It's the final countdown!!! Duh, duh duh DUH! Duh, duh, duh DUH DUHHHHH! (For those of you confused, listen to the song by Europe called "The Final Countdown". To understand why this song is genuinely funny, watch Arrested Development). BUT, I continue...

The last day of Comic Con was bittersweet. We actually drove down to downtown San Diego today so we got there just as the doors opened at 10:00 am and didn't leave until they shoved us out of Main Hall at 5:00 pm! I didn't take my badge off until I got home, and even then it was quite emotional! T_T <-crying face...

Once we arrived at Comic Con, the boys and I split so they could go and walk around the booths, demo games and such while I sat in line for about an hour and a half to apply for a vendors booth for next year! The booths are a bit expensive, but no event attracts nerds like Comic Con. Hopefully, they'll approve my application and I can go crazy on setting up for it!

After finding myself triumphant in submitting my application, I met up with Shannon to demo some Wizards of the Coast game to roll that lovely, giant, foam d20 and get some free Magic cards. I played a rogue that couldn't successfully detect or unlock anything at the D&D table and got beat at Magic by a tweenage (between 10-12). But! I got my 2 booster packs in the end and would reclaim some face in a match against Eric. It took about an hour to beat his blue deck with my green, black, and white deck but I ended up with 25 life as he took his final blocks!

By that time, it was coming close to 5:00 pm, so we took our final look at all the comic, clothing and card clad booths to bid farewell to the heart of the Con. *pouting sigh*

As of this moment, I'm watching The Holy Grail with two buddies. A tasteful way to end a nerdy, comic and cult crazed weekend. Hope that anyone who also went to the Con had as good of a time as I did and see ya'll next year!!!

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Hello again! Comic Con is still going strong! As usual it reached it's convention going and cosplaying peak today, making it even more fun (and a bit more difficult due to crowding) to just to walk around and see all the costumes and as usual catch all the things you didn't see the past 4 times you circled around the main show room. So that's what today consisted of, lots of walking...but a few other things too.

I'm going to put it all into a list. Lists are friendly, easy and the most numbering you can use in non-science/math writing!

1. Met Ray Bradbury while he was being chauffeured around the convention center. I love his short stories and his writing style AND I can't wait to brag to all my English teachers in the fall that I met him!
2. Demoed a few of Wizards' (of the Coast) games, got to roll a giant red foam d20, and won 4 booster packs of Magic cards, which I didn't find very useful...
3. ...until about an hour later when Corey and Shannon taught me how play Magic. My pocket money will be sad to hear that I'm definitely going to build up a few decks.
4. Watched Corey play in a Magic Tournament. Unfortunately, he was paired with a guy that occasionally plays at the Pro Tours and was, to put kindly, pw3n3d.
5. Then we all headed back on the coaster and went to see the Simpson's Movie, which was excellent! My boss happens to be a huge Simpson's fan, so I figured that I better see it too.
6. 20 people came up to compliment me on my Mondrian dress by the end of the day. :) It's a very nice feeling when several people appreciate something that you made.

That's the break down of today! I'm gonna catch some z's!

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It was another amazing day at Comic Con! Very very trek-ful too, but we'll get to that stuff later! :)

We've been taking the train down to the convention, which is always fun since I always happen to run into people I know. The morning nerd chat really gets enthusiasm for the Con going. Once finished our massive group march (with the other train goers) to the convention center, the majority of our group rushed to the Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis discussions panels. I must admit that overall the Lost discussion panel was a bit better (better questions, more excitement about the next season, etc.) but it was great to hear about the new 2 Stargate SG-1 DVD movies coming out (Arc of Truth and Continuum), hear about what might be going on in season 4 of Atlantis, and of course see some of the cast, producers, and writers. Amanda Tapping was hands down my favorite panelist to see, mainly because she is the epitome of a "blondegeek" and is a very warm, friendly (and beautiful!) person.

But now to the Star Trek stuff!!!
1) I was wearing my Star Trek dress (and got kudos on it from several peeps, including some who requested pictures!)
2) I met and got autographs from Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi) and John de Lancie (Q)!!!!! (And Marina liked my dress too! <-nerd points)
Let me expand on that: Marina Sirtis is such a nice person! She actually talks to who she's signing for. She was happily surprised to see that there are Star Trek fans my age (those of us who were born after ST:TNG started). John de Lancie is also very nice and very handsome and sharp looking in person. He was a bit quiet, but it was great to see him! Levar Burton (Geordi LaForge) was also there but not at the moment I was there. But I wasn't even expecting any of the cast to be there, so just stumbling upon them at some random booth was fantastic! It's kinda nice to actually see in flesh and blood that they are ordinary people. It's inspiring in a way, though I can't exactly explain why. :)
3) The Star Trek fan club that I joined had a drawing for new members and I won a copy of a comic book authored by Gene Roddenberry (or something like that) that has Majel Roddenberry's (Gene's wife, the voice of the Enterprise computer, and Deanna Troi's mother) autograph on it.

