Cat Cafe. Cosplay. Comicon.

     I got the opportunity to work downtown during ComiCon at San Diego's Cat Cafe (cosplaying as Catwoman)! So here's a run down on my first experience with both cosplay and cafes with kitties!

     The Cat Cafe in San Diego was one of the first in the United States and since January (when they opened) there have been 54 adoptions! All cat cafes work differently, but this one works with the local humane society and functions as basically a foster. The only prerequisite for a cat going to the cafe is that they get along with lots of other cats.

Campbell loves any lap!

    There are currently 12 kitties at the cafe and they are all up for adoption.  After 90 days at the cafe they go back to the Humane Society. This has only happened twice and both of those kitties immediately adopted as soon as they went back.  It's a great place to interact with cats in a semi normal environment, but they do go through the same cycles of activity and cat naps as kitties in a house do. So there is a chance that you could get there when all the little babes are sleeping. I recommend going between 8 and 10 when they're most active.

Pocahontas loves a good nap after sprinting around the room.

     Over the 4 days of ComiCon we probably had about 400 people come through to see the kitties along with all the people that just bought coffee or grabbed a flyer. I hope that this idea continues to grow because it seems to be a great way to give these kitties more exposure to different people and to spread the message that adoption is the best option!

On to Comicon!

     Basically Comicon is a mix of Halloween and Disneyland,  except there's more free stuff and less crying children.  The streets of Downtown are full of people dressed from every fandom imaginable.  From Marvel and DC comics to Disney to obscure anime shows, you will see someone in a costume you recognize and you will get extremely excited. For me it was a girl dresses as "Fantasy Tina" from "Bob's Burgers".

I also got super excited about this guy, I bet you can guess why.

     These 4 days of events bring 135 millions dollars of revenue into San Diego County.  This year, 130,000 tickets were sold each day, but with so many fun things to do outside the convention center, you don't need a ticket to get in on the fun.  From what I saw, a large amount of "being at the Con" consists of waiting in lines, usually 4 to 8 hours, to go into a panel or exhibit.  I don't think I'm a big enough fan to put up with all that, but I certainly enjoyed people watching.

My advice for next year:

     You can try to get tickets, but they sell out super fast.  They're relatively inexpensive compared to other large multi day extravaganzas. If you don't get tickets, don't worry!! Take the bus or the trolly to explore around the outside.  There is stuff going on in the streets from Petco park to the Embarcadero.  You can play games in the adult swim complex, take a walk through the America Horror Story Haunted Hotel, or just grab a free ice cream from one of the carts doing a promo for and MTV show.  

    Overall Comicon was a crazy, overwhelming, awesome experience and I'm so happy that I got to be part of it.

Kepp your claws out,

 <3 Catwoman