Byeeeee!

Today was our last day at Comic Con :’( It’s so sad! But, yeah, last day. So, we got up extremely early, and ended up leaving late : ). Although, we did manage to talk to the front desk about our toilet troubles, and to check out the “continental breakfast” for the first time. Okay, so, the continental breakfast was orange juice, coffee, muffins, or pre-packaged danish, but it was free, so, Tom and I grabbed some for the road. As always, we timed our trolley pretty poorly, and ended up waiting around for it. When we did get on, it was crowded, as usual. And, then we got all the way to the Convention Center only to realize we forgot Tom’s book confirmation! And, today being the last day, we had no choice but to trek back to the hotel to get it! Yayyy…. not.

So, back at the hotel, we discovered that maintenance had fixed our toilet, or so we thought at the time (now it has graciously backed up again at the most inconvenient of times, and the maintenance staff apparently only works at select daytime hours). We found the confirmation easily enough and were back at the Convention Center by ten. Tom’s book was fairly easy to procure, and then we had to examine the line, or lack thereof, at room 32B, where there was to be a Harry Potter panel at 2. Now, anticipating that this would be a popular panel, Tom and I agreed to arrive early, probably even for the panel before it, even though ball-jointed dolls didn’t sound interesting to either of us.

For lack of things to do, Tom and I ended up catching half of a web-comic panel, which was fairly entertaining, and being stuck for the two-hour ball-jointed doll panel. In my excitement for Harry Potter, I had insisted we settle in a front seat early, and boy was that a mistake. I thought dolls couldn’t be too bad, and you know, when they started by setting them up for display, I was intrigued by the dolls themselves, they were interesting to look at. I don’t mind dolls, and I figured I might learn something about caring for my own dolls (I swear I have one very pretty porcelain doll and a few softer plastic ones and that’s it). So, I didn’t mind it, at first, I was even a little interested.

My interest faded when I found the panel was only about these super expensive ($300 is apparently cheap), kind of creepy little dolls, and that the panel was no panel at all, but only a lecture about these dolls, and I was surrounded by scary collecting women (there weren’t really many men) who all seemed to have pms at the same time, and I was afraid they might bite my head off if I touched one of their precious dolls, because I wasn’t part of the cult, erm, club. You know, I don’t mind doll collecting, seems like a nice hobby, and the outfits are kind of cool. But the environment this “panel” created was hostile, plus, the fact that you can pop the eyes out really creeps me out. Still, I would’ve liked to have heard more about the topic from the actual panelists (they seemed like interesting people who could tell me interesting things about these dolls) rather then have had to sit through that hour and a half lecture by a scary woman obsessed with dolls. Really, okay topic, badly executed. Although, I did learn that if I ever would buy a ball-jointed doll, it would be a tiny (the tiniest) dressed as a little fairy : ).

So anyway! Next was the Harry Potter panel, which was not what I was expecting, but definitely fulfilling. There were a multitude of panelists; a professor, a website manager, an art dealer, and others. The host was this funny little guy who looked like Matthew Broderick, and they talked about the HP fanbase, where the books fit in in classic literature, the evolution of story-telling in our society, how big businesses like WB relate to fans, among other things. It was extremely interesting to me. Plus, at the very beginning, we got to hear some lady singing wizard rock with her guitar! : ) That was entertaining.

After the HP panel, Tom and I wandered the floor looking for gifts and such for two hours before the hall closed. We picked up something for Schembari and Marcus specifically, just because, and I got Craig a nice little birthday present I think he’ll enjoy. Tom had been set on finding a nice Thor action figure or statue, but they were hard to come by and expensive. The one action figure we found was apparently not worth the $25 the guy was asking, and when I knocked him down to $20 (I have sweet bargaining skills… <.< … >.>… ), Tom still shook his head. I was running out of ideas, before noticing that we were steps away from 1232, with 15 minutes left of the Con. For once, one of my ideas worked!

For those of you that weren’t there, booth 1232 is where Cyanide and Happiness was. That’s where I got the plushie I have now deemed Frank, and where I went back to get it signed. If you have not heard of C&H, visit explosm.net/comics and check it out (except for you, Moms and Aunts, we’re not sure you gals would appreciate the humor). Anyway, point being, they were doing free sketches, and Rob was free. So, I marched right up to him and demanded a sketch that had to do with vikings. And thus, Tom has an awesome exclusive full-paper-sized viking sketch, done and signed by famed Rob of C&H. : ) Sweeeet.

So, to finish off our Con, we wandered aimlessly, said goodbye to a doorman, took sad pictures, and left. Horton Plaza cured our sadness by having an awesome food joint called Steak Escape that included subs, salads, and wings. They even grilled the meat right in front of you, it was like subway only twelve times better! Really good food. We also stopped by the arcade in Horton Plaza, and lost every game we played. The trolley home was delayed four times, but an adorable little baby across from us was entertainment enough. And now we’re back in our snug hotel bed, with our smelly backed-up toilet, awaiting our adventure to Sea World tomorrow! Good night all!

-Sandra-