So Sue has headed north for a stitching event and left me all by myself so what should I do? Warning… this may contain explicit stuff that you may not really want to know about so those with weak hearts may want to read something else.
Unlike the last time Sue was out (and I was sick) this time around I’m feeling pretty hunky-dory so I did what any red blooded American male would do when their wife’s away… I sorted my comic book collection.
I know, I know, it is wild & crazy- but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.
Actually I didn’t go through my entire collection, I just went through those comic that were upstairs in my office. This is usually around a years worth of comics along with anything I may have pulled from the basement. So I thought I would share a little of what I have been reading over the past 12+ months.
Looking at the stacks that now surround me it looks like I am reading a mix of titles from Marvel & DC along with a few independents… although it looks like mostly DC, so let’s start there.
Justice League of America- I don’t remember why I starting picking this up again, it may have been an interesting cover, or a crossover but I can’t say I’m too enthralled with the title… Although Justice League : Cry for Justice has been one I am now looking forward to. Then again I really enjoy James Robinson’s writing especially how he pulls in lesser known characters.
Justice Society of America – I like the idea behind the Justice Society and remember when I started out reading comics reading All-Star which usually dealt with the golden age heroes. This whole bringing in the Kingdom Come heroes is wearing on me though. Although I must say the recent murder storyline has me intrigued.
Batman – this includes a number of Batman titles, but with the “death” of Bruce Wayne (oops! sorry for the spoiler) I started reading Batman & Robin and then Batman just to see how Nightwing would carry on. I’m not as well versed in the recent Batman lore, but I am enjoying both titles.
Flash – OK so we are once again in transition with the Flash… Since this was the first character I recall reading & as a kid I had a red sweatsuit I would run around in (Thank you Super Friends), I guess you could say I’m hoping for a good reboot… only time will tell. The rebirth story is interesting, but is taking a backseat to the latest Mega-Event.
Titans – This also includes related titles. The first comic I really remember buying reading and saving was the Teen Titans. I don’t know what it was about the title (at that point it was around issue 45) but I liked it and when the New Teen Titans came out. In the stack on the floor is also the Year One series which is really what I’m hoping for at some time. It was neat to grow up with these characters… but now what?
Mega-Events- I have really tried to stay away from the various events that the major companies throw together. I read Identity Crisis because it was a good story, but that lead to this crisis, and that crisis and then to Final Crisis and I still don’t have my head around that so we now have Blackest Night Which the main comic is interesting, but all the connected issues just give me a headache. Why don’t you just finish an arc and in the next comic whatever changes (because of said Earth shattering event) get incorporated with a little editor’s note: “Wha Huh? Just pick up Mega-Event #24 for all the details.” As you know I have tried some of the Blackest Night crossovers and was not impressed. I will continue to read Blackest Night because it is interesting, however there is a part of me that wishes I have just waited for the trade.
Fables – Bill Willingham had me hooked after reading the first arc… OK the second arc in this great series. I did pick up Jack of Fables but I can’t say how long I’m going to stick with it… except for the “Babe the Blue Ox” pages which are amusing I’m just feeling a little lost. As for the main title I was a little leery, but am curious how this arc will finally end.
Ex Machina – quick premise the Mayor of New York can talk to machines (and therefore control them) and was once a masked hero. Great look at politics and the common man trying to do what’s right. I kind of wish all politicians were more like Mitchell Hundred. One of my favorite stories dealt with trying to hire the guys to create a comic book about the mayor, very amusing.
Marvel Comics: Gosh when I look at the comics I have I would have been hard pressed to predict Disney’s purchase of Marvel. I am curious as to how it will play out in the future.
Avengers – I started reading the Avengers when Bendis created the new team and it was interesting. Unfortunately, with Civil War then Secret War and now Dark Reign I’m really getting turned off to Marvel. I hate to say it, but when I started Marvel characters had character now I’m just confused and I think if you look at my limited Marvel title you might see that I have almost given up.
Daredevil – I started reading Daredevil when my friend Keith let me read some of his (He was a Marvel Zombie while I read exclusively DC). So I get introduced to Marvel through Frank Miller’s Daredevil around the time where Bullseye kills Electra. Not a bad time to be reading. I also moved on to Claremont & Byrne’s X-Men. I still have many of the issues I had in high school. back to Daredevil, it has been interesting to see how things are playing out and I am sticking with the title mostly because it has stayed away from all the mega-events which has kept it fairly solid when it comes to the storytelling.
