Journey to the Center

Saturday my husband and I went to the Emerald City ComiCon. This was the first time either of us had been, I’m relatively new to the comic world and my husband just went along because I wanted to go. We arrived about 11, so the crowds hadn’t really picked up yet. This was a very good thing, because the first thing I did after a quick tour of some of the building was to stand in line for Wil Wheaton.

I’ve been a fan of WWdN for a while, and have picked up all his auto-biographical books so far. I managed to get Just a Geek from Mysterious Galaxy pre-signed, and ordered the special edition of The Happiest Days of Our Lives which came signed as well. So this was my chance to get my copy of Dancing Barefoot signed. Completion issues, I haz them.

Anyway, while Wil was personalizing my book, I was able to avoid saying anything too scary and instead thanked him for introducing me to Alan Moore. The best part? He was totally cool and we geeked out about comics for a bit. I must now order Lost Girls because he recommended it specifically. And so far, we’re in total comic-book-agreement. The worst part? Being trapped in line by in front of two girls who reminded me of Cordelia and Harmony from Buffy. Seriously lacking the clue necessary to recognize their own hypocrisy. But it was pretty entertaining to listen to.

While I was waiting in line, my husband wandered around and looked at stuff. This is good because I was in serious power-shopper mode. No idea why this happened. I move much faster through those situations than he does; he wants to stop and look at everything, I only want to browse things that catch my eye.

A couple of the art tables caught my eye and we ended up walking away with Nighty-Night by Scott Kikuta and Lucha Monstruo by Daniel Davis (pictures after the jump). I love them both, they’re going to get framed and hung in my office. As we were cash poor, we didn’t walk away with much else, but there are a couple of titles I’m going to be asking the local comic shop to be picking up for me.

We ran into a couple of old friends that we haven’t seen (hi Zannah!) in ages and then burned out and left. There were lots of people there, the standing had cranked my back, and we still had to head out to get lunch, a present and attend a party. Saturday was awfully busy, but the con was a good way to start.
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I’ve finished a lot of fluff books lately, nothing real groundbreaking. Here’s the catchup:

Phantoms by Dean Koontz is the story of 2 women trapped in a town by an unknown agent of death. They’re joined along the way by police, scientists and one scholar whose theories are confirmed. This is one of Koontz better books. He keeps the spiritualism that taints his later works to a minimum and concentrates on the untenable situation the protagonists find themselves in. A little unrealistic in that all the good guys stay good even with the surety of their deaths looming over them, but the identity of the agent is worth it.
Michael Crichton’s Prey is typical of his formula of writing. Just like in Terminal Man and Congo, scientific excess and unchecked ambition lead to a disaster of potentially global proportion. I enjoyed this book for its investigation into the nuance of nanotechnology, but the reliance upon his earlier formulas left me disappointing. I was unable to suspend my disbelief long enough to really enjoy the last hundred pages or so.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman is a childrens book based in an alternate reality. People have companions that are tied to them, almost as the physical representation of their soul. The main characters best friend is stolen away by mysterious people and she decides to get him back, no matter the cost. Lyra faces down monsters of every sort, including her guardian, to achieve her goal. It turns out that the worst monsters she faces are people. It’s a decent book for one aimed at kids, though I don’t understand the furor over the theism in this universe.

As part of my ongoing effort to be my own advocate for my scoliosis, I asked the hospital to send me a copy of my xray. This is remarkably easy to do now, what with digital media and all. They sent me a CD with a little program that pops up the xrays. Oddly enough, it only runs on Windows.

Anyway, I’ve decided that being my own advocate is the only way to proceed with this. The alternatives I was presented with at my initial consult just weren’t acceptable, which was how I ended up on the alternative track to start with.* So I’m collecting all relevant information and keeping copies on my own. That way if I get stuck hopping to a new doctor at some point, I don’t have to go through all of this again.

Anyway, for your amusement, I present thoracic scoliosis with a 19 degree curve:

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*How can anyone, let alone a back specialist, tell people that their options are surgery, with fabulous new metal rod (bionic woman powers not included) or 45 minutes of aerobic exercise a day? Because climbing stairs will magically fix spine alignment issues, or something.