I realize that my written articulation of this event is a bit simple and jumbled, but I am pretty tired so hope you don't mind the not-so-brilliant ranting. 0_o

Anywho, after all the Gate-ness and Trek-ness we headed back on our train ride home throwing logic puzzles and lateral thinking problems at each other. It's impressive how many riddles and puzzles the collective mind of many geeks know! Alas, I am once again tired. Tomorrow, I'm wearing my Mondrian dress that I made (the first dress I made in fact!). It's not very comic-y but it is just about as awesome as comics so it's definitely appropriate! Night, sleep tight, and don't let the targs bite!

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Oh, binary. That never gets old! The first day of San Diego Comic Con was fantastic! To start things off right I sported one of the new (not available online yet) blondegeek logo tees! I've never been to it before so just seeing the main floor was a bit overwhelming! Signs here, screens there, and lots of free pieces of paper. The main room of the Convention Center is HUGE and retailers and gaming/comic companies covered every inch of space they could with the exception of the aisles, which were instead fully crowded with people. Lots of walking, lots of comics, lot of nerdom, and lots of slave Leia's...LOTS.

Looking around the showroom took up the majority of today, but I also joined the International Federation of Trekkers. It was bound to happen. After you watch every Star Trek: TNG episode 8 times you are practically required to join it. :) btw, their website is iftcommand.com

Lastly, we caught the Lost Discussion Panel. I've never watched an episode of Lost and I still found it incredibly interesting, mostly because I would love to be in their shoes one of these days. One of my dreams is to be either a writer or the founder of a sci-fi TV series...or at least get the chance to hang around a TV set like that, just to see how it all comes together.

It's late. I'm tired. And I get to wear my STAR TREK:TNG SUN DRESS tomorrow!!!

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Hey everybody! I just got back from Idyllwild. I was there vacationing for a week with my mom. Idyllwild is a beautiful, artsy, small town a mile above sea level. The trees are tall and the people are incredibly nice. In fact, here’s a shout out to Marshall, Hubert, and Mike: You guys made my trip. I had a great time chatting about music, “bass-ing”, proofs and physics with you folks. Hope to see you guys soon or at least next time I find myself in Idyllwild.

My mom and I stayed up in a cabin while we were there. The best part about the cabin was that it had a photon-fast wifi network! I know, it was Idyllwild and I should’ve been OUTSIDE and not fiddling around with PHP and stuff, but I could not help myself. Even then I still saw plenty of squirrels, trees and mountains, so I didn’t completely miss out on the scenery.

Now that I’m back at home, I have several things to do, as usual.
1) Work out the new template for the product pages
2) Finish the index page for a new section. Oooo…Ahhhh…
3) Make a new index photo (Yes, I do realize that the current one has been up for a good…forever)
4) Add the page to go under this new grand and mysterious section!
***And that’s just website work***
5) Finish my Star Trek quilt (which may take a while since I’m embroidering it to have accurate outlines of windows, shuttle bays, etc. according to my Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual. (How nerdy can you get?)
6) Clean my room….HA! Like that one is going to happen!
7) Practice bass-ing, todos las dias…
8) AND prepare for the oncoming COMIC CONVENTION!!!!!

Pardon me, did someone say COMIC CONVENTION!!! Indeed, I believe someone did!

That’s right I’m completely psyched about going to Comic Con in San Diego this year for the 1st time. I’m, of course, going to go for all 4 days and I, of course, have a crazy outfit for each day. Now, I promise you guys this: THERE WILL BE A BLOG ENTRY about this wondrous affair! AND PICTURES…they just might not be up for a month…oh, my lagging updates are getting to be quite typical…

Well, can’t wait to relay the Comic Con experience to you guys!
Later!
Tess

P.S.:
Sydnee – Welcome back to California! (July 25th)
Maija – Welcome to California! (July 25th)Kevin - As I have said to you many times already: continue having a wonderful time in Japan!

Posted by Tess | No Comment

Hello there! Well, I just got back from Pepperdine this weekend. I was at the Youth Citizenship Seminar that they have held there for the past 30 years. It was amazing! There were 18 incredibly inspirational speakers and I met so many wonderful people: peers and adults. A thousand thanks to Chancellor Runnels for founding and continuing this life changing program. Anyone that will be a Junior in high school next year and lives in Southern California (or California in general) should check this program out! Google it and see where it gets you!

Today was pretty relaxing. I woke up around 7:30 am to practice my bass and then headed off to work (I work for a friend of mine doing land surveying, using a tripod, lasers, measuring tape and all that good stuff). It’s a very fun job and it gets me away from the computer and the sewing machine and out and about in San Diego!

While that’s all going swell, my current dilemma is settling on a layout for my next sewing project - a Star Trek: TNG quilt! I can't seem to decide on a definite position for the Enterprise. I'm looking at Google images for inspiration! Outside of my nerd indulgences not much is going on. The newest installation of blondegeek tees is due next week, so I’m just biding my time reading, sewing and hanging with peeps.

Anyhow, hope everyone’s summer is going just as well. I’ll be checkin’ in with ya’ll as soon as more exciting news develops!

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