Day One: Thursday July 19, 2001

Well it's begun... the journey from Privett Drive to Hogwarts. Oh wait... sorry, got caught up in the spirit of things. It's now 7:20 a.m. (Central Standard Time), and I have just arrived safely at gate C-41 in Houston's Geaorge Dubya Bush Intercontinental Airport. I'll be here in good ol' Texas until 9:28 a.m. After which time, I will journey to the mystical land of California. I can't wait to meet up with my pals in San Diego... it'll be great!

OBSERVATIONS:

1. A kid in plane here looked like me
2. Girl in orange keeps staring at me.
3. Airport staff speak VERY loudly.
4. Don't look at old men's pants when
they are leaving the bathroom.

The day went on very slowly. It took forever to get from Houston to San Diego. There was this little girl named Ashley who looked like Ginny Weasley on the plane. "What is your favorite kind of gum?"

I got to San Diego at around 10:20 a.m. But, like things usually happen in SD, Dawn, Donna, and Raka couldn't find me. Finally, about 45 minutes later, we all got together and made our way to the con.

Dawn and I went to get our badges and met the other girls who were dressed as April O'Neil at the Heavy Metal booth. Dawn and most of the other girls there had dressed as the ace reporter! But, what really shocked me, was the fact that Kevin Eastman remembered me!

So, we "conned" ourselves out -- had loads of fun! And for dinner, we had Japanese! Finally, we made our way to the hotel. We got into our Harry Potter gear and trapsed around the darkened building, terrorizing the elevators... TIRED (Rose is sewing buttons on our robes too!) 12:30 am Pacific Time.

PEOPLE I MET:

1. Jeanne
2. Cherubae (Sarah)
3. Kim Garvin (Leonardo)
4. Krissy (Voicechaser)
5. Absaraka

Day Two: Friday July 20, 2001

BECAUSE YOU CONCONCON!!

Friday was awesome! It turned out to be Video Game character day among my friends. We had a Squall, Tifa, Aerith, and Decker all from the Final Fantasy saga, Ash from Pokemon, and I was Link from the Legend of Zelda.

I'd never known how hugely popular Link is until I was bombarded with fans... "Take a picture!" "Sign my game cart!" "Attack me now!" "Did you find the Triforce?" "Zeeellllddaaaa!!" It was all crazy, but the costume was really well received!

That evening we changed out of our costumes and into our Hogwarts uniforms, then headed out to Hard Rock Cafe. We were a hit there as well, and had an excellent time just get to know each other better!

Day Three: Saturday July 21, 2001

FUNFUNFUN!!

Saturday was truly the busiest day at the convention. This day, we were all dressed up as Hogwarts students -- characters from Harry Potter. Dawn was Parvati Patil, Rose was Ginny Weasley, Karen was Hermione, Jeanne was Draco Malfoy, Leah was Professor McGonnagall, and I was the one and only Harry Potter.

We started out the day by attending a WB panel that promised something about Harry Potter. After about a half hour of talking, trailers, and website cartoons, the execs gave us what they promised: A full 6 minute in-depth preview of the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! VERY AWESOME!

Needless to say, after that, our group became even more popular. Hundreds of photos, handshakes, and waves... a bit overwhelming, but in a good way.

The remainder of the con was totally fun. We also went up to Warwick Davis's autograph table again, and took a large group photo with him... he plays Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter movie (you may know him as Leprechaun, Willow, Wicket and other Star Wars characters). That evening, we were dog-tired. But that wasn't the only thing that faced us.

Kevin Eastman invited our group out for drinks! It was great to be thought of as someone cool to hang out with by KEVIN EASTMAN himself! He invited us to the pub in his hotel around 7 ish. Unfortunately, a few of us wanted to attend the famous masquerade at the convention. I figured, it could not be cooler than having drinks with Kevin Eastman... so the majority of us went with that idea.

When we got back to the hotel, our group decided to soak in the hot tub. Boy was that a nice soothing event -- especially on our sore tootsies! Although the pool closed at 10, the staff allowed us to stay out there until near midnight, so kudos to the Whyndem Emerald!

Back in the room, we decided to prepare for the inevitable rush the next day, and began packing. The days just flew by, and it was already time to leave!

Day Four: Sunday July 22, 2001

Finished packing, and headed out to the car to *load* it up. That thing was PACKED tight!! Of course, it would only fit Donna, who took it to Ralph's supermarket to be parked there while the rest of us shuttled to the con for the last time.

While there, we all did last minute running around, said goodbyes to Kevin, took pictures with him and group shots of all of us. We even met Rob Paulsen who approached Karen (whom he knows from previously). Rob is of course, the voice actor for many characters inculding Raphael in the animated series.

Cherubae was the first to leave. She had to catch a fairly early flight back home. Next, we had to go back to Donna's car, where we said goodbye to Leah, Rose, Jeanne, and Karen. Then, Brinatello's dad showed up to take her and her sister home, and then it was my turn...

We bought some food from Ralph's and headed out to the airport, where I had re-book my flight because Continental cancelled my reservations that had been in place since January. Anyway, we ate and talked some more, and finally, it was time to say goodbye. Sadly, I said farewell to Donna, Kim, and Dawn. I'd have said bye to Raka too, but he was on the phone. Well, until next year turtle posse!!