Captain America – The sad part is I decided to stop reading Cap right before issue 25. The whole Civil War event had just made me tired… so what happens- they kill off Cap. I had been brought back to Captain America with the Winter Soldier arc so now I’m sitting here following along waiting to see what happens next. The future is going to be interesting- I just wish they would get on with it.
Other Companies (even if they are affiliated with DC or Marvel):Invincible – When I picked up the first issue I was entertained and came back for more… then Kirkman started throwing curveballs. The kind of things I remember making my chin drop when Wolfman & Perez were doing the Teen Titans. All I can say is this is one of the best superhero comics out there. If you haven’t at least picked up a trade at the library you are missing out.
The Walking Dead – Yes, it’s another Kirkman written title and when Sean (one of my former students) recommended it all I could think of was “C’mon a zombie comic?” While not for everyone, it is a great story with great characters.
Irredeemable – Mark Waid has really come up with an interesting story about an all powerful hero who (as far as we can tell) has gone a little funny in the head. This is one of those titles I look forward to reading even though it can be a little disturbing.
Project Superpowers – I try to keep up with this one, although sometimes I forget (I am getting old) Alex Ross has gone back and is using golden age heroes that have basically been lost from our group memory and has brought them back into a brave new world… If you can find the trade (I think there is a trade available) I would pick up chapter 1.
Do I have other comics lying around my floor right now? Sure single issues of things that have been recommended to me. When I stop by a comic shop that I haven’t been to before I always to try to find something to buy. Usually it’s stuff that I was curious about, but figured I would check it out later.
My regular shop (Comic Carnival North) I have been going to for almost 15 years.I returned to comic books during grad school when I needed something to relieve the stress. The shop was on the way to class, and once I started filling out a sub sheet I was kind of hooked.
Sue should be back tonight so I better get this stuff moved… maybe she won’t notice.
About once every so many years I actually get sick. Normally I can just sit it out and with a day or two I back to normal. This one is sticking around. The good thing is I do get a chance to draw some comics and get a buffer built. The bad thing is I feel awful and hope that the fever breaks soon, since next week is pioneer week at school and I have a bunch of things I still need to do to get ready. I just don’t see it happening today. Time to push more fluids and hope I get better.
I have been lax, in going over what I am reading probably because I haven’t had time to actually get to Comic Carnival (my local shop) and pick up my comics. I finally took some time after school to run a few errands including the comic run. These are my first impressions… I usually will take a few days and reread everything to get the nuances that can be missed by a quick read.
Here’s what I picked up:
Marvel: Ender’s Shadow Command School # 1 I have really liked the adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Enders Game & Ender’s Shadow and this issue doesn’t disappoint. it picks up right where Ender’s Shadow Battle School left off telling the story once again from Beans point of view.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- Hardcover I read the individual issues of this and have always enjoyed Skottie Young’s artwork. I actually bought this for my classroom since it is all-ages and a great story. Just Dorothy, Toto, and the gang. I’m looking forward tot the next series and hope that Marvel continues this. GREAT STORY FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
DC: Justice Society # 31 Nothing new or special but not a filler issue, the JSA is trying to track down I’m sure as the arc develops all will become clear.
Vigilante # 10 Having just started to read Vigilante I’m still working on who is who and what is driving each character- unfortunately for me it looks like DC has canceled the series.
Teen Titans #75 So looks like Raven is in trouble and we are trying to figure out what is going to happen next… looks like you got yourself a demon infestation here. I’ve always liked the titans, but… this new team isn’t one I’m attached to yet.
Justice League of America 80 Page Giant #1 When did Snapper Carr get super powers? Obviously this happened sometime in one of the mega-events I decided not to follow. This was an interesting look at the Justice League and breaking them up and putting them into different time periods. Interesting premise I’ll need to revisit to see which story I liked. I did like the witty banter between Snapper & Cheetah.
Blackest Night- Titans #1 & 2 I’m starting to agree with those who are calling Blackest Night “DC Zombies” I decided being a Titans fans from way back that if I was going to read one of the spin offs I at least would know the characters and history in this one. I just can’t seem to like this series. Blackest Night while interesting as a series I’m missing enough by not reading everything that is part of the series it is just turning me off.
Wednesday Comics #12 I’m sad to see this concept come to an end. This was really a cool way to present stories. the writing and artwork took comics to a new level.
Wildstorm: Astra- Astro City #1 Finally a winner in my pile! I have always enjoyed Astro City and this one once again just gives me reason to like it. I’m curious as to what will happen in the next issue… but that’s a good thing.
