Lucky for me, I bought my tickets way in advance as I had a feeling this sucker was going to sell out this year and that hunch paid off. My first two days at the Con was basically popping in and out of the call out sessions and staying clear of the marketplace downstairs. I did this for two reasons – to avoid people I knew and to avoid the temptation to buy stuff. If I ran into people I knew or had yet to meet – I’d stay and gab their ears off. Plus, I’m on a budget.

Taking the trolley down from my house was a godsend as that meant little to no road rage on my part. A happy and calm Drub makes everyone else around me happy and pleasant as well, plus 5 bucks for an all day pass is a no brainer.

My 3rd day was very eventful. Instead of popping in and then popping out to go home, I went around to see who was manning the Prism booth, who else that I knew had booths and check out all the cool indy published stuff. I don’t know if it was me or if it was the weather or what, but it was very very…um… cruisy. Boy-candy everywhere. Or maybe I just need to get laid. Anyways, it was a blast and I don’t think I could have wished for a better time. At this point in the posting, I’d like to point out that it’s going to get rather heady and ridiculous in here with all the name-dropping.

Last Gasp has finally released Best Erotic Comics 2009 and the printing is excellent, so I urge you all to snap up your very own copy. “Dem Bones” which originally appeared in Hard To Swallow #3 was included, and even though it has received mixed reviews, I urge you to pick it up and judge for yourself.

I had two celebrity run-ins in which I totally embarrassed myself. One being Amber Benson and the other being John Barrowman. I like to pride myself at not gushing inappropriately nor interrupting people speaking but I seemed to throw all that out the window and practically laid eggs right there on the carpet as each of these people seemed to magically appear in front of me. All said and done, Amber is as funny and down-to-earth as one can imagine. No sooner had that happened and Amber left, I told a couple friends what a geek I was, stopping in mid-sentence as I heard a distinctive voice right behind me. I turned around, gasped and turned away and my pals must have thought I lost my marbles all over the floor. I then pointed out the the actor from Torchwood, our very own Jack Barrowman, was right behind us which brought various expressions of confusion and delight to those that understood my fangasm. Soon, every gay man with a camera or iPhone was gunning for a snapshot and all I could do was watch as this maelstrom (Fagstorm?) developed right in front of my eyes. I became flush, wet palms, frozen in place, sweaty brow – the works! He touched my back! I began to get even more giddy to the point where I had to force myself to calm the fuck down. I seriously thought somebody was going to slap me to just shut me up. Pathetic displays, for sure, but at least everyone was gracious about it and it makes for a good story.

If you didn’t get to draw in Lynx Delirium‘s “Snow White” book, you missed out on a lot of laughs and fun.

Now completely high on life, I decided to check out some video games Sean Z had suggested I check out. Aion looks amazing though I don’t know if I could ever spend time on an online game such as this, with the subscriptions and whatnot, but it was definitely breathtaking. I also enjoyed the demos for City of Heroes – again another MMORPG with magnificent graphics and details though with my iMac I’d have to boot both into boot camp to run the Windows emulator.

Aman’s Big Gay Dinner at Bandar. So full of food. So crazy. So fun. Especially with Steve MacIsaac, Sam Saturday, and Eden Bradley.

Some other things worth checking out:

Sina Grace‘s Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic – an illustrated novel about a sorcerer sleuth in Orange County. The graphic design alone will make you tingly.

Ed Luce’s Wuvable Oaf. If you don’t pick up this comic, you’re missing out. I grabbed a copy after seeing what he did in the Bent Comix Sampler. It’s got great line work, excellent story telling, and lots of bears and kitties.

Sean Z’s Myth – Do check out the online comic and buy the prelude book to get caught up if you aren’t already in ‘the know’ on the developing story.