DID YOU GET THIS???

So firstly, many apologies for not posting in a while. I’ve been fairly busy, but not so busy I couldn’t find time to post on here every once in a while. My B.

But guess what! NASA accepted our Microgravity Proposal and we get to test it at the NASA Base in Houston this June! SICK!

So let’s backtrack. At the beginning of the school year before it was so cold you couldnt walk outside and there was ice hidden under snow (although I’ve heard other places have gotten more) Sandra and I joined UBAIAA. UB’s chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. And as one of the projects, we worked on a proposal to send to NASA’s Microgravity Missions. We spent a whole heck of a lot of time on this project, and even though we worked hard none of us had faith that we’d get in and it kind of went forgotten. I didnt even think much of it yesterday when they were to announce winners. Until, I got a text message while studying for my Calc final.

It was from the captain of the Micro team and it read “Just got the call from NASA. We’re going to Texas!” And I’m of course shocked, and reply “Really?” to which to this day he hasn’t responded to. But no sooner is that message sent than does Sandra leave her classroom and run up to me holding out her phone going, “Did you get this???” That’s when we knew it couldn’t be just some not very funny joke, if we both got the message. So, that was that. Our proposal actually got accepted. Awesome! Imagine what that’ll look like on a resume. Sure, the trip is going to be a blast, and actually being on the “Vomit Comet” to test it will be even cooler. But how many people can say they worked with NASA. I mean, really! There’s a reason why it’s spelt NASA and not nasa, because it’s EXCITING!

But, what the heck was our proposal about, right? Well, to be honest, I did not work on the technical stuff. And neither did Sandra, so don’t ask her either. But essentially, it’s a way to test an attitude determination system for satellites flying in formation. Basically, its a computer program using lights that can send information between satellites telling them where they are, and what direction they’re facing. And it should be AWESOME. This is like, the first time they’ve been accepted in ten years or so.

WEEEE!

-Tom-

I don’t make friends…

So, believe it or not, I’m a very shy person. I’m not so good at the whole, makin’ friends thing. I’m quiet to begin with, and the beard and metal t-shirts kind of make me unapproachable it seems. So, if I’m not talking to them, and they are afraid to talk to me, it’s hard to make friends. But, you kinda need friends in a new place. Well, let me restate that. You don’t need friends, but they’re sure nice to have. So I figured that, well, something has got to give. And that’s when I found out, that I am just not made to make friends. At all.

On Sunday I suppouse it was, we had a floor meeting. I was told I didn’t have to go by the RA, so I wasn’t jumping up to get ready. I didn’t really want to go, because I thought it would just be going over obvious rules and doing bogus icebreaker games. But most importantly, I didn’t want to go because I didn’t know where we had to go. So my plan? Hope one of my suitemates return in time to show me the way. So I sat in my room and waited, and waited. And then finally one of them came back, and he was getting ready, so I was just waiting for the chance to go with him. I thought when he was ready he’d casually remind me, “Hey, there’s a floor meeting. Wanna come?” And I would laugh and say “Oh, those things are so lame. But yeah, I’ll go with you. Just let me grab my shoes.”

Instead, he walks out the door, goes to lock it, and then comes back to my room and says “Dude, you know there’s a floor meeting right now, right? You coming, or are you going to skip it and think you’re some badass?”

…Yeah, that sure backfired. So, with my quick thinking, I look at the clock in my best attempt to be surprised and go “Oh shoot! Yeah! I totally forgot about that thing! Can you wait for me? I don’t want to be late. Thanks for reminding me, man!” When really I’m thinking “Ouch.” Friend attempt 1, Tom gets completely owned.

But it’s not just that one time. We now fast forward to Tuesday.

Before my first Physics lecture, I found my classroom early, as I was unsure I’d remember where it was. Finding a 200 hundred person lecture hall is actually easier than you’d think, and outside of it there was a wall with stools and a table where you can sit and wait for the class to begin, with your laptop or homework or whatever. I see a nice looking fellow, and sit beside him. We exchange hellos, and he’s pleasant enough. I feel that at best, I’ve found someone who I would not mind sitting next to in the class, and all is well. After we jokingly confirm we made it to the right place, I take out my Physics binder to look over the material that may be covered for that day.

Now, let me explain my Physics binder so you can understand this next part. My Physics binder is just that – a binder. It’s a red, three-clamp, generic brand poly-something-or-other binder. It looks like a binder, it has papers like a binder, and in every way, shape and form… it’s a binder. Inside of the Physics binder, and this is why it received it’s name, is my Physics book’s pages. My book came to me used, and for some reason, it came as just pages. The book is there in it’s entirety, it’s just not bound, and the pages are hole punched. And with this book, came laminated cheat-sheets, little reference guides for formulas and definitions. I put all of these papers in the binder, as any sane person would. I take out this binder, though, open it up, and he glances over and immediately sees what apparently looks just  like his book, and he FLIPS OUT and rips the binder out of my hands to examine it. To him, this binder does not look like a binder. To him, I received a special edition version of the Physics book and he is MAD and he is mad at ME.

