I actually made it to Toronto last weekend, intending to take in some gear shopping (for which there ultimately wasn't time) and the Sci Fi con (for which there was).
It was great to be able to take in the con, because it's something the girl and I tried to do last year (in less complicated times) but were unable to due to my relative unfamiliarity navigating TO's mean streets, and the unfortunate amount of distance between the shop where my guitar was and the convention centre where the con was.
But this year we made it, after having virtually run into everybody I know in TO outside the Queen St. Sushi Time, and we got to cruise the con with two of my very dear friends (who are getting married next weekend so I will be in Toronto AGAIN - can you believe it?), who later showed me their new and unbelievably gorgeous house, making me insanely jealous in the process.
I didn't know what to expect - it was baiscally a really big comic store. But there were a couple of celebrities (who I got to see but not meet, because I am not the type to spend a half hour in line to pay $40 for an autograph). I got to see Elivra, Mistress of the Fucking Dark in the flesh. (Well, not quite the flesh. And not even in costume. But still. Rawr.) Kevin Sorbo was there. He looked kind of angry. The Candyman was there. He looked even angrier. We missed James "Spike" Marsters and I think we were too early for Elijah Wood, but I got to see Kenny "R2D2" Baker, and some other people I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I was most disappointed that I didn't get to see Jhonen Vasquez, because his comics were one of the first things the girl introduced me to. I'm a nerd, but I'm not a comic nerd. Still, it's fun to inhabit her world in small pieces.
A few hours in, some decent mexican downtown, and a brief stopover to drool at my friends' house and I was back on my way.
Dear Toronto... one day I will learn to stop fearing your streets. I will accept that traffic there, while criminally insane, is not that fundamentally different from traffic in the dozens of other cities in which I feel totally comfortable driving. I will accept that there are in fact places to park that are convenient and affordable, and that rings of international car thieves aren't going to fall upon my beloved Mazda as soon as I turn the corner. I will also find one (1) friend who has a couch that pulls out and no cats, so that I can actually come to TO with the intention of staying overnight (interestingly, my brother fits that description, but I just can't imagine asking him for a place to crash) so that I can actually come for a weekend and visit all the people I'd dearly love to come and hang with, without freaking about the logistics of the trip, or making it an afternoon thing that is timed down to the minute.
I promise.
It was great to be able to take in the con, because it's something the girl and I tried to do last year (in less complicated times) but were unable to due to my relative unfamiliarity navigating TO's mean streets, and the unfortunate amount of distance between the shop where my guitar was and the convention centre where the con was.
But this year we made it, after having virtually run into everybody I know in TO outside the Queen St. Sushi Time, and we got to cruise the con with two of my very dear friends (who are getting married next weekend so I will be in Toronto AGAIN - can you believe it?), who later showed me their new and unbelievably gorgeous house, making me insanely jealous in the process.
I didn't know what to expect - it was baiscally a really big comic store. But there were a couple of celebrities (who I got to see but not meet, because I am not the type to spend a half hour in line to pay $40 for an autograph). I got to see Elivra, Mistress of the Fucking Dark in the flesh. (Well, not quite the flesh. And not even in costume. But still. Rawr.) Kevin Sorbo was there. He looked kind of angry. The Candyman was there. He looked even angrier. We missed James "Spike" Marsters and I think we were too early for Elijah Wood, but I got to see Kenny "R2D2" Baker, and some other people I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I was most disappointed that I didn't get to see Jhonen Vasquez, because his comics were one of the first things the girl introduced me to. I'm a nerd, but I'm not a comic nerd. Still, it's fun to inhabit her world in small pieces.
A few hours in, some decent mexican downtown, and a brief stopover to drool at my friends' house and I was back on my way.
Dear Toronto... one day I will learn to stop fearing your streets. I will accept that traffic there, while criminally insane, is not that fundamentally different from traffic in the dozens of other cities in which I feel totally comfortable driving. I will accept that there are in fact places to park that are convenient and affordable, and that rings of international car thieves aren't going to fall upon my beloved Mazda as soon as I turn the corner. I will also find one (1) friend who has a couch that pulls out and no cats, so that I can actually come to TO with the intention of staying overnight (interestingly, my brother fits that description, but I just can't imagine asking him for a place to crash) so that I can actually come for a weekend and visit all the people I'd dearly love to come and hang with, without freaking about the logistics of the trip, or making it an afternoon thing that is timed down to the minute.
I promise.