Day three of Wondercon is upon us, which sadly brings our time here to an end. Just thought I would pop in with a few choice photos to share the fun since I won’t have time for a full post just yet!
Enjoy!
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WonderCon Return for 2013
Yes yes. I know it has been literally ages since my last blog post. I took on a LOT during this first half of the year and with the wedding coming up I am battling to find a balance.
And while we are on the topic of balance, you should know that I am dialing back on the blog. I am really enjoying the other things I am producing for Dungeon Master and want to focus more on creation of content than on trying to shove a random blog down your throat. This site will be evolving into something else over the next months and I am really excited to see what it becomes.
You will be hearing a lot from me over the next week and a half or so, though! Why is that, you ask?
Well, this coming weekend is WONDERCON and that means lots of blogging with a dash of live tweeting mixed in!
Woo! I love Con culture so much and I am looking forward to this more than you can understand. I have been so stressed with wedding planning and work so I super cannot wait to get away to geektopia for a weekend.
Okay! I’ll catch you soon!
15 Days of Comic-Con Posts: #1 – Discovering Comics
Comic Con 2012 was a wonderfully nertastic weekend of geeks, gamers, nerdy eye candy, video games, shopping and role playing. Not to mention dice and drinking. But this years Comic Con convention brought something that last year’s did not.
Comics.
For me at least, anyway.
I was just never much for Comics in the past. I certainly loved the movies and television shows that were based on comics, but I never found them at a young age, nor did I discover one I was interested in as an adult.
Well, that all changed this year at Comic Con.
It all started back in March at WonderCon. We went to Anaheim for the Comic Convention and my birthday, and it was there that I spotted the IDW booth and a poster that would start my journey to discovering comics.
Assimilation was still yet to be released back in March, but the mere idea of a Doctor Who/Star Trek cross-over comic was enough to peak my interest. But since it wasn’t out yet, my excitement for the comic soon faded.
Until I went back to Comic Con last weekend. The IDW booth was literally the first booth that we saw once entering the exhibit hall, and I was immediately reminded of my hunger for the comic.
I walked up and asked if it had a release date yet….and was bummed to hear that it had already come out, and that they had sold out all of the first and second issue at the preview night.
He told me they saved 100 or so for the comic signing the following day, and if I had the time and patience to stand in line for the signing, I would be able to buy a copy.
I wasn’t sure what kind of line I might have to stand in, but I knew I wanted the comic, and I didn’t want to leave without it. I was told to arrive 15 minutes before the signing and I should be able to get a copy with no problems.
I arrived 30 minutes early.
I was first in line and I was thrilled. I knew I would be able to get my comic since I was first, and getting it signed by THREE people was a bonus I hadn’t expected. I wasn’t alone in line for long. I met a few fellow Doctor Who fans; the conversation was easy and enjoyable and the 30 minutes passed quickly. Waiting in that quick line was actually a highlight of the day.
They opened the signing and I stepped right up to see not two but SEVEN covers! I couldn’t decide which I preferred, so I bought them all and the artists quickly got to work signing the masterpieces.
I was so excited.
The folks at star trek even snapped a picture of me, and when I arrived home after the Con two of my friends informed me that I was featured on the star trek Facebook page.
That is me in the glasses with the green bag and the TARDIS earrings. Hehe…cool.
I’m just glad I got a photo with the artists. Had I not been featured on the page, I wouldn’t have gotten a photo at all. The signing, and the buying of my first EVER comic was a HUGE highlight of the con and I am so glad I took the time out of the day to accommodate the event… now I have some good reading material and probable collectors items all at the same time.
What was the first Comic you ever bought?
This is My Tired Face…
Ten hour days are stupid.
I mean, overtime is all well and good. I do enjoy money. But the rest of it is just yucky. My amazing, wonderful fiance cleaned the entire apartment for me, too. Because he knows how stressed I am.
I freaking love him.
I am so dead tired right now. After that crazy long day, I even went to the gym…so I am a little beyond beat.
Engagement photos tomorrow. I will post a sneak peak and wrap up WonderCon tomorrow.
Night!
Catching Up To Reality
It is nice to finally be all caught up on blog. The WonderCon posts took so much out of me. I loved writing them, but before Comic Con, I would like to try to find a better android blog posting app so that I can post daily blogs from the convention. It is too hard to come back from a crazy weekend like that, and expect to blog the experiance well. Whatever you say can not do justice to the event, especially when you have to wait to post.