Image:
Invincible #66 No Invincible in this one but a lot of plot development & back story. With, of course, my favorite character Allen the Alien.
Dark Horse:
The Umbrella Academy #2 Everyone has been talking about this comic, so while in L.A. I picked up the first trade paperback. It was cool. Something different. So the second comes out and I buy it. Still unique… although I must say I’m glad I’m reading these as trades…
OK- So Monday’s strip is MIA. As some people would say I have now reached professional stature since I am late and obviously don’t care about my readership.
Actually, I am very sorry but for the past few days I have been on the road and while that isn’t an excuse it works for me. I was in Orlando for the Sunshine MINIs “Mickey & MINI” event which was great. check out the pictures on my Flickr. Sue, Cecil, Penfold & I had a great time and are back into planning to attend other events. Unfortunately, Late nights on the road, or hanging out with friends then back to work early, doesn’t really help with getting a strip out in a timely manner.
Also I have been working on my personal narrative which really brings this adventure to an end (at least as far as the Lilly Endowment is concerned). I could have just written something up, it is only two pages, but since I have been doing a comic, I knew I had to write it up a certain way. With that in mind I am forewarning you that for the next few weeks you’ll be reading my narrative, kind of a “Cliff’s Notes” version of what I did on my summer vacation. This of course builds my buffer so it is my own fault if I get behind again.
I just finished penciling 7 strips and besides my hand being sore now I just need to ink them. I’ll get the first one inked for publication tomorrow and work from there.
Thank you all again for your patience and for taking the time to read this, we aren’t ending it here, I still haven’t gone up against the cyclops, landed on the island of poppies, or anything else that a real odyssey should have.
After a great time at the Fall Picnic I decided I should post some of the sketches I made while there. So what does this tell you? I spent the entire time drawing instead of socializing? No, but I was trying to get some sketches done so I could get a few things off my plate… Of course not stuff that I needed to get done, but stuff I wanted to draw.
When I started this project I spent a lot of time whining about character design and how I just didn’t have any clue as to how I wanted the characters to look like. I have changed the characters throughout the summer and took a little time this weekend to hopefully come up with a model of Cecil that I can use in the future. Why Cecil? Why not me? To be honest Cecil is easier for me to draw, but also being at a caching event I had people ask me about Cecil’s pathtag and if I had a new one yet.
Cecil in Star Trek?
Now, of course, for some the question is “What is a pathtag?” A pathtag is a collectible signature item used in geocaching. No you don’t need one, but unlike some other options it is affordable, and you can design your own with just photoshop. So I have (or is that had) a few designs for “Professor Zoom” my original caching name. Then I created a few for Cecil since he caches too. Cecil started out with a simple design, and then I created a new version where his face glowed in the dark (radioactivity experiment gone wrong). Finally, a group called the “Jedi Council” opened up and Cecil had to join, so he had a Jedi Council tag. After the adventure of this summer (about 18,000 miles & hundreds of caches found and people met) I have run out of tags!
Cecil taking over the world!
So either I go back and reorder (boring) or redesign…
I did ask for some ideas and these are no where near final designs, but I thought I would share them here first.
The one as Cecil from Star Trek would go together with the Jedi Council one, but… I wasn’t sure, so I just started playing around and that ended up with work on a “Cecil Archetype” or Master Cecil design, I did a few and ended up with one that I at least liked.
As I was drawing I realized that Cecil has ended up being almost a classic animated character design (his face). So I tried another design thinking back to 1940’s WWII propaganda and came up with what I hope is a winner- I just need to tweak some details so what you are seeing is very rough, but I think it is the next tag- the question becomes color and what other things do I want to do.
So you’ve read this log blog entry without seeing the final Cecil design…
Still a little rough...
I have some clean up to do, but think this is a Cecil design that I can grow. Next Sue and me… Will I give up Sue’s hair? Only time will tell.
Yes, by my rather faulty calculations the 50th strip was posted on Friday and as I finish out next week’s strips (a buffer- woo hoo!) I thought I’d take a few minutes to review a little bit about the miracle of this summer.
Who would have thought back in May when I started this that by summer’s end I would still be going and still have ideas for comic strips. I have had a whirlwind adventure traveling over 18,000 miles and meeting hundreds of geeks across the country and around the world. Silverstone, Winona, San Diego, and Hawaii (Note: Maui was not part of the fellowship and has not been included in any reports) I have received my notice from the Lilly Endowment that I should be putting together my preliminary report and financial documentation. I will try to post all of that so you have an idea as to what it cost and what I said I actually did. I’m sure someone could figure out a way to cut costs even more, but I think I did fairly well (didn’t eat half as much as I thought I would have).
