Ah well. No Comic-con for us this year. Once again Wonderful Husband got let into the sales room only after all badges were sold out.

So, (a) doubly glad we got to attend Wondercon, and (b) we are vowed to do something fabulous that weekend anyway.

Back in Eastleigh, with my inlaws. Had a FANTASTIC time with toothycat in Cambridge, as always. Got hailed on in two places (Flag Fen and the Cambridge Botanical Garden) but only drizzled on at the Craeftiga crafts fair at Sutton Hoo, where Wonderful Husband and I purchased some honeycomb (for my father-in-law), some honey (for us), and a handmade vase and wooden bowl (for my mother-in-law's birthday present). The weather, as always, conspired to remind me of why the British have historically loved wool. Also, given that this was at least partially a reenactment craft fair, I'm feeling the medieval costuming vibe again. Probably in linen not wool, given I live in SoCal....

This afternoon we went into Winchester in search of the used bookshops, where I lucked out on a couple cookbooks, some Victorian costuming books (including Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines for seven and a half pounds!) and Mansfield Park in the old red hardback Everyman's Library edition. And a jar of ginger preserved in honey, which Wonderful Husband says I am entirely welcome to.

I am thinking costuming thoughts for when we gt back. We're returning halfway through RenFaire season, so I won't have time to sew anything up for that this year (I should get off my duff and do it in the OFF-season!), but both SDCC and Costume College will be coming up in July. I've had a brainworm about making the Squiddle, with his blue eyes and dark blond hair, a TOS Captain Kirk outfit. And making a science blue matching set for Wonderful Husband. And a red minidress for me to complete the set. Which I could wear at both SDCC and CoCo. And if I have time, I have several lengths of fabric I've earmarked for Regency dresses, but I would need to make new stays for that, so we'll see. I know the CoCo packet will be waiting for me at home. Eager to see what classes will be offered this year. Since I made the executive decision not to teach this year (among other reasons, I burnt out after teaching, and screwing up, four classes last year), I'll be freer than usual to decide what I want to learn.

9am on a Sunday, and my boys (Wonderful Husband and the Squiddle) are having a lie-in. I tried to get Squiddle up at 8 (which I considered a lie-in!) but he didn't want it, so I tucked him into my abandoned space next to daddy. Easier than reclosing all the curtains I'd opened in his room. Squiddle's been having a phlegmy cough the last couple days, but no fever, so maybe some extra sleep will help.

And as I type that, he wanders into the office, fully awake, no daddy in sight.

Yesterday at this time we were in the virtual waiting room for Comic-con. And, unlike last year, we were actually able to get the tickets we wanted! Woohoo! Saturday/Sunday FTW.

And now Wonderful Husband is up, so I should go scare up brekky. Later!

Well, Saturday memberships for SDCC sold out again, so it looks like we'll only be doing Sunday of SDCC this year. Maybe we'll do both days of Wondercon, then....

We were supposed to be on our way to San Diego and Comic-Con an hour ago. Instead I am posting this from the parking lot of Pep Boys. This morning, with Wonderful Husband's car packed and ready to go, we discovered it wouldn't start. Okay, my dad had commented it was having battery troubles. So we put my car on the trickle charger, which I really should have done once we got back from vacation, but figured I'd wait to do until after the con. That was taking too long, so we called AAA far a jumpstart. And the guy came, checked the battery and said if we turned the car off we might not be able to get it going again. And that not only did he not have the battery for my car (a 2008 Honda Fit), but that they don't make them anymore. So here we are.

...And Wonderful Husband just came out with the Pep Boys guy and said they don't have my battery either.

No, wait, they do after all. Hallelujah!

ETA: Pep Boys guy checked everything, said battery is sound and the car just had a loose cable. No charge, they even topped up the tire pressure, and we're on our way only an hour and a half late. Very not impressed with the guy AAA sent.

The good: Back at home again. The cats were sta-a-a-rving. You'd think I hadn't left them a couple days' worth of food or something. Wonderful Husband is back from SDCC, and seems to've had a good time despite coming down with con crud.

The mediocre: Went and saw Epic today with my mother. It... failed to grip me. Ferngully did pretty much the same story much better. And, does William Joyce write anything where the main characters are not named after his kids? That said, the state of MK and Nod's relationship at the end of the film intrigues me. Fortunately, others on AO3 have written stories that ease this itch, so I don't have to.

The ugly/infuriating: Unfortunately, I have received an e-mail from SDCC which looks like a cut/paste job from a policy document. It includes the flat blanket statements: "Only those that have purchased a Comic-Con 2013 4-day attendee or 1-day attendee badge AND retain their actual badge will be eligible to participate in 2014 online preregistration." and "Those that did not attend Comic-Con 2013 and/or did not retain their 2013 badge can participate in the general badge sale that will occur later in 2014." I... am NOT happy with this, and am not sure if the person who responded to my e-mail even read so far as my second paragraph which listed legitimate medical reasons. dragondancer515, I may ask for your help in a week or two (once you're recovered from the con) as far as someone to escalate this to.

