Musings

If you want to be noticed, let Neil Gaiman post a link to your blog on Twitter or on his blog. I got 6000 hits within hours of Neil directing people to the photos I did at his appearance in L.A. last week. Then there was another bump of about 1000 hits after he reposted the link in his blog a couple of days ago.

Thank you, Neil, my friend. It's one posting that I know had an audience.

I realized today that I need to start gathering up paperwork for Comic-con.  In two weeks, we'll be on the drive down to San Diego, for five days of business and a bit of fun.  Invitations for evening parties and dinners have started to come in and I find myself wondering what all I will do during the days when the hall floors are just too crowded to contemplate. I tend not to get to many of the larger programs unless we've been given the special wrist bands that bypass lines that are (literally) hours long. Sometimes even those don't work. If Peter Jackson brings anything to the convention  (and he promoted the hell out of Lord of the Rings before it openned), I'd like to see that (but I probably won't get in.) I'd like to see the panel for A Game of Thrones, but that's only likely to happen if George R.R. Martin can get me a guest pass.  Ditto with The Big Bang Theory, where I've only been able to get in the room the year Bill Prady got me a guest pass.  Last year, my girlfriend stood on line for 3 hours and couldn't get into the room. (The nice thing about TBBT is that I can always catch a taping and hang out back stage afterwards here in L.A.)

For outside entertainment, I bemoan the loss of antique shops within walking distance of the hotels. Most of them disappeared when the baseball stadium and new hotels were built.  It is still possible to drive to Ocean Beach or Solano Beach for their antique malls, but the antique-store lined streets in most other areas have been lost to the power of e-Bay.  I miss the thrill of the hunt and immediacy of the kill that e-Bay lacks.

The week could be a good one for meals, if we weren't always constrained by time and crowds. We were in San Diego last month to see "August: Osage County" at the Old Globe Theatre and had a terrific meal at a nearby restaurant, and it was only one of several suggested to us in that area.  While I might be able to go to Balboa Park during the day, an evening trip will not fit into a schedule that includes publishers' parties and other business gatherings.