RunTelDat

RunTelDat is a name of a comic film by Martin Lawrence.

It also has a definition on Urban Dictionary.

What people don't understand is that we do this everyday.  A majority of the time it has never been meant to be harmful at all.

So last night I get a message from this girl I used to associate with and she accused me of this.  First off, I had no idea what the hell she was talking about until she mentioned my twitter post here.  She also was pissed that her PUBLIC Facebook entry was leaked in regards to this.  First off, it's a public post.  Secondly, I leaked it because I will not allow you or anyone else to slam my friends.

So now you're wondering what the hell.

First off, I support crowdfunding.  It's a way to finance and back projects and ideas to the general public without have to go through corporate investors.  But here's something... I do support crowdfunding, but I don't support all projects.

Now, what I may say could make me come off as a hypocrite.  If it does, then it does and I will own up.  But I don't see myself like that.  This explanation should fix it.

Friends of mine have a crowdfunding to expand their business and I support that.  Someone made a snarky comment about how they should start small and work their way up, followed by a couple of people bandwagoning the comment.  First off,  they are doing that.  Secondly, they're looking to expand their business.  Just because you can finance your equipment and/or pay for it outright, that doesn't mean this small business or other businesses could.  No two financial statements are the same.

Now it was brought to my attention that I did not support another crowdfunding project by Lillity Oya.  And I didn't.  To me, that crowdfunding is different.  That project was to raise money to buy fabric, materials, and equipment for a one time cosplay project, video, and event for her and her staff.  I felt that all of that could have been done in house, along with the help of some friends.  The majority of her staff can sew, so they could all help with that.  I also felt that I wasn't getting anything out if in return.  I suppose you can say that I didn't like how this was implemented.  I respect her for all that she does, but I just couldn't back it.

It's that reason alone why I could never crowdfund Anime Jam Session.  I feel that I didn't have anything to give back besides what me and my staff already does.  This site is purely a volunteer effect, we put money out of our own pocket to do what we do on a weekly basis.

That is the gist of that story.  At the end of that conversation, it leads into another tangent, but I will save that for another blog post.

Peace!

Core Values

It's been a while since I wrote in here.  Been through a lot of interesting experiences.  Nothing bad, all good and positive things.

But that's not why I'm here.

For those of you who don't know, I am the editor-in-chief and founder of the website Anime Jam Session.  I am also one of the hosts on the podcast.  I always seek to find people who can write for my website.  I don't ask for a lot, just something here and there.

So about a month ago, I get a text, VM, and Facebook Message, about something that went down at AnimeNEXT.  I tell my staffer to go ahead and post the story on my site.  Signal boost the shit out of it.  If you couldn't guess, it's about the cosplay pillows debacle.

Word gets out about it and people start reading.  I then begin to backtrace the article because I was being told that some information was inaccurate.  Inaccurate information?  Yep, it happens, not a big deal.  As long as you make the proper corrections, it's all good.  So as I backtrace the information, I have determined that not much was wrong, corrections were made, everyone's happy, yes?

No.

One cosplayer that goes by Marie Grey posts her own rebuttal on what happened.  Which is normal, everyone has their own side to any story that said person is involved in.  Hell, there's been plenty of times I rebuttaled my take on shit that's happened.  So I begin to read what she has to say.  Now, for what it's worth, her take is 100% accurate.  What I didn't like was how she had the audacity to call out one of my fellow staffers for the article.  Mind you, this article has been posted on a couple of site.  She accused him of being a glory hound, trying to break the news first, and having no integrity.

First off, my site has no intentions of being the first on article to garner hits.  I believe in getting the word out.  That article in question had nothing to with being a glory hound.  We wanted to warn other people of this lowlife scum, that's what the goal was.

So let me ask you... Who the hell do you think you are?  Where do you get off on calling someone out for an integrity check.  This staffer in question has done more behind the scenes work with cosplay and conventions than you have ever done.  His integrity is unfathomable.  Before you go throwing that around, why don't you do your research first?

Maybe I should call your integrity into check as well.  But I'm not. I'm not going to go all half-assed like you... I do my homework first.

That's it, I'm done.  For the record, I do not hate or resent this cosplayer.  I just needed to get that off my chest, because if anyone attacks my website, my staffers, or does anything to derail it, I will come out the corner swinging, and you best believe the other person is going down.

Good night.

Bros before Hos (That Topic Again)

About a couple of weeks ago, I had asked people on Facebook if they would date their best friend's ex.  Interesting answers I saw.  Like I said, something similar has happened to me, but it was a friend, and that relationship only lasted about a month or so.

So, here's my story.

We have Tenchi, Shinji, and Ryoko (using names, not their characters).  Now Ryoko was dating Shinji for about a year before they broke up.  Tenchi and Shinji are best friends.  Tenchi asks his bestie if it's okay if they could date.  Even Ryoko asked as well.  It has been a couple of months since the breakup and Shinji is okay with it.

Or so we thought...

Come to find out that Shinji is not happy and miserable about that.  Now Tenchi is uber happy because he's met someone with similar interests, despite him having failed relationships, thinking that he'd never find anyone.

Now I understand if there's various circumstances, but there was none.  And the funny thing is that Tenchi said he had no interest in her whatsoever.  Last I recall, Tenchi and Shinji haven't spoken much since this.  But they might be now, who knows.

But I know that some people have stopped talking to Tenchi because of this, myself included.

I feel that you should never jeopardize a friendship with your best friend over a woman, no matter how much you feel.  Now I understand if Shinji said it was cool with it and was over it.  But it looks like he's not.

That's all I have to say on the matter.

