I drove back from the San Diego area Tuesday evening, stopping first at a recently-opened Five Guys on Truxtun Road in that fair city. There, I ate a "little hamburger" — or as any other burger place would call it, a hamburger. I also got through about a third of an order of fries. The Dominican Republic could live for a week on one order of Five Guys french fries.
No sooner had I settled in with my order than someone came over to say hello. It was Paul Horn, a fine cartoonist I had not encountered at the convention. He was there with his lovely wife whose name, in my not-infrequent oafishness, I neglected to memorize. (I'm thinking Darlene…) Anyway, good conversation, good burger, good fries.
Then it was back on the 5, which took me to the 73, which took me to the 405. Just south of Lawndale, I got off to stretch legs and waddled into a little mini-mart. Immediately, a guy shopping there said to me, "Hey, Quick Draw! was great this year!" Which it was but I didn't expect a review in a Lawndale convenience store. The fellow (his name was Steve) told me he's been going to the con whenever he can afford it, which in the last five years has happened three times, once for just a day.
"What was the best part of this year?" I asked him…and then I quickly added, "Besides Quick Draw!," just in case he wasn't going to say that. He answered that the best parts were (a) getting Stan Lee's autograph, (b) meeting voice actor Maurice LaMarche and (c) some lady barely dressed as Princess Leia, who I gather made more of an impression than Stan or Maurice. He showed me a microscopic cell phone photo but I'm not sure which of the three I was looking at.
Then it was back on the 5 and on to Los Angeles. I kinda like it when parts of the con follow me home.