“WHAT THE &*%$ IS THIS?!?! HOW’D YOU &^$#IN’ GET THIS &^$^IN’ THING?!?! OH MAN &^$# ME! I’M SO SCREWED! HOW’D YOU GET THIS &%$*IN’ BOOK?!?!? WHY DO YOU HAVE ALL THESE FORMULAS WITH YOURS?!”

“Uh… it’s just… my book… put in a binder….”

“THIS THING IS &$%^IN’ RIDICULOUS! I DIDN’T GET THIS ^&#&! WHY DID YOU GET IT AND I DIDN’T? I’M THE ONE WHO &%$&IN’ NEEDS THESE THINGS!”

“I… just… I just bought what the online order form told me to…”

“*&$# ME, MAN! I GOT THE WRONG *%$#IN’ THING! YOU *&#&IN’ SUCK, DUDE. I’M SO GONNA FAIL, NOW. I SHOULD HAVE GOT THIS ^$#*IN’ BOOK AND NOT MY PIECE OF &$@# ONE! UGH!”

At which point, the binder is thrown back to me, and he returns to his laptop with a loud huff. My response? I quickly gather my things, and slowly slip out of my chair to find somewhere else to sit. Friend attempt 2, failure. And this guy’s in two of my three classes. I see him every day. And he still thinks we’re friends, I think.

Then today, I’m waiting in my calculus class, when Friend attempt 3 begins. Across the room, I hear a kid talking about the Physics homework due tomorrow, and explaining his frustrations to another kid in the class. Because I’m in the same class, as I concluded because I recognized one of the problems he was discussing, I listened in. I had a little difficulty with the work, too, but I got a couple of the problems so maybe I could help. So, he’s talking and talking, and as I had done the homework just a couple of hours prior to the class, the problems were fresh in my mind… but they weren’t fresh in his. He’s telling the guy about one problem he didn’t get, and about how you need to take the weight of one atom of coal (you should all laugh at this), and then get it’s volume, and goes on and on, not even getting the problem at all. So finally, I speak up, and I explain to him how I did it. Just voiced my opinion, how I thought it should be done. I might have even ended it with the words “Or that’s how I did it, but I don’t really know for sure.”

The kid thinks on it, and then instead of saying “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know either.” or a “Thanks, dude. I might try that.” or even a (and this is a longshot) ”Hey, let’s collaborate after class and be buddies. Maybe we’ll figure it out then.”, he says “No, I don’t think so. The problem actually said you have to…” and then continues to talk about the problem wrongly. He knew the numbers that were in the problem, but he didn’t know what he was doing. So I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to sitting quietly. Because now this kid was not saying he was doing the problem wrong, he was saying the book was wrong. When he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. After class, this kid followed me and continued to jam his ignorance and (dare I say) stupidity down my throat until I finally turned to enter a building he was not headed for. He was wrong, I knew he was wrong, he should have known he was wrong, but he didn’t. And it was actually the opposite, he was convinced he was doing it right, and followed me to vent on how the book and website are both “&&$&in’ retarded.” Friend attempt 3, fail.

And after, I realized that I just had to laugh. Because, I’m trying to make friends. Sure I am. But I just seem to attract very strange people. Or people react strangely to me, or it’s just more effects of my horrible luck. I don’t know, but for the rest of the day after that third strike, I just had to laugh. Because I am not capable of making friends. At all.

-Tom-

All gone!

Sadly, today was the last day of Comic Con. I don’t want it to be over but sadly it is. It was too much fun! I mostly just wish there was more time for it. We didn’t get to see everything on the exhibit floor, or get in to all the panels we wanted but it was still fun what we did get to do. We got a ton of free stuff, a few neat gifts and plenty of exclusive things not to mention the awesome memories! So all in all, despite long lines, crazy crowds and too little time Comic Con was an incredible experience. But the San Diego trip isn’t over yet!

So yesterday, I didn’t blog because I was completely exhausted. I’d been getting up early every morning for a while because of excitement, and going to bed late and it finally caught up with me and I crashed no later than 10 and didn’t want to get up at 8 this morning. I didn’t do anything tiring yesterday, it was a good day. We saw a lot of panels, so much of it was sitting, but I was still very tired. What did we see, you ask? We got in to Ballroom 20 first thing in the morning, probably the second biggest hall in the convention center, and stayed there throughout the morning. We got in to a panel on Chuck which Sandra and I hadn’t heard of, but afterwards definitely wanted to watch. Then we saw a panel on Family Guy which was very funny. They showed a clip from a new Star Wars episode, and talked about script ideas for upcoming episodes. Despite Cleveland leaving for The Cleveland Show, it looked to me like they were going to keep everything the same which is great. Next there was a panel for The Cleveland Show, and I still have very mixed feelings about this show. The intro is incredibly catchy, and just by typing that I’ve begun to sing it.

