I'm doing something today I don't usually ever do; I'm wearing geek-wear at work. Ok, yes, I have been known to wear my Detroit Red Wing jersey at work before (damn right I wore it after they won the Stanley Cup this year!), which could be counted as a form of geek-wear, but today I'm out and out being geeky with this little number: I do have a light sweatshirt to wear over it if I start feeling abnormally geeky.

So, why the geek-wear? Well its FanExpo weekend in Toronto (other wise known as Toronto ComicCon) and right after work I'm heading over to the con to put my time in at the Snail's booth and get myself some store credit to enable my habit. Jet's off to my parents' place for the weekend, so I can put in lots more time at the con than I've been able to for the past couple of years. Which is both good and bad. The husband's already there, having put set-up time last night as well. The other nice thing about this is Ciaran's back, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him.

Oh, also, tomorrow, Aug. 23rd, is our first wedding anniversary. So yes, Graig and I will celebrate it surrounded by comic books. Which is appropriate considering the first anniversary is paper. And well, we love comic books, they're pretty much the reason we met. So it's all good. After the con, we're planning on going for a nice dinner at Barberian's steak house, which is also where we had our wedding reception.

Pretty much going cold turkey tonight on Olympic coverage though. That's going to be hard. I come into work and usually immediately hop over to CBC for an update on what's going on. Yesterday, I was a little bad and watched a lot of the show-jumping. I love the ponies and was just tickled that Eric Lamaze won gold. This 'morning though, found out our big canoeist, Adam Van Koeverden finished a shocking eighth out of nine kayakers in the K1 1,000 metres. He was considered our best medal bet, but nope, he flamed out spectacularly. Poor guy. We did pick up another silver medal though, in taekwondo, so that's cool. Silver is definitely the colour of Canada for these Olympics. So yeah, being at the con all weekend means I won't be getting my Olympic coverage. That's going to be hard...

And finally, I leave you with my current, favourite song: "Listen to the Radio" by Sloan, off their album "Never Hear the End of It".


Have a good weekend everyone, and if you're at the Con this weekend, drop by the Snail booth and say hi. I'm on the comic book side of course.

The overall impression I have from this year's FanExpo (i.e. ComicCon Toronto)?

If I never have to hear the song "Freebird" again, I'll be an extremely happy camper.

You see, a few rows over, there was a large area devoted to video games, one such video game being Guitar Hero (which, is actually a video game I enjoy for the most part. Probably the only one...). Unfortunately, I guess they only had a few songs available for the playing public, and the most popular one was Freebird by Lynyrd Skynryd. So we got to hear it played (complete with missed notes from the game) over and over during the three days of the Con until pretty much all the retailers were ready to go over, pull a John Belushi in Animal House, and smash the damn guitar so we wouldn't have to listen to it again. I've never been fond of the song to begin with, but now I LOATHE it.

Other than that though, the con was a nice experience. Graig has now officially 'married' into the Snail crowd so this was his first year participating behind the Snail booth, selling comics to the con going throng.

After attending San Diego this year, I guess I can't really say Toronto has 'throngs' per se, but still, its busy enough on the convention floor to still be annoying and make me want to get right back behind the tables asap where its not crowded. But, Graig and I did manage to find some nice deals, including a (nearly) entire run of Elementals (no Sex Specials though. Damn), and I was able to complete my run of Mark Waid-penned Captain America.

I did brisk business on Sunday, not so much on Saturday (although the sale of Brave and the Bold #11 for $300 was pretty sweet) and overall had the usual nice visit with past and present Snail employees. Graig and I were also allowed to take home the $10, 000 copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 for safe keeping. While it was really neat to have such an expensive piece of comic history in our grasp for an evening, it was also nerve-wracking 'cause if something happened to it, we'd be dead :) But it was fine and returned to the shelves on Sunday morning.

The gang took great delight in calling me "Mrs. Kent" all weekend. And I couldn't really blame them, of course a bunch of comic book geeks would get a kick out of that.

