It's a Cult Phenomenon [Teasers] #SDCC

So, you know how when you go to Nerdvana and then you come back and your real life responsibilities have piled up, as has your sleep debt? As a result, more Comic-Con posts are coming next week instead of this one. Here are some teaser photos for you instead!

I look so terrible in this picture because it was taken on Sunday. Seriously, 4 hours of sleep an night, plus the hour I slept on the lawn in front of Hall H will take a toll on your looks and hairstyle. I may have grass in my hair, but hey, at least I showered.

 

 

Are you sufficiently teased? See you in a few days!

It's a Cult Phenomenon [SWAG]

Here's a round-up of my favorite swag! Note: this is not all my swag, just the best stuff. All the things in this post were free, since I don't consider it swag if you pay for it.

I love the exclusive t-shirts. I really think they are the best swag. My favorite was the one from the Chuck panel, especially because I didn't think we would be getting any Chuck swag since it is in its final season.

There are nun-chucks in the "back pocket":

Game of Thrones T-shirt. I got the Lannister sigil and Mike got Targaryen. I'm not exactly pulling for the Lannisters, but it is a cool shirt.

Psych shirts. I think my favorite part of the Psych panel was Dule Hill's reaction to the grey one. He hadn't known about it.

Covert Affairs T-shirt, all redacted and stuff. I loved Peter Gallagher in this panel, he gave an eyebrow salute and joked that his eyebrow was the one on the Comic-Con logo.

True Blood shirt. Self-explanatory.

Cafe Diem napkins and pens. When the server saw I asked for extra napkins and put them in my purse, she came back with a handful of pens for us! Cafe Diem is the best thing that SyFy does for Comic-Con, in my opinion. The food wasn't bad, either! Here's a tip: go on Wednesday night, any other night is a long wait.

I also scored a new copy of the 4th Sookie Stackhouse novel (to correspond with the 4th season of True Blood) with the HBO cover, and a shiny copy of A Game of Thrones as well.

It's a Cult Phenomenon [Overview]

My name is Jen, and I am addicted to stories. This is why I attend Comic-Con, the mecca for story-lovers. Here is where I tell you about it.

So, I've thought a lot about how to post about Comic-Con. I think some people want to know every single detail of every panel and watch videos of them. To them I say, you should actually attend! The experience of watching it online or reading about it can't compare even a little bit. Maybe 1%. I honestly had to remind myself multiple times during the Captain America movie yesterday that screaming loudly and clapping for everything wasn't really appropriate social behavior outside of the Con. I seriously have no voice from screaming and laughing so much. Anyway, I decided to break it up. Today is a basic overview with my favorite and least favorite panels. 

Let me start with addressing a comment that I (and people I know) get a lot. Mostly from the dismissive people, I guess, who are looking for an excuse for why they didn't buy a ticket to the Con. That is this (now pay attention): if you want to go to panels, and you plan correctly, YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAND IN LINE (well, not much, anyway). Here's the thing, after four days of Comic-Con-ing, my butt is way more sore than my feet. This means I spent way more time sitting in panels than waiting in line. Here's the trick: get your badge on Wednesday, and then come early to get in the Ballroom 20 or Hall H lines each day and sit and chill. It is nice and cool, you can eat your breakfast, hang with your friends, read a book, even take a nap. And then, as soon as the doors open, you get right in.

The sun isn't beating down on your head, you're not inching forward slowly for hours, and everyone is in a good mood. You don't have to wait for people to leave and I seriously did not miss one panel this year and we had great seats.

The other side of this is, if you want to go to one panel at the end of the day, this strategy won't work. You have to be a serious panel-goer, or else you should just hang out in the exhibit hall or go to minor panels. If you are in line behind 7,000 others for the last panel of the day and it's starting in an hour, you aren't getting in. If you go get into Ballroom 20 and watch the first 7 panels that you don't care about just for the last panel of the day, that doesn't make you a serious panel-goer, it makes you a jerk. Leave the seat free for the serious TV fans. I never feel guilty about my strategy because I'm legitimately interested in the panels, otherwise I wouldn't be in the room. I agree that Comic-Con needs a better system for those people who just want to attend one or two panels, but with the current system, this is the best strategy.