Also, the fact that we became engaged right at the end of the Convenetion added to my delay.
For the past two months, I have been engaged to the most wonderful man that I have ever known. In the whirlwind that followed, I somehow neglected to share that wonderful story. Being so back logged on WonderCon blog posts only delayed the propsal story longer. I didn’t feel like I could share the details until I told you how we got to that point…so that was why I waited so long. It almost felt like the proposal story best followed the WonderCon wrap up as a climax.
That’s all in the past now. I finished the WonderCon wrap up and finally posted the nerdtastic proposal story. And in the next few days, I am excitied to start sharing all of the wonderfully nerdy wedding details.
Back on the Con front however, I forget to mention that I was accepted to receive a Comic Con Professionals badge. This means that I now have four days of access to the con, plus the preview night. I also was able to get a refund for the two tickets I already purchased.
I was not able to get Mark a guest pass however. Total bummer. This means that unless we can find a friend with an extra professional pass or something, we will still only be going for the two original days.
It isn’t that big of a deal. At least now I know I can get a professional badge again next year, and I get my 80 bucks back…so that’s fun!
We have a big couple of months coming up. A trip to PA to begin planning the wedding in one month (one month from Today, in fact). Then we have Comic Con in July. One month after that we are grtting married in Las Vegas, and in October I am going back to Florida to be in my good friend Tina’s wedding.
Talk about a whirlwind.
Tonight I get off work early. So I am going to meet a friend for dinner and drinks.
Any bloggers out there have advice for a better blogging app I can download for my android. I’m not a fan of the WordPress app because you can only add pictures at the beginning or end of the post and not through out. Any advice would be appriciated.
WonderCon: Day 3 – A Very Nerdy Birthday
WonderCon: Day 1 – The Couple and the TARDIS
WonderCon: Day 2 – It’s Easy being Green
I know this wrap up is about 2 months late…better late than never?
Wondercon Day 3 was weird…
It was my birthday, which was way fun and it stopped raining which was just lovely. But it was the last day. We would be leaving soon, which is always sad and Mark was just…
Well…
He was…different.
It was MY birthday, and yet he was being a little cranky. I did my best to ignore it, knowing that he was probably just tired and more than a little hung over after three days of drinking.
We found a few cool new video games for him to check out, which is always his favorite…but it didn’t seem to help.
Walking the floor was a terrible idea because now we were both in a bad mood. We tried in vein to find food at a different less crowded hotel, trying to avoid a similar problem to Day Two.
We finally decided to give the food in the expo another shot, this time trying the Chinese food and a sub.
What a relief.
The Chinese was good. A yummy teriyaki with loads of fresh veggies and noodles. We split that and a turkey sub, with more veggies. My body was thrilled. The junk food diet I’d been living on for a few days was killing me. The veggies were just what I needed.
We both felt better after eating, so we hit the floor in a better mood. I LOVED the TARDIS robe one vender was selling…seen here with the cutest Doctor.
On our way up to the “Once Upon A Time” screening and panel we took a moment to be Avengers (I of course, am Thor).
And before heading upstairs to the ballroom we found the best Yoda win I have ever seen!
This guy totally posed…
The Once Upon a Time Screening was awesome. It was fun to see the episode a bit early…and it was a REALLY good one. We even got some fun gifts for attending the panel.
And AT the panel after the screening I even got some awesome news about one of my favorite characters who will be returning for the finale…yay yay yay!
After the panel we took to the expo floor for the final time. The Con closed early on Sunday and we wanted to soak up as much nerd as we could before hitting the road.
Mark was still being a little brooding and cranky, but I tried to ignore it and hack it up to not wanting to leave, or maybe just not being entirely satisfied with the Con.
Hung out with another Star Wars Villain…and I did a bit of shopping.
You know I love my nerdy mugs.
I am so a dragon…sorry all you Starks out there. Targaryen or bust. 
Before leaving the expo, we found a cute little girl who made good use of Dad’s R2 unit.
She was just rolling around. Hilarious.
We snagged another R2 photo op before finally heading home.
We walked back to the hotel, stopping to take pictures with an Anaheim castle and a Captain’s buffet.