Meantime, I'm heading to bed since I have to get up an hour early tomorrow to go get all my blood sampled....

I did not get a hotel room for SDCC. Wonderful Husband, OTOH, did. And it's even at our first-choice hotel!

I'm not sure if my memory is faulty or not, but it seemed like there were a lot more religious protesters at SDCC this year. They're regulated to doing their sign-carrying across a fairly wide street from the convention center, but since I've outgrown my taste for the food available at the food court, venturing outdoors is something I do. Mixed in among the protestors are advertisers giving out freebies. Comics, cards, etc. The two most brilliant advertisements I was given were Bates Motel soap (handing out soap at a convention! sheer genius!) and Carrie matches. There are also amusing cardboard counter-signs promoting Cthulu and FSM. But the thing I liked absolute best was the handouts-girl who was cheerfully saying "Stan Lee 3:16. With great power comes great responsibility."

Thinking on all that, it has occurred to me that if the protestors are truly interested in converting the geekish masses, they need to learn to tailor the marketing to the audience. Instead of signs saying athiests go to hell, which only put up people's backs and make them hostile, why not, say, have signs with quotes from a couple of the Indiana Jones movies? "The penitent man is humble; he kneels before God" etc. Or riff on Star Wars, or Avatar, or Narnia. Something that the audience will like, identify, and engage with. I don't really go with the whole "Superman died for your sins" thing (IIRC, nothing of the sort was involved in that event), but I'm sure there's plenty of speculative fiction that could be mined for appropriate pithy quotes.

As it was, I doubt their whole weekend of energetic protest and in-your-face sign-waving won the protestors a single convert.

(As a footnote, I have NOTHING against Christians. I have people I love and admire who adhere to that faith. And I do not count myself as an athiest. Yet I simply find it extremely rude that someone who doesn't even know me feels it imperative to tell me that I'm going to hell.)

*gives LJ the hairy eyeball* DDOS attacks over yet...?

So, neither hotel nor con had my badge the last morning (hadn't expected them to, but it was still worth a try). We ended up paying $12 for a one-time badge replacement, which is... well, better than what I was expecting, actually. And then we tried to get pre-registered for next year, but the line was already capped, so depending on how the feeding frenzy goes when the other half of tickets go on sale online, we may not be going again next year. We're also taking thought on what to do about hotels if we do. One friend suggested booking through AAA rather than the convention... rates not quite as good, but maybe they'll be less likely to displace us? Another set of friends (and my uncle/aunt/cousins) rent apartments for the week, which, who knows, if we get another pair of friends to go in on it with us, might be affordable.

In any case, the Warner Brothers booth was the holy grail of swag this year, possibly primarily for the foam Sword of Omens they were giving out (getting into the ThunderCats panel was the other holy grail; I didn't manage either). But I got a few little things in the dealer's hall and Wonderful Husband got some books and graphic novels and an Optimus Nerf gun. We managed to meet up with several people, somewhat by chance, but it was good to see them. I attended a few panels, mostly on writing and psychology, and wish I'd attended more, but que sera sera.

And then, finally, the convention was over with, we said our goodbyes, went back to the hotel and trekked north, the normally two hour drive taking, as every year, three. :/ Still faster than going to John Wayne airport and flying down.

Things we tried this year: we borrowed an ice chest from my parents and stocked it with milk, juice, cheese, salami, pickles, and fruit. This took care of us for breakfast; our usual evening snack, however, didn't tend to work out so much. Not sure why. If we do this again next year, we'll likely buy a new ice chest with wheels and maybe an inset tray, for ease of getting it from car to room. The convention bag this year had an alternate rigging design where you could set it up to be worn backpack style, which was a godsend. That said, I was carrying too much weight in it. I may need to think up some sort of padding for my shoulders if I don't plan better next year.

Loooong day. We were up lateish last night, packing and minimal cleaning of the3 house, then got up at 5:30 this morning, finishing up that which had not gotten done and heading out.

Only to hit some fairly nasty traffic. :(

Waited our way through that, got to our hotel, checked that we were allowed to check in at 3pm, and toddled off to the con and picked up our badges. Attended a couple panels, perused a small bit of the dealer's hall, failed on meeting up with people, went to check in to the hotel.

Were told they were overbooked.

So instead of being at the Holiday Inn a mile away from the convention, we're at the Paradise Point resort six miles away, which is not on the shuttle routes. And we're here for two nights, then switching back to the HI on Saturday night.

To be fair, they're covering our parking and the cost of one day of our room here, as well as comping us for parking at their hotel for the entire con. Still, not a fun thing to discover, and it means we can't easily go back to our hotel midday for snacks or a lie-down. And while the individual bungalows style of this place make me feel like it's out of our price bracket, so far as I can tell we're not actually underdressed compared to the other guests.

Looks like getting tickets to buy stuff at the Hasbro store may be difficult, but we'll see how my shopping for others goes. Anyhow, it is late and I am tired, so I should shower and sleep soon. Day 2, again in comfortable shoes, comes tomorrow....