Happy Leap Year

As if you didn't already know, today is Leap Year so we get 366 days in 2008 instead of the usual 365.
You might also celebrate Sadie Hawkins Day today as well..... although some people would rather you didn't.
(for a list of other Feb. 29 traditions, click here)

Hotness started out this day by running over a baby bunny with her truck on the way to work.
(It was not intentional and she's very upset about it. It darted out across the road and then reversed direction thus getting squashed by her tire.)
But I have to wonder... what kind of an omen is it when you hit a bunny (or a frog, I guess) on "Leap" Year?

How To (Almost) Get FREE Money

The other day, I got an email from my buddy Technogreek who told me he got me something cool on his recent trip to WonderCon and I only needed to bring $20 bill to pay him back.
Sweet! Cool new comic-related stuff! I wonder what it could be?

So after work, I stopped by the bank to check my account and pick up the cash.
Standing at the ATM I thought, "Hmm... I don't want to get a wrinkly bill from the machine. I think I'll see if I can get a nice, 'crisp' one from the teller".

I walked over to the counter, and asked one of the tellers if they might have a nice, crisp $20 bill that didn't have any wrinkles or folds.
They were very happy to oblige, as they opened the drawer, pulled one out and handed it right over to me.
"Here you go", they said, "will that work for you?"
"Why yes it will indeed", I replied.
Then an awkward pause...
"Um.. do you want my account number so you can take it out of my account?", I asked.
"Oh. Yeah. I guess I should do that", he said, "...or you could just get twenty from the ATM and we can swap bills for you".

That sounded plausible, so I went to do that.
I took about two steps and then turned back around towards the teller.
"Would you like to hold this bill so I don't try to walk out of the bank with it?" I asked.
"Uh yeah, that would probably be a good idea", he answered.

I got my money out of the ATM, switched it with a nice new bill, and went on my merry way.

So you see kids, you don't have to have a gun and a stick-up note to get money from the bank apparently. You just need to be polite.
Of course it probably helped that I was wearing a tie and nice clothes that particular day, instead looking like my usual sloppy self.

Oh! And what exactly did I get from Technogreek?
I haven't found out yet. He didn't make it to the comic store to drop it off that night.
I'll find out on Sunday and let you know.

True Story pt. 2

A few years ago, a buddy and me were going to go see Van Halen in concert.
I saw a wheelchair on the side of the road that somebody was either getting rid of with the garbage or had been abandoned.
I was going to take it home with me so that one of us could sit in it and we could both get better seats at the concert closer to the front. Hotness was with me and wouldn't stop the car so I could pick it up.

When my friend found out what I had planned, he offered to go get it himself so we could still use it.
But it was gone by then.

*sigh*

True Story

This happened to me once. I kid you not.

I won't do it again.

Ocsar Party (a.k.a Weekend Of "Love")

I can't say I had a whirlwind of events this weekend, but what I did do kept me plenty busy and entertained.

After saving the earth yesterday from the Lovecraftian horrors that were about to descend on us, I took a break and re-grouped myself to attend an Oscar Party at the Love Shack.

A very good friend and fellow tequila lover, John Love, hosts an evening at his house with food, drinks, contests and plenty of TV and chairs to watch the Academy Awards.

This is the ninth annual party he's hosted. I wasn't able to make last year's party due to the flu, so I was really looking forward to being there this year and seeing friends I hadn't seen in quite a while.

We got there about 5:00ish and caught up with people as we made our way outside to find a chair to sit and watch the awards being presented.

Shortly after the show started , John broke out a bottle of Gran Centenario and poured shots for everyone. Mmmm-mmmm! A mighty fine tequila!

Hotness and I stayed and chatted with some folks, discussing movies and making fun of the outfits for a few hours until we noticed it was getting late and we needed to head back home.

So now we're back.

The weekend is just about over and the start of another work-week is about to begin.

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. The weather was nice here (although I didn't actually spend much time outside taking advantage of it).

You can tell that spring is on the way soon.

In other news, just 8 weeks until I'm off to Canada for the Calgary Expo.

I'm really getting excited. They have a very impressive list of guests this year from a variety of entertainment sources and I'm honored to be one of the chosen few who will be flying up there to help as a volunteer at the show.

Then, just a couple of weeks after I get back, the Emerald City Comic Convention will be taking place. I'll be volunteering at that one as well, doing my usual thing of keeping the guests happy.

As an added bonus this year for ECCC, Dr. Zoltar & myself will be posting a pre-con report Friday night before the show on the Comic Stop Blog.

If you're planning to attend the ECCC this year, you might want to check out our report.

We'll try to let you know of any insider-scoop we have.

(Last year, I hooked-up some folks looking to get sketches. They were going to stand in line and wait, but the only way certain guests were offering sketches was by a donation to the CBLDF or H.E.R.O. Initiative.)

Until next time..... be good!

Arkham Horror

I spent the better of today down in the South End playing Arkham Horror with Dr. Zoltar and some other friends.

I'd never played the game before, so the rules were very confusing and convoluted to me the first time around, but it was very enjoyable and I think I'd have even more fun playing it again. (Now that I actually made it through the game once)

It's kind of a mix of different game styles.
You run around the board collecting game pieces (objects, weapons, clues, etc....), fighting off monsters, jumping through 'interdimensional gateways' and coming back out (hopefully alive) to seal them off before one of the mega-bosses of the game comes to life and wipes up the floor with you.
I liked that you weren't in competition against other players. Everyone works together to finish the game. Some are better at fighting the monsters, while others are better at going through the gateways and closing them off.
Plus you can hand helpful objects to the other players as you pass them on the board. So if you've got somebody who isn't a good fighter but they're walking around carrying a shotgun, they can pass it to another character who is a good fighter and give it to them to use. And vice-versa, maybe your fighter found a 'spell' but can't cast it. They can pass it off to a gate-closer who will put it to good use.

It's probably not a game I'll be buying though.
It's really fun to play with several people, but where I live it'd be hard to get that many people together to play.
Plus, I know Hotness wouldn't really be into it.

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In other news... what a great day here in the Northwest!
Although I spent a lot of it in doors, the brief period I was out in it was beautiful.
Hotness actually washed her truck today. (Now if I could just get her to wash mine....)

The Sixth Beatle?

I think this little tyke knows more of the words than I do to the song!