I want to take a second to mention my giveaway. I should have done this two months ago, but a full time job has gotten me so back logged on blogs….
So, now for my WonderCon giveaway bag.
I have a cool collection of comic books, an issue of comic con magazine, a couple of nerdy tote bags for groceries or whatever you like. I included a lanyard with a few pins, some temporary tattoos, some post cards with discount codes for awesome nerdy t shirts and even a discount code for the official HBO game of thrones store. I have a limited edition Spiderman poster and a few other fun items.
All you have to do to win this great gift bag is leave a comment on this blog, telling me about your favorite fandom and why you love it. It can be a comic or TV show or movie, a superhero or video game. Just tell me what it is and why you love it.
The winner be chosen at random next Tuesday, May 22nd! So you have One Week!
Leaving WonderCon was tough. We were sad to go, but we were all feeling a bit tired and run down. The car ride back to LA was long. Mark was still being so jumpy and anxious…and texting friends like crazy. We decided to go to the bar we first met at for a gathering with friends for my birthday….
And he still had one more trick up his sleeve. In about two hours, I would know the reason for his anxiety.
To be continued…tomorrow…when I finally share the proposal story.
WonderCon: Day 2 – It’s Easy being Green
Part I – WonderCon: Day 1 – The Couple and the TARDIS
I have discovered that the effects of a two day hangover are somewhat nullified when I am excited about something.
Wondercon Day two brought a mild headache (my fault), rain, bitter cold, and lots of green. Yay St. Patrick’s day!
We woke up around 8:45/9:00 on Saturday. There were four of us who needed to shower and eat, and we had high hopes of making some panels at 10:30.
Nate wanted to learn how to build his own R2 unit, and I wanted to attend a panel called “Goal Setting for Creative Types.”
After a small continental breakfast (all of our stomachs were a little too effected by vodka to eat too much), we headed to the hotel lobby to call a cab. By SoCal standards, we were in a veritable downpour (but not by Florida standards). The shuttle driver for Disney was about to leave, however, and he offered to give us a lift to the convention. It was a good thing, too…
The rain made LA drivers idiots. It took us 45 minutes to get the 1.8 miles to the convention center. We could have walked faster, and the cab cost would have been exorbitant. Still, we tipped the nice driver ten bucks for his trouble.
We sloshed through the rain, and Nate and Kara decided to try for the R2 panel despite the fact that we were late. I, however, decided that showing up to a goal setting panel 15 minutes late probably showed a lack of planning. So Mark and I walked the floor.
Almost immediately I ran into a group of people with the seriously coolest Dr. Who costumes on. And the group also contained the last centurion.
After that, Mark and I pretty much decided to scour the place for food. We were both starving and the convention center food had failed to impress us the day before.
This is where I express my dismay Wondercon and the Anaheim convention center
The geniuses that run the Anaheim Convention center decided that since they have so much space they would book THREE events for the same weekend. THREE. And…the events did not really match.
1. Wondercon
2. State Ladies High School Volleyball Tournament
3. State Middle School Cheer-leading Tournament
WTF?
Because, ya know…Jocks, Nerds, and Cheerleaders always got along so well?
Honestly, that wasn’t the problem. While the cheerleaders were a bit daft (I overheard one who couldn’t figure out why everyone was wearing green….uh, really? St. Patrick’s day…no?) The volleyball girls were cool. Most were super excited to get photos taken with the awesome costumes at the Con.
The biggest problem is that the Anaheim convention center is situated around three hotels…and that’s it.
Comic con is in the Gas Light district in San Diego. At any given moment, there are like 150 choices for food, and drinks….and they always have a TON of food trucks lining the road.
However in Anaheim, you have the food at the convention center, and a few hotel food court options. That’s it. We had to wait 20 minutes to order, and then another 20 minutes for our food because there were sooooo many people between the con and the sporting events.
I was flat out angry by the time we ate. Just…don’t triple book the convention center if there are not enough places to eat. Really? And I blame the people at WonderCon for not setting up for some local food trucks. How hard would that have been? I mean really.
Grrrr.
Okay, so that was my rant. We ended up finally eating and hooking back up with Nate and Kara. Nate found another panel I might like, since I missed the first one.
It was pretty cool, actually.
It was called “Where Do Ideas Come From.” It was really about overcoming writers block and learning to meet deadlines. The speaker was Barbara Randall Kesel (New Teen Titans, Meridian, Hawk and Dove) and her advice was invaluable for this aspiring novelist.
