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DENNIS:
Before we talk about cosplaying, let's
get to know a little bit about you and also tell me where you were born
and raised.
JAYMIE: I
was born in Kauai, HI and grew up here in California. Lived here in the
Sacramento area most of my life, which is great! Only an hour away from
everything. The snow, city, beach, hiking… You name it and it's close
by.
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DENNIS:
If a friend traveled to your area to spend several hours
with you, where would you take them or what would you do for fun?
JAYMIE:
First I would take them out to eat at the
Elephant Bar Restaurant. It's a fun and crazy atmosphere and the
appetizers are to die for! Afterwards, it would depend on the friend.
If it's a guy, we'd head over to SunSplash to play arcades where
they have Dance Dance Revolution, Beat Mania and Para Para Paradise!.
As for the ladies, I'd take them to the Galleria Mall to do some
window shopping then catch a chick flick at the movies.
DENNIS:
So, if I was to be a passenger in your car, what kind of
music would I expect to be listening to?
JAYMIE:
No Doubt, Disturbed, Dave Matthews, Janet
Jackson, Tori Amos. As my guest, it really is whatever floats your
boat.
DENNIS:
Hmm... So, if a person went by your place, what would they
see you watching on TV?
JAYMIE:
Hentai! (note: Japanese for perverted anime)
In a way I'm serious. It all depends on which of my friends is watching with me.
With my girlfriends, I'd watch romantic girly movies like anything
with Julia Roberts in it or anime such as "Kodocha", "Kare
Kano" and "Ayashi no Ceres". With the guys I'd go
watch "Ninja Scroll", "Street Fighter", "Deuce
Bigalow: Male Gigalo", or anything with Jet Li in it. "w00t!
w00t!"
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DENNIS:
What kind of student were you back in high school?
Were you the cheerleader, jock, computer person, library person,
band person or perhaps the stoner?
JAYMIE:
Egads! It's a bit complicated. For the first
2 years I was the nerdy, embarrassingly shy little thing. The last two
years I developed more self-confidence through dancing, tennis and clubs.
I knew most of my classmates and got along well with everyone. But towards
my senior year I got sick and tired of people asking to copy my homework
and stuff, so I ended up slacking off myself. Not good! But ah well, no
use in crying over spilt milk, ne?
DENNIS:
If there was one word to describe you as a person now, what word
would that be and why?
JAYMIE:
"Worrywart"! (Laughing) With growing up comes
bills, loans, work and school and cosplay and family. Sometimes I wish
I was still back in elementary school where the only concern I had was
who to whoop ass at teather-ball.
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| Photo:
Jaymie cosplaying as Chun-Li from the popular Capcom fighting
series, "Street Fighter". |
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DENNIS:
So, tell me how you got involved with cosplays?
JAYMIE: Halloween
of 1998. I had a good paying job, which equaled money to spend. So
I finally did something I had always wanted to do…dress up as my favorite
video game character for Halloween. I didn't know how to sew but my
aunt was a professional seamstress. So I asked her, she said yes,
I showed her some printed out pictures of Chun-Li and voila! It was
one of the best things I had ever spent money on.
DENNIS:
What was the first costume that you cosplayed and how was
that experience?
JAYMIE:
Chun-Li!
A couple or months after Halloween, my brother found out about a
contest where people dressed up in anime costumes. We were both
excited about it. It was a chance to meet other people who like
Japanese animation! AWESOMENESS! And so we decided to attend the
contest. Little did we know it was actually a convention! Oh, well.
It was great fun oooohing and aaaaahing at the other cosplayers.
Even more exciting and scary was that my costume won first place
on the walk-on. Never in my life had I seen so many camera flashes.
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And
it was there that I first met Wayne Kaa (Anything Goes School of Masquerade
Arts) and I got interviewed by Ray (World of Anime). Both of which I am
currently members of.
From that day on, cosplay kinda
got addicting. I wanted to meet more people, recreate more wonderful characters
and spend the remaining money I have on stuff in the dealer room. "w00t! w00t!"
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DENNIS:
Do you spend a lot on your costumes?
JAYMIE:
Plenty enough for
me. The most I ever spent was on costumes I made myself is over
$100. To some that may be little, but to me that's like a month
worth of electricity bills, food and other payments. I try to stay
frugal, and that's probably why most of my costumes are not as detailed
as I'd like them to be.
DENNIS:
Do you feel stressed out when a con nears, that you have
to finish a costume or a numerous amount of costumes quickly?
JAYMIE:
Oh ho! You betcha!
I'm a procrastinator at heart and doing cosplay like this can get
very stressful! I want to make sure everything I planned has been
completed and looks just the way I expected it to be. But sometimes
it doesn't happen that easily. Last minute changes and touches happen
even during the convention.
DENNIS:
Are you one of those cosplayers that travel
around the country going to different cons?
If so, how do you manage to travel to all these cons?
JAYMIE:
I don't manage. I
wish I could though! It sounds like fun and there are plenty of
cosplayers whom I'd love to meet in person, like Yaya and Twinkle.
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| Photo:
Jaymie cosplaying as Chun-Li from the popular Capcom fighting
series, "Street Fighter". |
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DENNIS:
How does your family feel about you cosplaying?
Do your co-workers or non-cosplaying friends know about your hobby?
Are they supportive?
JAYMIE:
My family is awesomeness.
They all fully support me. My parents were there to drive me to my first
con and congratulate me on each of my costumes. My brother plays as my
bodyguard and my sister a mentor, telling me if I did something that doesn't
look right or suggestions on whom to cosplay. My boyfriend is my manager.
At each con we go, he's there to take pictures and has been a treasure
with helping me putting on my costumes. All my friends and coworkers just
find it funny. In a good way. (Laughing) They aren't exposed to anime
as much as my family is so the concept of attending cons dressed up as
cartoon characters tickle their funny bones. You got to love 'em!
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