My New York Adventure
Oct. 15th, 2010 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grinninfooleLast Wednesday, I took the afternoon train to the Big Apple for the New York Comicon. It was a four-day adventure/vacation/business trip, and I had a great time. It actually started Tuesday, when I stayed up rather late watching Caprica, making a quiche so that I could save money on breakfast while I was away, packing, and washing clothes. The rain and cold of last week were ending as I left, and the entire time I was in New York, the weather was perfect: 60s to 70s, mostly sunny. Here’s a day by day recounting, behind a cut for your TL,DR pleasure.
Wednesday:
Nearly overslept, rushed out and got the week’s new comics. Then drove to Hadley Tire and spent a chunk of the quarterly mileage check on getting a proper spare tire for my van, and a luggage rack carrying bag so it’s actually on my car.
Then Jim drove me to Springfield, and I caught the train. Dozed a bit on the ride, but had to stay conscious enough to get off at New Haven. Wound up watching the first episode of Cosmos, which I stumbled across on You Tube. I watched about half an hour every night before bed, while having breakfast, and on the train home, etc. In all, I have gotten through five episodes, and wow do I still love it. (Sagan’s history of science is rather teleological, but the global consciousness, the prescient concern for our self-destruction by wrecking the earth is inspiring and depressing. I heard this and believed him thirty years ago. I have done so little about it.)
I took a cab from Penn Station to my home away from home (a chatty fellow named Eric, who explained that he had to work 5 PM to 5 AM shifts, physically arriving at the dispatcher’s office at noon to put in for a cab that evening, which he leased, and which cost him about $120 per shift. Man, that’s rough gig.), a relative’s elegant apartment, which I happened to have to myself. I watched TV (baseball, women’s soccer, and House) for a while, got tasty Indian food, and went to bed.
Thursday:
Slept late, ate some quiche and an apple, got dressed and took the subway back to Penn Station, and then walked to the Javits Center for the ICV2 conference on Digital Media and Graphic Novels. I’m not sure how much I really learned, or how useful it will really be, but it was interesting, and I chatted with creators about store appearances, and their upcoming books, and flirted with a woman from Australia.
I went for Thai with some nice chaps I met during the after conference cocktail thing. One of them publishes a pop-culture magazine Tripwire that I enjoyed when I looked it over later, though it's a pity he doesn't pay his contributors. Then I went to hang out with Morlock, but he was playing D&D, so I wandered over to the Empire State Building and found Jim Hanley’s Comic Universe, which was a mixed bag of a store; a broad selection, some interesting rarities and small press stuff, but lots of older issues still on racks, a shelving system I found opaque, over-priced back issues and variants, and a ramshackle quality that felt very 80s to me.
I browsed until they closed at 11 PM, and then I walked the thirty odd blocks back to MHAFH, which took about 45 minutes, watched some TV (more House), and went to sleep about 1:30.
Friday:
Got up at 7, got a cab, and got the Javits by 7:55 for the Diamond Retailer’s Breakfast. Which didn’t start until about 8:30 and was pretty much a waste of time. DC and Dark Horse both had short spiels about upcoming books and editorial changes. The Marvel reps just sat down in front of the microphones and asked if there were questions.
Then it was the professionals only hours on the show floor. I spent it mostly visiting publishers’ booths, asking about getting our store on their list for book tours, advance copies, and calls from sales reps. (I also talked to a few creators about store appearances.) Talked to David Petersen, Tom Siddell, and Mark Crilley at the Archaia booth, and then to Sean and Peggy Wang. Peggy wants to organize a one-day creators con next Spring, and I offered to help. Then I hit the Wizards Of The Coast booths for some Magic swag, and a quick D&D delve (run adeptly by my pal Morlock.)
I enjoyed the splendors of over-priced fried food for a bit, and then circled around artists’ alley before heading to a panel on how to tell if it’s time to open a second store, and what not to do if it is. (Hint: check to make sure that guys leaving nearby bars after closing don’t piss on your windows.)
