We attended the Otakon meeting in Baltimore on Saturday, which was much sparsely attended than the election meeting, our previous meeting. On the plus side, however, we had teh Internets! This allowed me to multitask and to, for example, finally follow up on some of the e-mails I'd been meaning to send, such as getting in touch with the reps from other anime cons who had given me their cards at Otakon 2009.

Plans for 2010 are already taking shape, and I feel good about it. The Rock Chick, who has proved herself as an enthusiastic, hard-working and quick-thinking staffer in the two years I've worked with her, will be my pre-con second in command and will also take on more responsibility at con. I also shot an e-mail to my friend, The Water Ballerina, who has agreed to take over the greeter/office worker position that The Gamer filled last year. Unfortunately, The Gamer won't be returning to Press Ops. He told me soon after the con that, while he enjoyed working with Press Relations, he wanted a more challenging job next year and would probably return to Ops.

This was my first time to see many of my friends in person since our big announcement. I think they expected me to be noticeably bigger, since the picture I posted with my announcement last week was taken in a tight shirt that accentuated my belly. But in my new maternity shirt, the bump is not quite as noticeable. The Godfather joked, "Get working on that." I assured him that I am. Whether it looks like it or not, I'm gaining about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds a week so far, which the recommended rate for someone who started within the normal BMI range.

But let's face it: if I was on a sit-com, playing a non-pregnant character, they wouldn't yet be at the stage of putting me behind tables or writing into the script an extensive vacation overseas.

After the meeting, a bunch of us ate at a nearby Mongolian Grill. I was pleased by how accommodating the wait staff were, considering that we hadn't made reservations and more people showed than we'd expected. Still, there was always someone there to pull up another table and more chairs when more of our party arrived.

Dinner conversation was fun. I got into a very silly conversation with The Ukelele Player, one of our favorite translators and a member at large on the board. He's known for often carrying a ukelele, which he likes to play quietly in moments of relaxation. We were talking about the movie Superman II, and he said his favorite line from that film is "Kneel before Zod." There would be no greater pleasure, he told us, than to commandeer the P.A. system in the Otakon Dealers' Room and announce at close, "The Dealers' Room is now closed. Kneel before Zod."

We reminded him he'd also have to translate it into Japanese, which he immediately did. He then recited, in Japanese, the famous line from The Princess Bride, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

I love being on Otakon staff.