There were the usual amount of costumes and the usual amount of people who should not be wearing costumes (the at least 160lbs Poison Ivy was... not good) and the usual amount of fun customers and the usual amount of annoying customers. My dear friends kon_el333 and troy_duffy stopped by on Saturday, which was good fun. I didn't get hit on at all this year, but I think the big sparkly rings on my finger and the fact that my husband was right there with me kinda killed all that. For which I am eternally greatful :)

And now, I've got lots credit at the store, which will pay for this comic book habit of mine for at least a good six months or so. That fact alone is worth all the math, the sore feet and the sliced finger this year.

And yeah, of course I was also reminded that every year, Graig's and mine 'honeymoon' will be our tour of duty at the Con. Which suits us just fine :)

Well, I finally understand why people live in California...

Holy crap is it beautiful there! Graig and I arrived in San Diego on Wed., and I don't think we saw our first cloud in the sky until Sunday. Just lovely...

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Leaving and Arrival - Wednesday
Our flight out of Toronto was at 8:30 am, so that meant having to get up at 5am to make it out to the airport and do all the airporty things you have to do before getting on a plane. Not a problem, we checked in, did the security gauntlet (had a fun time in the lineup for US customs as we played 'spot the Con-goers) and went to the lounge to wait with all the other geeks heading down for the Con. We boarded, chatted with our seatmates who were also going to the Con, and prepared to head out. First snag though; we sat on the tarmac for about 10 minutes as the pilot informed us that there was a problem with the breakers, they had to be reset, and then off we'd go. So they did this, and the pilot said he was 'confident', so all was good. All was good until 45 minutes into the flight when the pilot came back on, said the problem was re-occuring and he was no longer confident, so we were heading back to Toronto. Bummer. So the extra flying time, the time on the ground as they found us a new plane and flight crew, added a good two hours onto our trip. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing (I'm a big fan of the plane working properly, thank you very much), except that Graig was feeling progressively worse. He'd developed a bit of a bug the day before, but was feeling fine that morning. However, he doesn't deal well with airconditioning, and the recycled plane air just rekindled everything. Sigh.

But, eventually we arrived safe and sound in San Diego, to be greeted by the warm Californian sun accompanied by the refreshing, Pacific Ocean breeze. No oppressive Toronto humidity here! We got to our hotel, the Balboa Park Inn, which was a hop and a skip away from the San Diego Zoo, and about a 15 min. bus ride from downtown and the Convention Centre. We needed some food, but Graig needed a nap first, so that's what he did, while I studied some bus routes and whatnot (we brought my lap top with us, and lo and behold, the Inn had wi-fi. Yay!) so we could get down to the Con, and Sea World, another place I was intent on going. After Graig's nap, we realized we weren't really feeling energetic enough to head down to the Con for Preview Night, so we strolled over to University Ave. and had a very nice (and needed) dinner at an Italian restaraunt. Then, back to the inn and much needed sleep, having been up since 5am that morning (our time).

Day One- Thursday
Graig was up early, but unfortunately, it was because he was feeling worse. He tried to get himself going, but after breakfast, it was decided he needed another nap, and then we'd head out to the Con. We still managed to get there just after 10am (when the doors opened), so we didn't feel like we missed anything. Deal lord the place is huge. That first day, we really only did the vendor side of things. We also quickly realized we actually had a pleasant delimma. I get a VERY good price on comic books here. The Snail uses US cover price for everything, but, as a long time customer and ex-employee, I also get a 20% discount. So, for anything to be worth buying for us at the Con, the discount had to be at least 40%. We did find a few booths selling trades for 50% off, so we loaded up; Graig rounding out his Daredevil collection, me getting some Invincible trades and a trade of reprinted Batman stories featuring Ra's Al Ghul from the 70s. I love Neal Adams art. We also bought some geeky t-shirts (Aquaman for Graig, a general DC Superfriends-type shirt for me), and I got a stuffed Aku and Samurai Jack for Jet. By about 3pm though, we'd both had it and were ready to leave the rest of the Con for tomorrow.

*side note* Its funny that neither Graig nor myself were really interested in seeing any of the panels or getting things signed or whatnot. Both of those would involve too much standing in line, and there was just more I wanted to see (both inside and outside of the Con) to bother doing that. So, I suppose we didn't get the 'full' con experience, but what we did get was more than enough for me.