“My name is Cleveland Brown, and I am here to say…”

The clips were… different. It’s not Family Guy, nor should it be, but it’s a similar kind of humor. I don’t know who it’s geared for or what it’s purpose is but they said Fox has already bought two seasons of it, so maybe I’m missing the memo. Some of the jokes were good, others just made me feel sad. But all in all, that was a fun panel, too. Next were two panels about two shows Matt Groening is a part of – Futurama and Family Guy. Did you know it’s pronounced “Grain-ing” and not “Grow-ning”? Some guy behind us didn’t know and when he shouted out the wrong pronunciation he got a mouthful from some lady sitting in front of us. The coolest part of the two panels though, we almost missed. Matt “Grain-ing” was awarded a Guiness Book of World Records award for helming the longest running sitcom ever in The Simpsons. They nearly forgot to do it at the end, but it was neat to see it, and to be there for that event.

After, we walked down to the floor and chanced by a booth that does some INCREDIBLE sculptures, called Kotobukiya out of Japan, and they were doing a trivia contest for prizes. They asked the audience for trivia category ideas, and they didn’t like my idea of “Direct to DVD movies”, and instead went with Harry Potter. And wouldn’t ya know it, when they asked the question Sandra knew the answer, and won a prize! She got some silly little anime sculpture that actually looks pretty cool. I was proud. And then later, they had on these really funny comics, in a show called Comics and Comics. They were pretty funny, and you can see them on their real show Comics onComics online. They even had a proffesional comedian with them, and I can’t remember her name, but apparently she was more famous then the rest of the guys! And sadly, less funny too. Weird how life works like that, right? Anyway, after that they had more trivia, and Sandra and I were waiting for this one. It was for a one-of-a-kind Iron Man statue. You know, this really nice movie version scaled statue, that probably retails at like 250 bucks. All you had to do was answer some comic book trivia to get it. Only, I didn’t realize they would get right to the big prize. I thought “Oh, I’ll raise my hand when they’re going to do the Iron Man statue, because I doubt they’d bring me up twice!” So I waited. And they called people up. And it was for the statue. And I was very sad. Especially when they asked the question. Do you know who receives their powers from the Crimson Gem of Cytorrak? No?

I did.

Juggernaut does, everyone. Juggernaut gets his power from that crimson gem. I knew the answer, but didn’t know the rules. So no statue for me. Again, I was very sad. I did however, catch a signed poster for “Give ‘em Hell, Malone!” that was kinda fun.

 But then after that, we got in line for the Comic Con International 2009 Masquerade event! Like with any good thing at Comic Con, you must wait atleast one and a half hours in a line to get to it. So, we did. And it was good. Cold, but good. There were some very impressive costumes! There were about 45 (ha, ha, ha) entries, and they were all pretty impressive. Some less so than others, but some were very good. There were a few who dressed up in these huge costumes, like The Hulk or a Rock Golem, and those impressed me the most. But there were also detailed dresses and lots of Batman villains. All in all, it was a cute show with cute skits and costumes, but we couldn’t stay to see who won. It was too late and too cold, so we left and picked up a newsletter in the morning to read about it.

And then the next day that’s exactly what we did! After getting all the way to the convention center, realizing we forgot the order confirmation for my souvenir book, turning around to get said confirmation, and then returning to the convention center. And then afterrrr, we went to check out a panel on Harry Potter. But, we got there two panels early, so in addition to a Harry Potter panel I had the joy and privilege of sitting through a two hour lecture on Asian ball-jointed resin dolls! My goodness was that horrid. First of all, the dolls are creepy by themselves, and then the people that buy them make it even creepier. They treat them like children. They aren’t just careful to transport them in bubble wrap so they don’t get knicked, they have to carry them like babies when they move them around. At one point, the lady moved a doll by its feet, and then caught herself because she felt horrible about it. They can make these things in to any person they want, in fact there’s a website that custom makes celebrity doll heads so you can have whoever you want, and to top it all off they say that they spend atleast 300 bucks on one of these dolls, and say they usually plan on doubling the price for all of the dolls accessories! I was just in a weird state of amazement at this whole new level of weirdness. If you collect porcelain dolls, that’s one thing. They’re a cute gift to collect if your grandma gives you one every Christmas since you were a fetus. But to be 45 years old, sitting in your basement chatting on message boards about your collection of 70 different customized dolls and going to doll conventions where you meet up and breastfeed your dolls together it gets to be too much. I exaggerated only the breastfeeding comment. The rest is all true, I heard it in the panel. If you don’t believe me, ask Sandra.