After that, I went to panel on new fantasy novels, featuring five writers, of whom I had only heard of two: Naomi Novik and Jim Butcher. I have never read the Dresden Files, but there were many fans of his work there on Friday. Ms. Novik was charming, the panel was fun, and I went up to chat with the panelist no one knew, Deborah Harkness. Her first book, A Discovery Of Witches, comes out next February, but she mentioned that it was inspired by her academic work (she’s a prof at USC) in the history of alchemy. So I buttonholed her about that, and it turns out she knew one of my old professors quite well. Her editor was right there, and she handed me an uncorrected proof of the book and signed it for me, her very first signed book to a reader. First chapter’s a bit heavy on exposition, but it’s fun and I shall keep reading.
After that, I caught most of a screening of a new BBC drama called Sherlock, which has the slightly breathless premise of new Sherlock Holmes stories set in 21st century London, with no one in the show having any awareness of Conan Doyle’s stories or of any meta dimension to show’s characters or plots. It could have been lame, but instead I found it quite engrossing. The main character is John Watson, as played by Martin Freeman, and he was terrific.
Then I went out for food and drinks with Morlock and his pal/DM MLG, whom I quite enjoyed getting know better. Finally, back MHAFH, another episode of Cosmos, and bed.
Saturday:
I slept in a bit, then hit the Artists’ Alley and publishers’ booths hard, looking for contact info for store appearances. I got some likely hits, and had some good conversations, too. Good prospects: Chris Claremont, Brian Wood, Fred Van Lente, Terry Moore, Larry Marder, Carla Speed McNeil, Margaret Weis. Many creators were also willing to do Skype/video chats with the book club if they couldn’t come in person.
Publishers reps of note: Chris Staros was receptive to galleys and appearances, but he seemed a bit distracted by getting his booth set up; Kari Yadro of Dark Horse was also interested in details about our store and was open to help with signings, preview books, and even getting us a direct sales rep; Mel Caylo of Archaia was also down for promotional outreach, but explained that they were still too small to have formal reps for individual accounts; Dirk Wood, newly hired from Dark Horse to head up marketing for IDW, was affable and interested, but very busy and perhaps disorganized (he didn’t have his own business cards handy.); Christi Cardenas of Margaret Weis press (store appearance, promotional materials, PDFs of their books); David Moench of Random House, took notes on our store and was interested in sending us galleys, including us on book tours, etc. Mentioned Ben Katchor, Dan Clowes and some dude called China something (started with M?) as possibilities for next year. All of them are worth an email from me this week.
I spent a couple of hours playing D&D at the Wizards of the Coast booth. I had hoped to get in to one of the two Speed Dating events that afternoon, but I was turned away from the second, and chose not to abandon my party so I could make the second. (A bit of a bummer, but we beat the scenario with literally 19 seconds to spare, so that was cool.) I knew that I was probably going to miss out, but I decided that I’d rather have fun doing what I was doing than go and meet some women who would probably all be too young and non-local for me anyway.
I need to make a change in how I see myself, and how I approach relationships. All too often in the past, I have not pursued women I found attractive, fearing rejection, largely because I didn’t like or believe in myself. I still don’t that much, but as I think about this, I actually can (for the first time) apprehend the difference between: I have a lot to offer even if she’s not interested, and she’s not interested so I must not have much to offer. Next step: ask women for dates.
I did make a 7:30 panel that was supposed to feature Scott Kurtz and Ted Rall discussing the merits of Web VS Print comics, but Mr. Rall apparently chose not attend at the last minute, reportedly because he hadn’t believed that Mr. Kurtz had been serious when proposing the panel some months ago.
The panel basically became: Scott Kurtz, John Roberts of Comixology, and another web cartoonist whose name I didn’t catch, took questions and talked about how the web was the future. I ate a salad and chimed in a few times, since I was the only one there with actual retail experience.
Afterwards, I walked around the area near the Javits Center for a bit, and stopped into a place offering Pakistani cuisine. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot like Indian, only spicier than other places I have been. The TV was tuned to a foreign language news channel (Arabic? Pashtun? No idea, though all the writing was Arabic), and several people were watching attentively. (Come to think of it, there were only men there, and I was the only Anglo.) There was a little alcove in the back where men would walk in from time to time to kneel on small rugs and pray.
