Just after 4p I left the convention hall to find some dinner. There was a mall a just two train stops north of me where I had Korean chicken and rice bowl. The shop, Ranch & Maple, was playing k-pop music videos and were were kind to hold my food hot while I figured out the mall restroom access - city bathroom situations are always hostile!

(I think it’s funny how many ampersands were in the last 24 hours on my cc statement: Salt & Straw, Pine & Crane, Ranch & Maple, all for &TEAM)

I freshened up and fetched my lightstick from my hotel room, then walked 5 minutes to the concert at the Crypto Arena around the corner. I breezed through security and still had some time to knit before the show started.

This was so fun! My seats were great considering KCON LA is always in the round. I hate shows in the round. I researched which side is typically “front” when I bought tickets and luckily that hadn’t changed. When they faced me, which was about 60% of the time, I had a great view!

By the way, I’ve been watching KCON performances for years and years. I’ve seen some stages in this very arena dozens of times. It was cool to be in this famous spot. Because they film these for the channel, I can link the stages for you to see! Look close and maybe you’ll see me in the audience ;-) Sometimes I linked the short 1 min set summary, sometimes the full song.

Let’s goooo, it’s &TEAM TIME!! These guys dominated. There were a lot of Lune in the audience for sure. K is such a unique dancer. For a tall gangly guy his lines are impeccable. I like a of them but he’s a strong bias for sure.

[TWO songs] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8SKB4daOI). Gah! Too short! I’m so glad I saw them earlier in the day too. They did a BTS collab stage with Santos Bravos and it’s the only time I’ve enjoyed Permission to Dance.

The next exciting stage was the reunion of WannaOne! This TV contest group from 2017 includes Minhyun - former member of Nu’est and actor in one of my favorite Kdramas [Study Group] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjynjYD4psg&pp=ygUac3R1ZHkgZ3JvdXAga2RyYW1hIHRyYWlsZXI%3D). They did their big hit [Energetic] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fAl0iCnGp8) and the crowd was hyped! I’ve repeatedly watched their original 2017 KCON LA performance so this was very cool to witness.

Finally the headliner NCT 127 took the stage. Listen, I used to be a huge NCT fan. Sadly their group has fractured as a result of bad management, military service leave, and a few scandals. Plus they had a spell of truly terrible music. But I’m still very fond of the old stuff and Taeyong was my first bias ever.

I had my lightstick from the NCT DREAM concert, letting me wave neon green with all the other nctizens.

Everyone came out to wave good-bye and the show ended. I walked across the street and tumbled into bed. What a great day!

KCON has two parts:

1. The daytime convention
2. the evening concert

The evening concert is a 2.5-3 hr concert with many performers, each doing a short set of 2-4 songs, longer for headliners.

The convention has booths for Korean food, beauty products, and associated companies. There’s also a few small stages with performances/appearances by lesser known idols. The Artist Stage, the biggest of these stages, had performances from middle-tier groups (not the most popular, but pretty well established).

I bought a ticket for each evening concert. A good seat for Friday, a cheap seat for Saturday, and a “good” seat on Sunday (put a pin in that). The good seats included convention access on those days, and I decided not to bother getting Saturday access based on the Artist Stage schedule and my lack of interest in the booths.

The only Artist Stage I REALLY wanted to see was &TEAM. They were scheduled on the first day at 3pm, the last group.

I heard online that the lines to get in the convention can be gnarly. I bought an “Express Pass” the night before so I could use the shorter lane and get inside faster. I was really nervous I wouldn’t get in and get a spot in time and miss them. The con also hyped up the use of virtual queueing through the app, with earlier access for Express Pass holders. That seemed worthwhile to make sure I got to see &TEAM. Later I found out the early access was only for booths (don’t care) and they never enacted the queue system for the stages, so it didn’t give me any advantage.

So early morning I got dressed and walked across the street to join the queue at 7:30. One hour later I was wrist-banded, security screened, and waiting in another queue indoors. The convention didn’t start until 10a. And again, my group was on until 3p. Uhhh, what am I doing here?

It was fun to see everyone dressed up, receive “freebies,” and cheer on the people going to audition for a dance stage with the idols. I started chatting with the people around, trying to get tips for the weekend. A very nice 38 year old from Minnesota was next to me, attending solo for her 6th time. She gave me some good info about the con layout and we had a fun time chatting about the groups. Her “ult bias” is Junhee from A.C.E and I’m also a big fan of his, so that was fun to talk about.

At 10 they released us while scolding “no running!” as fans speed-walked to the artist stage. I joined the throng, and quickly realized there was no reason to be there that early. There was plenty of room. No way was I going to sit here for hours and hours. I had no need to “barricade” the GA section (there was a closer VIP barricade for those who paid top dollar). Even the back of the room had fine views.

I did a lap about the con floor. Lots of fans want to get the beauty product samples from all the booths. They gave us “Stamp Relay” badge to get stamped and hyped up the free tote we would receive to hold all out winnings. I had zero interest in playing the sample-collecting game. Apparently that’s how Express pass used the virtual queue - to hold a place, to access a marketing booth, to post on your social media, to receive free samples in return. No thanks!

So I left! It seemed like a power-move, walking out past literally thousands of fans still lined up to get in. With my wristband I can quickly return later in the day (thanks Junhee-fan for confirming!).

I walked to Fika Fika and had a delightful brunch away from the crowd.