After the panel, Nate was thrilled to meet Tom Servo (From MST3K)…but I think he liked me better. 
St. Patrick’s day Chewbacca was maybe my favorite of the day. Check the little hat. Love him.
We wandered around the expo for a while after that. Nate and Kara ran off to another panel, this one on cartoon voice overs, but Mark and I have never had much of a problem just hanging out looking at stuff.
Its basically why we get along so well.
We love looking at stuff.
After a while though, I got a bit anxious to do some shopping, so Mark placated me with an early birthday gift.
Its an awesome TARDIS phone charm that flashes and spins. We dropped everything (literally) to figure out how to attach it to the phone. It makes me pretty happy.
The last few hours at the expo was just spent looking at stuff and taking pictures of the awesome costumes. Everyone went all out with the masquerade that night.
I even got to see Felicia Day signing autographs. She is so lovely and seemed so genuine and nice to all those around her. I love to see that.
We ended the expo for the day by getting to see the massive group from GI Joe that we had seen walking around separately all day. It was beyond awesome.
We headed back to the hotel early, around 5:30 to wash up, eat and nap before heading back out to the masquerade.
We walked back and by the time we got inside I was so cold it took a 20 minute super hot bath and a cup of tea to even begin to feel thawed out.
While I bathed, the boys went to taco bell for grub. Tacos are Irish, right?
After we ate, everyone else took naps, but I was too keyed up to sleep. So I finished reading “The Hunger Games.”
Right as I finished (totally epic right?) It was about time for everyone to wake up.
We had a few drinks while we got ready. Mark and I applied our star wars tattoos (gifts from Nate).
I’m sad to admit, the masquerade was a bust. I thought it would be this cool party where we all mingled and had refreshments and judges would roam around judging the costumes.
Eh, no. The “refreshments” advertised, turned out to just be water…that got knocked over early on and was not replaced.
The masquerade was a costume contest where people performed or just walked out in costumes. The room was black and quiet.
It was pretty lame as social gatherings go, though some of the costumes/performances were pretty cool. We missed most of it however, and left soon after the little short star wars film festival started.
I did get a pic with Optimus Prime (the coolest costume) before we left.
We headed downstairs to the hotel bar for St. Patty’s day foolishness where we found my good friend Cary, from Dungeon Master.
We all had a pretty good time, despite the lack of bar selection. It was nice to be with friends and at midnight we all gathered around to celebrate the official kick off to my birthday.
We went back to the hotel after that. We drank a bit more, and Mark gave me a birthday gift. My very own tenth Doctor Sonic Screwdriver! yayaya!
Then I ate my St. Patrick’s day dinner (pickles are for sure Irish) before passing out.
Little did I know, that would be the last night that Mark was my boyfriend…
The Hunger Games: Book VS Movie
So, about three days before WonderCon, I began reading “The Hunger Games.” Two days ago, I finished book three: “Mocking Jay.”
I tear through books when I want to, and this trilogy was definitely one that cannot be put down. I loved the story, the writing style, all of the characters and Suzanne Collins painted such wonderful/terrifying images through her masterful use of imagery.
The Monday after the movie came out, Mark and I went to see it in theaters (Mark had also finished book one by this point).
I can’t say that I didn’t like he movie. The casting was wonderful, and artistically the film was fantastic. I thought the opening scenes in District 11 were amazing, and Willow Shields who played Prim, had me sobbing during the reaping.
But I had some issues. Rather than tell you each of them individually, I found this awesome graphic, that should explain why the movie was so inferior to the books. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it…but the less than climactic ending had me wanting the books intensity. I still enjoyed it, and did find it beautifully acted.
But yeah…These were the issues.
So About That Rock I’ve Been Hiding Under…
I know. I know. I fell off the face of the planet.
Sorry about that.
After our amazing weekend away and Mark’s perfect proposal…things got a bit hectic.
I still owe you posts on both day two and three of WonderCon, and I have a MASSIVE giveaway. But I sort of feel like ever since we got home from Anaheim, that there just isn’t enough time for anything.
Working two jobs doesn’t help either.
I still have not even sorted through all the swag I acquired at the Con, though I CAN tell you that the give away will consist of MANY comic books, a poster or two, some pins, buttons and other fun surprises. For the indie nerd, this should be awesome.
