On a purely sporadical decision, I went to DragonCon this past weekend. For those of you who don’t know, DragonCon is a convention held every year in Atlanta, GA during Labor Day weekend that involves all sorts of genres of geekdom and wonderfulness. Everything from Star Wars to Harry Potter to Zelda to Lord of the Rings to World of Warcraft to bellydancing to Renaissance Fairs to Star Trek to, well, I guess you get the picture. Even if you don’t consider yourself a geek or a dork or even if you don’t want to dress up (or don’t have the funds) like your favorite syfy channel character or Princess Leia, the point is there is something for everyone. I go for it all. I know a little about everything and I love seeing what panels they will have, which famous people will be there, and most of all the costumes.
Oh, and I saw some of the best costumes. There were pirates, zombies, vampires, the Terminator, the Alien (and other types of aliens), and so so so many storm troopers. If you have a chance to go next year, then I highly recommend it. Even if you just go on Saturday, you will not be disappointed just walking around, shopping in the vendor rooms, and checking out the nightlife. There are small club-type rooms set up all over the hotels that stay open until the wee hours of the morning and have all sorts of themes. The concerts, though not always great, are excellent places to people watch. Let me tell you, perhaps the biggest highlight of the weekend for me was watching this guy dressed up as Rufio from Hook sing karaoke. BANGARAAAAAANNNGGGGG!
If that doesn’t convince you to go, I will now come to the whole reason why I decided to write about the convention on this blog in the first place. I found my people! Guess where they were hiding? In a ballroom in the Hilton, drumming and bellydancing under the full moon until five o’clock in the morning.
In the middle of all the pretending and dress-up, there were people frolicking in merriment under the grace of Her Beautifulness, the Full Corn Moon, drumming and swaying, jumping, and shaking. I loved it. The energy in the room was a mixture of people party-hopping and those drawing down moon energy from above. Regardless of why there were there, everyone was exuding such positive energy and the whole experience made me so happy. The thing is, in this convention, there are those who go to dress up and escape who they are and then there are those who attend to actually be allowed to be their true selves. It is the people of the second category whom I believe were at the center of the drumming circle. So many of us who follow an alternative spiritual path tend to downplay that side and everyday interactions, but it is important not to completely forget who we are. I’m not trying to put any sort of religious or spiritual spin on the event itself, but I do think there were those who attended to be able to set themselves free from the constraints of everyday society and be able to celebrate the way they would like to all the time. I recognized these people in the crowd and they made me smile. Even if you don’t really have any interest in syfy or gaming, there is a whole group of people who attend the convention to free their inner heathen. (Heathen, meaning people of the Earth, with absolutely no negative connotation whatsoever.)
If all of that didn’t convince you, here are some pics from DragonCon 2009:
Real-life Spartans from 300
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
**If you see yourself on this website and would like your picture removed, just leave a comment below referencing which photo and it will be removed**
Share your favorite parts of DragonCon 2009 below, along with any other conventions or big events you think our readers would enjoy!
Mermaid Tree 
You mean this guy?
That’s me.