I always looked at this fellowship almost as “seed money” something to kick me in the rump and get me started on something I have always dreamed of doing. 50 strips in, and while I have been late a few times I have tried to produce something I would be proud of. It still has a long way to go, but as I go back and look at those first strips I already see some growth the next 50 will be even better.
To those who have been following the strip… You have my undying gratitude. I do this for myself (no Mom, I’m not making any money at it), but knowing that there are some people who actually read it (besides Sue, who is forced to) you don’t know how much that means. Thank you.
Well since some of this will be part of the comic I don’t want to give too much away… but Sue and I are with some members of my family vacationing on the island of Maui before the the start of school. We have done a lot of things over the past week and really had a great time discovering the island. A great many places were thanks to geocaching (the travelers secret weapon for finding out of the way spots) but since we haven’t even found half of the 90 caches on the island we still have a lot to explore and only the rest of today to do it! Traveling with family can be interesting and since this is the first trip I have taken with my family for about 25 years it has been a unique experience.
School starts soon, so I will be plotting out the trip and hopefully getting it inked and scheduled so I will have a buffer to get me through the start of school… if not I can see some late strips as I juggle both school and the comic strip. With a hurricane heading our direction (scheduled to arrive tomorrow when we leave) it could be even more fun. Aloha!
Today started off with excitement and joy as I woke up early and headed to the Convention Center with the hope of getting the autographs of the “Mythbusters.” Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. The way autographs work at Comic-Con is a strange and mysterious thing involving lines, bags, tickets & cats. First you arrive at least an hour before they asked you to so you can wait to see if you are part of the group to get autographs. This was around 7:45 for me, and I waited with a whole lot of people. Once the magic hour has arrived you move through the line pulling raffle tickets from a bag. If your raffle ticket is blank- no autograph, if it has a stamp of a cat on it, you need to return at 10:30 to get in line for the 11:30 autograph session. Make sense. So lets say, you were like me and didn’t get a ticket with a cat on it, you have two options, first is to leave muttering under your breath. The second is to get back in line and try it all again. That’s what I did… twice. Finally pulling an elusive cat. I returned and waited in line (again) to get Adam & Jamie’s autographs.
I was (for some strange reason) really nervous, my mind lost in thought when I finally got up to the front of the line. I realized that yes, that strange man I had asked to get a photo with Cecil who I thought was Adam Savage, WAS ADAM SAVAGE! I was right! He even notice Cecil and commented which threw me off. It threw me off so much that I didn’t pose for a picture and forgot to ask that they make it out to my class.
I went to a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund session with Jeff Smith- Creator of Bone in which he outlined his process for doing a comic by roughing out a four panel idea and bringing it all the way to the finished product. Due to time he only finished two panels, but it was really cool.
I then headed off to a session on Using Comic Books in your classroom, which was interesting. The panel discussed how “Graphic Novels” aka comics have slowly worked their way into the libraries have been successful, and how while many are under the impression that comics are great for reluctant readers when they actually help with readers of all levels. The thing missing- actual curriculum, in these days of standards. Hopefully some of these more direct pieces will be addressed in the panels tomorrow.
Another wonderful day without finding a geocache (then again I really can’t say I was looking today). I headed out with a goal or two in mind- first was to get to at least one session and the other was to pick up some more comics for my classroom. I did both and now I’m tired… goodnight.
Alright a little more detail… headed out and planned that my first panel would be “After the First 1,000 Pages” this panel was great, each member talked about the growth in their drawing style and confidence after finally reaching 1,000 pages of comic book art. They also talked about some of the pitfalls that they still encounter. THings like trying to figure out how to draw something and how now as they are sometimes scripting their own comics they still give themselves challenges. One panelist (and I am sorry for not being detailed, it is late and while I listened I did not take notes) talked about how he hates drawing crowd scenes and then how when he wrote a script for himself it ended up having a crowd scene! He thought he could avoid it but that’s what the story called for. Like my first session this was a small gathering, the room was almost full, but there wasn’t much of a line which was nice. I did some rough calculations and if I continue producing 3 strips a week I should hit 1,000 strips somewhere between 2015 and 2016. Either I have to speed up the process making it a daily (yipes) which would give me 1,000 strips somewhere around 2013 or just keep plugging away. That was one thing they did mention which was just having the persistence to keep going and how they learned some of the most important things by being under a deadline and ending up creating shortcuts that worked and altered their drawing technique to create their style… kind of cool.
