Little C: I Survived Wonder-Con (And All I Got Was This Blog Post)
Hello readers,
The title of this post is misleading (I couldn't resist the joke). I actually came away with several art pieces, two books of nail art, and notes from a half a dozen panels. And a small problem. You see at Wonder-Con (Like any large gathering of the Nerdily inclined) there were a lot of people dressed up as characters from their favorite TV shows or comics. I'm a big old nerd and I still only recognized about half of the characters being represented. Which means I didn't recognize exactly who the young man with the saxophone who kept playing "Careless Whisper" was trying to be. Except I feel like Careless Whisper must have been some part of the character, because he played it over and over and over as Christy and I were outside on Friday eating lunch. Consequently I still have the damn song stuck in my head.
Costumes aside, my favorite part of Wonder-Con was the panels. We watched several of the writing panels that we saw last year, but this time we also branched out a little more. We watched a panels on editing comic books, representation for minorities in media, and even a panel on the new season of Orphan Black. It's always fun for us to learn about something we haven't explored from people with genuine passion for what they're talking about.
And then there's the art. On the exhibition floor of any major comic convention there's booths of artists selling their work. It's amazing to walk into what they call "Artist's Alley" and be surrounded by literally hundreds of talented people who do everything from draw to make jewelry and costumes. CT and I contained ourselves a little better this year in terms of spending all of our money on art, but not by much. It's too hard to walk away from everyone. We get pulled in like mosquitos to those glowy blue lamps and then suddenly we're walking away with two drawings of cult movies from our childhood and we barely remember pulling out our credit cards.
Listen, I know not everyone is going to be down from a big comic convention. And coming back to the real world has been a little jarring both years. But I cannot undervalue the benefits of spending three days with what felt like my tribe. To feel like you can be truly excited for something you love and not only avoid judgement, but have the people around you be just as excited... It's a big battery recharge. And whether that place is a weekly summer camp, or church, or your D&D weekend, it doesn't matter. It's good for all of us to occasionally throw ourselves into the deep end of our culture and revel in being able to have our interests reflected back at us in others.
They just announced that Wonder-Con will be moving to Los Angeles for next year, and I appreciate that the organizers are making an effort to have this be an easy experience for Christy and I. Now if they could just give us those super special "talent" badges that would allow us to fraternize with all the important people, it would be most appreciated.
Look for next years post, Little C:How I Got Kicked Out Of WonderCon for Trying To Force My Friendship On Famous People
Little C
The title of this post is misleading (I couldn't resist the joke). I actually came away with several art pieces, two books of nail art, and notes from a half a dozen panels. And a small problem. You see at Wonder-Con (Like any large gathering of the Nerdily inclined) there were a lot of people dressed up as characters from their favorite TV shows or comics. I'm a big old nerd and I still only recognized about half of the characters being represented. Which means I didn't recognize exactly who the young man with the saxophone who kept playing "Careless Whisper" was trying to be. Except I feel like Careless Whisper must have been some part of the character, because he played it over and over and over as Christy and I were outside on Friday eating lunch. Consequently I still have the damn song stuck in my head.
And now you do to. Enjoy.
Costumes aside, my favorite part of Wonder-Con was the panels. We watched several of the writing panels that we saw last year, but this time we also branched out a little more. We watched a panels on editing comic books, representation for minorities in media, and even a panel on the new season of Orphan Black. It's always fun for us to learn about something we haven't explored from people with genuine passion for what they're talking about.
And then there's the art. On the exhibition floor of any major comic convention there's booths of artists selling their work. It's amazing to walk into what they call "Artist's Alley" and be surrounded by literally hundreds of talented people who do everything from draw to make jewelry and costumes. CT and I contained ourselves a little better this year in terms of spending all of our money on art, but not by much. It's too hard to walk away from everyone. We get pulled in like mosquitos to those glowy blue lamps and then suddenly we're walking away with two drawings of cult movies from our childhood and we barely remember pulling out our credit cards.
This is me attempting art. It was... Not pretty
Listen, I know not everyone is going to be down from a big comic convention. And coming back to the real world has been a little jarring both years. But I cannot undervalue the benefits of spending three days with what felt like my tribe. To feel like you can be truly excited for something you love and not only avoid judgement, but have the people around you be just as excited... It's a big battery recharge. And whether that place is a weekly summer camp, or church, or your D&D weekend, it doesn't matter. It's good for all of us to occasionally throw ourselves into the deep end of our culture and revel in being able to have our interests reflected back at us in others.
Even if the people reflecting us are hooded figures in scary dog parks
They just announced that Wonder-Con will be moving to Los Angeles for next year, and I appreciate that the organizers are making an effort to have this be an easy experience for Christy and I. Now if they could just give us those super special "talent" badges that would allow us to fraternize with all the important people, it would be most appreciated.
Look for next years post, Little C:How I Got Kicked Out Of WonderCon for Trying To Force My Friendship On Famous People
Little C
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