Stu News and Photos

Allow me to start with my feet. And with my calves. They're fine.

I mean, they're fine, considering how many times I walked around the San Diego Convention Center between Friday early afternoon and Saturday late afternoon. Lotta walkin'. And really, I feel good - was prepping for the walking during the past few weeks, so I really do feel ok. At the end of each day at ComicCon I felt tired, but no next-day aches or pains. And this morning, Sunday morning, as I sit in my lonely writer's garret and issue this report, I'm feeling terrific, although a bit spaced-out. It's early and I need my coffee ('cept I don't drink coffee, so I'm kinda screwed on that one - gotta let my grey matter tough it out until the awakening is complete).

Now, let us harken back to Friday morning: Loaded the car and got to the gas station at the corner of Artesia and Inglewood at about 8:40 or so. Drove down the I-5 - a little traffic, but nothing heavy-duty. Got to the convention center, which is kinda-sorta in the heart of San Diego County around 11 or so. Checked in, checked our bags (room wasn't ready, but we were *way* early, walked to the convention.

Got to registration and had a not-so quintessential setback. Turns out that even though Leslie was the registered Mattel rep and I was listed as "guest," they had my name and badge, but not hers. Fortunately the guy at our reg station was a Warcraft player, so there was zero tension. He was exceptionally polite, laughed at my jokes, and, after a bit of running around, trying different options, got Leslie her badge.

That was the last and only hiccough of the day.

From there, we did our thing, sometimes together, sometimes apart. We probably would have done the whole thing together, but she had to work, and she's a player now, so she had to really do stuff - leadership, morale, problem-solving, meet-and-greets, what-have-you. But we were together most of the time.

I spent a good portion of the first day rounding up the stuff on my must-have list - yeah, coulda got 'em through Amazon, but

A) I really enjoy the hunt and
B) ComicCon discounts!

Got almost everything on my 24-item list, and the stuff I didn't get is mostly out-of-print at the moment, so no biggie. And I got a bunch of great stuff and met some great folks along the way, so that was fun. And, because I knocked that out of the way, I was able to spend the rest of the con just walking the floor, looking at all the cool stuff.

Didn't bring a camera this time (aside from my iPhone) and was glad. No stress over protecting the camera, and there were *way* less costumed folks, and of those folks, way less interesting photographic subjects. The con seemed just as crowded as last year, but filled with far more regular fans and far less hardcore, "I'm so dedicated, I'm gonna walk around all day in a pleather Boba Fett costume" fans. Which was fine with me - made the show less distracting - gave me more of a chance to concentrate on the art.

Speaking of art, I was having trouble coming up with ideas as to what to bring back for Noelle, until I remembered that one of her favorite things is Noelle, so I hit up a couple of up-and-coming comic book artists to do sketches of her based on the photograph I keep in my wallet. So even if the other stuff I got her falls to the floor, those sketches should make her smile.

Nich was also tough, as he's not into reading, comic books or any other material. He does it when he has to, and he's in honors language arts, and he gets a consistent A there, so I leave it alone - who am I to judge another's passions? However, I am somewhat familiar with what moves him, and I found a lone heavy metal booth selling out-of-the-way CDs, so I got the staff at the booth to name their desert island discs and bought some of those.

The con itself was extremely well run, and other than the flood of humanity, was perfect. The vendors were cool, the art was as exceptional as ever, there was a giant, floating, inflatable Pikachu, a ten foot tall sculpture of BartMan, a nicely-done lego sculpture of Indiana Jones (complete with crystal skull), and much more.

The vibe was really excellent. Not exactly Grateful Dead excellent, but for a con, folks were extremely polite and supportive and happy. A nice vibe. My kind of vibe.

I didn't go to any of the panels and I didn't meet any celebrities, so I don't know any secret, cool stuff about Heroes or The Cleveland Show. I did see Mal from Firefly, who was on the floor, surrounded by fans and digital cameras. The fans seemed happy - Mal seemed a nice guy.

Lastly, Leslie and I had dinner Friday night with a bunch of her staff and some marketing folks. Really great bunch of people, very funny, jovial, and excited about their work. And it was truly wonderful to hear them glow about Leslie - she inspires them and makes them feel valued. I'm damned proud of her.

Ok ladies and germs, I'm done. Gonna go do nothing for a bit, then clean the kitchen, then more nothing. Hope you all have a great time doin' whatever it is you're doin'.