Then back to MHAFH, where I tidied up, packed, and watched more Cosmos before bed. As I walked through the gorgeously warm fall evening, it struck me that, while I had several times felt some anxiety about spending time on my own, about not connecting with people during this down time, about just being left to my own devices, it wasn’t as bad as it has been when I was younger. I could set it aside and do something. The gnawing loneliness and need for company to distract me from self-denigration was not only bearable, I was even satisfied with time on my own, doing my own thing. Admittedly, New York is a great place to wander and find things of interest (and I’m open to the idea of living there now), but I’m ready to live on my own as I have never been before. And about time, too. ☺
Sunday:
I got up, finished the quiche, and then considered what to wear. For the first three days, I had worn a collared shirt and a brown jacket, for an academic casual/semi-formal look. I was there on business, a grown up for god’s sake, so I brought clothes to look the part. On Sunday, I had planned only to wander and play a game or two, but still, I preferred to dress up a bit. And then I realized that my typical dress, wearing a t-shirt of some sort, was more or less how I had been dressing since my early teenage years, and that signified a willful childishness on my part. If I want to remake my life as an adult, I realized, I need to start wearing a grown-up’s clothes. So, I’m going to be dressing differently from now on. Go me.
Back to the con for a last tour of the floor, chatting up a few more creators, then a trial game of the new Ravenloft board game from WOTC. It’s a cooperative game, with a great dungeon crawl atmosphere, nice minis one could use for D&D, and some similarities to fourth edition. I shall have to get my own copy at some point.
Then back to MHAFH for a final clean-up, grabbing my luggage, and catching a cab to Penn Station for the trip home. Sat next to Morlock, chatted a bit, and then napped. Jim picked us up at the station, I gave Morlock a ride to his house, then I came home.
That was the trip, though the drama continued: Millari was at a party for her first husband’s fortieth birthday, which was held at a curling club. Being who she is, she naturally, she tried it out. Unfortunately, she slipped on the ice and suffered a moderate concussion. We were at the CDH emergency room until 3 AM.
Monday:
Slept in, was able to get coverage for work, and lazed the day away, making sure Millari was OK. She’s still a bit wobbly, but she should make a full recovery. And, now it's Friday of this week already. I'm shocked at how quickly the time is passing. I definitely want to do this again next year.
Wednesday:
Nearly overslept, rushed out and got the week’s new comics. Then drove to Hadley Tire and spent a chunk of the quarterly mileage check on getting a proper spare tire for my van, and a luggage rack carrying bag so it’s actually on my car.
Then Jim drove me to Springfield, and I caught the train. Dozed a bit on the ride, but had to stay conscious enough to get off at New Haven. Wound up watching the first episode of Cosmos, which I stumbled across on You Tube. I watched about half an hour every night before bed, while having breakfast, and on the train home, etc. In all, I have gotten through five episodes, and wow do I still love it. (Sagan’s history of science is rather teleological, but the global consciousness, the prescient concern for our self-destruction by wrecking the earth is inspiring and depressing. I heard this and believed him thirty years ago. I have done so little about it.)
I took a cab from Penn Station to my home away from home (a chatty fellow named Eric, who explained that he had to work 5 PM to 5 AM shifts, physically arriving at the dispatcher’s office at noon to put in for a cab that evening, which he leased, and which cost him about $120 per shift. Man, that’s rough gig.), a relative’s elegant apartment, which I happened to have to myself. I watched TV (baseball, women’s soccer, and House) for a while, got tasty Indian food, and went to bed.
Thursday:
Slept late, ate some quiche and an apple, got dressed and took the subway back to Penn Station, and then walked to the Javits Center for the ICV2 conference on Digital Media and Graphic Novels. I’m not sure how much I really learned, or how useful it will really be, but it was interesting, and I chatted with creators about store appearances, and their upcoming books, and flirted with a woman from Australia.
