The pilot light won't re-light and it's just been a hassle. We're getting it taken care of, but it's cold showers in the meantime. So things have been an uncomfortable hassle since we got back. I don't have anything enlightening or amusing to say about this.

ALA was nice, though. For reasons, we couldn't be in the house for a few days and figured we'd have fun during our enforced weekend vacation. This has taught us that "Can't go home" isn't nearly as enjoyable as "Won't go home", regardless of the circumstances.

We found some new stuff, like the Cosplay Wrestling Federation, which features folks in costume cutting promos at each other. There was no actual wrestling involved. I'm ok with that since the wrestling is kinda my least favorite part of the wrestling. If you wanted to see Lupin III, Skeletor, Mario, and Waluigi yelling about how they're going to beat each other up, then that's exactly what this is.

Back when we first went to anime conventions, you'd go watch shows because you might not get a chance to see Azusa Will Help! ever again if you skipped it. Now, just about everything they play is the same stuff I could watch for free on Crunchyroll from the comfort of my home.

Last year, we made Year of the Cat ribbons. This year will be the Year of the Pig, so we made that ribbon and asked people who their favorite anime pig was. (Last year was Year of the Dog; there is no Year of the Cat in the Chinese Zodiac. This is a plot point in Fruits Basket, wherein the lead character renounced her original zodiac year [dog] and declared herself to be a cat, zodiac-wise). Spider-Ham was quite popular, as was Hawk from Seven Deadly Sins. There's enough anime out there that if you made up a series and said there was a pig, I'd have to trust you.

Year of the Cat was still popular; Fruits Basket looks to have legs. We tried asking people their favorite anime cats before we switched to just asking for cat pictures. Y'see, that way we get to see pictures of peoples' cats. We'll probably re-print that ribbon for next year because cat pictures.