Pros And Con

So yesterday’s entry was originally intended to be a bit longer than it was, but I was having some issues with the keyboard drawer on my desk.

One of the screws holding the slider in place had fallen out, so the whole thing was bouncing like crazy when I typed, so I paused from writing my entry to try to fix it.  I put the screw back in, but it was clear that it was just going to pop back out again, as the brackets the sliders were attached to were a bit too far apart, so I decided to take the whole thing down and try to put the brackets in a better position.

…

This resulted in three things: 

1.  A face full of sawdust.

2.  The screws getting completely stripped.

3.  A lot of swearing.

I don’t really understand the people who are comfortable typing with their keyboard in their lap, as it’s never been something I could pull off for any extended period of time, and with the Cintiq in the way, there wasn’t anywhere I could put my keyboard on the desk itself, so I decided to just post what I had.

Today I moved things around, putting the monitor and Cintiq over on the other, longer part of the L-shaped desk.  With the raised portion over on that section, I can put the monitor up high enough that I can have the Cintiq tilted at its maximum angle and have it pushed back far enough to make room for the keyboard without obscuring my view of the monitor.

It’s not an ideal circumstance, as it puts the monitor at a height that’s uncomfortable for viewing, but it’s only meant as a temporary solution, as tomorrow I’m going to buy a new, better keyboard drawer.  I may – in fact, I almost definitely will – leave everything where it’s been relocated, but not having to make room for the keyboard on the desk will allow me to position the two monitors a little better.

In any case, that’s not what I wanted to write about.

One of my favorite bits on the show Futurama features a storyline about an anomaly in space that’s causing time to randomly jump ahead.  The people experiencing it find themselves moved forward in time to find that significant changes have occurred, but they’re unaware of how those changes came about.  For example, Fry and Leela find that they’re married, but have no idea how that came to pass.

In any case, Professor Farnsworth comes up with a solution to the problem, which involves the crew of the Planet Express having to fly out into space and deal with the anomaly.  As he’s explaining the mission to the crew, time skips, and suddenly it’s time for the crew to blast off, which leads the Professor to say, “Off you go, apparently…”

With that in mind, for the past few days I’ve been saying, “I’m going to Baltimore Comic-Con, apparently.”

Every so often either Scott or I will say, “We should go to Baltimore Comic-Con one of these years,” but generally we end up thinking of it after the year’s con has already taken place.

However, last week when I was at the comic shop I noticed a flyer for the con and saw that it’s happening on August 28 and 29.  So I texted Scott to let him know that.  Unfortunately, he’ll be out of town that weekend.  As I didn’t want to go by myself, that put an end to my hopes of going once more.

But I kept thinking about how I’d really like to go, especially since two – later I learned that it’s actually four – of my favorite artists are going to be there, along with some of my favorite writers.  So I was checking out the site and noticed that it takes place from 10-6, and I started thinking, “Well, maybe I could drive out for one of the days,” even though I really wanted to go for both days.  But that seemed like kind of a hassle.  So I decided to see if there were any vacancies in the area and found that there was one within walking distance.

With some not-so gentle prodding from Scott, the next thing I knew I was booking a room for Friday and Saturday, and ordering a two-day pass.

I didn’t spend as much time being indecisive as I normally would, so in a lot of ways it felt like I had – much like the Planet Express crew – jumped forward in time.  So, off I go, apparently…

I’m definitely looking forward to it, but being there by myself is going to kind of suck.  On the other hand, I’ll (hopefully) be able to get some things signed – and maybe even be able to buy some sketches from – Amanda Conner, Adam Hughes, Frank Cho, and Greg Horn.  (Conveniently, I recently purchased some books collecting, respectively, some of the artwork of Hughes, Cho, and Horn, though inconveniently they’re rather weighty tomes, and will be a hassle to lug around the convention floor.)

One other pro about going to the con is hot cosplay chicks.  (These pics are from the recent San Diego Comic-Con, which I would also like to go to someday.)

The con about going to the con, though, is that pretty much the first thing everyone says to me upon hearing that I’m going to Baltimore is some variation of, “You can hook up with some hot geek girl!”  (Some are more insistent that I shoot at everything that moves than others.  Apparently it’s not good enough that I’m just, you know, actually doing something;I have to come on to every woman I see while I’m at it.)

Sure, that would be nice, but I’m not going to hold my breath, or make an ass of myself by being geek number 3,589 to hit on some chick who’s just trying to show her geek pride and is sick to death of the endless parade of clumsy, sweaty come-ons (and in many cases, straight-up harassment and assault) that just being there while having the audacity to be in possession of breasts has forced her to contend with.

So, no, that’s not going to be my focus.  Sure, I’m going to look, and if something happens, great, but if not, well, I’m there for the panels and signings, announcements, free gifts, and to browse through the comics people are selling.

I’m also going to try to pimp Heroic Portraits as much as I can without being an obnoxious douche, handing out cards and leaving them lying around waiting to be discovered.

In fact, the other day I had an “Oh, duh,” moment and realized that I should actually wear a Heroic Portraits T-shirt.  Then it occurred to me that I should carry all of my stuff around in Heroic Portraits tote bag.

(By the way, if you go to my Zazzle Gallery following the link to the right, right there in the text, or at the bottom of the page, you, too, can purchase some Heroic Portraits merchandise.  You won’t, I know, but I’m just saying that you can.  It’s an available option, and there’s no law against it or anything.  Really, nothing other than your total lack of interest in doing so, or your callous disregard for the success or failure of my artistic endeavors is preventing you from doing that.  You have the ability to make that choice.  You know, the choice to do that thing that you’re going to choose not to do.  Because, you know, seriously, that guy Jon and his heroic whatever Web site?  Fuck that guy.)

So that’s the big excitement ahead of me:  making an irritating drive, going someplace totally unfamiliar, and being surrounded by thousands of people, including a bunch of hot, nerdy chicks that I won’t talk to.

But hey, at least I’m actually doing something, right?

When I told Scott that I’d decided to go, he said something like, “Cool!  I can live through you vicariously.”  I responded, “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.  Don’t ever say that again.”