Comic-Con Diary 3: The Set-Up

Anita and I napped for a little while to recharge our batteries, then headed over to the convention center to pick up our exhibitor badges. That went more smoothly that it's ever gone for me in twenty years of Con attendance. Arriving on Tuesday is the shit.

Anita went to do some homework concerning when our chairs and pin-boards would arrive, while I stayed with the swag. I wandered around a little (not too far) and shot some nearby construction. For the most part, the floor was pretty quiet, but everyone was in a flurry of activity, scrambling to get their booths ready for the following evening. Cartons, wooden crates, carpeting, and electrical cables sprawled as mid-sized cranes loomed over the collage of half-built heroes.

I swapped places with Anita and headed over to Freeman (the booth supply rental company) so I could put a couple more chairs on my credit card. Everyone was great there, but the center wasn't selling anything to eat or drink yet. Off I went to get sustenance, especially water. There was hardly anyone inside, but it was muggy both inside and outside the center.

I picked up a couple of big bottles of water at a pizza shop, and a medium frozen yogurt from the fabled Pinkberry. Celebrities speak in dulcet, reverent tones of this southern California delicacy, and we both agreed that it was quite good - I got crushed Oreos® on top, but it was unnecessary. It was a sweet yogurt with a strong citrus flavor. Was it four dollars good? We're used to spending too much for everything during Comic-Con, so it was hard to be objective.

I went through the convention schedule, and marked off potential events to attend. I'm the most excited about the Spaced panel, and the fact that Paul ("Pee-Wee") Reubens will be autographing this week. I'm going to try to pick up DVDs of Shaun of the Dead and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure for them to sign. Keep your fingers crossed!

There was only so much we could accomplish today (the T-shirts won't be here until tomorrow, and the pin-boards haven't shown up yet), so we chatted with some aisle buddies and headed back to the hotel. After that, a quick trip to Ralph's to get groceries for the next few days, and dinner fixin's for tonight. Anita's whipping up some tacos, and I'm blogging until Michelle gets in - she should be here in about forth minutes. More news tomorrow!