San Diego Comic-Con

This is the view from the Pacific Surfliner Train as you roll to and from San Diego.

Downtown San Diego is what happens when you leave the Crate& Barrel in charge of urban planning. It's filled with restaurants and nightclubs that are so tastefully decorated, you want to kill yourself out of the boredom. Two pretty good restaurants to check out: Ch1ve, a restaurant so pretentious it uses numbers as surrogates for vowels (I didn't just have fries, I had spicy feta cheese shoestring fries), and Rama, a Thai place with excellent decor and decent food.

I found San Diego's pedicab subculture fascinating. It's something I haven't noticed in any other American city: immigrants from some indeterminate Central/Eastern European nation (they always have thick accents) pedaling bicycle taxis through the streets of San Diego for exoribtant prices.
You even have female pedicab drives, which is pretty amazing and unexpected in and of itself.

The best days to go to Comic Con are Wednesday and Thursday. By the time the convention hits Friday, pedestrian traffic inside the convention center resembles a pedestrian version of the 405 freeway. It took me about ten minutes to walk from one end of the floor to the other on Friday, which was compounded by the definite, inescapable man-stench about the event.

The show floor is a melting pot of corporate commerce, indie artists, vintage pornography, and obsessive nerdery. It's a much more overwhelming experience to sensory faculties than even E3, which is simply a collection of large media conglomerates showing off their home stereo systems.

I attended a panel on Star Trek, in which an eleven-year-old boy asked the show's creators about slight differences in the visual effects of phasers in two different episodes of Star Trek: Voyager. Star Trek fans never disappoint.

For research, I saw the pilot of the new NBC series "Heroes". It was solidly mediocre, although the Japanese otaku-telekinetic has some funny moments.

It's definitely worth your time to walk through the rows of indie artists who have set up shop on the convention floor. You'll most likely discover something you like - I picked up quite a few indie comics at the show, and while they're not completely successful, they all contain at least a few interesting ideas.

Somehow, American culture has meandered from the Great American Novel to the Great American Screenplay, and now, to the Great American Comic Book. I spend plenty of time reading novels, watching movies, and I am impressed by the surplus of young comic book writers who have interesting ideas, and actual stories to include them in. It's a medium that isn't drowning in its own orthodoxy and pretentions, and allows young writers to grow and develop their talents. I don't think I've ever read anything by Brian K. Vaughn that actually works as a story, but I don't know if I'll be saying the same thing five years from now.

Surprisingly, the most popular cosplay character isn't any Marvel or DC superhero, but rather various characters from a certain hidden village in the country of fire. Naruto is such a juggernaut that he singlehandedly takes up an eighth of the convention center floor. Judging from the massive array of Naruto merchandise on offer in its booth, the Mattel corporation owes its current solvency to Mr. Uzumaki, it seems. Anime chicks love wearing the Konoha forehead protector in the style of Sakura. Surprisingly, nobody dresses up as Naruto himself, probably owing to the extremely loud orange jumpsuit that he is always attired in.

Barbeque in South Central Los Angeles

One of the nice things about not doing the job thing is that you get invited to more social gatherings. The surge of invitations is due mostly to the brazen assumption that you are always available.

And guess what? You are. I've gone to more parties in the past three months than in the entire year preceding them.

Tonight I found myself gnawing at a pile of baby back ribs in the parking lot of Phillip's BBQ in south central Los Angeles, as a group of folks gathered underneath the tailgate of someone's Mercedes SUV.

Phillip's BBQ is such an exceptional (for LA) joint that they can completely omit any seating space - the restaurant consists of two windows: ordering and pick up. There's a sign next to the ordering window that reads: "Yes, the hot sauce is really hot." You can get the obligatory ribs and pulled pork with said hot sauce, or opt for a mild one or a mixture. And they have an intriguing array of uniquely Southern desserts on offer as well, including 7up Cake and Sock It To Me Cake. You know the place is authentic when you can smell the place before you can see it - heck, you can even see the place before you can see it, due to the thick plumes of smoke rising from the smokestack.

In south central, everyone seems to know each other, or at least act as if they do. Everyone greets everyone else with a surprising degree of familiarity - the security guard for the parking lot, the homeless guy, the lady in line in front of us, the random customer pulling up in a Cadillac. Despite what you see on the evening news, it's a friendlier place than the rest of Los Angeles. At least in the vicinity of Phillip's, anyway.

Packing For San Diego

I am charging four peripherals at once: phone, camera, iPod, DS. There's something weird about that.

