Friday seemed a little less crowded than Thursday, at least where I was. All my panels went well, though the annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel turned a bit more emotional and dark than I'd intended. I'll write more about it when I'm not working on my laptop at an odd height on a hotel room desk, and due shortly downstairs for a breakfast meeting.
To those of you who've never attended one of these but see press coverage of it: Trust me. Most people are not dressed in silly costumes…or at least, no sillier than people wear when they go shopping at Costco. Reporters — especially reporters with camera crews — like to seek out the outrageous visuals and I suppose, if I were in their position, I'd do the same thing. But the overwhelming majority of con attendees are not geeks who wait all year for the chance to parade around in public in their Jedi finery. We may be geeks but we're, by and large, plainclothes geeks. Most of us dress normally and even most of those who do don costumes are being paid to do so out of some promotional budget. And actually, apart from when the "costume" is nearly non-existent and on a lady of awesome proportions, it doesn't seem to even attract much attention. Less than ten people yesterday wanted their picture with me in my Catwoman suit.
Let's see what else I can tell you about. Last night, I got on one of the shuttle buses that cart us around town. The sole other passenger was a young lady who did not seem to be affiliated with the convention and who asked me if I'd like to go on a "date" — and she even pronounced the word with quotation marks around it, which impressed me no end. I told her I was on my way to an award ceremony and she said, "It could be a quick date."
Not that the lady on the bus seemed like a good alternative but I found the Eisner Awards (what I saw of them) interminable and impossible to sit through. I am not knocking the winners, although I see now why the televised award shows impose limits on acceptance speeches. I am also not knocking the wonderful anecdotes and remembrances of the late Will Eisner sprinkled throughout the event. And, in all honesty, a lot of folks didn't seem to mind sitting there for around three hours, applauding the presenters and then the nominees and then the winners and then the acceptance speeches of the winners and…well, maybe it's me. I even heard some folks say it was a lot better and swifter than previous years, none of which I was ever able to sit through, either. I couldn't even sit there when there was a decent chance that I was about to win one.
Gotta get to that breakfast meeting and then five (count 'em) panels today. I expect the hall to be crowded with people, most of whom will stop me and explain that Stan Lee is not really working as a mailman.