This year was the first year I’d ever attended San Diego Comic Con, either as an exhibitor or as an attendee. I’d heard stories – wonderful, amazing stories – from other people who had been to the show before. “Geek Mecca”, they called it, or sometimes, jokingly, the “Geek Prom”, but the one thing that remained the same about their tales was the slightly-misty look in their eyes as they spoke of it. Some people had met famous actors and shook their hands. Others had gotten their hands on enough fabulous loot to make pirate envious. And others had met life-long friends in line for Hall H.

So, to say that I was a tad nervous about exhibiting at San Diego is a bit of an understatement. One of my friends tried to reassure me that I’d exhibited at other big cons before, and that I would be an old pro at it. I looked him dead in the eye and replied, “To say that is akin to saying that I’ve walked through a rainstorm, so I should know how to deal with a hurricane.”

So, was it a hurricane? Hells yeah!! More people attended that con this year than live in the city I was born in.

But was it one hell of a fun time?? Oh my god yes!!!!

More later!! There’s tons of San Diego stories to tell, but only a few days before I ship out to Gen Con!!

Layne informs me that I got the song completely wrong. It’s bread, mayo, lettuce, CHEESE, tomato, etc, etc, etc… He says that the cheese provides a nice, flat platform for the tomato to sit on so that it doesn’t fall off the sandwich while you’re trying to eat it.

This is a man who had put a LOT of thought into his sandwiches. A LOT.

Which is probably why they taste so good. I used to be of the opinion that anything thrown onto bread in any order was a sandwich, and why should I care what order they go in because it’s all just going to wind up in my belly anyway. But there is a certain logic to his arrangement of ingredients. Lettuce tastes best with a little bit of mayo. The meat tastes best by the mustard. Everything has a reason and a purpose. It’s all very zen.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer, folks. This was a hard strip to write. I discarded seven other scripts, including a few lighthearted takes on the holiday. None of them seemed to fit. They felt fake. And, loathe though I am to air any of my dirty laundry in front of you lovely folks, I felt like this one needed to be said. Or drawn, rather.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday. I won’t necessarily enjoy Father’s Day, but I will do what I normally do, which is to call my grandpa and my uncle and thank them both for being a part of my life, and then try and ignore the urge to huck a remote at the screen every time I see one of those damned saccharine ads for Father’s Day on tv. Seriously. They all boil down to “Dad’s so funny. Look, he likes golf and napping!”. I do believe that I hate them even more than I hate the usual ream of sexist beer ads.

Sometimes, the weather on the prairies is enough to make me wonder why anyone chooses to live here.

Take the snowstorm we got on Wednesday, May 4th. People in other, less insane climates are getting their Cinco de Mayo decorations up, hanging out on the beach, or already tending their burgeoning gardens.

What was I doing? I was scraping three inches of frozen snow off of the windshield of my car. Now, just days before, I’d been hanging around outside in a skirt and tank top, pondering putting some flowers out on my patio. Sure glad now that I decided NOT to head to the garden store after all!!

Oh, Edmonton. I love your gorgeous riverbank and your summer festivals, but the moment Layne’s done his degree, we’re frickin’ heading to the coast. I’m sick of snow.

For those who are wondering what’s up with the cowboy hats, it will become quite clear once you know two simple facts about Calgary.

Fact #1: Calgary is home to the world’s largest rodeo. Surpassing even any of the big rodeos in Texas, the Calgary Stampede is SO massive that it caused the city’s divorce rate to skyrocket as people suddenly sneak out on their partners for someone sexy in a cowboy hat.

Fact #2: The Calgary Comic Expo is held on the Stampede grounds. In fact, the convention hall is only a short walk away from the Saddledome, the giant sport’s field designed to look like – you guessed it – a saddle. The security staff all wear rodeo shirts and cowboy hats.

So, knowing these two simple facts, it’s quite easy to understand why people would mix a little Western themes into their sci-fi costumes. I mean – it’s Calgary! Everyone’s got a cowboy hat!

Oh, Friday Harbor… What a magical place…

Layne has attended a biology conference in Friday Harbor for the past few years, and every year he has come back with tales of what a beautiful island it is, and how much I would love it. And so, this year, when his conference happened to fall just a few days after Emerald City Comic Con, we made plans to attend both events, back to back!!

After puttering around in Seattle for two days, we caught the ferry from Anacortes out to Friday Harbor. On the ferry trip alone, I saw dolphins, innumerable gulls and cormorants, and a smattering of eagles. And that was just the beginnings of the variety of wildlife I’d see on that trip!

But, first, there was science to be had. The first night, I went with Layne to listen to the keynote speaker talk about her research into human blastocysts. It was very interesting, and I managed to follow along pretty well with just my layman’s knowledge of developmental biology, but I quickly realized that things were going to get over my head in fairly short order.

Take the “Guess the Invertebrate”, for example. All of the squirmy, worm-like things in the tank looked pretty much the same to me. Some were bigger. Some had more legs. There was one big green one that looked vaguely cthuluoid. But I couldn’t have put a name to any one of them if my life had depended on it. Everyone else seemed to get into it, though!!