More:

- Dave Iseri dropped by the booth and gave me a copy of his book -- complete with CD mix. Can't beat that - thank you, Dave. (Everything is still in suitcases, so I haven't had a chance to look/listen yet.)

- Paul Azaceta and Mark Sable (Grounded, Image Comics) are all class. Azaceta exudes and infectious calm and Mark Sable -- well, during the last night's Hyatt Drum Circle, we were swapping stories of embarrassing letter-writing experiences and Sable ponied up a really good one. Fearless. If I'd have been wearing a hat, I'd have doffed it. Note to self: wear more hats to facilitate doffing.

- The Wintermen/Halo guy -- Brett Lewis -- is gonna be a superstar. Write that down.

- Apparently, I got to meet Gene Ha! The Hyatt Drum Circle delivers again. The gentleman who introduced us -- Joe someone...? -- was just on the other side of wasted, but Ha was a gentleman and tolerated ole Drinky Joe graciously before excusing himself to get some sleep. I then wished Drinky away and like magic he wandered off to chat up someone else.

- Stormtrooper Elvis sent his minion for me and asked that we pose for a photo together. I found this perplexing, since he was the one in costume, but whatever. That said, if I'm posing for people I don't know... I think they Hyatt is officially over, my friends.

- Engineers! Let's see, who all did we meet? Rantz H., Shawn R., Joanne S. -- Oh! The Stagger Lee artist, too! Shepherd Hendrix. Did I ever say publicly how much I enjoyed that book? I read the whole thing between naps on a day I was sick in bed. Kept my mind off my miseries nicely.

- Saw Zach Smith again - we visited with him at Heroes, too. He shared his Arrested Development sketchbook with me. Very pretty stuff. He also highly recommended a book called "Valais," I think...?

- I made use of the industry lounge (Room 10) this year, something I'd never done before. What a good idea that was. See, I am a clever girl sometimes. It only took me, what? ...Four years to figure that one out? Better late than never, I suppose. I rested my feet, had a cup of coffee and reviewed the program schedule in relative peace. Had lunch and a nice long chat in the lounge with Annette Roman one day, and was so pleased with how well that turned out I went back with Jo Anne Glover the next. Oh, and I also ran into Abby Denson in Room 10 and we chatted a bit. So, yeah: room 10 worked out well for me.

- I attended only three panels this year - Shojo Beat, Image and "Lost in Translation," a panel on translation and adaptation of foreign comics, focusing on manga. I should probably write more about each, but it's 1:33 in the morning, I've been on planes all day and I'm beat. This is enough for tonight.

Gah. I'm loathe to begin the cavalcade of dropped names that I call a con report because I've seen so many people over the course of the last few days that I know I'm going to leave at least one someone out and well, that just seems like bad manners. And you know how I feel about manners.

No use stalling, though. Let's just be done with it. In no particular order (not even close to chronological), here are some thoughts and reminiscences:

- Oh my god, this has been an expensive trip. Like, OH MY GOD. And the thing is, we planned ahead for it, you know? We shared a room with Dawn and Steven Sanders (I hate sharing hotel rooms, but if you have to share, I recommend sharing with Dawn and Steven. Sweet, considerate, tolerant and good giggly fun. It was like being off at camp with summer friends.) We did very little shopping -- almost none -- but still. Our bank account is screaming for mercy. Granted, missing the flight and having to buy TWO EXTRA PLANE TICKETS didn't help, but... yeah. Eesh. We had a great show -- nearly sold out of everything and actually had to borrow some books back from CBLDF in order to meet the demand for CASANOVA... and we're still a couple grand short of covering our nut. So. Lesson learned. Next year? Signings, but no table. Next year we just treat it like a vacation. Now we know.

- Technical difficulties: our hotel didn't have wireless in the room and I couldn't get a proper phone signal to save my life ("Network Busy" errors galore) so text messages went into queues and died of neglect and calls failed left and right. Fraction and I are on the same network, so I'm not sure what the problem was. (Did you have the same issues, babe?) I'm never so aware of my tech dependance as I am when I can't use my little machines and I'm flush with panic, spiritually adrift.