But then after that was the Harry Potter panel, which was actually pretty interesting. They talked about the staying power of the Harry Potter literature, all of these Harry Potter fandom webmasters, and apparently I had severely underestimated the massiveness of the Harry Potter fanbase. That was kind of extreme, too. But hey, we were at Comic Con – they don’t discriminate against any group. Except Twilight. There were a lot of signs there that said Twilight ruined Comic Con, and one chubby girl was even marching up and down lines ranting about it. It was actually getting very annoying. Im not exactly pro-Twilight. I’ve never read the books, I saw the movie just to see what the hype was about. I don’t necessarily think the sparkly vampires thing is good or bad, because… seeing as vampires aren’t real, I suppouse you can create them however you’d like. Sure, they were established one way. But wasn’t that in like… the 900s? They could have changed. If anything, the Twilight haters ruined Comic Con. If you don’t support it, don’t go. Don’t draw attention to it, because then they will keep coming back. Or better yet, get in line early for the panel so all the fans cant get in. Don’t make signs that say “Scream if Twilight ruined Comic Con” because that’s only going to make the people around you mad and not have Twilight taken from the Comic Con schedules. Wow, two rants in one blog. Maybe I shouldn’t have skipped a day if this is what happens.

But, yeah! Today was the last day, and after those panels Sandra and I went around looking for deals on some swag. We didn’t find much that interested us, but we did pick up a few presents. There was just nothing that jumped out at me, or was a decent price. Although, I did find things I would like to get when they’re finally released, or things that I couldn’t get at the convention but could pick up somewhere else. And then after all of that, the convention was sadly, finally over. They had to drag me out, because I did not want to go at all. Sadly, security always wins, so I did have to leave after a while. And then after I was released from questioning over that, Sandra and I went to find some place to eat. We’ve had some great luck finding affordable, good food here. We found a nice Mexican place a few days ago called Toritos, or something like that, and we found the Dominos online ordering service and of course our favorite frozen yogurt place. And today we went to a place called Steak Escape! We thought it would be a steak house, but nope! It was actually, this is how I would describe it, a cheesesteak subway. With amazing food. I liked it a lot.

After, Sandra and I headed home and had the longest trolley ride ever. Somehow, there was an accident a stop or two after ours, so there was probably 20 minutes of delays, but we made it home. Sandra kept herself busy by making faces at some cute baby in the seat next to her. Aaaaaand, that was my day(s)! Tomorrow is Sea World, and although I’m still tired, I’m excited for that. Stay tuned for Sandra’s take and today’s picture of the day!

-Tom-

The Uncomfiest Comfy Comic Con Costume

So wearing a costume all day was an interesting experience!

Today I wore my Post-Bath Deadpool costume to Comic Con, and it was certainly an event. I wore it from the hotel to the convention center (minus the mask for that part because I kind of wanted to have my full range of vision for crossing streets) and got quite a few funny looks. But then once you actually get to the convention center, everyone is super supportive and loves the costumes. Not to say the people don’t like them before you get there, there was a nice fellow on the train who took our picture and thought they were awesome, but it’s different when you get there. I got a lot of comments on my costume from the Comic Conners, and they were all really posotive, they loved the idea. I felt very proud of my originality and Sandra’s sewing skills! Sadly, not to many people recognized her costume, which kind of saddened me. It’s the world’s largest comic book convention, with thousands of people in attendance, and her wearing the costume of a character that’s been around for close to two and a half decades and was very recently brought back in to main stream storylines including having a huge event over the summer and headlining the return of the New Mutants book… more people should have known who she was. Of the six or seven people that did recognize the costume, they always got it on the first guess and were very supportive of it, but everyone else didn’t seem to get it. It looks more finished, like it had been worked on for longer than mine does, but not as many people got her costume. It was almost sad at times when people said “Oh there’s Deadpool! …And company?” Because 6 people out of thousands is a kind of lame number when it comes to knowing top-tier, long-lived characters at the world’s largest comic convention. And that’s my rant! If you don’t know a mainstream character like Magik from a perfectly referenced costume, you maaaaaybe don’t belong at a COMIC BOOK CONVENTION.