I have been so happy since the proposal. Not only did he give me the perfect ring…but also the perfect proposal after a perfect birthday weekend. My life has been a little too hearts and butterflies since that wonderful night, and I have been spending too much time looking at dresses and possible venues in PA to squeeze in much in the way of blogging.
Sorry for that…
Here is the good news: the proposal was super Nerdy (more on that later), and the wedding is going to be even more so. I hope that my wedding posts will at least keep you entertained since they are going to be so geeky in nature (even the ring is amazingly nerd-tastic).
I promise to be back tomorrow with a WonderCon Day Two wrap up.
WonderCon: Day 1 – The Couple and the TARDIS
We left the house at around 9:30 am on Friday morning. The convention hall didn’t open until noon, but we still had to obtain our badges. I wanted to be among the first inside when everything opened.
WonderCon was very organized in the initial process. I never had to ask once where to go or what to do in terms of badge pickup. And I was impressed to find a very neat line to get into the exhibition hall.
At Comic-Con, it was more of a cluster of people shoving and pushing and getting crushed.
The doors opened up right at noon, and everyone filed neat and orderly into the hall.
It was awesome. Vintage posters, towers of t-shirts, toys, stuffed animals…Marvel had a cool station set up by the front doors and main entrance.
I shop Stylin Online occasionally anyway. They have a HUGE selection of comfy nerdy tees for any occasion (see above). Can’t wait to go on-line and redeem my WonderCon coupon.
I was very impressed with an Pendragon Costumes who made brilliant period pieces, as well as a few more unique options. I totally fell for the Doctor Who corset.
And Nate really fancied the dress.
But the real winner of that booth was the purse I found, inspired by the tenth doctor (my Doctor).
After browsing a few more racks of t-shirts (love this one)….
…we found the star of WonderCon Day One…
Artoo (or R2 if you prefer).
Gosh, he was so adorable. I would ask him questions, and he would respond in various ways. I ran to find mark (we had wondered away from each other) to bring him to the amazing robot.
“Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” I had to.
It only got cuter when he found a friend,
After parting ways with the droid, we headed out to a food truck by the Hotel next door. On the way out, I found the BSG display.
I loved that show. I was late catching onto the fandom, but once I did, I plowed through every single episode mere months before catching up to the final season. I still owe that fraking show a Halloween costume. Pure genius. So say we all.
We thought the food truck was selling something or other, but it turned out it was free teriyaki to promote an anime series, “Ultimate Ninja Storm: Generations.”
Score.
I love free food. Also it was yummy.
We ended up going back into the convention hall and settling for nachos and pizza. The nachos were great and extra cheesy, though the pizza was just okay.
Have I mentioned yet, the extreme amount of swag we collected on the first day. I mean we got comics, buttons, bags…fake tattoos. It was all very fun and I collected more than enough. Look for an epic give away at the end of my day three wrap up: The bag of fun nerdy awesomeness I am giving away from all three days is spilling over. So keep reading to have a shot at that.
Some other stand out booths from Day One:
The NASA booth – Check out more info on the first Human to go into Space at www.yurisnight.net, and learn about the upcoming Venus Transit
Tomboy Teez was another great smaller t-shirt shop I found on day one. I got a sticker for joining their mailing list, and once again, a coupon. Check out their shirts. Especially for fangirls.
We spent a bit more time on the expo floor, but after a terrifying run in with the sand people
we decided to head up to the ball room for a world premiere screening of Superman VS the Elite, along with a panel.
First of all, can I just take a minute to say how awesome this cartoon was? The story was wonderful, the voice acting was inspired and the artistic direction was beautiful. I really enjoyed watching this story unfold.
The panel was also really interesting. Its so cool to hear about the process from comic to screen, as well as listen to actors explain their process. Everyone seemed genuine and excited.
After the panel we all got a sneak peak of the newest batman cartoon as well.
Its gonna rock.
But at this point, it was late and we were all dead tired.
We made the 1.8 mile walk back up to the hotel to celebrate the weekend, and good friends.
Before turning the camera off for the night, for the sake of general merriment, we did grab a few pictures of our adorable ensemble.
Mark and I generally won’t match on principle…but it seemed okay for such a nerdy occasion.
To be continued…