I went for Thai with some nice chaps I met during the after conference cocktail thing. One of them publishes a pop-culture magazine Tripwire that I enjoyed when I looked it over later, though it's a pity he doesn't pay his contributors. Then I went to hang out with Morlock, but he was playing D&D, so I wandered over to the Empire State Building and found Jim Hanley’s Comic Universe, which was a mixed bag of a store; a broad selection, some interesting rarities and small press stuff, but lots of older issues still on racks, a shelving system I found opaque, over-priced back issues and variants, and a ramshackle quality that felt very 80s to me.
I browsed until they closed at 11 PM, and then I walked the thirty odd blocks back to MHAFH, which took about 45 minutes, watched some TV (more House), and went to sleep about 1:30.
Friday:
Got up at 7, got a cab, and got the Javits by 7:55 for the Diamond Retailer’s Breakfast. Which didn’t start until about 8:30 and was pretty much a waste of time. DC and Dark Horse both had short spiels about upcoming books and editorial changes. The Marvel reps just sat down in front of the microphones and asked if there were questions.
Then it was the professionals only hours on the show floor. I spent it mostly visiting publishers’ booths, asking about getting our store on their list for book tours, advance copies, and calls from sales reps. (I also talked to a few creators about store appearances.) Talked to David Petersen, Tom Siddell, and Mark Crilley at the Archaia booth, and then to Sean and Peggy Wang. Peggy wants to organize a one-day creators con next Spring, and I offered to help. Then I hit the Wizards Of The Coast booths for some Magic swag, and a quick D&D delve (run adeptly by my pal Morlock.)
I enjoyed the splendors of over-priced fried food for a bit, and then circled around artists’ alley before heading to a panel on how to tell if it’s time to open a second store, and what not to do if it is. (Hint: check to make sure that guys leaving nearby bars after closing don’t piss on your windows.)
After that, I went to panel on new fantasy novels, featuring five writers, of whom I had only heard of two: Naomi Novik and Jim Butcher. I have never read the Dresden Files, but there were many fans of his work there on Friday. Ms. Novik was charming, the panel was fun, and I went up to chat with the panelist no one knew, Deborah Harkness. Her first book, A Discovery Of Witches, comes out next February, but she mentioned that it was inspired by her academic work (she’s a prof at USC) in the history of alchemy. So I buttonholed her about that, and it turns out she knew one of my old professors quite well. Her editor was right there, and she handed me an uncorrected proof of the book and signed it for me, her very first signed book to a reader. First chapter’s a bit heavy on exposition, but it’s fun and I shall keep reading.
After that, I caught most of a screening of a new BBC drama called Sherlock, which has the slightly breathless premise of new Sherlock Holmes stories set in 21st century London, with no one in the show having any awareness of Conan Doyle’s stories or of any meta dimension to show’s characters or plots. It could have been lame, but instead I found it quite engrossing. The main character is John Watson, as played by Martin Freeman, and he was terrific.
Then I went out for food and drinks with Morlock and his pal/DM MLG, whom I quite enjoyed getting know better. Finally, back MHAFH, another episode of Cosmos, and bed.
Saturday:
I slept in a bit, then hit the Artists’ Alley and publishers’ booths hard, looking for contact info for store appearances. I got some likely hits, and had some good conversations, too. Good prospects: Chris Claremont, Brian Wood, Fred Van Lente, Terry Moore, Larry Marder, Carla Speed McNeil, Margaret Weis. Many creators were also willing to do Skype/video chats with the book club if they couldn’t come in person.
Publishers reps of note: Chris Staros was receptive to galleys and appearances, but he seemed a bit distracted by getting his booth set up; Kari Yadro of Dark Horse was also interested in details about our store and was open to help with signings, preview books, and even getting us a direct sales rep; Mel Caylo of Archaia was also down for promotional outreach, but explained that they were still too small to have formal reps for individual accounts; Dirk Wood, newly hired from Dark Horse to head up marketing for IDW, was affable and interested, but very busy and perhaps disorganized (he didn’t have his own business cards handy.); Christi Cardenas of Margaret Weis press (store appearance, promotional materials, PDFs of their books); David Moench of Random House, took notes on our store and was interested in sending us galleys, including us on book tours, etc. Mentioned Ben Katchor, Dan Clowes and some dude called China something (started with M?) as possibilities for next year. All of them are worth an email from me this week.