Anyway, I wrote down tidbits throughout the weekend and took lots of pictures. Keep in mind, I'm a TV person more than anything, so I don't really go to movie panels, and I don't spend much time in the exhibit hall because you can't do all the panels and the entire exhibit hall, and it makes me a little crazy. Plus, the best swag is exclusively for panel-goers anyway. I have lots of new t-shirts now. Enough to outfit me for Comic-Con next year plus more if I didn't make my own. More on those things later. Now, it's time for my favorite and least favorite panels.

Favorite panel: It's a tie between Game of Thrones and Doctor Who. I loved that Doctor Who was in Hall H this year. Thank you for that. I actually most likely wouldn't have gone to Hall H at all otherwise. Doctor Who was great because the stars are so sweet and likeable and grateful. They are so appreciative of their fans, and they showed an amazing sneak peak for the second half of the series. Plus, Matt said "Bow ties are cool" during the panel, which is a major win.

Game of Thrones was pretty epic because of George R.R. Martin's moderating and Jason Momoa. Momoa was hilarious. He was wearing Drogo eye makeup and he yelled in Dothraki. He also said his favorite scene was a sex scene and then put his arm around Emilia Clarke. He did another hilarious thing that I can't really share because I don't post spoilers on my blog, but suffice it to say he was very funny. Martin wasn't the most epic moderator ever, but since he wrote the books, having him there at all was awesome, and he did a great job. I felt a little sorry for poor Lena Headey, who desperately wants to find some humanity in Cersei Lannister. Sorry, Lena, she's just that evil.

Least Favorite Panel: Without a doubt, it was The Big Bang Theory. Jim Parsons was great and seemed very shy, and Kunal Nayyar was really enthusiastic and just so happy to be there. The others, though... Kaley Cuoco, “America's sweetheart," proved that just because you look sweet doesn't mean that you actually are. She insulted and mocked a very nice and nervous fan. Come on Kaley, that's not what Comic-Con is about (unless you're Seth MacFarlane). Simon Helberg, when Chris Hardwick (the moderator) asked him about his “nerdy side,” vehemently denied that he was nerdy multiple times and made the most disgusted face. Great move in a room full of 4,250 admitted nerds, Simon. I know that the cast are mostly “Norms” or “Muggles” as I like to call them, but seriously, get over yourselves. Ugh.

Ok, I don't want to end on that note. To end, you get some pictures of Kit Harington looking absolutely terrified for no reason.

More later, including a swag post!

101 Things Update!

 I was talking to my brother on the phone about my 101 things list and it occurred to me that I might not have that many days left in my 1001 days. I calculated it out and I only have 106 days left (and since I wrote this post two weeks ago, I'm even more screwed now!)!!! I really need to buckle down to get more of this stuff done. I'm not sure it will be possible to finish it all, especially because I haven't taken my ski lesson and it's summer now...

Here's the basic criteria:

 For my full list, go here. 

And here are all the things I have done since my last updates:

17. Re-read the Harry Potter series (7/7)

24. Go on 3 significant hikes (3/3) Many more than this!

27. Visit 5 museums (5/5) (Desert Botanical Gardens, 2/8/09) (Science Museum, Easter weekend), Art Museum, Other Art Museum, Maritime Museum

29. Tune up road bike (technically it was mostly Mike who did this, but since he did it, I couldn't do it, so I'm counting it as done)

34. Paint downstairs bathroom and the stairway (at the very least) - did before we left Phoenix

40. Visit 5 states that I've never been to before (Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska)

42. Have a custom blog makeover done professionally - doing it myself now, but the art is professional :-)

49. Sort through all the storage boxes - did when we moved

61. Eat at 25 new restaurants - we moved to a new city. Done and done.

72. Clean the couch thoroughly with upholstery cleaner

99. See an animal in the wild that I've never seen before - a fox! - it tried to run in front of my car 

Things that don't actually make sense anymore because we have moved to Colorado and do not own our house here:

36. Make that "photo wall" I've been meaning to with the IKEA frames
37. Make those fabric/stencil decorations for our bedroom
63. Cultivate small backyard garden (in pots – at least 5 of them!)

It's nice to watch the old map get a little more filled in. Too bad it won't let me mark Antigua as a place I've been. There is some sort of glitch there.

 

Guest Post - What inspires me

My guest post on things that inspire me is up on Campfire Chic today. I had a lot of fun with this one and I hope you check it out!