- Maybe it was the stress of the financial hemorrhage, maybe it was my health (I'm still recovering from something that knocked me on my ass after Charlotte), maybe between the illness and the busy I haven't been getting to the gym as much as I should lately, maybe it was some combination of the bunch and a few other factors, but I didn't have quite as much fun as I usually do at SDCC. Maybe it suffered by proximity to Heroes? I dunno. Saw some of my favorite people, even still... Eh. Yeah. Pretty much. SDCC was "eh," for me this year. (I kind of hate to say that as I don't want to seem ungrateful or too cool for school -- and really and truly, I'm as pleased as I can be with where both Fraction and I are at this point in our careers. His books are being met with terrific reviews and the numbers are even better than we'd hoped. And my job plate is so full I can't in good conscience pursue any more work right now. So: totally grateful; not meaning to bitch at all. But still not overly-enthusiastical about SDCC 2006.) So there.

- Between the crowds and needing to help Fraction work the table and run errands and such, I never managed to find the time or spirit to walk the whole con floor. I didn't get past the Oni booth at all until Sunday, at which point I literally had 15 minutes to shop for a couple of gifts for Xtop and John, our house-sitter. Looking at the pictures in the Flickr pool, I'm made aware of how much of the show I did not see.

- Speaking of the Flickr pool, I'm thinking for next year we might ask everyone to pick their best 10 - 15 shots to submit to the pool. There are too many to get through in there now. (Our favorites are the wookie pics.)

- Some shithead stole a t-shirt at the CBLDF auction and another shithead stole Tom Spurgeon's backpack. What the fuck? What's wrong with these people?

- Let's move on to cheerier sentiments, shall we? Okay: it's official. Comics are not longer the sole realm of sticky mythology majors and horse-faced "fetish" models in embarrassing corsetry. I'm seeing more and more really cute, WELL-MANNERED people every year -- fans and pros both. Is it sad that good grooming and good manners have been rare enough to merit mention? Yes, yes it is. Am I at peace with that? Yes, yes I am. I mean, there are still guys like the one Fraction saw peeling skin off his sunburned face and eating it, but then there are the Jen Simmonses of the world. Jen Simmons! DID YOU SEE HER SHOES?? Did you see her wrap? Oh, lord. How that girl doth make me swoon with envy and admiration.

- The young turks of Image all wore suits on Saturday and made me proud. I meant to see if I could get a Reservoir Dogs pic, but I forgot.

- Steven and Fraction shared their table with Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie of Phonogram, and what delights they were. I really would like McKitten's girlfriend Fleur (a statuesque beauty) to teach me to wear some of those fancy hair rolls she does, but I'm afeared I haven't got the height to sell the look. Someone pointed out how Jamie and Kieron almost ought to switch accents (Laurenn? Was that your observation?) Jamie looks like a greaser but sounds like The House of Lords and Kieron wears a suit with panache but sounds like he might jack your wallet. Or at least I think he does. I'm not sure. When he gets going I can only understand every third word or so.

- The four fellows were sandwiched between Frank Cho and Brandon Peterson on one side and 12-Guage and Rosario Dawson on the other. Couldn't have asked for more considerate neighbors. Peterson in particular was a peach. I went on about Dawson (and Atchison) already in the Heroes report -- same story. So gracious.

- Oni Press appears to be kicking ass and taking names. They were hopping every time I managed to get down there. Jamie S. Rich was svelte and salacious, nipping on this flask and making eyes at the ladies. The writing life clearly suits him. (Jamie's con report is up here.) I got to meet Randy at last, saw Ian and Joe and even Jen Van Meter, who talked knitting with Mrs. J-Lu, also a "Jen," and me. Mrs. J-Lu-Jen's got a pretty little purple scarf on the needles and I promised her links to some charity knitting sites -- the Mother Bear Project, in particular. I pitched Nikol's book to Ms. Van Meter. And ZADIE! Oh, lordie how I am charmed by that child. Fraction asked her if she could say "Casanova," and she said no. He then asked if she could say, "I can't say Casanova" -- and she did. Cutie. Pie. And, as ever, I'd like her pop to adopt me. (Sadly, I somehow never saw Rucka.)

- The NYC Mech crew: really, I can't go on about them any more without it starting to get weird. (It may in fact be too late for that.) Suffice it to say, I crush on the lot of them, Kristyn Ferretti first and foremost. She joined the party late this year, but damn what an entrance. And she was my date to the Image panel. Ha! I win, suckas.

- We had dinner at The Strip Club Thursday night with HeyDanEvans, Jeremy Love, Han Q. Duong and Megan Bradner. Before anyone gets excited, the "strip" in strip club refers not to the entertainment (there is none) but to the strip STEAKS, which you cook yourself on group grills. I've never been a fan of this sort of dining (Wait, I'm paying YOU so I can cook my own food...?) but Dan and Fraction grilled my Ahi for me this year, so it wasn't the perplexing experience it's been in years past. And after not getting to spend nearly enough time with Han last year and not seeing Megan at all, it felt like a dinner long overdue. Of course, poor Megan kept having to excuse herself to go talk with her employers, but Megan's a hoot and I'll take as much of her as I can get.