We went and had lunch and decided to head back to the hotel so Graig could have another nap. Since it was vacation, I had one too :) Then I got up and read some of my new trades, and eventually, we headed out to roam around the city again, and came to the realization that house prices in San Diego made us feel much better about house prices in Toronto.

Day Two - Friday
Didn't get up as early on Friday, we were both pretty tired from all the walking the previous day, and Graig still wasn't feeling fantastic, but we were down at the Con by 11am to do the second half. This time we hit the booths of the big (and small) comic publishers, the toy companies, the TV networks and the studios. It was MUCH more crowded on this side. So crowded that there were times we could barely move, and it pretty much solidified the idea that I really didn't want to have anything to do with the Con on Saturday, traditionally the busiest day of any Con (and also, Saturday day passes had been sold out for awhile. In fact, this year was the first year they completely sold out of the four-day passes as well). A lot of this stuff I wasn't really interested in, there was a lot of anime, and video games, and most of the movies being promoted totally didn't interest me either. But this side was also where a lot of artists had set up their booths, and Graig bought an Adam Hughes mini-portfolio, and I bought myself a Charles Vess print. Graig also hit a lot of the smaller publishers in order to make some contacts for the review site he writes for, Rack Raids, and we also bought a few books from them as well. Well, more Graig did than I did, as I'm an unabashed superhero junkie and don't read the indy stuff as much. We took some pictures of various geeky stuff, and then by about 4:30, had seen everything and had enough, so it was off to get some food and go shopping.

Y'see, whenever I'm in the US, there's a few stores I HAVE to hit, the main one being Victoria's Secret, so we headed to a nearby mall (which was all outdoors) to have a look around, and they did indeed have a Victoria's Secret. I also bought a wooden truck for Jet, then we stopped for a smoothie (those being one of the few things Graig could manage 'eating'). We also stopped at a Jack in the Box, as I like to go to one bad, fast food burger chain while in the US, but it was absolutely disgusting and neither of us could finish it and I realized that its probably the In 'N Out Burger chain that I like better, but oh well. Then we headed back to the hotel, pretty exhausted again, and fell asleep watching What Not to Wear.

Day Three - Saturday
As I already mentioned, I had no desire to go to the Con on Saturday. Being of the rather short persuasion, I'm not fond of crowds as I tend to get lost in 'em. So, we chose this day as our day to hit Sea World. I'd been to the Sea World in Orlando years before (I was still a teenager at the time), and I remember loving it. And yes, I still loved it. We saw dolphins and penguins and polar bears and beluga whales and manatees and sea lions and killer whales and SHARKS! I love sharks :) The killer whales are always impressive, but after watching the show, I suddenly realized I had this thought of... is this right? Should we be making these animals do all this for our amusement? Yeah, I know, kinda after the fact to be having these thoughts, but, as the last time I had seen one of these shows was when I was the aforementioned teenager; my thoughts are rather different than they'd been then. But anyway, overall it was a nice day and I picked up a few shark-related souveniers for myself and Jet.

Day Four - Sunday
I have only one word to say for this day and that word is BEACH! There was no way I was going to California and not spending at least one day on the beach. So we packed up that morning and headed off by bus to Coronado, the rather large island just off San Diego. While there, we looked at the Hotel Del Coronado, a beautiful old resort dating from the late 1800s. We also noticed that the beach outside the hotel wasn't as busy as the others, so we rented some chairs and an umbrella and set up camp, dozing and reading and watching the sights, till we went down for our first ever foray into the Pacific Ocean. Which was a hell of a lot warmer than I expected. In fact, it was beautiful, and I loved the feel of sinking into the sand as the surf came in and out. After drying off, we headed down Coronado's main boulevard for dinner, then caught the bus back to the hotel and watched a few shows from the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

Day Five - Monday and Departure
While I was looking forward to sleeping in my own beds and seeing Jet again, it also means having to return to work, and THAT was not something I was looking forward to. The way home was pretty uneventful, the only thing that happened was I was a dork and discovered, while in the line-up to go through security at the airport, that I'd forgotten to put my pocket knife in my checked luggage. So yeah, that had to go bye-bye, and I was very sad because I LOVE my pocket knife. It is so infinitely useful and I found one with all the right accoutrements on it for me and now I feel wrong not having one. So, this means I'll be heading down to MEC ASAP to purchase a new one. But it won't be that one. Ah well, my own stupidity :) We arrived back at 7:30 our time, headed home, unpacked, and proceeded to relax and dread going back to work today.

