The Days of Wonder...Con

The 2007 WonderCon has come and gone. It was my first time attending the show in any shape or form and I'd have to say I was impressed by the most part. I was told that it was bigger than it has been ever before. But, to me it seemed small enough that I didn't get too stressed just walking through the crowded masses. I'll definitely be going again. Ok, now for the pictures.

I took this picture because Mikey had taken a similar photo last year on our trip up to APE. (Thanks for driving most of the time Eric !) What we didn't know was that the rental we had gas guzzler. It was almost certain that we would need to get a refill on gas somewhere between Bakersfield and Fresno. Unfortunately we had seemingly passed all the open gas stations.

Panic hit us hard when there was no civilization in sight at the off ramp we fianlly took. Thankfully we had one of those electronic navigation devices and it finally led us to an isolated gas station just outside of a state prison.

The rest of the trip up was pretty much uneventful. We got to our hotel. Went out for a late dinner and then went to bed.

Our hotel was only a few blocks away from the convention center. But when your carrying backdrops, postcards and a few dozen books it might as well be a marathon.

We got to the center and security was tight. Registration was slow and awkward. The tell tale sign of inexperienced volunteers. But we got into the show anyway.

Something I thought that was odd was that there was only one entrance/exit to the showroom. I guess they only wanted to pay for a the fewest amount of security possible.

It didn't take us long to get to our table and set up. Eric had his new book Halogen:Halo for sale and Axel was working on a pair of new shoes.

Friday was nice and relaxed. I knew that saturday would bring the masses. People were off work and most of the big stuff was happening on the weekend. So I decided that I would take this time to explore the area outside of the convention center. I wanted to check out the Sony Metreon as well as the Yerba Buena Gardens.

The traffic's not so bad. But I say that only because I'm not in it. HA!

I thought that this was great water element. It was also interactive, so the kids could play with it.

I really like how the cherry blossom trees contrast the city landscape. It sort of softens the area around the playground.

Back at the show I ran into some familiar faces. Jose Lopez (top) and David Coleman (bottom) enjoy the show.

Saturday night we went across the street to the Sony Metreon for dinner. They had a few decent fast food places. Afterwards it was pretty much back to the hotel room to chill out.

The last day saw alot of people show up. I guess everyone wanted to get there last minute "Con" on. We were tired and pretty ready to head home. I thought it was going to be a long drive. It turned out not be so bad. This time we were smarter and found a gas station when we needed it.

All in all, it was a good trip. I'd recommend going anyway.

Lens Baby Crazy

So Mikey shows me this lens he wanted to buy for his camera. It's called a "Lens Baby". I've seen the effect before. I thought that the effect was really cool for capturing city shots. The lens gave the impression that you were looking at a miniature. It's all just an optical effect, but I thought it was just really cool. So, driving home I figured that I should be able to do the effect in photoshop. I looked up a few different techniques on how to duplicate the effect and then spent a better part of the night practicing it. The photo above is one of the few somewhat successful attempts. Actually, it's my favorite of the group I did. The photo was taken from a hotel room window. It's overlooking a parking lot for the Ayala Center mall in Makati, Philippines.

Life Changes

My Dad died three months ago, to the day.

I'd known for a while that he wouldn't be with us much longer. He was getting tired much faster. I started hearing him say,"Will I still be alive then?" when he talked about the future. The child in me always believed he would be alive. But he had so many "conditions" that his doctors were always amazed that he had lasted so long. He was a fighter. If he thought he could go do "it", he would go and do it. His spirit was immeasurable. His body just couldn't keep up.

I visit his grave once a week,... more if time permits it. Each time before I leave I make him three promises. I promise him that I will look out for my family, mainly my mom and my brother. I promise to make him proud of me. I promise to live my life with the same spirit that he lived his.

I miss him,... every single moment of every single day.