We laid down for all of twenty minutes before the lure of Rock Band became too strong. I mean – playing drums is still sitting, right? And you can totally play a guitar sitting down… Besides, the couches were within crawling distance of the PS3, and the temptation was simply too much!

It was a ton of fun, and exactly what we needed to unwind after a long convention sitting within range of the Rock Band 3 booth. (Which, coincidentally, looks like it’s going to be [i]awesome[/i]!!)

So there you have it – the end of my journey to SDCC. Next – Gen Con!!

We first got into real ship nerdery when we stumbled across the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian. Layne had asked for a set of the books for Christmas – no small feat, when there’s twenty books in the series!! He got enough of the books to get started, and then quickly hooked me on the books too. There was something fascinating about the details in the novels, and though I’d grown up in a place about as far from the ocean as you can get, I was charmed by the descriptions of seagoing life. When the movie, Master and Commander came out, it was just icing on the cake.

And so, to suddenly find ourselves on the very ship that the movie was filmed on was pretty amazing!!! Layne and I ran around like little kids, pointing at things and blabbing loudly about how awesome it was, and, oh, look at all the rigging!! In fact, Layne was so well-versed on the ships sails that one older woman asked if he worked for the museum! All in all, it was an awesome trip.

This comic fudges the truth just a little a bit, for humors sake. For one, Matt was having a bit of an all-expenses paid vacation at the vets, where he is beloved by all of the vet techs, in order to spare Layne and I some serious allergic reactions. (The Hicks’ were even kind enough to borrow an air filter, which made a HUGE difference! I never even got the sniffles!) And, for another, he was far too much of a gentleman to end up on my face, though he did sniff curiously at me from a distance upon his return home after SDCC was over. (We didn’t leave until Tuesday, so we had a little time to visit San Diego after the con.)

Apparently, Matt really loves Canadians. The only other new person that he hasn’t hidden under the bed from was also Canadian, and he was treated to a full-on “pet me, love me” routine. I think that if Matt hadn’t been a little bewildered from the trip home from the vets, and had I not been to quick to keep my distance, lest I start sneezing, he would have wanted cuddles. He certainly peered down at me from the stairs for a very long time while I finished coloring my comics for the week.

So, Matt – here’s to you! Next time I come down there, I’ll bring you some maple syrup flavored catnip!

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!!

(Actually, Pike Place market has it’s fair share of animals, too. Though, those are mostly dead and available for eating. Which may argue that Pike Place is the better place to hang out. But I digress..)

We spent out Monday in Seattle hanging out at the market and wandering by the seashore. And after seeing so many tasty, tasty fishes, I decided that it was time to go and see some of the live variety. Hugparty was kind enough to accompany us and put up with my squeeing over the corals. (Actually, she did some squeeing too, truth be told. Corals are pretty awesome.)

We were there nearly until closing time, and really should have come earlier and made an entire day of it. As it was, we could have killed a couple of hours just watching the river otters play in their enclosure, to say nothing of the very inquisitive fur seal who I got into a staring contest with. All in all, it was an awesome way to spend a day.

Also – OMG AUKS!!!!!!!