11/52: Emerald City Comicon

Let me start by answering the most commonly asked question.  Why?? Why do you want to go to comicon? And the answer is the same as the response I give to a lot of the questions I get about the things I do.

Why not?

There are so many things going on outside my little bubble. It's always fun to get out there and see what other people are doing.  And let me tell you...my eyes have been opened.  I have discovered that there are all these little niches in society that carry on in the periphery. Away from the mainstream. You don't often see them but they are there. They may seem odd and obscure but really they are just people doing what interests them.

So along with my trusty companion Michelle we set off for seattle.  Getting up a o' dark thirty to catch a plane. We made it to the airport and plied ourselves with copious amounts of coffee while we waited for our short 45 minute hop across to the coast.

The light rail train took us straight from the airport into downtown Seattle and from there we headed through the usual Seattle drizzle down to Pike Place Market to grab something to eat and wait for the conference center to open.

We headed back to the convention center and got there a little before opening time.  We thought we would spend our time wizely and get a t shirt but the t shirt line was closed...( it had about 100 people in it) because the officials told us that any more than that represented a fire hazard. Instead we were herded into what Michelle called cattle yards waiting for the doors to open.  Apparently 4000 people all stuffed into a cattle yard represents less of a fire hazard than 100 people standing in a t shirt line. Go figure.

Once we finally got in it was really like stepping into another world.  Hundreds of stalls filled with comics, gaming paraphernalia, costumes, weaponry, art and Japanese anime related stuff.  Honestly I had no idea what most of it was. 

We found the floor where all the celebrities were but we didn't get to see any as they were all hiding behind curtains.  You had to pay to see them....between $40 and $80 for a photo op or signature so there was no freebie celeb sightings.

There were however plenty of other people watching to be done.  Most comicon attendees got into the spirit and dressed up. One of my favourite places was the kids area where you could shoot a storm trooper with a dart gun.

Apparently this guy is a character from some video game.

Star Wars droids. You can see Leia in the background with a carbonite Han Solo.

Two versions of Princess Leia.  One with clothes on and one almost with clothes on.

Darth

Some Pokemon guy jack was telling me about

Another video game soldier character...( you can see how well versed I am in this genre)

Xena warrior princess

So Worf and Q were there from StarTrek Next Generation. We didn't see them.  MacGyver was there.  We didn't see him. But we did see this lady.

She played Uhuru on the original StarTrek series.  She must be about 80 but still going strong regaling stories about her time on Star Trek and being the first black women on a TV series.

During all this my trusty companion was doing a lot of this. 

Yes, she is knitting.  We decided not to fight the fact that we were outsiders who didn't really belong at comicon so we approached it more like scientific research to observe and study and try to come to an understanding of this strange species.

It was a fun, interesting day that totally got me outside my comfort zone. And I can check that off my list.  Comicon - been there, done that.

10/52: Another First

As a parent our lives are filled with "firsts". First words, first steps, first days at school.  And now this.

First child to get a drivers license.

Ciara passed her driving test yesterday and is now officially licensed to drive.

She has her own little car and her first chore yesterday after she got her license was to drive Max to a friends house.  Liberating......for both of us!

In the spirit on Lent there has been a lot of purging going on here.  I started out just cleaning closets and cupboards and it has evolved into a major house cleanse. I have been selling a load of stuff on Craigslist and it feels kinda good to once again have a ( nearly) empty basement. The extra cash is not bad either.

We had a bit of a bake fest this week to provide goodies for the bake sale at Ciara's marching band fund raiser, the school craft fair. 

The apple coffee cake turned out pretty well.

 I was tempted to sample it before we sent it off to the bake sale but decided its retail value might be somewhat diminished if it had a slice missing.

Saturday held some more excitement when Max and his friend had to call 911 when they discovered a group of kids messing around in a field with a car that subsequently burst into flames. The boys got the fire brigade out to put out the fire.  Another crisis averted. ( Thanks to Michelle for the photographic documentation of the event)

And the weekend was topped off with a little impromptu St Paddys day celebration.

Yep...green beer!

And ( not green) cake!

9/52

In an effort not to let the weather get us down, we have been trying to make the best of it when we can and ignoring it when we can't. As a result, there has been an artsy, fartsy, crafty bug going on around here lately.

Wooden sculptures

Pottery

Sock (spider) monkey...not quite finished yet.

Homemade board games.

 

And when staying inside got too much we headed up the mountain for a bit of ski therapy.

Yes I was getting a little carried away with the chairlift selfie.

One of the best things about skiing......chili cheese fries.  These are definitely NOT on the whole foods approved list.

Another fun excursion...Trellis in the Valley...LOVE!

 Ciara did the SAT this weekend. ( For my Aussie peeps this is the equivalent of the HSC) so keep yours fingers crossed for her.  :-)

8/52

Bloggy shorthand (aka the lazy, fast catch up post)

More puppies. Six this time bringing the puppy total to 39. One was VERY hard to part with.

I decided I was sick of my hair so Max helped me with some highlights.  Here is my super attractive photo taken during the process. 

And the after photo... Didn't turn out too bad. 

Poor Max. He humours me ... a lot.  I decided to use the leftover bleach on his hair.  And yes... I am aware that the sort of things I do to him may require therapy down the track. 

The snow paid us another visit, which was at odds with the forecast ( got to love our local news and weather service - check out Fridays high temp.)

 It was like a snow globe out there for a while.

But by the time night fell it  was absolutely breathtaking.