So Sandra and I had the plan this morning, as you know, to go in to the X-Men Panel at 11:15. We wanted to get there right as the doors opened to get in line, because that’s how you do at these things. Well, we show up, and the doors are already opened. Not thinking, we go, “Hey, cool! We made it in!” And come to find out, it wasn’t the X-Men Panel. We were originally tipped off by the fact that they handed us Batman masks when we came in, but didn’t think anything of it. But, as they announced that this would be a panel on the cartoon Batman: The Brave and the Bold, we decided to stick around. A smart choice for us, because it was actually a great panel. I’d seen the show a few times, and loved it from what I saw of it. But I never put it together that Oswald from the Drew Carey Show was Batman. Yep, you read that right. After convincing Sandra that that’s who it was, we decided to stick around just to see how it went, and they showed us this episode of the show that was a musical, a hillarious musical, with Batman fighting the Music Meister. Really funny stuff. I’m glad we caught it, and gladder we stuck around. After that, we did get to see the X-Men Panel which was kind of neat, too. That one was more of a Q+A after the guys doing the panel talked about their new series coming out – all of them looked really exciting. A big X-Men crossover called Necrosha is coming out, and Magneto is coming back, too. I know to all of you that doesn’t mean much, but it’s exciting for me.

After, we wandered around a little bit and then had to find a spot to sit down and rest, because those costumes get hot and annoying FAST. Even being in a hall with the AC on full blast, body heat works wonders and we were both pretty uncomfortable by midday. But, due to the wonders of the internet, I heard there would be a costume contest run by Marvel later that day and I convinced Sandra we should stick around for it, just to see it. Boy was that a good idea.

We get down there, and there are all of these incredible Marvel character costumes, and a lot of them were done with massive creative liberty like mine and others were just plain incredible. We stood around with them for a bit, and I got a few pictures with and of my favorites, and then they began sign-ups for the contest. Originally, I just wanted to see it. But, when we saw it was open to the public, Sandra convinced me to enter. So, a half hour later, there I am, standing in line for a Marvel costume contest and I was up against some very steep competition. There were some very incredible costumes, and some very creative costumes, too. Like a Deadpool with bazoongas, and a Spider Man attending Comic Con, and even someone dressed up as Stan Lee. The host loved my costume, and so did one of the guys working the Marvel Booth, and Sandra says the crowd loved it as I went up on stage, posed with my Wolverine boxers exposed before quickly covering them up, but sadly I didn’t win. The other costumes there were just too good, they were home-made but real proffesional looking stuff. I couldn’t hear the winners, but I believe a Loki costume won, and then Ant-Man and Stan Lee were the runner-ups. I didn’t win, but it was fun to do! And there are pictures up, and I got a free comic book just  for trying. And I made friends, too!

Speaking of friends, that reminds me. If any of you happen to find a video of Sandra and I (in costume) doing a crazy dance with some guy on youtube or something, send it my way. That was pretty dang funny when we got asked to do that.

And, that was day two at Comic Con! We left right after the costume contest because neither of us could stand being in costume any more – I dont know how superheroes do it! Tomorow, we’re going to be back in our civilian attire to enjoy day three, where that night they are having the Comic Con Masquerade, which should be very cool to see. If I thought the costumes at the Marvel Costume Contest were good, wait ’till I see these ones!

Later!

-Tom-

I Survived Day One!

Today was the first day of Comic Con and it was a BLAST. There’s so much to see in the Exhibit Hall, so much to do, so much FREE STUFF, and a ton of things I wish I had a bazillion dollars to spend on. But I don’t, so I’m content with pointing at it to Sandra and having her take a picture. For now, muwahahaha.

And the panels (if you can get in) are pretty fun, too. Well, I can’t say that for sure… But the panel we did get in to today was awesome and made me optimistic! Two bad it seems like you need to wait in line for at least an hour to get in to them. But the Physics of Hollywood movies panel was definitely worth it. Kind of made me think about using it in the classroom, when I have a classroom. J The whole thing was just such a wonder. It all comes at you at once, and it was neat to just walk around and enjoy it. But because it’s so chaotic, I can’t give you a straight story from beginning of day to end, because it’s all one ball of excitement!

So here are my favorite parts of the day, in no specific order – they’re just put in as I think of them. Comment if you want me to elaborate on any of these!

