post-post comicon update

oh man, i never updated my blog about comicon! i'm the worst!  at the very least, you have to see this photo of me looking dorky next to ron perlman while my children look fabulous:

my hair literally never does that fucked-up bang thing anywhere unless there is a camera nearby.  also, i am going to be a perpetually short parent.

meeting ron perlman was exactly like when ralphy met santa in a christmas story.  i basically clammed up until we were walking away.  he seemed nice and gracious, though, and i have photographic proof that hellboy lives. what more could i want?

the kids and i had a great time in the city.  we took taxis everywhere, which feels so cosmopolitan. we watched a lot of cartoons on the tv in the hotel.  we spent too much time and money at uwajimaya.  we came home with a billion comics and toys, and the girlchild thought of all the costumes we can make for next year.  she digs the steampunk, and i feel like we will be learning how to make corsets and rayguns this year.  lucky for me, steampunk fashion is friendly toward chub scouts.

see? i'm not always shiny and weird looking! that kid, though, is always cute.

i met bwana spoons like five minutes into walking into the convention.  right after i had said to the girlchild, "yeah, i try not to buy too much on the first day; it's really just a day for looking."  he had some tiny original watercolor and ink paintings, though, and i knew they would go fast.  i've always been a big fan of bwana, and had that dopey star-struck moment.  i actually said to him, "um, i didn't think you would be here." and he said, "yeah, me either.  i got a booth at the last minute."

the boychik and i also discovered, quite happily, skinner.  not only was skinner a nice young man, but his art is amazing and disgusting and wonderful.  i bought the boychik a critical hit shirt because it was boss, and now i wish i had one.  i have a strict rule at comicon though: i buy one shirt.  only one tshirt because let's face it, i have a ton of black tshirts.  this year, i scored and found an anton lavey shirt that my husband LOOOOOVES.  (no, he hates it.) 

it was great to have both kids at the con this year, and i hope i get to take them both for a few mores years to come.  if they ever get too old to go to comicon, i'm going to be sad. 

comicon!

 these two handsome young men and i went to the emerald city comicon this year!  we went for all three days, and i will admit, it was both amazing and exhausting and holy shit i'm glad to be home. 

 i didn't take nearly as many photos as i normally do.  in fact, the entire three days i took 19 pictures.  which is crazy.  when we have an outing during the day here i can come home with upwards of a hundred!  it was just really packed with people, all the time, and visually overwhelming for me.  there wasn't an inch of space that didn't have something cool on it, in it, walking through, you get the the idea. 

this is maybe a third of the stuff i bought.  part of me thinks "oh my god amanda!" and part of me is happy i can support comic book artists and writers.  while i bought some stuff from artists i knew, i also picked up a fair amount of of things from people i had never even heard of.  seriously talented, nice, wonderful people.  that was probably my favorite thing about the con; getting to talk to the person who made the book you're looking at.  asking them questions, talking about things they're into, learning about books/writers/stuff that is brand new to you.  i met so many great people making cool stuff it was ridiculous.  i feel all inspired to do and make and create things now, and to hunt down some more of the new artists i was lucky enough to meet.

one of the highlights of the weekend for me was meeting kc green, of gunshow the webcomic.  i love this guy's work SO MUCH.  i couldn't find him the first day, but the boychik and his friend knew where he was so they brought me right to him the next day.  he signed my books and did sketches for me, and one of the things that that really made it awesome for me was when i asked him to make the sketches "extra satanic."  he came through, as you can see.

honestly, spending three days with a huge mass of people who are into the same kinds of comics, movies, music and art that i love felt good.  being able to go to back to our tiny hotel room at night and watch cartoons and read comics and order pizza with the boys was even more awesome.  it was a great vacation.  i can't wait to do it again next year!

hallelujah!

the kids go back to school tomorrow!  i go back to work the day after that!  i will finally be out of the house for longer than the occasional trip to the grocery store! 

yeah, i know i could have gone outside or found some free activities for the kids and i to engage in, but for one thing it's ridiculously cold out, and for another, going anywhere would have required gas for the car, and we really are kind of super broke right now.  plus, we had a ton of stuff we could (and did) do here.  it's just that no matter how big your house is, it is never, ever big enough for kids home on winter break.  note to self: use up all your float time this year on honeymooning or something.  don't wait until december! 