I spent a couple of hours playing D&D at the Wizards of the Coast booth. I had hoped to get in to one of the two Speed Dating events that afternoon, but I was turned away from the second, and chose not to abandon my party so I could make the second. (A bit of a bummer, but we beat the scenario with literally 19 seconds to spare, so that was cool.) I knew that I was probably going to miss out, but I decided that I’d rather have fun doing what I was doing than go and meet some women who would probably all be too young and non-local for me anyway.
I need to make a change in how I see myself, and how I approach relationships. All too often in the past, I have not pursued women I found attractive, fearing rejection, largely because I didn’t like or believe in myself. I still don’t that much, but as I think about this, I actually can (for the first time) apprehend the difference between: I have a lot to offer even if she’s not interested, and she’s not interested so I must not have much to offer. Next step: ask women for dates.
I did make a 7:30 panel that was supposed to feature Scott Kurtz and Ted Rall discussing the merits of Web VS Print comics, but Mr. Rall apparently chose not attend at the last minute, reportedly because he hadn’t believed that Mr. Kurtz had been serious when proposing the panel some months ago.
The panel basically became: Scott Kurtz, John Roberts of Comixology, and another web cartoonist whose name I didn’t catch, took questions and talked about how the web was the future. I ate a salad and chimed in a few times, since I was the only one there with actual retail experience.
Afterwards, I walked around the area near the Javits Center for a bit, and stopped into a place offering Pakistani cuisine. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot like Indian, only spicier than other places I have been. The TV was tuned to a foreign language news channel (Arabic? Pashtun? No idea, though all the writing was Arabic), and several people were watching attentively. (Come to think of it, there were only men there, and I was the only Anglo.) There was a little alcove in the back where men would walk in from time to time to kneel on small rugs and pray.
Then back to MHAFH, where I tidied up, packed, and watched more Cosmos before bed. As I walked through the gorgeously warm fall evening, it struck me that, while I had several times felt some anxiety about spending time on my own, about not connecting with people during this down time, about just being left to my own devices, it wasn’t as bad as it has been when I was younger. I could set it aside and do something. The gnawing loneliness and need for company to distract me from self-denigration was not only bearable, I was even satisfied with time on my own, doing my own thing. Admittedly, New York is a great place to wander and find things of interest (and I’m open to the idea of living there now), but I’m ready to live on my own as I have never been before. And about time, too. ☺
Sunday:
I got up, finished the quiche, and then considered what to wear. For the first three days, I had worn a collared shirt and a brown jacket, for an academic casual/semi-formal look. I was there on business, a grown up for god’s sake, so I brought clothes to look the part. On Sunday, I had planned only to wander and play a game or two, but still, I preferred to dress up a bit. And then I realized that my typical dress, wearing a t-shirt of some sort, was more or less how I had been dressing since my early teenage years, and that signified a willful childishness on my part. If I want to remake my life as an adult, I realized, I need to start wearing a grown-up’s clothes. So, I’m going to be dressing differently from now on. Go me.
Back to the con for a last tour of the floor, chatting up a few more creators, then a trial game of the new Ravenloft board game from WOTC. It’s a cooperative game, with a great dungeon crawl atmosphere, nice minis one could use for D&D, and some similarities to fourth edition. I shall have to get my own copy at some point.
Then back to MHAFH for a final clean-up, grabbing my luggage, and catching a cab to Penn Station for the trip home. Sat next to Morlock, chatted a bit, and then napped. Jim picked us up at the station, I gave Morlock a ride to his house, then I came home.
That was the trip, though the drama continued: Millari was at a party for her first husband’s fortieth birthday, which was held at a curling club. Being who she is, she naturally, she tried it out. Unfortunately, she slipped on the ice and suffered a moderate concussion. We were at the CDH emergency room until 3 AM.
Monday:
Slept in, was able to get coverage for work, and lazed the day away, making sure Millari was OK. She’s still a bit wobbly, but she should make a full recovery. And, now it's Friday of this week already. I'm shocked at how quickly the time is passing. I definitely want to do this again next year.