-Sandra being woken up at 7 AM, I was already excitedly awake so it was like a small victory that she had to be awake too.
-Watching the Fox 5 News while Sandra got ready – their coverage on Comic Con was funny because it was lame. The lady doing the reporting didn’t have any clue what she was doing there.
-Not waiting in line for two hours to find out we were close but not close enough to getting in to the panel for Disney 3-D first thing this morning. Although, it was a good learning experience!
-The Warner Brothers booth – the giant tote bag came in super handy. Plus, there was a slime monster there that I stupidly touched and well, got slimed!
-Wearing cute matching shirts with Sandra, even if they went unnoticed by all but the Tutti Frutti lady.
-The cute Deadpool costumes there that made me feel good about my costume. There was a Weapon X Deadpool, a regular Deadpool and a tuxedo’ed Deadpool! And a Wolverine Origins Deadpool, too. If you can count that.
-In fact all the costumes. I remember the majority of them being anime characters I wouldn’t have recognized if the real thing was right beside them, but there were some really neat ones, too. Sandra got pictures of some of the real good ones but there were a ton of other good costumes, too.
-Collecting the cards for the movie 9! Even if we didn’t get all 9…
-Frozen yogurt! I’d never had it before this trip, and it’s actually quite enjoyable!
-Sandra letting me have sushi for lunch, and watching her try it.
-Having not one but two bums ask for money, even if one said he wasn’t really a bum and my quick thinking way of getting out of giving them money.
-Not all the people who wore spandex that shouldn’t, although some of them were humorous just for the people’s brass.
-Letting Sandra take the pictures – she’s so much better at it.
-The one panel we did get to go in. Physics of Hollywood movies, though it doesn’t sound like it would be, was incredibly entertaining. It was a really funny and engaging way to, as Mr. Weiner put it, “make fun at horrible movie physics.”
-Going to a panel with a guy named Mr. Weiner hosting it.
-All the incredible art on display in the art show, some of which was very tempting to buy. But I especially enjoyed how I felt that compared to one or two pieces up there, I could have put something in too if I had tried.
-MY FUZZY FOX TAIL TIE.
-My attempts at convincing Sandra to get a sketch done by the C+H crew, and then being content with her just buying a plushie and getting it signed.
-Doug Benson walking right by us, yelling to someone. What made it even better was Sandra thought it was just some guy yelling, and had no idea who Doug Benson was.
-Leaving with the feeling that we still had a lot left to do, still!

-Tom-

So we flew in to San Diego last night,

And boy are my legs tired!

…Because we did a lot of walking today! By 12 o’clock my pedometer had said we had walked 5 miles already getting not-really-lost between here and Bayside Park. But that was today, I didn’t finish telling you about the flights!

So Sandra and I sat in the airport for a long while after that blog, wandering about trying to find when our flight would be, until finally about a half hour before we were to leave, we decided to ask the information booth about why our flight didn’t have a gate and boy were they helpful. Unlike crabby security people, the ones you need to talk to are the little old ladies! They really help you out! So, off we went on to the plane, and Sandra got this nice comfy exit door seat while I had to sit back by the pooper. But it wasn’t too bad! I read the magazines and looked out the window for the entire trip – Michigan is very strangely flat. And then we got there! And Im thinking, “Okay, another hour or so and we can go get on the next flight.” But the thing is, we had to go aaaaaaall the way across the airport. So, we’re walking and walking and walking, and we go under this beautiful tunnel with neat-o lights that I can upload a picture for at some point, and then we walk and walk and walk and get McDonald’s, and I’m thinking we can just sit at the gate and enjoy our meal. Little did I know, and luckily I asked Sandra after we got the McDonald’s when we had to board – because I was under the wrong impression. We didn’t have time. None. At all.

So we ran and ran as fast as our little travel-weary legs could carry us, and when we got to the gate, the flight was already on last call for boarding! With some begging we were able to bring our food on with us, so we had our quick dinner and sat waiting for the flight, which had a super delay for take-off, because apparently other travelers were in similar situations to us but they got some slack cut for them. Or whatever that expression is. So after a long while of waiting we finally got in to the air and I did not realize how long 4 and a half hours was before hand. Being cramped, hot and bored didn’t help either. But, it wasn’t all bad. Near the end of the flight, we actual flew through/over/near a thunderstorm, and I got to watch the lightining for a long while out the window. That was really cool. But scary. But really cool. After a very long, long plane experience, we landed in San Diego!!

Then we had to find our luggage, which took forever and a day. But it did come up! We grab that and head off, and as we do I look to see if the yellow bells tag Sandra got me for the luggage was still on, and when I looked down I saw that the zipper had opened sometime between dropping it off in Albany and picking it up in San Diego. I don’t think I lost anything, but I can’t really tell either. So we just zipped that back up (I say that like it was easy… it wasn’t) and then headed out to the conveniently located taxi services, because I don’t know about her but I was done with travel for the day. I would like to take this opportunity though to say that the airport had a very nice set-up, very easy to find/follow.

So we head out, find a taxi that was waiting for us (well, we were directed to one but ya know) and then we started to head out! Buuuuut the driver didn’t know where our hotel was so I had to dig up the luggage from the trunk once again and find the hotel’s phone number. When he did that, though, it was all smooth sailing and he was actually quite nice. He knew right away we were here for Comic Con, and when I asked him how he knew he said “I see it in your face! Ha! I am just lieing.” I laughed. He pointed out parts of the city that we could only really see the lights of because it was dark and then we made it to the hotel where we both instantly fell asleep. ZZzzzZzzzZzz.