The other session I went to was Robert Kirkman’s session on what he is going to be doing with his comics in the next few months/years. Since I read both “Invincible” and “The Walking Dead” I found it really cool to gain a little insight into what the future holds for some of my favorite characters. I won’t go into much here (sorry… while it was nice to hear it, I know I’ll garble the message like in the game “telephone”) all I can say is I am waiting to read Invincible #64 and curious as to the changes that will happen in “The Walking Dead.” The big bomb that was dropped was that Kirkman’s “The Astonishing Wolfman” Comic will stop after issue 25. He will have told the story that he wanted and feels that after the final arc there will be nothing left to tell. I have picked up a few issues and while good it never really hooked me like his other titles. The final part was his collaboration with Todd McFarlane (of “Spawn” fame). They will be working together on a comic called “Haunt.” It looks interesting but I was unable to pick up a preview today.
What I was able to pick up was what seemed like a gazillion pounds of comics for my classroom! I finally found Jimmy Gownley’s booth and picked up “Amelia Rules!” trades and some comics from Ray Friesen which look very promising. “Amelia Rules!” is one of those comics I picked up at my local shop and shared it with my class… it is a great story about growing up. I also stopped by Blue Dream Studios booth- Home of “The Dreamland Chronicles” and picked up two of everything that they had. Scott Sava writes such fantastic all ages stories and they can all be found at www.thedreamlandchronicles.com.
It's Star Wars Day at Comic-Con so Cecil gets his photo with Jedi Elvis and Princess Leia.
So what else did I do all day? Besides running around with Cecil and getting more pictures of him (While it was Star Wars Day there were more and more people in costumes of all variety) I also spent a good deal of time in the morning chasing down an illusive Mythbusters bag. As I walked into the convention center I saw all these people with gigantic Mythbusters bags. I asked someone where they had gotten it and was told that someone was handing them out on the street- so off to the street I went looking for the ones with the bags. Nope, all I saw were more people with Mythbusters bags so I finally just gave up and pulled out the Dark Horse Comics bag I received at preview night and used that. The funny thing is I must have had Mythbusters on my mind because when I headed to Room 29 to pick up my 40th Anniversary History of Comic-Con book, I was walking by the always packed Ballroom 20 and I could swear I saw Adam Savage of Mythbusters! So confident was I that this must be Adam Savage I boldly came up and said “Hi! Could I get a picture of you with my monkey?” As I was focusing the camera I noticed the name tag which did not say Adam Savage, but I politely said “Oh I’m just picking people at random and getting their picture taken… Thanks!” I keep going back to the photo and don’t know, but think it is a pretty amusing anecdote dealing with the power of Cecil once again getting me to do something I normally would never have done.
Finally as the day drew to a close I had to make a decision do I stick it out and go to the Eisner Award Ceremony or do I just say I’m tired and head back to the hotel with my metric ton of books. I chose the later convincing myself that I would probably have to wait in line for hours, then not get a seat and it would be a waste of time. I finish this post and the Eisner’s will have just concluded and my only thought is I guess the next time I try to attend I’ll either have a professional badge or I’ll be nominated for the award. What’s that quote? “Reach for the stars- you may never touch them, but you won’t end up with a handful of mud either.”
Yup! Even Google (a company full of very cool geeks) is celebrating Comic-Con with this updated logo by Jim Lee.
After being sore and tired and worn out yesterday I experienced one of the great bonuses when it comes to traveling west- I got to sleep in without sleeping in. My body thought it was 10:00 AM but the clock only said 7:00!
I headed out knowing that there was very little on my plate when it came to sessions I wanted to go to so it would be an easy day enjoying the exhibit hall and maybe, just maybe finishing off some of the must do shopping. I started in the typical overwhelmed state trying to figure out where I needed to go and stopped by “The Prisoner” booth to see what was going on. “The Prisoner” is a cult classic from England and it is being rebooted (Hollywood’s new term) on AMC (didn’t that used to be American Movie Classics?). It does look interesting and I went ahead and gave them my email address so I could become 234 and a citizen of the village. I decided that it would be cool if Cecil had one too. So knowing that all they wanted was to reach their quota of collected email addresses I asked if the monkey could get one and since he does have his own they went right ahead (after some some slight Jedi mind tricks) and took his photo. The funny part was when the gut who does the cards got to that picture you could just see the confusion on his face.
