Friday afternoon I was planning on going to Comic Con with the guys. Early on I find out that only Jere is planning on coming. At the last minute I find out even Jere isn't coming. I'm totally on my own. It's a little after one. Screw it. I'm going in. I leave Paterson at 1:30, by 2:15 I'm standing in the middle of the Javits Center basking in the bizzarity that is New York Comic Con.
I'm there for just under three hours, but I manage to tour the entire show floor. I pick up some really cool prints, talk to some really cool artists, and catch a quick look of the hottest cosplay Supergirl I've ever seen in my life.
By 5 PM I've paid $60 for parking and am on my way home. That night I meet up with Jere and House to have a few drinks and shoot the shit. They're planning to dress up for the Con as part of their bucket list, House is talking about going as The Hulk. Jere isn't sure what he's going to be.
Another good day.
So Day 2 starts with a stop at a costume shop over in Pompton Plains (I think). The guys waited till the absolute very last minute to get their costumes, and the truth is you really can't blame them. I don't think they actually thought they were going through with it until they were on the floor of the Con.
We get there, park right across the street, and the pair of them simultaneously chicken out. We head into the building with neither one of them in costume. After a brief stretch of us ridiculing them unmercifully and seeing that there are other people in far worse costumes the pair of them man up and head back out to the car to change. Twenty minutes later they're standing on the floor of the Javits Center dressed like this:
None of us had cameras, but it didn't really matter because easily 100 people stopped Ninja Turtle House for pictures. (Including the guy whose Flickr account I stole the above pic from) Captain America Jere...not so much. While selecting their costumes I "forgot" to mention to House that this was also the 25th Anniversary of the Ninja Turtles, both creators were in attendance, and there was a booth totally dedicated to the turtles. We couldn't make it five feet without someone stopping him for a picture. It was insane. We think he was loving it. You can never really tell with House.
So we're making our way down one of the aisles when we reach the Con massage center. There are masseuses there who for $15 will give you a relaxing 10 minute massage. You're on your feet most of the day at the con, it's crowded and frustrating. I really figured that the massage center would have been packed, but it's empty. I think it would be hilarious for the guys to get massages in costume. They don't. But I check with the guy working the center, and he says he's cool with it. I offer to pay. House is in. Jere is not. So I fork over the $15 and a rather large black gentleman goes to work on House. A crowd is gathering, people are cracking up. We're all taking pics with our phones, dozens of other people are taking pics. I look around the crowd. Standing just a few feet to my right is a ridiculously cute woman in a red jacket. Holy Shit. It's Whitney Matheson. Whitney Matheson is the writer behind entertainment blog Pop Candy and a feature writer for USA Today. Whitney Matheson is fantastic. I love Whitney Matheson.
No really. I love Whitney Matheson. If she wasn't married and I wasn't a fat blobular piece of shit I would find out where she lived, camp out on her front stoop and propose to her everytime she left the house. You know, right up until the restraining order landed.
And here she is not five feet away from me chuckling as she watched the Ninja Turtle Massage. I turn to Jere and say something along the lines of "Holy Shit, that's Whitney Matheson." He just looks at me oddly (Try having someone dressed in a crap Captain America costume look at you like you're the freak and tell me how great you feel about yourself) I continue to gush for about a minute and totally intend to walk over and tell her exactly how great I think she is when something odd happens...I get nervous.
I'm not the nervous type. I just don't care enough about very many things to get nervous. And here I am, standing just a few feet away from someone I admire a great deal, the perfect opportunity to just say, "Hey you're fantastic." And I can't work up the nerve.
To be a coward once is a mistake, to be a coward twice is death.
If I ever find myself in the same situation again (with anyone) I won't drop the ball.
When I get back to the office later that night I try to see if any of the hundred of people taking pictures posted photos of the ninja turtle massage. When I google Ninja Turtle Massage this is the top hit: http://twitter.com/popcandy/status/1186738224
"Oh my golly, I'm watching a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle get a massage! Only at Comic Con."
I think that just made my life. Something I thought of made Whitney Matheson say "Oh my golly".
And of course ultimate respect to Jere and House for going through with it and actually getting dressed up for the con.
I hadn't planned on going back for Day 3 but after chatting with the Rookie last night I decided to take him back for Kid's Day. He had a blast, and I had a blast. And I bought a new very bad ass walking stick. I closed out the night by attending our last regular Antioch meeting and having dinner (our last after meeting dinner) with the Antioch Team. I've said it a million times, but I don't think I'll ever be able to say it enough. I love these kids. They are, by far, the best people I know. And I can't wait for the weekend, even though I really don't want the run-up to be over just yet.
And now here I am sitting at my desk at half past 12 in the evening, wondering what the hell I've done right lately that has me on such a fantastic run . Wondering what other great things could happen next week that would be able to top this week. Wondering exactly why I feel as great as I do right now.
Wondering how long it can last...
And just hoping that this is it.
Hoping that I'm fixed.
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