Then today, I woke up super early again because I’m excitable. Sandra didn’t like that, but she couldn’t exactly sleep through me jumping on the bed so she had no choice. We watched San Diego’s news station for a while, because the Del Mar track opened today, so we got to see all the funny hats. If you haven’t seen these hats, look ‘em up. Really cool looking. And then we headed out for our adventures of the day! We wanted to go to a park near the hotel, first, and the directions online seemed easy enough. NOPE! The street we wanted to go one brought you through like… a gated industrial park. So we wandered around and tried a few different roads until we got the right one and we actually made it to the park after an hour or so of walking! Then we chilled out there for a little bit and it was beautiful. Sandra didnt’ get the chance to swim like she wanted, but too bad too sad. Then after another long while of walking we got some lunch and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next stop: Horton Plaza.

Horton Plaza is a huge five story open mall. There are stores that are all connected in like a funky strip-mall kind of deal. It was actually really cool and had a million places to eat, including a place where I tried frozen yogurt for the first time and it was great! We also went to a burger place for dinner that night that I will tell you about later. We wandered around there, and I have some pictures of the place – very cool stuff. We walked around and around and up and down and probably sideways too, and the place is really like a big maze. It’s crazy! So crazy, one woman asked if I was in the service! And then proceeded to try and sell me a ring with which to engage Sandra with. Only later did I find out my haircut matched with khaki shorts and a white t-shirt is what must have given her the idea. Thanks for telling me before hand, Sandra!

After a while of wandering, we saw some people with Comic Con badges and decided to go see if we could get ours – the problem was getting there, as usual. But that was no harder than just making sure you walked straight in the right direction. Because it’s not something you can miss, it’s freaking huge. We got our badges and looked around for a bit, but nothing was set-up so we decided to head back to Horton Plaza and then call it a day because boy were my legs tired.

We went back to the mall and got some food, Sandra picked out the place to eat, a burger place called O’Brother and it was VERY good. Best burger I’ve ever had I’d say and it was all organic, too. Everything down to the soda. The food was good, and Sandra and I were happy but tired, so we trolleyed back home and found Knowing online to watch, because our hotel gave us about 8 channels to watch and 7 of them had a press conference of Obama on. And now I’m tired, I’m going to brush my teeth and head to bed. We gotta be out the door early again tomorrow for the first full day of Comic Con! I can’t wait! Keep checking back for Sandra’s take on the past two days and also The COCOEX Picture of the Day! (COCOEXPotD!)

-Tom-

Almost!

ARGH I AM SO EXCITEDDDDD.

: ) Tuesday is the day, right folks? I’m as packed as I can be right now, and now it’s just waiting. This past week went by horribly slow for me. Sandra was busy with her surprise anniversary party for her parents’ 25th anniversary, so Im sure hers went fast. But not mine. I get too anxious, too excited, and thusly it makes the time go sooooo slowly. Oh! But you’re probably wondering about the party. Yup! Sandra planned a very swingin’ shindig for her parents, and they were both astonished by the surprise. She did good! I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it later, it was pretty neat.  And other than that… well, that’s it! I’ve just been waiting, waiting, waiting. And now I have one more day before I leave.  Sorry I haven’t been posting much, but there hasn’t been much else besides waiting. Which, I guess I’m gonna go back to doing!

Almost there!

-Tom-

Rainy Days

So, Sandra just alerted me that I had a draft in here I never published, haha. This post was suppoused to go up on the 30th, and I guess it never made it. So here it is, but updated for the times!

It had rained every day for like two weeks leading up to the past two days, more or less. It maybe skipped one or two days. But for two weeks, it had been raining off and on, raining in some capacity every day. And not just a little sprinkle or a summer shower. Downpours and thunder storms. It was getting pretty annoying, but then we had two very nice days in a row! Definitely not hot, dog-day summer weather, but it was nice enough to go swimming and Sandra and I went out to work on our base tans and she turned in to a lobster. We actually got some color! And then today? Another storm. Sigh. Ya know, they say it never rains in California. In San Diego they get like… 0.01″ of rain in July so rain all you want right now, New York! I’m leaving in 10 days!

A couple weeks ago, I started on some work for my new Western Civ class. And if everything goes well, I’ll be able to transfer to UB as a sophomore with 24 credits. I have two classes left this summer and they both end in early August. They’re not tricky; it’s just annoying to do them. You have to stay on the deadlines and do very tedious work. But I’ve gotten through five of them already, so I’m on the home stretch! And, it’s not like I can go outside and do anything, hahaha.

 

I also went to Syracuse in the time between forgetting to post this and now, and that was… exciting. I went to Olive Garden, which is nice food. I played bingo with my grammy and some of her very strange friends – and even won some money, too! And of course, got to worry about all Sandra’s truck troubles the entire time. But it was a nice visit all in all.