So then I took my time on a quest to get some things done. Get “Winter 1152” from David Peterson and get my copy of “Fall 1152” signed. Find Chris Giarrusso and see if he was still doing his really cool crayon drawings and get one. He was and I did. Then I was determined to find Scott Sava’s booth WITHOUT consulting my program. This was a bad idea. I remember seeing it Wednesday night and not going over (don’t know why, just didn’t). I now wanted to make sure I knew where it was and see what stuff he had (Scott does the webcomic Dreamland Chronicles and a bunch of all ages stuff that is really great). I would hate to have seen my trail as I kept looking and finding nothing… I found a bunch of other cool booths and kept ending up in some different places. Finally after a quick break I gave up and looked in my guide. I’ll be back sometime before Sunday to pick up the books I need.
So I’m wandering around and there is Andy Runton’s Booth. Andy does the wonderful comic “Owly” which is a great book and was my very first geocache. The cool ting about it is any kid can read it since it has virtually no words! The story is told entirely through pictures it is so cool, so I picked up a complete set of his books and some other stuff. Andy was so nice he even gave Cecil a pin on Wormy (if you had read Owly, you would know WHO wormy is) that Cecil has been wearing since.
I also picked up the DVD of the Jeff Smith documentary, before heading off to my only panel of the day. Jimmy Gownley does the comic book “Amelia Rules!” which is about the life of a girl and her friends… its about growing up, its about being a kid, its just plain cool. I have a bunch of copies in my classroom not because I like but because it has a strong female character that kids relate to (and because I like it). The panel was on self publishing, but really it was the story of how Jimmy started creating comics and how he (and his wife) got people to read the comic. Inspiring, and since it wasn’t about Twilight (Jimmy started off with something about “Thank you attending this panel on How Twilight has impacted American goth culture…” or something like that) it wasn’t full. And I feel that most of the sessions I will want to attend will be like that. I really don’t care too much about the latest Hollywood blockbuster that just got announced. While I love Disney & Tim Burton’s work, I didn’t really want to wait hours in line to try to get into Hall H to hear about “Alice in Wonderland” although the net was abuzz over Johnny Depp showing up for that panel. James Cameron is a fantastic filmmaker and I’m sure Avatar is going to be a great movie… again did I need to be there? Some girls on the Trolley back had waited a couple hours to get into one of the main halls and finally gave up when they realized that there were still about 1,000 people ahead of them. That has been something I doubt I have heard the last of- overcrowding. There are a lot of people here! trying to move in the exhibit hall in some places can be almost impossible. This does not bode well for my plan to attend the Eisner Awards or the Masquerade, but if it happens great, if it doesn’t, so be it. I will at least have tried there are other things going on or I could maybe get some of the comics done for next week.
Today though, was not just for shopping, or learning about one of my favorite comics… it was for Cecil and taking the time to let the monkey help me break down some of the barriers that keep me from actually being more outgoing. For some people this may seem a shocking statement, but I am an introvert. Talking to people and being outgoing are against my nature. I don’t know if it was something that happened in my dark childhood (maybe the butler told me to shush too many times) or what, but anytime I’m in a new situation I have to push myself to be social. Cecil has helped- I’m not self confident enough to come up to a girl in a metal bikini and ask if I can take her picture… even if thousands of other guys are. But to chronicle Comic-Con I wanted to really help everyone understand what was happening, so Cecil has to be the one to get me to push beyond and ask “Can I get a picture of you with my monkey?” Be it an artist I admire, or a guy in a crazy costume or a girl in a metal bikini, Cecil does get the photo because he is one spoiled monkey that no one can refuse. So check out the Flickr account and see Cecil’s latest photos. Friday is Star Wars Day so I’m sure he’ll get his share of Stormtroopers and other inhabitants of the Star Wars Universe. Saturday is the Masquerade so there will be a lot more costumes then. The cool thing is these are people who are enjoying themselves taking some time from their hectic lives to be someone else to escape. Having Halloween in July, and that is so cool.
Final note: Geocaching wise- I looked for three different caches today and found none. Mostly (I know this will come as a shock) because of muggles (and muggles dressed as wizards, and super-heroes, and zombies, and vampires, and… you get the picture), but some because I may not have been looking in the right places, I’ll keep trying hopefully finding a few before I leave.