Overall, 'twas a lovely vacation. I only wish we'd had more time because there really is a plethora of things to do in San Diego and I would've liked to have done 'em all :)

There will be pictures eventually posted on my Flickr account, and once that happens, I will provide the link for all those who don't already have it.

Of course, CON!! must be yelled in your best, William Shatner, Wrath of Khan voice in order for the total effect to be felt.

Anyway, yes, I spent Friday and Saturday working for the Silver Snail at the annual Canadian National Comic Expo (or whatever they're calling it now) in order to pay for that nasty comic book habit I have. This works out wonderfully for me, since I've managed to pair down what I'm reading, working two days at the con generally gives me enough credit at the store for the entire year. Yay!

Friday starts bright and early at 8am to set up. This year, we had a booth double the size of the ones in previous years. I kid you not when I say we were probably the largest retail booth at the entire con. I work the comic book side (I refuse to do the toys, things get crazy over there), so my day is spent lugging around and arranging the 150 or so comic book boxes we've brought with us. Somehow I manage every year to forget how heavy those damn things get after awhile. But, we get them arranged, get the expensive silver-aged wall books out, (with a break while we all ohh and ahh over various books, especially the Amazing Spider-Man #1, which is priced for the low, low bargain of 10 grand) and I unpacked and arranged all the graphic novels this year. Which is usually what I ended up looking after; since I unpacked 'em, I know exactly what we have on hand. Plus, this keeps me down towards the end of the alphabet, and everyone's agreed that I know the X-Men better than just about everyone else there and can answer all the kids' questions about them.

We finished setting up by about 3pm, which gave me just enough time to go wash my face and change my clothes and look somewhat presentable before they let the hoardes in. It also gave me enough time to go get my lovely hardcover edition of Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Travelling Heroes signed by the artist, Neal Adams, once again before they let the hoardes in. Mr. Adams was a very nice man, and we chatted for a few minutes about how much fun it is to draw Batman because he never gets tired of drawing that big, awesome cape. Nifty :) Neal Adams was actually the only person signing at the con that really interested me. I had no desire to wait forever in a line up to get Michael Turner to sign something for me. He draws nice cheesecake I suppose, but really, Big Barda, Wonder Woman and Supergirl should not all basically look the same.

It was a nice day overall, one of my cousins gets a table at the con every year to sell his own wares, so he dropped by a couple of times, as did my dear friends who were over in the gaming section, demoing Shadowfist. We even had an honest-to-goodness Manga fan working with us, which lessened the annoyance I usually feel for the manga/anime crowd considerably, since I didn't have to deal with them this year :) But by the time 10pm rolled around and the con closed for the day, I was dead on my feet and just wanted to go home.

Saturday starts at the reasonable hour of 9am, so armed with a muffin and some tea from the Horton's, we quickly set a few things out, and once again waited for the hoardes to be let in. Saturday was IN SANE. There were soooo many people and as we were one of the only booths accepting credit cards and debit, things were just flying off the shelves. It never ceases to amaze me that the graphic novels and trades that sell the best every year are still the ones considered classics, or well, even canon in comic books. Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta, Batman: Year One, to be joined by 'recent' classics such as Batman: Long Halloween and Kingdom Come. We sold out of Kingdom Come on the first day.

By the end of Saturday, I wished I couldn't feel my feet anymore, they hurt so much. I didn't even really get a chance to wander around the con at all, but then, considering I have credit and a discount at the Snail, it doesn't really make much sense for me to buy comic books anywhere else. Despite my complaints, I do have a good time working at the con every year. It becomes a bit of a reunion for all us ex-Snail employees and its nice to see people I really only see once a year at the con.

And now I can go spend, spend, spend at the Snail again. Whoohoo!!