- I met Laurenn's beau, Alex "Serpico" Getchell at long last! Hallelujah! Getchell is clearly a Good Guy. And I do adore the good guys. In fact, night before last I dreamed that all our friends had fallen ill and Getchell and I were tending to them, administering drugs that acted as blood purifiers. It was a long and confusing dream that involved the U.S. Marines and lots of tests (I can't remember it well now, but I recounted it in detail with Fraction that morning), but basically Getchell and I were good guys, trying to nurse all our loved ones back to health. Think I have an exaggerated view of my own importance?

- Hm. I have 17 minutes of battery life left on my machine. This con report is going to be a two (or three) part thing.

Eric Searleman just sent these links:

http://www.mangablog.net/?p=538

and

http://community.livejournal.com/mangacast/292153.html

...Yay!

24seven is Michael May's pick of the week.

Sweet. Thanks, Michael.

"MELTDOWN COMICS presents beer and tacos and all sorts of love for the creators of 24SEVEN on WEDNESDAY, JULY 26th, from 8pm on.

LIVE ART/SKETCHING, signing, music, the whole 9 yards...

Appearing (subject to change):

JIM MAHFOOOD
MATT FRACTION
IVAN BRANDON
BECKY CLOONAN
ANDY MACDONALD
KELLY SUE DECONNICK
VASILIS LOLOS
MARK ANDREW SMITH
ERIC CANETE
JONATHAN L. DAVIS
DAN PANOSIAN

MELTDOWN COMICS http://meltcomics.com/

7522 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046-3408
323-851-7223"

24seven, an Image anthology edited by Ivan Brandon and including stories by both Fraction and I (as well as a zillion other, more impressive names) is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Hell of a price break, too.

Johanna Draper Carlson was kind enough to include Fraction and I (and more importantly -- Casanova, Punisher: War Journal, Sensual Phrase and 24seven) in her comiccon.com Heroes Con report.

Sniff, sniff.

I just turned in the end column for Sensual Phrase, Vol. 18. Three years after starting Sensual Phrase Vol. 1, I'm done, Kittens.

(I think Volume 14 is currently shipping, with Volume 15 due out in August.)

Random thoughts in random order (I'll add links for everything in bold later):

-- Most fun I've ever had at a con. Great people, well-managed crowds, low stress. Can't praise Shelton Drum and his crew highly enough. The focus was really on the books, which was refreshing. I imagine we'll register for 2007 as soon as pre-reg opens up.

-- Didn't do much con shopping, but we did pick up a couple of goodies -- DVDs of OTAKU IN LOVE, NANA, SURVIVE STYLE 5+ and INITIAL D. Fraction picked up a couple of Paul Pope prints from Adhouse for a steal and we commissioned a special birthday present for Xtop, whose day is Wednesday, the 5th.

-- Oh, I like Ford Gilmore.

-- The dice game at the Westin was a hoot. Rick Remender taught his people a game called "threes" and the result was right out of a '30s movie: everyone on their knees around a stack of ones, prayers and boasts punctuated with huge cheers. I kept trying to get a good photo of it, but I suspect you had to be there. Flickr will tell, I guess. (Fraction will want you all to know he rolled a perfect hand.)

-- David Atchison (a friend from the old WEF days) was kind enough to stop me and introduce himself. He's doing very well -- putting out a book with Rosario Dawson called O.C.T. that looks fantastic. I dropped by his booth on Sunday to pick up a copy and introduce him to Fraction, but failed utterly. They seemed to have sold out (good for them, bad for me) as all I was able to find was a special con glossy. We dropped off a copy of Casanova for David but I think we just confused the gentleman with whom we left it. C'est la vie. There's always San Diego.

-- Poor Greg Rucka came by our table I think just to say hello or maybe even ask directions and ended up hanging out for a good half an hour. What can I say? When I crush, I crush. I believe it was our mutual love for Jim Rockford that cemented the deal. Oh, and he offered the Van Rucka guestroom to Fraction and I for Stumptown. Sweet!

-- Laurenn McCubbin and I had our first longbox hunt experience trying to put together the full run of HITMAN for her beau. She was mortified by our gone a-nerdin' task, but me? I love shopping of any variety. Long live retail therapy. And Señor Serpico.

