Bad blogger, bad! (+ photos)

You guys, I'm not very good at this whole "blogging regularly" thing.  I'll try to fix that, I promise.  I really do have a good excuse, though -- it's been a heavy transitional month for me!  I left my job working at the hat shop (what a relief!) and now work for an awesome non-profit in San Francisco.  Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I'm pretty bad at mornings, and having to wake up at 6:00am and commute out to the city every morning is pretty tough... I'm still adjusting to the new schedule, and have found myself wanting to do nothing more than watch Star Trek: TNG and play Mass Effect 3 when I get home every night.

I have been taking photos here and there, though, so I'll share a few with you to tide you over until I have a legit post ready (which I swear will not be a month from now).

Jordan's cat, Sorbo, being painfully cute.

Sorbo and Pogo playing -- they make the most adorable noises!

It's so great that they get along so well, even if it's make-believe

"I'm going to kiiiiiill yooooou!" play.  And who would've ever

guessed that Sorbo would most times come out the victor,

being several years older than Pogo? 

We got quite a bit of rain this month!  It was much needed,

after such a dry winter. The rain took a break for a couple of weeks
but is back this weekend!

There's this great park down the street from where Jordan and I live

that we call  the "Ship Park," because it has a giant wooden ship

that kids - and adults! - can play on.

My aunt and I went on a walk along the Crockett-Vallejo Bridge.  

It was a beautiful day, and we saw tons of ships and caught up on eachother's lives

-- including, at the time, our job searches.

I take a lot of joy in pictures I catch where Jordan doesn't look

like he's seriously contemplating the complexities of life.

I don't know why he's dancing here, but I'll take it!

Todos Santos Plaza in Concord is lovely at night

(except for those video cameras, which we all found rather

eerie when we noticed them). This was my attempt at seeing

how best I could capture it with my DSLR and no tripod.

 

And D&D night happened and it was a blast, as per usual!

Nothin' like spending one's Friday night slaying some

eerie-lookin' zombie priests.  

That's what I've been up to!  I'll (hopefully) be back soon

with something that's a bit more... substantial.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things,

having a consistent schedule, and ideally fleshing out this blog a bit more

so it starts to take on an identity of it's own!

Image Expo (super-photo-heavy post!)

Image Comics, the third biggest comic book publisher after Marvel and DC Comics, recently put on it's first comic book convention in downtown Oakland -- Image Expo.  Jordan's store, Escapist Comics, had one of the largest booths there!  I had the pleasure of helping set up, run, and break down the booth... and managed to snap some pictures of the process, as well as pick up a couple of neat things for myself.  :)

The booth was 4 spaces wide, which, if I received accurate info, was the largest booth there (aside from Image Comics)!  We had everything from Literature Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks (on the back wall), Superhero trades, omnibuses, kids comics and collections of comic strips on the table, and even a spot for small press - which were sadly under-represented at the Expo, if I may say so myself.  Maybe next year...!

Also, let's not forget the Golden and Silver Age comics, spearheaded by Jim:

The biggest sale of the weekend was a copy of Fantastic Four #4, which went for $650 -- that was more than half of the cost of the entire booth!!

The staff worked crazy-hard (Paul isn't pictured, but he worked his butt off, too!) and Jordan said it was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, conventions he's ever worked!  We made record time breaking down the booth at the end of the weekend, and I think I doubled my muscle mass in just a few days.

I managed to pick up some goodies for myself, while I was there:

Some pins, a glow-in-the-dark skeleton, and that Giraffe print -- it has to be one of my favorite things!! 

The pins and the Giraffe print were purchased from the lovely miss Karen Krajenbrink.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of my painting of Batman running away with a lit bomb, all freaked out and stuff.  Ultimate bummer 2012.

I also had the pleasure of meeting the comedy troupe Dipstick Swagger, who blend sketch comedy with self-publishing mini-zines and indie comics.  I commissioned one of their artists, Tirumari, to draw me a picture of Wonder Woman.  I was then informed that, for free, I would receive two of the comedians' interpretations of Wonder Woman as well.  Three drawings for the price of one?  Sold!

Tirumari's drawing of Wonder Woman:

... and then Dash and Stephen's:

Jimmy (aka Jammies) also ommissioned one of the doctors from Doctor Who

(I think this is the happiest picture of him ever):

All in all, it was a BLAST!  I felt right at home nestled in with everyone there, and was happy to help make the Escapist's appearance at the Expo a success!    Thanks so much to The Escapist for letting me tag along.  :)

I feel as though I made out like a bandit with the lovely (and hilarious) artwork I scored!  I'm happy to support comics, independent artists - and comedians! - and really hope that Image Comics decides to put on Image Expo next year!

Next up: Stumptown Comics Fest in April.  Watch out, Portland: we're coming for you!