Post-SDCC blogging

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"]

I don't usually dayblog, but I'm making an exception.

I have survived another year of San Diego Comic Con. The process of decompressing from this show is a complicated one. It's not exhausting in the same way that Spectrum Live is (it turns out that it's much easier to be an exhibitor than a showrunner) but it's probably similar in intensity.

Traditionally, I come back from San Diego, I do fine for a couple of days, then I get very, very sick. This is probably because, when I come back from San Diego, I have trouble remembering to eat, and I have even more trouble getting to sleep. I assume that the sickness is my body's only way of forcing me to get some rest. Tricky.

SDCC is overwhelming on a number of levels. There's a high degree of social interaction required, there are many late, late nights (social interaction!), there are 160,000 people with an exponentially higher number of germs all packed into a space. People are handling money. Handshakes are pretty common. Sickness! Sickness is inevitable!

It's a wonderful opportunity to get work done, and I always come back from the show feeling very productive. I'm good at what I do, and SDCC is another venue for me to get work done, both for my job and for Spectrum Live. There are connections you make at SDCC that you really can't make anywhere else, in part because EVERYONE is exhausted, and when you do find people you connect with, you bond more quickly than you might otherwise because you're so tired, and there are so many horrible people. New friends become life rafts on a sea of awful.

(I have made a number of lasting friendships at this show, and I continue to meet people who are interesting and engaging. I think that half the battle is wanting to get to know someone. The other half is wanting to let them get to know you. The fact that I come back from San Diego with one or two new *actual* friends each year is pretty remarkable.)

Of course, there's some emotional fallout when I get home, which is the inevitable conclusion to a very long show. There's a rawness to my emotional state which takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to normalize.

It's tied into the physical side of things. It's hard to feel normal mentally and emotionally when your system and your schedule are so out of alignment. I know this about the show, and about myself, and have gotten better at handling it over the years. It's much easier when you realize that you're not losing your mind, you're just very, very tired.

Because I can't help being prescriptive, here are some ways I deal with the show.

During the show:

Vitamin C (so much vitamin C)
Water
Coffee
An attempt to be healthy (vegetarian dishes, solid but not heavy breakfasts, smoothies)

When I get home:

Vitamin C (sense a theme?)
Water
Netflix (I just embrace the insomnia. It lets up eventually.)
Careful consideration before socializing
Frozen eggrolls (key for when it's 2 am and you realize you haven't eaten since lunch)
Cats
Comfortable pajamas

Broken cars on the highway: How do they work?

Neither I nor people driving by know...in any way that resulted in my car getting fixed. We think it's probably the fuel filter.

I was driving my mom home today when the Alero started to lose power about 10 miles from the next town. It was a bit of a bummer, and not only because the windows on that car do not work.

As I always do when I have car trouble, I popped the hood and looked at the engine, as though that would be helpful in some way. I determined that nothing was on fire, nothing was smoking, and no fluids were spouting out from anywhere. I knew it wasn't the battery, and I knew that I wasn't out of gas. So...that narrowed it down. Based on the way it lost power, and the fact that it would turn on fine and then die, my mom and I suspected the fuel filter. Coming to that tentative conclusion did not actually fix anything, but good job us, maybe!

A very nice person stopped to see if they could help, and they did the exact same thing. Looked at the engine, like 1. They'd figure it out just by looking 2. Be able to effect change with the tools they had in their car (a tiny electrical kit). They suggested that it might be the fuel filter.

On the one hand, I feel good about the fact that I have the same skill level when it comes to broken cars on the highway as random passersby. On the other hand, my car is still broken.

Good things about today:
Dim sum
Ice cream
Bike ride
I have fixed my dryer. Probably. For now.

I went on a trip but I'm too distracted to properly blog about it

I was going to write about how I went to Moab and had a great vacation, but I'm too engrossed in watching "Going Postal" on Netflix.
So here are some pictures of a horrible souvenir I found in a store called "Colorado Souvenirs" for $5.99. I don't know why it exists. I know only that it is ridiculous.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] It is named Poopy.[/caption]

We camped in Moab. Lovely weather. One coldish day (in the 50s) and no very hot weather.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] Great view. Mostly.[/caption]

Did a lot of hiking around Arches and Canyonlands.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] People are trying to enjoy the scenery and *this* keeps happening. Terrible.[/caption]

There were even some flowers. They were lovely.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] Lovely.[/caption]

There were some really useful signs in Arches.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] I don't think he's dehydrated.[/caption]

I also did a lot of mountain biking, including Klondike Bluffs, which has dinosaur tracks. Actual dinosaur tracks!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] There were better tracks but the were literally along the path and I didn't want to get run over by bicyclists.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] That's not a dinosaur, Poopy.[/caption]

Trails we rode:

Dino Flow
Baby Steps
Klondike Bluffs

Sovereign Trail and Salt Wash Trail

Moab Brand Trails:
Lazy EZ
Bar M
Circle O
North 40

Circle O was particularly interesting. It was like a much easier baby version of the Slickrock trail, but without as many possibilities of death. It was really fun, though it was still pretty tricky. Slickrock is really fun to bike on. You can make it up amazingly steep bits if you get your balance right and you have enough power. For the first half of the trail, we were totally alone. Later, we ran into a number of small children biking the trail (they were with adults, don't worry). Moab has some badass little kids. I fell, but luckily not in view of children. Wrenched my back a little, but I'm fine now. It helps to visit people who also happen to be physical therapists. They are great.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] He's not breakin' the law.[/caption]

Anyway, I spent a few days in Moab, did some epic stuff. Spent a few days in Fort Collins. Recovered from my fall. Did some mellow biking on their awesome trails. It was great. Came home to yelling cats. They are whiny. But luckily, they are also sleepy, and they snore a lot. When I'm surrounded by snoring cats, I'm home.

When I get home from a trip, I put everything away and do laundry right away. I have to do this stuff. If I put it off, I put more things off, and it snowballs. I am a procrastinator. I might not be procrastinating right now, but it's always around that one thing that I don't do right away. That pot and pan I don't wash immediately after using. I would compare it to the old "There's no such thing as a cured alcoholic," but that seems incredibly disrespectful to alcoholics. I just have tendencies. I try to be aware of them.

Today, I mowed the surprisingly robust (and typically dandelion-filled) lawn and walked to the grocery store.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] This is not my lawn.[/caption]

I didn't check the cupboards before I went, so instead of making lentil stuff, as I had intended, I made curry. It wasn't even going to be curry, it was going to be stir fry. But then I remembered that I had some coconut milk and curry powder. (the recipe would go: make stir fry. add coconut milk and curry powder. Simmer.)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] Delicious.[/caption]

Glad to be back.