Fortified and caffeinated, I came back to the con just before noon and settled in to knit and watch some other groups on the Artist Stage.

Finally they were here! &TEAM!! K dancing right before my eyes!!

They were so good. Unfortunately this confirmed how much I hate GA standing room - everyone jockeying and squeezing about, holding phones above their heads. Pretty awful even for someone my height! I loved their show, but was looking forward to seeing them on stage at night from my assigned seat.

This is already a long post, so I’ll share concert pics in a follow-up.

I always insisted to Ben I was not interested in KCON. It seemed like too much to handle. But then they announced the line-up for 2026 LA KCON and it was, like a TON of groups that I like.

Unusually boy group heavy. Most enticing of all - &TEAM were coming. They’re a Japanese group I love that hasn’t come to the US yet. (See me with their standees at a mall in Kyoto here).

So I gave into temptation and bought THREE concert tickets - 진짜 おかしい!

Thus I found myself at the end of summer break, still muddling through some life event stressors, flying to sunny California for a long weekend of sunshine, music, pretty dancers, and good food.

After checking in the hotel I walked to dinner. My driver recommended Pine & Crane and it was delish!

The Last Bookstore promised to have great book displays and it delivered! I had a fun time walking around and perusing the vinyl.

The sun was lovely going down, but the streets were getting sketchier by the minute. I had one more stop in mind so I braved a twlight wait for the uber (on high alert - DTLA is seriously sus!) to get my favorite ice cream. This felt super indulgent, but it’s sort of a tradition for me to visit this place if I’m in the same town. A sweet end to my day of traveling.

Sam Storm is 13 years old today, on the 13th of September! He’s grown to tall and mature. He’s kind and thoughtful, clever and considerate. He has gathered a posse of great friends and he’s excelling at school. We’re so proud of him in so many ways!

To celebrate he had friends come over to play DnD, play video games, and watch a movie. These teenagers don’t need a lot of planning or entertainment to have a good time, which is great for us parents! I couldn’t pass up decorating and getting his guests silly party favors.

Today on his real birthday Sam just relaxed and played on his new SteamOS computer with friends. He slept in and ate some favorite foods and opened a few more presents. It was a great day!

I’ve been casually shopping for a new dining set all summer. Our old Ikea table was pitted and scratched from little kid abuse, and everyone tries to steal my chair because it’s the only one with padding. It was time to upgrade!

I looked in stores and on the used marketplace and finally landed on a green chair set with cat-proof vinyl fabric.

Table shopping was trickier - we just wanted the features and size of our current table! I asked Jack if he would refinish the table for me as a paid job and he readily agreed!

He spent most of Labor Day weekend sanding off the damage, then working it down to a fine grit. I decided on a dark stain to match the chairs and stand out against the similarly colored wood floor. Jack applied two coats of stain and two coats of polycrylic topcoat. After a few more days of drying the table came back inside! He did a great job!!

Scratch-free for now, but I declared that we don’t need to baby it. My philosophy is the house is meant to be used comfortably. It’s a soft pine, so it would be a losing battle anyway. In another 10 years Jack can refinish it for me again!

What a celestial week!

Monday’ rainbow

Thursday’s lunar eclipse

Friday’s rainbow

I tried to get out roller skating a few times this summer. I like using this outdoor hockey rink. I tried going around my neighborhood and it’s too scary on the streets and hills.

Ben and I took a day-trip date to Boulder for plants at Harlequin Gardens. Doesn’t he look smashing in his kilt? We got lunch at Zoe Ma Ma on Pearl afterward.

Later in the summer we all went to Boulder for Sam’s friend’s birthday celebration at Sushi Zanmai. Sam really liked the food!

Sam did an escape room for another friend’s birthday.

The garden has struggled with heat and water restrictions. We did our part to minimize water use, so it’s been a sad season. Lots of crispy plants and few blooms.

Amanda and I got lunch and visited a craft store. She gifted me the most adorable watercolor book! I painted an old photo for Dad for Father’s Day and it turned out alright!

Work selfies to Ben, and some that he returns. I picked up some extra shifts at the start of summer and it felt like I was working a lot! I try to dance twice a week still too, and yoga at home on the days in between

Whoops, I didn’t take many pictures of the trips to GJ! Lots of swimming, dog petting, and chatting.

More miscellaneous, especially cats. Featuring Mog and Hela, who we were cat-sitting for July.

I love taking Jack to private cello lessons. The lobby is empty and I have an hour to work on projects in peace.

That almost wraps up the summer break! As you saw, the kids are back in school and thriving. I took a personal vacation to Los Angeles to attend KCON LA 2026. Lots of incoming KPOP and travel photos soon I hope, but at least I have the family stuff documented for posterity!

Ben and his dad wanted to plan a road trip to visit all four corners of Colorado. Then they decided they had already seen the SW “Four Corners,” so NW, NE, and SE three corners would suffice. Alas, they got stuck shortly after visiting the first corner! Oh no!!

Thank goodness they had cell phone reception. Ben alerted me and while they were talking to the 911 relayed policeman, I found a couple ATV groups via reddit and facebook that supposedly do rescues. Ben got a hold of one group who came hours later to pull them out. Literal cowboy heroes at 2 AM. Shout-out to “Anarchy Offroad”

Ben posted about it on his personal website here: https://benlog.benmason.info/2026/trip-to-the-three-corners-monument/