what did i do with my break? knit.  watched too much tv.  worked on some crafty projects.  cleaned random things, like the front of the fridge.  read a few books.  overall, i'd say i feel pretty refreshed and ready to get the hell out of the house.  i'm also ready for the kids to go back to school and for them to stop hanging around complaining about boredom.  there was literally NO SUGGESTION i made this week that either of them took, and it wasn't too long ago that i started saying "boo fucking hoo" when one of them lamented the lack of stuff to do.  tomorrow i plan on doing all that stuff i didn't do while they were home, washing some scrubs, and cutting up some veggies to pack in my lunches.  we had our last fat farm vacation meal today (pizza!), tomorrow we go back on the wagon.  i'm ready!   

prineville!

camping was gorgeous, hot, dusty and bright. i am sunburnt, filthy, and ready to spend the night in my own bed. funny how exhausting vacation can be. once i shower and put on something clean and brush the tumbleweeds out of my hair i'll have photos and stories! we had a great time, but i am happy to be home.

countdown: 3 days

eek! three days until chicago. i've been all sorts of geeked out and spastic about it, leading to me getting very little done in the way of actually getting ready for my trip. today at work i plan on making yet another list of things i want to bring, things i need to pick up from my house, places i want to go, etc. (i will probably invest in one of those little pop-up maps, just so i can always figure out where i am. i love those things.) so far, here is my list of absolutes:

• myopic books. sharyn clued me into this, and after checking out the website, i can hardly wait to get there. before i go, however, i'm going to need to make another list, this one of all the books i'm looking for. going into a place like that unarmed is a bit dangerous. you never know what i'd wander out of there with!
• rotofugi. another sharyn pick! i can never resist the urge to buy fancy toys in a new town. when my sister lived in alameda, we would go into san fransisco just to hit kid robot.
• vienna beef factory store. OH MY GOD. not only am i going to eat delicious, all beef hot dogs, but i'm totally going to buy a poster of them as well. i wll hang that poster over my bed, so when i sleep at night, i'll have sweet, beefy dreams. yeah, that sounds dirty. do i care? NO.
• occult bookstore. as much for me as for the boychild, who is all about the mysteries of the occult. i bought him a copy of the necronomicon the other week, with a stern warning that he is not to summon any old ones or demons while he lives at home. he rolled his eyes at me, but i think he understood.
• cocktails. with chicago peeps as well as with D. preferably, with all of you at once.
  

honestly, all i want to do is spend some time with my man, out of town, in our funky little hotel, and if we get to see the sights, then i'm stoked. i hear the museum of science and industry is amazing, and i want to see that, as well as some chicago art. i want to wander around, and take pictures, and hopefully get a little sun. i get into town early on friday, and am there until tuesday! that's such a long time to get out of town. whoo! any more suggestions? i'm open to them.

(insert song about chicago here)

ahh, travel. is there anything i love more than airports and buses and new places to have cocktails? in a word, no. before pop passed away, D and i were planning on going to chicago; him for a big food conference and show, and me just to tag along and get some quality hotel make-out time logged. we had been looking at tickets and hotels, but you know, stuff happened. for a while i thought i shouldn't go, that the expense was too much, and that given what's going on with my family i should stick to home. the more i thought about it, though, the more i realized a little trip might do me good. D got a scholarship to the show through his college, meaning his hotel and flight are paid for. he's splitting the cost of my ticket and hotel with me, which helps me out a lot. the show is about a month away, and so of course ticket and hotel prices were higher than the last time we looked, but overall, not by much. not enough to keep me home! we got my ticket and hotel booked last night, and i am now officially going to chicago for five days and four nights.

i'm pretty excited. more than that, really. it was hard for me to sleep last night, thinking about the stuff i want to see and do, the food i want to eat, the parks and museums and bars i want to visit. i have some cousins in town as well, and a good friend that lives in milwaukie, so i'll get to do some catching up as well. does anyone have any suggestions for things to do and see? bars you love? i'm all about doing typical tourist-y things, but i'm also all for doing more random stuff, seeing other parts of the city. i hear the weather there this time of year is spotty; it can be warm one day and cold and rainy the next, but i'm hoping we get a little more sun than not, and that part of my trip can spent lazing outside a coffeeshop, reading and drinking and watching people. i'm also excited for cable tv and hotel living. i'm telling you, if i could, i would totally live in a hotel. nothing pleases me more than tiny bath towels that someone else washes, random comforters, views of parking lots and miniature coffee pots with single serving packets of coffee to go along with them. plastic wrapped water glasses, remote controls velcroed to tvs, bibles in bedside tables. i can practically smell the disinfectant! like i said before, ahh, travel.