Will 2026 be a Swan Song for me?


    The past few years have been an emotional roller-coaster, with both the epic events and the miss-outs. A few weeks ago, I realized that there was no energy into a group entry in the Sacramento St. Patrick's Day Parade, so I put in an application for my Dizzy Dave, and turned out to be just in time to be in the parade which ran today. I had a lot of fun there, and got a lot of response from people, but it just isn't the same as being part of a "squad" whether in a parade with "victory lunch" after, or a cosplay meet-up, or doing some cool "action shots". Yes, my cosplays are somewhat niche (and not screen-accurate or "high-quality"), but it's not worth it to compromise fun & comfort just to get into a few photos.

    I have a monthly clown club meeting (has all sorts of kid-friendly entertainers including magicians and musicians there as well as clowns), and a monthly (could return to twice a month again) gathering of ukulele players, of whom I'm still a beginner, but no one judges there, unless you keep hitting sour notes because you didn't tune up ;-)

    There are several ideas for YouTube (and perhaps TikTok) videos, but I just need to get down writing and creating animations and other elements.

    So ... I've come to the realization that my bids for visibility in Cosplay haven't gotten any real traction beyond some "mini" solo photo shoots and some somewhat ephemeral group shots, so the "return on investment" just isn't worth what I can put into it. I'll pursue opportunities that can bring some promise, so not shutting down completely.

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