This afternoon, after taking my daughter to see They Might Be Giants at Town Hall, I met up with a famous local blogger for a little barbecue and parental bonding. He and his family were going to a later TMBG show, along with another friend of theirs who had a four-year old son.
My job was to keep my kid from melting down completely (it was already an hour past her bed time) so I was distracting her with crayons and french fries when I noticed the boy, who was to my right, playing with an Iron Man action figure.
"Ooh, do you like Iron Man? Where did you get that?"
He said something unintelligible, and his mother leaned over and said, "His father took him to Comic Con this morning."
Kid, you've got the best dad EVER
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I almost let my daughter walk out of the restaurant, I was so interested in finding out what the boy had seen that morning.
"Did you see Orson Scott Card or Neil Gaiman?" I wanted to ask. "Did Guillermo del Toro talk about making 'The Hobbit?' Was Seth Green funny? Was Mike Mignola signing copies of Alpha Flight? And Grace Park...my god, was SHE there?"
You can't ask a four year-old to answer such questions, of course. Believe it or not, I actually know that. But that didn't stop the pang of jealousy I had for the boy, guilelessly sporting his little Batman t-shirt.
As it turns out, he was only there for the Kids Day, before the floor was filled with nerds dressed as Hellboy and models dressed as Lara Kroft or Emma Frost. I know in my heart that my own nerdiness cannot compete with that crowd, nor do I want to.
Still, the chance to rub elbows with the guy who wrote Thundarr the Barbarian would have been pretty sweet. Maybe I'll ask the wife next year if I can go, as long as I promise not to wear a fur cod-piece.
I went to the one in San Diego last summer. It was awesome.
Posted by: Whit | April 21, 2008 at 04:49 PM
I have a friend who goes every year. I'd go, but it'd have to be local. I would never fly anyplace for it. And I'd probably take resumes, just in case anyone needed an editor. 'Cause I'm that other kind of nerdy.
Posted by: the weirdgirl | April 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM
I have a friend who goes every year. I'd go, but it'd have to be local. I would never fly anyplace for it. And I'd probably take resumes, just in case anyone needed an editor. 'Cause I'm that other kind of nerdy.
Posted by: the weirdgirl | April 22, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Alas I was not geeky enough to fully enjoy the Comic-con experience but it was an interesting day ... topped off by HellBoy autographs and Robot Chicken!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iycli/sets/72157604688029497/
Posted by: iycli | April 23, 2008 at 05:27 PM
How on God's green earth do you have time for another blog?
I like it, btw.
Posted by: Kara | April 24, 2008 at 10:30 AM