I'll be responding to comments over there, but probably not until after Comic-Con. Have a great weekend, everyone!

TARDIS Manicure

So, no Tuesday Treasures this week due to the Harry Potter post from yesterday and my desire to squeeze this one in here before Comic-Con.

Basically, my search for the perfect TARDIS blue nail polish was not as epic as I had originally expected. Mostly because I hit it pretty well on the second try and didn't feel the need to buy any more blue nail polish. And actually, my first polish was a pretty decent substitute, and cheaper, but there are several reasons why I didn't go with that one.

Anyway, the first polish I tried was Sally Hansen's complete salon manicure in Thinking of Blue. This was a pretty good approximation as you can see below.

Artificial:



Flash:



Natural:



Pretty good, right? Unfortunately this polish chipped instantly. These pics were taken the next day and you can see the wear. Yes, I used a topcoat. I just need something more hard-wearing for an event like Comic-Con.

The second one I tried was China Glaze First Mate. It looks pretty good, right? Excuse my crappy manicure, I did not have good light.

Artificial:



Flash:



Natural:



After I had found my color, I started experimenting with a matte topcoat and some silver sparkles. Mattefying the color made it even more Tardis-like.

Artificial:



Flash:



Natural:



I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to use the sparkles yet, but I'm pretty excited about finding my TARDIS blue. Plus, 5 days later, the polish is barely chipped.

Pottermania 2011

source

Fun fact: Fox Trot is my favorite Comic Strip of all time.

I just didn't think I had enough fandom stuff crammed into one month, so I thought I would take part in Cinemark Theater's crazy Harry Potter marathon event. 8 movies. 2 days. All the popcorn you can eat.

Not only that, but prior to (and during) this event, I attempted to read through all 7 books (for the umpteenth time). I made it all the way through half of #5. Combined with two summer classes, running to Denver for George R.R. Martin signing tickets, and some catch-up TV and movie watching for Comic-Con, it was a busy week. Luckily I read fast and I have three of the books on cassette, making it possible to do things like wash dishes and clothes and do other things around the house.

So, after two days sitting in a theater, consuming copious amounts of caffeine, not sleeping much, and crying and laughing (a lot), I basically had withdrawal on Friday. I had to wait a day to even write this blog post. It was seriously one of the most fun things I've done in a while, and I met a lot of cool nerds like me, but it was an emotional high that I totally came down from, hard, which was something I really didn't expect. Still, totally worth it. I would do it again. Plus, I didn't have to stand in line for Deathly Hallows Part II, which was great considering the ENTIRE theater sold out for the midnight show. All 20 screens. And that was just one area theater!

Here's me being all nerdy on each day of the marathon. The 9 3/4 hat was part of the swag that the first people waiting in line for the start of the marathon received. Of course, I was one of those people. Excuse the bathroom lighting in the first one, making me look ghoulish. And I did sleep and shower between these pics, even if it looks like I didn't!

We also got a poster, and special 3D glasses.

There definitely wasn't a full house for our marathon, not enough people were hardcore enough for 8 movies in 2 days, and it was nice to be able to spread out a little, get a great seat, and still feel the camaraderie. These people are as crazy as me, and we're not afraid to show it! There was only one annoying group, too, that I had to ask to stop talking. This group also contained the girl who loudly announced during a break that she only liked the movies and thought books were boring. I swear she almost got lynched. Idiot.

I did meet a cool guy who sat in my row throughout the marathon. He was re-reading the books as well and he talked about how he was jaded about the series in the beginning, was dragged to the first two movies, then went and read the books and was hooked from there. Hooked enough to go to a nutty marathon ten years later. I told my story of how I thought they were kids books and couldn't possibly be that good and my brother told me about a thousand times that I would love them (but he was a kid! So I was still skeptical), and when I finally stole borrowed the first book from him, I stayed up half the night reading and the obsession began there. I remember that was right before the fourth came out and for some reason we only got one copy of that book so I would go steal it from his bedroom to read it because his bedtime was earlier. After that, we got our own copies!

But, anyway, I bet most HP fans have similar stories. It's always hard for me to really believe that other people like something I'm so geeked out about as much as I do, but I hope they do. I think everyone needs a series of books that really makes you fall in love with reading, or fall in love with it all over again, and that make you realize your inner child is still alive and kicking, no matter what.