The costumes as you know, are all done. So now, we just wait for the event to happen, but lately they’ve been putting up info on the different events coming to Comic Con. I’m interested in seeing the panels on Movie Physics and the one with Tim Burton or Peter Jackson, but we’ll see what we can get in to when we get there! I’m sure the lines will be ridiculous no matter what one you try, so I’m not going to expect to get in to anything and I’ll just enjoy the ride. 10 days! Less than two weeks! Exciteddd!

 

And! Drum roll please!

I finished the shield! …Like two weeks ago! It turned out great – I’m so proud of it. The leather came and we had drilled the boss on to it. But putting the leather on was a pain in the ass. You had to get it all smooth, pull it tight, make sure both sides are even, and then hold it there while someone else tacks it in. It was a precision job we could have used a whole other person for, but we got it and it didn’t turn out too bad at all. And that’s been about it!Here’s the picture of the shield!

 

 

Tada!

-Tom-

 

 

 

Fireworks, Panels and Repo

22 more days left ’till Comic Con, everyone! And I may have plans for this weekend, too. Sandra comes back on Wednesday, (yay!) and then the rest of the week will be kinda like today: lazy. But then on Saturday (the 4th of July), my mum and brother are heading out to Syracuse. Sandra and I were going to go up on Sunday, as she has orientation at Buffalo that following Monday and its far more convenient to leave there at 7 AM than here at 4 AM. But! Rumor has it there may be fireworks in Syracuse, and if that’s the case I think we may be going up that Saturday, after making an appearance at Matt DiPace’s graduation party. We’ll see what Sandra wants to do when things get closer! That’d be kinda fun, but we’ll see what she wants to do.

Other than that, I found a list of the different panels at Comic Con that will be there this year. Panels, to the best of my understanding, are special rooms in the convention center for exclusive content like movie trailers, autograph signings, interviews, etc. Off the top of my head I remember there being ones about the new Sherlock Holmes movie, Where the Wild Things Are, 2012, a panel for Family Guy and The Simpsons and a signing with the lead singer of the band Coheed and Cambria who I enjoy very much. I also saw what days the channel G4 will be covering the event, so perhaps I’ll be on TV, too? We’ll see!

Have you ever seen the show Operation Repo? This is my last paragraph, I swear. It’s pretty funny. It follows the adventures of a crew of repossessers as they do their job repossessing cars. It’s pretty funny how extreme some of the people get, and how extreme the Repo guys get, too. It’s a good show, I enjoy it. It’s on TruTV on Mondays at like… 10, if you’re interested. Andddd, I guess that’s it! ‘Till next time, friends!

-Tom-

Costumes!

So today was pretty boring and uneventful, especially compared to the past few days. In fact it wasn’t any better than watching paint dry because, well, that’s all I did. I put on more coats for the shield, I did some homework, and played video games. And now I wait for the living room TV to clear up so I can sweat to some oldies and then I’ll read a comic or two and call it a day. But all this free time got me thinking about what I’m most excited for at Comic Con. Am I excited about seeing exclusive content like never-before-seen movie clips and trailers? For sweet collectible free stuff? For the potential to meet big name celebrities in an up-close and informal setting? Hundreds of comic book artists, writers, editors, etc. will be there but then there are tons of celebrities, too. I know for a fact already that Robert Downey Jr. will be around for autographs and stuff. Well, that’s all freaking sweet and I’m certainly excited for all of that, too. But I’m mostly excited about the COSTUMES.

The costumes are always fantastic at these things. To be blunt… some of these guys (and girls) have wayyyyyy too much time on their hands. Sure, there was a lot of time put in to our costumes but some of these guys’ costumes are just incredible. I’m excited to see all of those costumes most. I’m excited just to be in a new atmosphere, soaking in all of that nerdyness and getting to be a part of it, too. Our costumes turned out well, and I think we’ll get a bit of recognition for them. They’re close to their counterparts, atleast.

There's a page of the comic I got the inspiration to do my costume from.

 

And this is the reference for Sandra's costume

 

But some of the costumes that have been at past conventions blow ours completely out of the water. If you don’t believe me, do a quick search of “San Diego Comic Con” and see what kind of awesome costumes you come up with. There’s even a Masquerade on Saturday night, where people pit their costumes against each other in a crazy geek fashion show, where you do a little skit with your costume for prizes. I’m pretty sure I missed the registration date, and I wouldn’t have the guts to do it anyway, but it’s something I’d like to just go and watch. I hope I get to, because some of these costumes are ridiculous. Ours are good, they’re close to the reference, and they fit the style of the characters well. I think ours will turn some heads. But just as an example, here’s a picture of the costume that was voted the best costume of last year’s SDCC. Some of you will think it’s really cool. Others probably won’t get it, or maybe just won’t believe it. But if you’re like me, your jaw won’t come back up until the next blog. Feast your eyes on this!

And yes, it’s real.

-Tom-

 

A costume of the Transformer Bumblebee.