, helped, partied and basically had the good time I wished I was having. LOL

Bottom line, we hope we’ll be able to do it again. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements on the website.