-- Somebody brought an artbomb t-shirt for Fraction, Brian Wood and I to sign. That was kind of awesome. He'd tried to get Warren Ellis to sign it too, but the line was too long. If only Peter Rose had been there, we might have been able to hook him up with the whole set.

-- I owe huge thanks to Greg "Greg T." Thompson, who bailed my ass out in a big way when I got stuck carrying a box that was way too heavy for even my triathlon-prepped arms. Thank you, Greg. You are a gentleman. Can we send the CBLDF some signed copies of Casanova or something?

-- Jen Simmons (sp?) taught me how to do my hair like Veronica Mars. As I sit her typing this, I am cute as a button. Bless you, Jen. (Also? That woman can dress herself. Damn.)

-- Speaking of women who can dress themselves, can I just say I was hanging out with the loveliest ladies...? Friday night was apparently cocktail dress night and no one sent me the memo! Danni Remender, Kara Moore (Is it Kara Moore? Or did she keep her maiden name? Anyone? [EDITED TO ADD: Silly me, I thought they were already married!]), Jen Simmons, Kristyn Ferretti and Jenny Lee were all stunning.

-- It's going to take me a while to recover from the goodness that was Mert's Soul Food. I ordered the rib and chicken combo, with yams and collard greens, but was so smitten with the ribs and greens that the sweet potatoes and chicken went untouched. I'm trying to get Fraction to go back there with me sometime before we head home on Wednesday. Maybe we'll convince Dharbin and his girlfriend to join us. (I wish I'd been as happy with the falsely-advertised blue cheese slaw at the Hilton. Sorry, Ivan. I really thought it sounded good!)

-- Oh, okay -- here's a complaint: I blame UNO's Pizza for making me miss Fraction's intro of Ellis. The hostess was inept and for a few minutes there I wished her ill. I've moved on, however. Lucky hostess.

-- Danni Remender blushes. She's so cute I could bite on her like baby legs.

-- Rob G. and I swapped prom stories during the dice game. That was a hoot -- his prom colors were Shock Orange and Camoflauge.

-- We met a group of guys on the elevator who were selling some great t-shirts, including an "I [HEART] EDITORS" one that both Laurenn and I considered buying. I wanted to wear it to San Diego, but feared it would be pandering. I wish I'd kept their postcard, I can't remember the name of their company.

-- Matt Brady and his wife Shari are lovely people. Matt told us an amazing story about his son that reminded me what a wondrous world we live in. Also? Kids are fascinating creatures.

-- Joe Keatinge and I need to start some kind of cool glasses club.

-- Finally saw SUPERMAN! I'll bore you with my review at a later date. Met Mike Oeming there -- what a talent.

-- On the way back from dinner at Mert's, our gang met up with The Beat and Colleen Doran at what has to be the coolest park ever. Rebus puzzles embedded in the pathways, literary statuary, motion-activated babbling brook sounds... does anyone know what that place was called?

-- Ivan Brandon has all the manners and social finesse of Mme de Rambouillet. My hat: doffed. (And his better half, the afore-mentioned Kristyn Ferretti is as hot as she is hilarious.)

-- Met CB Cebulski at long last! Yay!

-- Laurenn and I are both so smitten with soft-spoken future-superstar Andy MacDonald that every time we spoke of Andy in his presence, Fraction would start shouting, "I'm right HERE!" Seriously, though: one day we will all queue up for a moment of Andy's time. Mark my words. In the meantime, I'm going to knit him a watchcap.

-- Where the hell were you, Miles Gunter?

-- Paul Maybury is a peach.

-- If you ever get a chance to sit next to Jason Latour and B. Clay Moore for 3 days, I recommend you take it. It's kind of like sitting front row at a vaudeville show.

-- I really enjoyed the conversation at The Philosopher's Stone and I apologize to all involved that I had to break things up just when it was getting interesting. What can I say? I'm old. I need my rest.

-- Good to meet Jesse Bausch of Odd God Press at long last. I picked up the most awesome t-shirt there. Sadly, I had one of those brain farts where I think for a minute I'm a dark-skinned black woman and I chose a shirt in bright yellow. I think I was so smitten with the design I forgot how hideous that color is for my pasty white skin. Hm. I may try dying it.

-- The Robid Frog Productions people were lovely. Poor things suffered not one but TWO flat tires on the way to the con and got a late start. They recovered admirably, though.

-- Fraction got Casanova fan art!

-- And... after what? Five years of considering him a cherished friend, I finally met Warren Ellis in person. He's as elegant and dear as he is tall (holy shit, he's tall). I may have teared up a little. Don't tell.