I'm headed for the world's largest comic book convention, Comic-Con. Having never been to one of these things before, I'm really not sure what to expect.

I'm particularly excited about taking the train back from San Diego to Union Station; I haven't done that since... a very long time ago. And Sea World is close to the hotel - so that's a definite possibility.

When I return, I should have at least a few photos, and a series of somewhat contemplative posts:

• Living in Los Angeles


• Writing the Hollywood Blockbuster


• A Recap of this Experiment in Living

Nerding It Up and Dorking Out

Recently, I was trying to decide which writing project to pursue during the downtime of my primary writing project, Pillow Crisis. I finally settled on a project (one of three I have on the backburner) called Lobsters Vs. Butterflies. This was a decision fraught with consequence, so I was somewhat uncertain of tmy course. But impelled by no small amount of synchronicity, I made a choice and sided with the Nephropidae and the Papilionoidea.

A month or so later, it's becoming increasingly evident that I made the right decision. Other projects would have required research of an intensive nature, utterly exhausting any residual powers of concentration unconsumed by Pillow Crisis. Many dry primary historical accounts, many creaky old genre movies with shopworn cliches.

Lobsters vs. Butterflies, however, merely requires that I do what I do best.

That is, nerd it up and dork out.

Impossibly Nerdy/Dorky Things Done In The Name of Researching This Script

Events: Comic-Con in San Diego (July) - the world's largest comic book convention. My room is subsidized and my meals are paid for, and I have a free ride down. That's my excuse.

Hardware: In order to facilitate the enjoyment of a Dungeons & Dragons(!) game called Baldur's Gate 2, I recently reformatted a computer hard drive and installed an obsolete operating system (Windows 2000); along the way, I adjusted some CMOS settings, and attempted to flash a motherboard BIOS. You know, just to remind myself why my newest computer is an Apple.

And to play the fourth installment of a video game series - one that concerns not the overwhelming problem of global evil, but rather the more manageable quandry of residential evil - I endeavored to repair my roommate's Nintendo Gamecube, which has been broken for over a year. This involved melting a Bic pen and molding it into the shape of a proprietary screwbit screwdriver, disassembling the console, and adjusting a LASER POTENTIOMETER. Amazingly, I did it, but I don't know how long this Gamecube will live on borrowed time, especially given the intermittent and spooky clicking noises it makes.

Television: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - so far, watching this show is like being stuck in a trigonometry class full of annoying chicks who spend the hour comparing brands of tampons. I really don't want to be there. But I've made an agreement to watch at least the first 48 episodes, so what can I do?

Also... OMFGNaruto!!!11 ^_^ I can say two things about this show, having watched SEVENTY-TWO episodes. One, it's easily the greatest cartoon I've ever seen in my life. Two, I will no doubt watch at least 60 more episodes before I give it up. In order to do so, I joined Narutofan.com, which charges the mere pittance of five dollars a month in order to provide access to unlimited downloads of Naruto effluvia.

Comic Books: The Long Haul, Runaways, Powers, and countless other comics you've never, ever heard of. I am bidding on lots of old comic books on eBay, and I don't even read comics.

Video Games: Resident Evil 4, Red Dead Revolver, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Well, this isn't so bad. You could probably find some frat boys somewhere playing the same stuff.

Dude, I could make the scariest Myspace page ever.

Purpose and Intention

Today the bikini lady yoga instructor asked me to demonstrate the upside-down "L" pose for the entire class. About the L pose: I suspect, despite a severe lack of foreshadowing from my instructor, that this pose is preperation for a full-on handstand. It involves coming onto your hands and knees, and then walking your feet up the wall, forming the aforementioned inverted consonant with your body.

I was somewhat apprehensive abou my instructor's request for several reasons. First of all, I'm not accustomed to performing any act of physicality before an audience. Secondly, the instructor usually recruits some incredibly limber chick wearing Hard Tail pants to demo a pose, which is an arrangement I much prefer, quite frankly. Lastly, I only learned to do the L pose about two weeks ago. It's absolute murder on your hands and arms.

But I agreed to demonstrate, and I was able to slowly walk up and down the wall without losing my balance. I was rock solid, in fact. And as I was performing, the instructor said:

"Look, do you see his hands? They are filled with purpose and intention!"

That's right, y'all - my hands are vessels bearing the catalysts for action. (Like Naruto!)

(There's actually a very pragmatic reason why I spread my hands shoulder-length apart and flatten my palms. Because if I don't, the L pose is going to hurt like hell.)

I'd say I'm about a month or so away from doing the first handstand of my life.

Little French Girls Love Pillow Crisis <3 <3 <3

So the latest (well, the latest that I can tell you about) on the Pillow Crisis front is that Huili pitched the story to a 12-year-old French girl who's a big Harry Potter fan.

Imagine Huili pitching, in Spanish, a story written in English to a girl whose native language is French.

She loved it, and more importantly, shared our belief in the coolness of our favorite characters and moments. That's a huge relief, as we slowly whittle the number of unanswered questions to an integer that can be counted on one hand.

Much bigger and more regular updates regarding my life and everything beginning tomorrow.

Reasons Not To Move to New York

Street fair on Amsterdam Ave. These street fairs shut down traffic.

1) Public Transit Really Doesn't Save You That Much Money

Public transit was supposed to be New York's saving grace financially, the one reliable method of saving money in the city. A monthly subway pass pretty much covers it, right?

No. Sometimes there's subway construction and your stop is closed. Sometimes you want to go crosstown and the buses are too slow. Sometimes you're carrying something expensive and you don't want to take a late night subway. All of the above means your ass is taking a cab at around ten bucks a pop. Transportation costs in New York easily equal or surpass my $90 / month gasoline budget here in LA (and by the way, I haven't come close to spending that much since I quit my job).

But you're still not paying auto insurance, you point out. True, but any savings on auto insurance are cancelled out by the increase in rent.

And I haven't even gotten to higher cost of living yet. What kind of economy asks me to pay $1.75 for a bottle of Vitamin Water?

Perfect fatality, Los Angeles. S+ rank. Would you like to continue, New York?


2) My New York Roster Will Lose Many Key Players To Free Agency

My time in New York was such that I literally didn't have to make any plans. Everyday I'd wake up, and I'd get a text message or a phone call from somebody telling me where to be at a specified time. Then I'd eat whatever food had been decided on by other parties. This worked out quite well, as I got to see a great deal of the city in a relatively short period of time.

It's certainly easy to have a good time in New York when you have a deep bench of friends in the city. But starting in about a year, I'd say this thick posse is going to be halved, with people departing for new careers and new lives. My friend George says this is a staging ground for people on the way to their actual lives. For half my friends in New York, he's right.



Danielle walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.


3) I Can Live In New York, But Can I Work In New York?

I like New York. Some parts of the city (such as my friend Danielle's neighborhood in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) have a sense of community you'd never get in Los Angeles. You don't have to drive, and you're surrounded by lots of fun old stuff - museums and books and buildings.

On the other hand, the city is beginning to feel like a time capsule of itself - kind of like Paris. You just get the lingering, uneasy sense that New York's most exciting days are behind it. I love many writers and artists from the city, but I have absolutely no desire to be part of that tradition, which I suspect is beginning to diminish anyway. There wasn't a single author from New York among the books I purchased from the Strand. And the Whitney Biennial couldn't find enough American (read: New York) artists this year, so they threw it open to the internationals. This is all anecdotal, but still.

Also, it's not a quiet place, and that's kind of a prerequisite for my job. Yes, I am aware that I can seek quiet in New York, but that's not exactly the same thing.

What I'm saying is, it doesn't really feel like a place where I would write.

Fiscal Report: June 2006

Man, I was THIS close to not buying any clothing at all this month. Then I saw a ten dollar messenger bag at Urban Outfitters, (even the sale is on sale!), so it all went to hell. What's worse, I went to another party last night and some girl was like, "Nice bag!" And that's not helping at all.

Also, when you don't commute to work, you save a lot of money on fuel.

With all these massive surpluses, I've clearly overbudged a bit. A wise strategy, because here come some brand new monthly expenses.

NEW MONTHLY EXPENSES

Unlimited Yoga Classes at the Center for Hot Moms: $90 a month
Increase in Health Insurance Premium: $15 a month
Netflix Upgrade to 4 Out at A Time: $12 a month

I don't add new debits to the monthly budget lightly, so rest assured that these are justified. Yoga is a bit pricey, but bear in mind that I attend classes five days a week, and that I can cancel the plan at any time. For comparison's sake, a ten class series at the same studio costs about $110. Netflix is crucial for research, and the four out plan allows me to spend more time watching movies, and less time waiting by my mailbox. And without health insurance, how could I care for all the infants I've fathered out of wedlock?

UNDER BUDGET SPENDING CATEGORIES

Unallocated: $170.00
Dining Out: $105.06
Clothing: $49.50
Auto Fuel: $96.98
Phone: $30.00

Total: $451.51 under budget