San Diego Comic Con is Coming!

Two weeks from now I’ll be saying goodbye to the office for a few days.  I’ll get my backpack ready, pick out my comfiest shoes, and get ready to wait in huge lines for knick-knacks that seem really important in the moment, but lose their luster when you get home and try to figure out what you were thinking when you grabbed it.

Yes, Comic Con is coming.

The banners are already lining Harbor Drive.  Thank goodness I live in San Diego.  I don’t want to think about what it would be like to have to find a hotel room.  I shudder to think about all of the traffic that’s coming our way.  But that’s all part of the FUN!

If only the Comic-Con people would RELEASE THE SCHEDULE!!  I need it.  I NEED IT NOW!

Here are a few things I’m looking forward to: True Blood.  Doctor Who.  Deborah Harkness’s new book, Shadow of Night. Being Human (SyFy and BBC).  Fringe.  American Horror Story.  The Walking Dead.  Dark Knight Rises.

There is more, of course.  So much depends on what I can actually get to.  You have to cruise the con floor in the morning, of course, and then get to panels.

I will be donating blood at some point.  I have done it for several years now, and  have a nice collection of special-release True Blood shirts as a result.

I’m also not afraid to spend the night in a line to get into a panel.  Once the schedule is posted, I’ll let you know when I’m camping out.

I’ll be covering Comic Con for www.DarkMedia.com, and you can follow my Tweets to see what I’m doing.  Right now I’m in the thick of planning.

And I’m taking vitamins.  Iron so I can donate blood, and a multivitamin so I don’t get sick.  Take it from me, everyone.  bring your hand sanitizer and your vitamins and your Emergen-C!

What are your Comic Con plans??

True Blood Musings (Spoilers for S5E2)

True Blood’s season 5 promises to be amazing.  I have heard the naysayers talk about the lack of action so far, but I would disagree.  As a recapper for the show, I have been constantly amazed these past two weeks at how much of a foundation is being laid out.  When Alan Ball talked about Michele Bachmann being his inspiration for the political/religious storyline this season, I couldn’t wait to see how he’d develop everything.  I have not been disappointed.  Remember that line from Interview with the Vampire: “God kills indiscriminately, and so shall we, for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like Him as ourselves.”  There has been a pattern recently where vampires think of themselves as either creatures of God (“Jesus loves vampires”) or as being more similar to God than humans.  It will be interesting to see the direction Russell Edgington takes once he emerges from his sick bed…will he lead the Sanguinistas?

Some observations/musings:

Tara: I really hope that Tara embraces life as a vampire.  It would be a shame to see her sulk all season that she has been turned into a creature that she despises.  Embrace your new power, Tara!  Use it to fight the forces of…good..bad…or something.  Anything.  Just make use of it.  (I might regret this later)

Alcide: The last thing Alcide ever wanted was to be the pack master.  But now he doesn’t have much of a choice.  I say again, use this opportunity, Alcide.  Do something with your new role.  Embrace it.

Terry/Arlene/Patrick:  This subplot has been a challenge to follow only because the scenes are like extended snippets.  I’m certain the story will continue to develop, but I have enjoyed it so far.  It’s disturbing to watch gentle Terry become angry and violent.  Something bad must be coming if he’s experiencing such a turnabout.

Pam: I LOVED the 1905 flashback.  I can’t wait to see more of her history with Eric.  Once again, Pam has some of the best zingers on the show.  I love watching her, and it will be interesting to see what happens when Eric returns to find his new grandchild….

So far Sookie and Lafayette have been babysitting Tara.  Hopefully they will get more involved as the season develops.

That’s all for now.  I’m always eager to hear what other people think.  Be sure to check out my True Blood recaps at www.DarkMedia.com.

Quickfire Writing

I’m not opposed to technology.  Though I’m 31, I actually did own a typewriter.  Two typewriters, actually.  One was my Fisher Price typewriter from when I was three years old, and later while in junior high school I owned a Brother electric typewriter because my well-meaning family didn’t realize that computers were the way of the future. 

I have recently started writing for www.DarkMedia.com.  I have done everything from reviewing books and graphic novels to recapping television shows like Fringe and True Blood.  Fringe was much easier, because I set out to summaraize the first season and so I watched the episodes on DVD.  True Blood has been more challenging, because I watch the show live and take notes, and then I type up my notes into something more coherent.  My goal is to have the recap posted online by 10pm Pacific Time, which means I have a three-hour window to write and submit my recap.

This past Sunday I sat in Starbucks with my trusty notebook (the cover is red, of course, because it is True Blood, after all) and my even-trustier netbook.  After ordering a black iced tea, unsweetened, and a chocolate chip cookie to make up for the lack of sweetener, I started my attack on the keys.

What amazed me was how fast I could write under the circumstances.  When I’m working on my novel, my mind tends to wander.  When I’m recapping a show, my mind stays on task and my fingers fly over the keys.  After two hours, I had close to 3400 words that came from 8 pages of written notes.

Recapping probably isn’t for everyone.  However, I have noticed that it has changed the way I watch television in that my mind is constantly thinking about how I would summarize a scene.  I feel much more connected to the show.  I have a feeling that it will help me in other areas of my life…even though I don’t know what they might be just yet.

But the second grader deep inside me is smiling, thinking fondly of the 5-minute creative writing exercises we did in class.  Perhaps I was born to be a recapper. 🙂

 

Letter to a Vampire

I know, it has been forever since I’ve posted.  But I promise to do better.  Today I have an interesting story to share.

Today I wrote a letter to a vampire.

He’s not a real vampire, mind you, but he’s an actor at Lamb’s Players Theatre in San Diego.  When I was 7, my grandfather took me to see Dracula at the old Lamb’s Players Theatre.  This was back when it was housed in National City, in a renovated church.  The stage was in the shape of a square and the actors entered from the four corners.  We had aisle seats.

In between acts, while the lights were out, my grandfather nudged me and pointed to my right.  There, a mere six inches from my seat, was Dracula.  He was at least two hundred feet tall and his white face glowed in the dark.  That was all I remember from the first half of the play, as I spent the rest of the act with my face buried in my grandfather’s shirt.

This was 25 years ago, and the memory is as fresh today as it was then.  We ended up staying through the whole play, and even though I had nightmares for months about vampires, I realize now that this was a formative moment in my life.  Now I write about vampires and other supernatural creatures (when the sun has set and my day job is set aside for the night) and I truly believe that this experience moulded me into the person I am today.  I can’t watch True Blood without thinking about the godfather of vampires who gave me nightmares.  How many other people can say that their first experience with vampires came at the hands of a real, honest to God vampire? (I know he was an actor, but to my seven-year-old brain, there was always the chance that he’d been real and you can never be too sure)

So today I wrote a letter to the incredible David Cochran Heath, the actor who portrayed Dracula, who is still active at Lamb’s Players Theatre today.  I thanked him for simultaneously inspiring and terrifying me.

It’s not often that a person can draw a line and pinpoint where inspiration comes from.  Even more rare is the chance to thank the source of inspiration.  And few people can say they have written a letter to a vampire.

Today I did all three.