Scribble: This is why I don't write while sick.

      Another cough. Race to the sink, barely in time to expunge. Head feels like swimming with cement shoes.
      Cold water. Hands dry, cracked, bare. A gnat, waterlogged, washes upon the porcelain shore. Maybe I drowned it. So ignorant.
      Another cough. Nothing comes. Steady pace back to the couch. Legs flail like fleeing gnats, made soggy by immeasurable giants.
      Running nose. Tonight, I am a murderer. Tonight, something tries to murder me.
      Another cough...

A hint.

I've picked-up a pen-name, and have three simultaneous projects in the works. No other details until they go live.

Things I Have Learned from Comic-Con: Day Three

• The Sucklord, in response to someone admiring his "costume": "It's not a costume, it's a way of life!"
  
• While still the most frontin'-est rapper around, MC Frontalot is as chill and down-to-earth as he is tall. And he is, of course, not a short man by any means.
  
• Octopus Pie, as a title, is just nonsensical and has no real bearing on the strip. Not that the strip needed help being awesome.
  
• Come to think of it, Meredith Gran is also quite chill and down-to-earth, and was cool about signing something for a friend who's been feelin' kinda craptacular.
  
• Actually, though I didn't get to talk with all of them, I'm just gonna toss this out there: the whole Dumbrella crew and affiliates? C'mon. You can figure out the rest from here.
  
• From The Multicultural Mask panel on breaking down barriers of race, gender, and sexual orientation in comics, paraphrased: "They need to do something like Marvel Zombies, y'know . . . but, like, 'Marvel People of Color.' 'Ah, they're turning non-white! Run!'"
  
• It is completely justifiable to spend hundreds of dollars at a con, so long as a healthy percentage of that goes towards gifts for other people.
  
• There is nothing more uncomfortable than squeezing past the sweaty, clammy dudes hanging around the hentai / erotic art / erotic comic booths, beyond the nagging, irrational fear that you're somehow being perceived as one . . . even though the most scandalous thing you've purchased is Scott Pilgrim.
  

And, finally:

• There is no quicker way to lose five pounds than by staying on your feet for eight hours straight, three days in a row. There is no quicker way to gain it back than by going to the nearby pizzeria for lunch every day.
  

Much props to Matt, Jesse, and the crew from Onell; Boris and the crew from Rocket North; Meredith Gran, Andrew Bell, and MC Frontalot; the Sucklord; the legendary Peter Laird; David Petersen; and just about anyone who I forgot to mention, but who made NYCC completely awesome this year.

Oh hey, damn me, I forgot the one person who made it possible: my ever-lovin' fake niece, Jen . . . not that she reads this, but damnit, I remembered!

Back to regular programming as soon as I recover...

Things I Have Learned from Comic-Con: Day Two

• Peter Laird, paraphrased: "We chose turtles because we thought, 'what's the least ninja-like animal out there?' And then we had it: turtles."
  
• Jesse Moore looks like he is capable of destroying worlds. While he may still be capable of doing so, he would do so in the friendliest, most positive way.
  
• "Top Secret Panel" is, much like the cake, a lie.
  
• Andrew Bell, paraphrased: "Half the people who dig my stuff are all like, 'I love your work, but now I can't afford to eat.' And I feel bad!"
  
• Yes. Someone was cosplaying as a freggin' Mudkips. The Internet has won.
  
• The Conduit. Just . . . The Conduit.
  

Also, a few notes of clarification: apparently, I'm incapable of being flirtatious, so two of the previous items can probably be stricken from the record.

Final day tomorrow...

Things I Have Learned from Comic-Con: Day One

• There is tall, then there is tall, and then there is Matt Doughty.
  
• Similarly, there is nice, then there is nice...
  
• Always ask twice before taking something you think is a free sample. At least.
  
• Never appear flirtatious with someone at a booth. That person could wind-up being one of the artists and/or writers you have come out to see.
  
• That being said, "blushing" and "awkward silence" are probably not good responses to said situation.
  
• There is no greater gift than providing someone with The Ultimate Batman Manual, unless it is to be followed-up by an interactive Batman-themed mystery.
  
• There is nothing weirder than being stuck in line for the Ghostbusters demo behind one of the guys from the television show "Ghosthunters"...
  
• ...except, of course, for about eighty different things at the Con so far.
  

More embarrassing, revealing truths to come...

Scribble: Steam rising from chai not yet brewed.

      Nights were getting warmer, so she thought, perched upon the railing as she was. Sweet and spicy fumes snaked into her nostrils, as muscles in her mouth worked at a smile. "Sure," she thought aloud, as a single drop of rain kissed her forehead, "now you gotta come out and wreck this moment..."
      Retreating through the open window, the young one struggled to climb off the kitchen counter, careful not to spill a drop on the way down. Why the hell the fire escape was put there, she could never understand, but she knew that so long as it was there, no skirt would be her friend.
      "Well," she cooed, leaning on the faded white laminate while fumes floated carefree, "at least the rain's still beautiful..."
      Taking a long sip, the youth couldn't help but smile, as her thoughts turned to daydreams that would fill a thousand novels...

Side note to that last scribble...

      To avoid lawsuits: yes, it is an homage to an already-existing property. If someone complains, I'll take it down.