The Road Ahead

Usually when a couple breaks up you tend to hear apologies and that you were too good for that person.  But when it's a couple giving things a second chance and there really isn't a damn thing that can truly be said.  Only a handful of people can truly understand the situation.

Me?

I'm still trying to make sense of it, but not as much.  I try to keep my mind on other things, like the fact that I am 15 credits away from my college degree.

As I said before, I really can't get too much into what happened.  Most importantly, I want to respect the privacy of my ex.  One thing she taught me was the value of privacy in a relationship.  I really wanted to show off photos on my Facebook of the woman I was so in love with, and nothing else more.

But c'est la vie.

We've spoken briefly, there's still some stuff we need to hammer out.  Truth is, I don't mind being friends with her, but also, I am in the mindset of moving on.

Personally, I feel that I am not emotionally ready for another relationship.  I didn't think I was with my ex.  The truth is that I was scared of dating again.  I was scared of fucking up really badly and hurting her.  But I also felt that if I dive into this, the is the relationship that this was going to be it.  So much for that, lol.

I do feel like dating and seeing where things go, and if it happens, then yeah.  I still feel timid as ever.  I want to force myself into the swing of things and enjoy it all, but I just don't have the will power I suppose.  I never did have the best self-confidence in the world.  Yeah, I can flirt, talk, make a girl blush, and make her feel happy and a million bucks, but ya know.

I think that right now, I'm going to focus on graduating from college, letting things fall into place and walk to the beat of my own path and see where life takes me.

Belated New Year

I once said that I would try to blog more.  So much for that.

But it has been a while since I updated, so let me give you the rundown...

1. I lost my job the weekend of Another Anime Convention.
2. My girlfriend dumped me a week before Valentine's Day.
3. I am back in college.

First topic: I took a sick day and emailed that I wasn't going to be there. I get a call from the agency about my whereabouts. I send another e-mail, forget to send a copy to the agency.  Around 4:30 that afternoon, they drop the ball on me.  So fuck MDRC.  I knew you guys were going to ax me when the contacts list was updated with the new temp, with him having an official title and me as still a temp.  Fuck you guys.

Second topic: That will be for a separate blog post because there's a lot to talk about.  I will say this, I feel guilty as a manwhore for dating other women and not telling them of my status.  I had legit reason, but it still doesn't feel right.

Third topic: After being fired and doing another temp job, my unemployment is enough for me to live off of comfortably for a while.  So I figured that instead of job hunting, let me go back to school and finish up and get my degree, that way my job hunting will go a lot better.

That's it for now, peace!

Hotel Room Etiquette

I have been going to conventions for over ten years.  While going to conventions, I have booked my own rooms, and roomed with others.  During this, I've learned how to handle the finances of the room.  With the help of a friend, I have an Excel spreadsheet that breaks up the amounts by per person and per day.

What brings this up?

Well I had an interesting altercation with a "friend" over his share of the hotel room at Otakon.

I contacted Shinji about staying in the room for $120.  He agreed, and then a few days later asked me to bring it down to $100 or else he wouldn't stay.  I went and brought more people into the room to bring down the price for him.  I found out a couple of days before the con that he may not make it down on Thursday due to work... Mind you I had to call him to few times to get his confirmation.  I told him he should just catch a bus after work and I would get him a ride back with me.

He agreed.

I noticed that on Friday that he wasn't in the room.  That night I checked Facebook and he posted that he wasn't going due to personal issues.  After the con I called him and told him that he still owed me money.  He tried to renege and say, "I don't owe because I didn't stay in the room".  For what it's worth, that is the oldest excuse in the book and it does not get you off the hook.  I told him that he still owed because of the following reasons:

• He did not tell me in time that he was not going.
• The other people in the room should not be penalized to pay for his share.
• Having personal issues is not a legitimate excuse. 

So on Thursday, Shinji PayPalled me his money.  Saturday I go to deposit it in my checking account.  I get an email saying that it was cancelled and he filed a claim against me.  The claim: "I never received the service I ordered...please refund my money..."

I call PayPal and explain everything.  They close out his claim and rule in favor of me.  You can not file a claim over intangible objects such as your share of the hotel room.

Three days later, I check my messages and he unfriended me.

Boo-hoo.

Boo-fucking-hoo.

Normally, I would be a bit upset over this that I lost a friend.  But given that fact that I had to go through all of this crap to get the money owed to me, it's no sweat off my back.  Given the history between us, it's not a big deal to me.

I have learned that I have to increase my trust levels with my friends who I room with at cons.  Given the people I roomed with recently, they'll be on my list for next year.

But if you're wondering, these are my hotel rules.  You can use them to help you with your hotel room setup:

1. When I ask if you're staying in my room and say or text yes, it's a binding contract.
2. I do not give refunds on rooms, unless it is a family emergency.
3. You have up until two weeks before the con to pay for your share of the room or else you are liable for the full amount.
4. If you can't stay, you are on the hook for paying from half to the full amount.

I hope that those rules will help.  Until then, see you on the flipside.

Humbled I Am.

It's not often I get praise for the things that I do.  When it does happen, I get all odd and awkward about it, for I am not used to it.  And I feel humbled.  I always say that I am doing my job.  Early this year when I uploaded my con photos, I saw a spike in the number of likes and comments.  Seeing that made me smile.  I knew that people out there enjoyed the work that I love doing.  I don't cherry pick when it comes to cosplayers.  I try to hit as many I can for photos if they're not in a rush or inconvenienced.  If I am inspired, I'll do an impromptu photoshoot (it has happened a few times).

To everyone that has liked my photos, videos, commented... Thank you.  You all are the reason why I goto cons and do this.  I am truly blessed, thankful, honored, and humbled.

I leave you all with this video: