You Can’t Just Be Creative
A while ago I wrote a blog post about buying a new camera for my YouTube videos. I was struggling just filming with my phone, and felt that a camera would be a decent investment. I narrowed down my choices and ended up getting the Sony ZV-1.
It has been a pretty good choice for me. The main complaint I have about it is that it eats battery life like it is starving. To combat that, I purchased three additional batteries along with a charger, and that has worked for me thus far. I may need more batteries down the line, we shall see.
I knew a while back that you can't just 'make' YouTube videos. You have to edit them as well. I started out on simple software that allowed me to do basic things. As I gained more knowledge, I needed the ability to do more. A lot of people use Final Cut Pro (Apple Produce) or Adobe Premiere Pro.
I did not and do not like the idea of paying a subscription service for a product that I rely on to do things if that makes sense. It is the same reason I haven't upgraded from Microsoft Office 2007. There is nothing in the Office 365 version that I need bad enough to subscribe and have to pay a monthly fee for. No thank you. With a little help from my husband, I started using Blender.
Blender is known as a 3D rendering software. It allows you to make art and stretch your creativity. It also has a video editing portion and that is what I use. It allows me to do a lot of the things I see other youtubers do. If you can do it in Final Cut Pro, chances are I can do it in Blender as well. There are also a ton of tutorials on Youtube for Blender. Everything I have learned how to do, I've learned from Youtube. It's gotten to a point where I can look for a tutorial on how to do something, watch it, and it may be set up for FCP, but I know the tools of Blender well enough to apply the tutorial to Blender itself. It may take a few extra steps, but I get it done.

I never thought I would use the other portions of blender. I am not a graphics artist. I am not an artist period. I suck at art. I literally got a D in 6th grade art. But I am learning I can create visual effects for my videos in the other modes of Blender, which means more tutorials.
What I am learning in my ripe old age, is that doing something doesn't just mean doing it and being done with it. I wanted to make podcasts. You don't just record and that's it. You have to learn your software, you have to learn to edit, you have to learn how to upload. You can't just make youtube videos. You have to know how to edit. If there is something special, you have to learn how to do that as well. Sure, you can pay someone to do it, but you have to at least know a little bit so you can express what it is that you want from them. Every time I pick something up, my brain gets stretched a little more. In the beginning of the pandemic, I started writing again. I wrote a whole fan fiction book. You can see the improvement from where I began to where I started, as fiction and dialog writing is much more difficult that writing a blog. I have been out of school for many years, I have forgotten the rules, so I had to do my research. My bookshelves are filled with K-pop and writing books.
The same is true with all of my other hobbies. I am learning and growing. It's never a simple matter of just doing the thing, no matter how much someone tells you that you just need to get out there and and do it. For you to be great, you have to be willing to learn. I like to succeed in everything I do. I'm trying. I'm learning, and I am working. Thank you for sticking with me.
I Want to Start a Revolution
This sounds alarming does it not? Like I want to go to war. I don't want to go to war. I want to be the change I want to see in the world. Leggo.
Scholastic Book Fair. As you read those words, all the book worms shudder in delight. It was a joyous time for so many. You would get the thin paper news letter beforehand with lists of books that you may want, and you spent time circling all the things that interest you. If you had the big bucks, you'd circle the arts and crafts offering, or the big book bundle on the back of the sheet near the order form.

There were some of us that weren't so lucky. Your classmates who didn't even bother walking down to the book fair, because their parents couldn't afford lunch, much less the purchase of a book. I was one of those kids.
As a child who was reading beyond a high school level by third grade, the book fair brought with it a special kind of pain. All of those books, and I couldn't afford one. I'd sit in the classroom in silence, reading a book I picked up from the school library telling myself I wasn't jealous. My fourth grade year, someone noticed.
His name was Josh Huston. In later years, we didn't get along all that well, but in elementary school, you pretty much get along with everyone. He'd just returned from the book fair, and I asked to see the books he'd purchased. I don't remember what was said. I don't remember if I asked (I doubt I asked, in my house asking for something was seen as "begging" and I didn't want to beg anyone), but he handed me a book and told me I could keep it.
The book was "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler"
I read this book until the cover fell off. It gave me my first insight into New York City, actual museums, and all sorts of different things I'd never heard of. It showed me the independence of a young girl who was tired of everyone's shit, and just wanted to live in a museum for some peace. It also showed me the practicality of kids, because she knew her brother was cheap as hell and would have money to use on this adventure.
I too was tired of everyone's shit. But I lived in the middle of a small town with no actual culture scene. Nothing that Claudia had. Claudia's journey allowed me to have one in my mind, one where I wasn't the weird one, or the burden. That I would get to live out my dreams, if only for a little bit (she does after all return home).
I know Josh wasn't thinking of all this when he handed me that book. He saw a girl who was sad that she didn't get to buy any reading materials of her own, and he had the power to make her not sad anymore. For that, I will be forever grateful, no matter how annoying he became as we grew into young adults.
This started something in me. I swore to myself, if I ever had children, I was going to pay it forward somehow. Time has passed, seasons have changed, and I am a parent to a rather intelligent Geekybaby. This year was her first Scholastic Book Fair, and have times changed. No more thin tissue paper book list that you fill out. Things are digital. They still are allowed to roam the book fair though, searching for that special book or books.
Geekybaby has been doing virtual learning all year, but we felt safe enough that she could go to school for her end of the year testing. Speaking with her teacher previously, I explained what I wanted to do, and on that day, I sent her to school with 40 dollars in an envelope to make sure some kids who may not be able to get a book, are able to. I was able to provide six kids with a book. I want to do more.
I've told this story on my personal Facebook page twice. Once maybe a year or two ago, and once this week. People have told me, since the last time I have told it, that they send their children to school with extra money to do the same thing. I want to do more, I want this to be more. I don't know how to make that possible though. I think it would be an amazing thing that through one act of kindness 30 years ago (yeah I'm old), hundreds of kids are served.
So I am opening this to you. Do you have any thoughts? Any suggestions? Please leave them in the comments. I am also going to reach out to Scholastic to see if they can help too.
That one thing that you are doing just to be nice, may not save the world, but may reverberate years down the line. Think about that.

Dear Cardi B…
Author's Note: Below is an actual heartfelt letter to Cardi B, in regards to her relationship with Offset. For some background on this situation, check out this link and this link. Even though Cardi B doesn't fall under the 'geeky' category, I think understanding different relationships is important to our whole "Guide to Life" part. Hope you can relate
TW: talks of manipulation and emotional abuse in relationships
Dear Cardi B,
This letter is coming from the depths of my heart. Because, girl, I've been where you are.
Not in the exact sense of a romantic relationsh- well, that too. I've actually done this with family, with friends, and unfortunately, even a few romantic relationships.
I've been where you are. A deer in headlights as the public croons in "Aww, Quinzel, they're not that bad!" They knew if they did it publicly, it would get the results they want. And if not, well, they have a whole band of flying monkeys to come after me.
Offset disrupting Cardi's performance is like your ex running up on. you at your job in the middle of a meeting. This is not acceptable or cute. Or romantic. It's creepy and unstable.
— Demetria L. Lucas (@demetriallucas) December 16, 2018
Reconciliation was forced on me like dry swallowing a large pill. I've thought to myself "OK wow, this is a really nice gesture, maybe I'm being too harsh."
I should have stopped right there. They were manipulating me.
And Offset is 100% manipulating you.
In toxic relationships, once the person tries to get away, the first stage the toxic individual goes through is called "Love bombing". Wikipedia explains it as "an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection". It could be a nice gesture, but notice how Offset has never once taken any steps to NOT cheat on you?
The harsh reality is that love bombing doesn't last. Once the toxic person knows they've "got" you. They go back to their same ways. However, if you've left before, sometimes they even up their manipulative tactics in order to get you to stay. It isn't even hitting you, it's just all emotional abuse and mind games. It's all made to tear you down so you feel too worthless to leave again.
Here's exactly what will happen next. If you stick to your guns, I guarantee you Offset will switch tactics and become a full-blown asshole. He's going to talk shit about you on social media, f*ck women you don't like just to get to you, and take any step possible to ruin your career. I'm sure you have noticed this before, but Offset cannot handle your success. Because without your success, you can still remain tied to him. But if you can sell out arenas on your own and make enough money to care for a baby on your own, he's gotta dig even deeper to find a way to hurt you.
I know you took to Instagram to explain that this is someone you still love and care for like family. But sometimes we have to love someone from afar because sometimes that love will allow us to lose ourselves.
Sometimes that love will destroy us.
I know its hard, I know you have a lot of pressure to take him back. I know y'all have a baby together. I know this is extremely painful.
But I also know, Offset will never change. And even if you can justify in your mind that you can just deal with his infidelity and complete disregard for you, I'm sorry, but it will eat at you until you just become a shell of a person.
You've made a big step on leaving in the first place. I'm proud of you. Take this time to grow, enjoy your adorable little baby, see a therapist, and come out of this stronger than you ever realized.
Stay strong in your decision to go. I promise it gets better. You can do this!
-Quinzel
To The Girl Wearing a Crop Top With Stretch Marks: THANK YOU
I am ugly. I am horrid. I am terrible. My reflection says to me.
If I thought I was insecure, I promise you it got way worse after I had a C-section.
Granted, a lot of it was probably the postpartum depression encouraging me to hate myself, but I looked at my large scar, the tiger stripes that now went across my body, and I cried.
I mourned for all the things I wanted to wear, all the ways I wanted people to look at me.
I am ugly. I am horrid. I am terrible my reflection says to me.
I live in an area where there is no spring, just a long, horrible winter, and an even longer, hotter summer. So my envy of girls in short shorts and tank tops goes way beyond fashion, I just wish My body was beautiful enough for me to not have to cover every inch of it all summer.
Enter, the woman, we'll call her Fran*
I never met Fran before. We were all strangers at this college graduation barbeque but all bonded instantly over our love of all things geeky. In between the Star Wars arguments and Deadpool one-liners, I found myself staring in awe of Fran quite a bit.
She was beautiful and tall. She had that glowing brown skin that was all one smooth color. Her afro bounced as she laughed when someone complimented her top. It was a burgundy crop top that said "Thick Thighs. Thin Patience." She looked so amazing in her shorts and crop top that I started to think "I wish I didn't have stretch marks on my belly so I could wear that."
Hold up, Quinzel, she has stretch marks.
I was so caught up in the comparison game, of replaying the record known as Quinzel's Low Self Esteem, that I didn't even notice that Fran was someone just like me.
And I didn't think she was ugly
I didn't think she was horrid
And I certainly didn't think she was terrible
Fran was kind, funny, and beautiful, stretch marks and all.
So what the hell was wrong with me? Why was I so judgemental with myself and so quick to see the beauty in someone else?
So this is my love letter to Fran, who made me wake up and say Fuck It, I am not ugly, I am not horrid, I am not terrible.
And I am buying that fucking crop top and rocking it.
*I made this name up, I'm not even sure I know anyone irl named Fran
I Had PPD So Bad, I Didn’t Even Want To See Black Panther
Yeah girl, it was that bad.
In December I had my first very own geeky baby. I wasn’t due until the end of January, but as it were Geeky Baby was ready to enter.
I won't go into the details of the birth, just imagine I was a first-time mom saying "what?" and "holy fuck" a lot.
But I had some bottles purchased, had some onesies and sleepers laid out and a good stock of diapers. I was prepared.
What I was not prepared for was Postpartum Depression.
On the cusp of the Black Panther premiere, I went from enthusiastically talking about this movie for months to feeling like nothing, not even Black Panther, could give me joy.
When most people think of postpartum depression, they recall some pretty awful news stories that I can't bear to repeat. Even the doctor asks you in a dry tone, "have you had thoughts of harming your child?"
Oh? No. I like GB. It was me I didn't like. Since what I had only known about postpartum was from the media, I didn't think I had it because my feelings weren't toward GB, they were toward me.
I felt hopeless. I felt inadequate. I cried for 4 hours a day. I felt like I was the most awful person and couldn't tell you why I thought that but the feeling was strong. I couldn't eat but I just chalked it up to the nausea.
It wasn't until my husband took notice that I was able to get what I needed.
He kinda got a head start. GB was a preemie and spent a few weeks in the NICU, so the nurses pulled him aside and gave him some signs to watch out for. He comforted me and he took the time to make sure I ate. But when he asked me about buying tickets to Black Panther and I just shrugged, he knew something was really wrong.
So why am I telling you this story? Because as Geeky Girls, we know the things we love and give us joy. Mental illness tries to take that away from us. But if we can stay ahead and know when it’s coming, we can win this fight.
Still, I wasn't enthused about leaving the house. I really did not want to go.
So, I'm gonna offer a bit of advice for anyone struggling with any type of depression: Go Anyway.
After leaving the movie theater, I not only had to thank my husband for pushing me to go, but my best friend who paid for my movie tickets and babysat just so I could go. And she isn't even a big comic fan, she just knew it was important to me.
I walked out refreshed and ready to face the day. It would still take time to see a large improvement in my PPD (I'm doing much better now) but that small thing really made a huge leap in my recovery.
So again. Leave your house. Do it. Don't abandon the things you love. It doesn't resolve it completely, but damn it helps.
So, I'd like to know if any of you have dealt with depression, postpartum or otherwise. Leave a comment and tell me about your coping mechanisms, your support people, and your "aha" moments
If you know someone having issues with postpartum depression, here are some helpful links:
Why You Should Absolutely Live the way Kid Fury Does
If you don't know who Kid Fury is, you need to stop what you're doing right now and listen to The Read Podcast. Kid Fury is not only a certified geek, he is also someone who takes no shit. And, dammit, we should all be like him.
There's a segment in the podcast known as Listener Letters where people write in to get advice, usually on their relationship. While Kid Fury's tried and true advice is to "break up with him" you can't help but know that he's right. Every. Single. Time.
And he's not even just saying that to be funny, you can tell that he adheres to the advice that he gives. Don't waste time with someone who won't treat you right, don't care what people think of you, and for the love of Pete, stand up for yourself!
So now that you know why you should live your life this way
Get a Dog
Ok but seriously, Kid Fury has this cute little dog named Link and she even has her own Instagram. The guys you date may be crappy, but dogs are awesome
Get in Therapy
I love a person who is an advocate for therapy. Because you can't get to a place where you don't have time to deal with fuckboys if you don't first take a look inside of yourself. He openly admits that he goes to therapy and you can tell that his self reflection pays off. After all, he wouldn't continue pursing a relationship with a man that outright refuses to wipe his butt because its "not manly" (yes, that was a real Listener Letter)
Get A Hustle
He often talks about how before The Read, he worked long hours at his day job and then pursued the things he loved at night. Look where he is now.
Find your hustle, even if you can't do it full time now. Start small
Get some prayer
Kid Fury is very religious and connected to God. Even though I myself ran from the church kicking and screaming, I can really appreciate his belief system and apply it to myself. Because the universe is always looking out for you.
Year in Review
2017. What can you say about it? In 2016 we saw the death of huge icons, of people we have admired for years. 2017 continued the theme of death. Not of people per se, but of ideals. People that we thought were kind, courageous, and brave ended up being total trash heaps. Our country is in the middle of one of the biggest dumpster fires I have ever seen. That is what 2017 meant to me.
2018 is here and it is full of the optimism, hope, and joy we once wished 2017 would hold for us. Please let that be true. I am not sure I can handle too many more dumpster fires.
It is a new year. It is the same old me. I don’t believe in resolutions. I never keep them. I am however working on being a better person. Here is the list of things I plan on doing for the new year (But I had also been working on them in 2017 as well)
1) Organization
If 2017 was a dumpster fire, my brain is part of the trash heap that had lighter fluid sprayed liberally upon it. I am an organizational nightmare. I worked on this a lot by obtaining a paper planner and started to use that. I did not use it as well as I could have and that is what I want to work on this year. I actually have two planners this year. One for my job, and one for my personal life. Maybe if I organize a little bit better I could have the time and energy to do the things I want to do when I have down time. It might make it easier for me to craft more or organize more activities for geeky baby. To see some of the fun creative stuff I have been doing with my planner, don’t forget to check us out on Instagram.
2) Werqin on my fitness
2017 saw me change my eating habits a lot. I eat (most of the time) like I have some damn sense. I drink more water than I do diet soda. Though I do still enjoy an icy cold Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. I make somewhat of an attempt to bring a healthy lunch and snacks to work that work well with a diabetic.
I am the most sedentary person you will ever meet in your life. Like I am a total slug. It amazes my husband that he can find me in one spot and 5 hours later I will be in that same spot huddled up with a blanket on doing absolutely nothing. He doesn’t understand it at all. I feel like if I exercised more, maybe I would get some energy back? Isn’t that how it is supposed to work? We shall see. I found some free videos on YouTube and will be using those to start. If I feel like it is something I could go gung ho on, I may get a gym membership.
3) Do Your Homework!
I have been talking about this one or a while. My goal this year is to do every single bit of homework Nerdette assigns throughout the year. You may be asking yourself “Why in the hell would she want to do homework?” In addition to being a nerd, I am an absolute geek. I live for homework. Plus, I have done several of the homework assignments from Nerdette, and I always come away with some knowledge, or at least a good book recommendation.
So yes. These are the major things I have in store for 2018. Do you have anything that you want to grow or develop? Did you have a great 2017? Let us know!
When a Geek is Fed Up
This has been a whirlwind of several months, and I am here to give you the scoop.
Have you been in a position before where you felt like you were drowning? Maybe it was homework, housework, just life altogether, but you felt like no matter what you did, you could not get your head above water.
That was me.
Ladies and gentlemen of the blog, I was in a very bad situation with my job. It pretty much felt like I was being emotionally abused in a way. No one's feelings in my department were being considered. The way that we were treated made it seemed like we were worthless. Even if you are amazing at your job, being treated like that for a year or longer, you will begin to doubt yourself.
I did.
When I came into my job, I basically came in and kicked in a door. I kicked ass, I was the best. I did my job, I did it well, and while it wasn't the most technologically stimulating job; it was giving me experience in a large corporate environment.
Until it didn't.
I knew one of two things were going to happen.
1) I would stay there and be miserable and never move up and never grow. I was always at the point where the job was affecting me outside of work. It was straining my relationship with my husband.
or
2) I would go off the deep end at work, getting fired. And I was very close to this. At one point I sat in a group meeting with the VP of Information Technology, defiant, not paying attention, and reading Supernatural fan fiction (don't judge me).
Before all of this went down, I did do the prudent thing and speak with my director. I told her I was not happy. I explained to her my background, what I came to do, what I was doing, and how I was capable of so much more.
She (attempted) to placate me, stating she was here and wanted to empower women in our department and have us grow.
I later found out this was a sham, and that she truly enjoyed pitting team members against each other, thinking it made them work harder.
How can you pit anyone against someone who has no equal?
In response to our meeting, she ripped what little I enjoyed from my job. She swapped my supervisor, took me from someone who had equal education and experience from me, and placed me with someone who had no education in technology, and boasted frequently that he enjoyed running his group like the correctional facility he was from.
Even after all this I slogged to work, and tried to make it through.
In hindsight, this is hilarious, but my final straw? She took my cube away from me.
In my department, not all cubes have three walls. Some people share a cube. She took away my three walled cube, gave it to someone that was in a different area, but still a direct report to her, and stuck me in a cube with one of the loudest and extremely argumentative people I have ever met in my life. I could no longer speak on the phone while this person was on the phone, as she would over talk me and I couldn't focus on what I was saying, nor what the person I was speaking with on the phone was saying. So let me recap everything that happened in a year.
I lost a supervisor that was on my level technology wise
I lost my ability to be able to do my job without people hovering over me
I lost my ability to collaborate with departments outside my own
I lost my cube
I lost my ability to do my job, as someone was right next to me screaming
I had started looking half heartedly for a new job but stepped up my efforts. I enlisted the aid of a headhunter that seemed eager to help, but never returned my calls, never gave me any feedback on the two interviews they sent me on, and were just useless.
However, after about 3 months of searching, I finally found a position! This time around, I asked many questions, mulled over all of the information they gave me, and finally made a decision. I refused to jump into a new position only to have the same or worse issues.
It has been almost two months, and my anxiety is nearly gone. I rarely feel that panic when someone calls my name in the hall. I've stopped frequently asking if what I do is okay. I get the feeling if I screw things up, I will be corrected and redirected.
My home life, which was in slight shambles, is on the mend.
Guys, know your worth. Know that there is no reason to put up with abuse at work. I don't care if it is physical, emotional, or verbal. Don't put up with it. Do what you need to do to protect yourself.
So that is what has been going on with me. I would love to know what has been going on with you.
I hope to be able to write more now that I am through the fire. You will here more geeky, techie, less serious things from me soon!
The Realistic Resolutions For One Geeky Girl
Tis the New Year, and it is that fateful time in which we all try our best at vowing to make the changes that we failed to in the prior year. I would love to give you hopeful advice about the good you could do for yourself in the next coming year, but if I am completely honest, I am not exactly very good at keeping my own. So I shall lean towards realism and comedy, because that is what I do best. Here is my hopeful, but brutally honest New Year’s resolutions list. Enjoy!
Lose Weight
This will always be at the top of the list. Honestly, some years turn out better than others. What I won’t do is try crazy ass diets just to try to get down to an ideal size and make myself miserable by doing it. I am already miserable enough. No need to add on top of that. I am a stress eater, and until I figure out and solidify a better manner of control my stress relief, that weight isn’t going anywhere. What I have done is bought a yoga mat and a beginners training DVD. I am hoping that this will help me find a healthier manner in which to relax. Outside of the impending humiliation that I am no doubt about to punish myself with, I am hoping that my balance will at least improve. On a side and realistic note, I will probably have to go and speak with my neighbor who lives beneath me before I start. I do not need to have the poor man calling 911 thinking that I’ve died every time gravity wins and my fat ass falls over.
Manage Money Better
Could I manage my money better, probably, but I do a pretty damn decent job of it at the moment. I have really cut back on my overall spending in favor of keeping a roof over my head and food on the table. Damn, adulting. So while I shouldn’t throw a small amount of money that would no doubt be put towards better use for something else, I will probably end up buying that ticket to the Supernatural convention. I don’t go on vacations, so I don’t feel too bad about it. I have so much fun when I go. I will however be putting aside plane ticket money to try and take some visits back to the Midwest. I need to see the family and I refuse to miss out on another wedding that is important to me. Now I just have to fight the temptation of all the new damn Funko Pop! Figures that are coming out. I will endure.
Love Life
This is one that I feel I should really put a valiant effort into improving, but year after year, I still do what I want. I have chosen to believe that things will work out as they will, and until then, I have too much shit to achieve. I guess a big part of my lack of fear is knowing that the worse situation one will ever be in is alone. I handle that with bells on, so not such a big scare for me. Have I thought about toying with dating sites? Yeah, but it really isn’t for me. I am too much of a person reader, and the internet pretty much blinds me from that. I have toyed with the idea of doing speed dating with my friends, but due to the fact that I can be a pretty big A hole, it won’t be that wise. It would be pure comedy for my friends, but not for the poor bastards that get to meet me. It’s best to let things fall as they may.
Job
Of course, I would love to quit everything and just write, but that isn’t guaranteed to bring in the money at the moment. This isn’t the time for me to skip off and say f@#* off to all. Nope, got bills, and they need to be paid. I am going to try and incorporate some freelance work into my life, so that I can subsidize the fun world of perks. That will probably help with the whole stress thing. On top of that I will continue to achieve status as an exemplary employee at the current job, and maybe try to grow there in the meantime. Anything from keeping me from having a part time job. It is Vegas, and who knows what kind of part time job I’d end up getting. Terrifying! I really, really enjoy sleep. It’s awesome! More hours would mean less of that and most likely more stress.
All in all, more money will allow for more geekdom, so that’s a bonus altogether.
Those are the basics, right? Is there anything I’m forgetting? Let me know what you are planning for this lovely year ahead of us. Thanks for hanging out, and I hope you all have a great 2015 ahead of you!
The Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2014
This year I thought that I would check out the Second Annual Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. We went last Sunday for family day. We thought that it would be a good idea, since my eldest nephew would probably love it. Being able to dress up around other people who are also dressed up and celebrate his favorite superheroes, heaven for the kid. It did not disappoint the little guy or his baby brother either. The con is clearly growing and while it may not be as big as some of the others in the country, I truly believe it will be bigger next year. It certainly was busting at the seams on Sunday. My only complaint was that it was too cramped, but honestly, the con probably didn’t know what to expect as far as a turnout. Since that is my only complaint, it really isn’t that terrible. I would have had lots of pictures for you showing the different displays and costumes that I saw, but my camera kind of punked out on me. I apologize for that. Next year, I will be better prepared. There was tons of Cosplayers, which is pretty essential for these kinds of events. What made me even happier was that there were tons of kids that were dressed up as well. This is was my first ever comic con experience, and I had fun. I loved seeing all of the kids dressed up, many making their own costumes. One of the most adorable of these costumes was one nine year-old boy made his own Doctor Octopus costume with an adult dress shirt hemmed at the bottom to look like a lab coat and duct tape and tubing that created the metallic arms coming out of the back. It was a solid little costume. Another kid that sat down at our table as we were getting ready to leave from lunch actually made what looked like a silver Boba Fett costume. If that is not Boba Fett, I apologize to the Star Wars community, I really only know the movies, so anything outside of that I am at a loss. Regardless, the twelve year-old craftsmanship was very impressive. He actually molded pieces of some kind of light metal or plastic sprayed to look like metal. My eldest nephew got really excited when he sat down with us and asked him to take his picture with him. There were plenty of adults with some impressive costumes as well. I saw a really good Elsa that was walking around with none other than Jesus, who I think was supposed to be Buddy Christ from Dogma. That was a fun conversation with some of my friends a couple of days later when we were talking about the costumes we saw. My friend hasn’t seen Frozen yet and she was trying to describe the Elsa costume and confirm if that was the one that I was talking about. My next question came out as “Was she with Jesus?” That made us both pause and crack up, because I really just said that. I saw an Anna as well that was so good, that homegirl would probably get kicked out of Disneyland just like that Tinkerbell cosplayer did. One costume created a spontaneous nerd moment in the middle of the con that made me smile. This man had a self-made Predator costume and was walking around the con when a ten year-old boy freaked out and grabbed him excitedly for a picture because he was carrying around an Alien mask. The predator guy gave him a high five and they took the picture. This brings me to my favorite part about this entire con experience, enjoying it with my nephews. My youngest nephew is about nineteen months old, and doesn’t really know what’s going on around him, but was happy to be there. He had fun, but not to the extent that his five year-old brother did. My eldest nephew is a Captain America and Transformers junkie. He insists that his real name is Optimus Prime and actually has begun to introduce himself as such to people, bless him. This kid had a blast! He of course went as his favorite superhero, Captain America. All he wanted before we went in was to get his picture with Captain America. Knowing that there was probably going to be someone there that was dressed up Captain America, I knew we could make this happen. His mind got blown however by all of the characters he did get to see. He started screaming for joy when he heard over the intercom that Iron Man was there. Now he had to get a picture with Iron Man. He as was just thrilled. If anyone reading this was at the con and dressed up, please let me take the moment to thank you. Everyone at this con was kind and considerate and just as excited as my nephew when it came to him asking for pictures. Everyone was fantastically awesome and dropped into to character at the drop of a hat. They always called my nephew Captain America or Steve when addressing him, which made his day. That is nerd love from the community that just wants to support each other’s passions. I was so floored by this reception all around, and it wasn’t just with my nephew, it was with all of the children there for family day. Thank you all for making such a special memory for this little guy. His little brother even got pulled for pictures, since he was dressed up as Cap’s sidekick, Bucky. This was an absolutely fantastic experience, and I can’t wait for next year. A little side note of nerd humor. My brother took my nephew to the bathroom while we had taken a break to eat. I was still sitting at the table waiting on them and could see the entrance of the bathrooms. After a bit, I see this kid about the same age as my nephew come skipping out of the bathroom dressed as the Winter Soldier. As I was started to think what a fun picture that would be for my nephew to take, here he comes skipping and bouncing right after him. I fell out because it looked like Captain America just chased the Winter Soldier out the bathroom. When my brother and nephew came back over, I told my brother what I saw. Apparently their story started in the bathroom. My nephew approached the other kid and told him that he was my nephew’s enemy. The other kid just growled back at him before turning to skip out, which prompted my nephew to follow. You have to love the babies. They are adorable.