Pics of Free Comic Book Day! And then self-pimpage

Today is Free Comic Book Day. If you've got a shop near you and it's still open, go! Go, my friend, like the wind in Superman's underpants! For they have free comic books for you! Yes, it's a national thing. Trust me.

Our particular shop, voted Best in Detroit multiple times, is Green Brain in Dearborn. I usually go once a month on a Wednesday, when the new The Walking Dead comes out. And if you are a TWD comic fan and would like to discuss it, contact me. Ahem. Today at the Green Brain, they had a thumpin' dj first. I likey the techno, I must admit. They also had raffles every hour, which I did not win (guess I'll just have to buy that GB t-shirt now), four comic book artists who I do not know but who apparently are big news, and free sketches for kids. The free comics were stacked in two long rows, and you could pick any three. Three! Plus, if you brought in canned food for the Gleaners, you got three more, and if you brought in old cell phones for the military, you got three more. Did not know. Because I wanted more than three, I should tell you. Tried to talk B into getting three that I wanted, but he picked three of his own liking.

The scene initially:

It got quite a bit more crowded after this. Such a diverse crowd, too. Loved seeing the little ones there, picking out their comics! For free comics, they had a selection from young children's comics to more mature ones.

Me with my bag of free comics:

I got: Mouse Guard, Joe Hill's Locke and Key (which I've heard a lot about, and you all know I'm a huge JH fan, so I've got high hopes with this one), and The Darkness Confession (which, if you see the cover, you will know immediately why I had to have it). Oh, okay, here's the cover:

Yeah. Ehm. Uh-huh. I hope he takes his clothes off. Anyway!

B got, in case you were wondering, Lady Death (which looks awesome), Spontaneous and Civil War Adventure.

Last pic: After the dj, they had the Found Object Orchestra playing live. This guy had his trombone (TROMBONE!) hooked up to this homemade thingamajig that made his trombone sound like... other things. This is a terrible description. Suffice to say, it was a lot of fun.

They had a euphonium, too. Who the hell plays the euphonium? Like I said, lots of fun.

Self-pimpage time! In addition to my winning entry over at Lily's place, Girls Club, I wrote an additional piece titled Fingerprint. Both 100 words.

And I've found time, finally, to get back into the novel I've barely touched for the past month since starting my new job. As expected, things are *finally* settling down, and I can get back to work doing what I love best. I'm also working on a short story about the Plague, or rather, a Plague. It's strange and scary -- to me -- so I think I must be doing something right. I wish I had time for more challenges and to write for more anthologies, but we'll see. Right now, I've got a lot on my plate.

Thanks for stopping by! And if you went to your local comic book store for FCBD, what did you get????

Santa Gryff; Disney RSB--pic heavy post!

Santa Gryff would like to remind everyone that there are 47 days until Christmas.

He says if you want to stuff his stocking, he likes Pounce, and not those other cat treats. Specifically, not kitty Greenies and none of those icky Taste Temptations. Also, he says that if any ladies out there would like Santa Gryff to sit on their lap, he is very warm and very purr-y. Yes, he's got claws and he uses them, but love hurts.

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Pics from my trip (and wow are they totally random):

Best shot I could get of Billy Ocean performing at the open theatre in Epcot's World Showcase, where they present different perfomers every few nights for Eat To The Beat during the Food and Wine Festival. Okay, I could've got up closer, but I was all a-giggle and a-wiggle. First off, Billy Ocean is an amazing performer, and he sounds exactly like he did in the 80s. Unbelievable. He was dressed impeccably, and he's got great white dreads. He really put on a great show, sang all his hits, and he would lean down to take roses from the ladies in the front. He would even go down the steps from time to time and sing to a lucky lady and kiss her on the cheek! I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Wanna feel old? Yesterday, while listening to America's Top 40 Countdown from 1984 (via Sirius channel 8), "Suddenly" was the #3 hit.

NINETEEN-EIGHTY-FOUR. I am so old.

Upcoming, they had Boyz II Men. Yes, I am sad I missed them. "And we've come! To the end of the road... though I can't let go..." *sigh*

Cucumber margarita had at the Tequila Cave in Mexico's pavilion. I highly recommend this place and this margarita, and I overheard quite a few people saying that this is the best bar in Disney. Totally. Only tequila (over 300) and margaritas, but seriously, do you need more than that? Next time, I'm having the passion flower.

Hollywood Tower of Terror. My favorite ride. Remember not to do your seat belt tight -- keep it loose, so when you drop, you'll lift off the seat a couple of inches. *grin*

Me and Arnold. Planet Hollywood shop. They had a gremlin and various movie props, but I loves me some Terminator.

Every day, Jiuliana who cleaned our room made us new towel animals. Not actually sure what the two little ones are here, but the middle is probably a basket of flowers. With eyes.

Me and B on the boat over to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist's Point. Beautiful evening, great ride, the Lodge is stunning, and dinner was OMG so expensive and... maybe not worth it. B disagrees entirely. I just think that it was far, far over-priced for what you got. A menu with emphasis on fresh game and fresh, seasonal ingredients is wonderful, but the creativity was seriously lacking and I was not in any way wow'd by my choices. They were competent and delicious, but did not reach the next level, if you know what I mean. Still, it's the highest rated (per reviews) of any signature dining restaurant at Disney, and the service was fabulous. Could've been slightly warmer, and the atmosphere could've been a bit... more. It was sort of blah. Meh. Everyone's a critic, right? If you're interested, we shared smoky portobello soup and then I had cedar planked salmon with white truffle chips, and B had a buffalo steak cooked r/mr. We shared a berry cobbler for dessert.

Waiting to go into the Toy Story ride/competition. Much like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, you sit two to a car and shoot at things. But we both preferred the Space Ranger Spin over this one. Personal preference, I guess, but I didn't like to have to keep pulling the string to fire. I'm a button masher. Either way, B racked up the points, and I sucked. :)

Vampire bat in its enclosure in Animal Kingdom's walk-through "forest" in the Asian section. My favorite part of AK is all the animal stuff: the safari, the two walk-throughs, and Rafiki's Conservation Station. I could really just do those things all day, over and over. I wish they had more benches, as I just love to sit and watch the animals. Favorite: gorilla. Second fave: tiger/vampire bats. Couldn't decide.

Expedition Everest, roller coaster in AK and my favorite ride in that park, and my second favorite overall. Goes backwards, and the theming is just fun. Also, they have a single rider line and I will totally use that over and over, riding Everest four or five times in a row before I get tired, while people are still waiting for their first ride. The only benefit of having a partner who doesn't ride the coasters.

Some decorations inside Magic Kingdom. Very nice overall, but they do so much more for Christmas.

Pool at our hotel. They had a waterslide. We loved it. Also loved the nachos and the pool bar. We made nachos and frozen rum runners our afternoon treat.

That's it! We've been to Disney a few times before, so we didn't take a ton of pics this time. Highlights of the trip, for me: Billy Ocean, the Thunderbirds doing a fly-over at Magic Kingdom to salute our troops, finding a new little part of Disney that we hadn't seen before, dinner at the Irish pub in Downtown Disney called Raglan Road, and indulging in things I normally don't, such as having nachos four times in a week, a rum runner every day, and hot fudge sundae in a waffle bowl several times. Also, they upgraded us from a regular room to a suite -- for free! -- and that turned out to be wonderful. Two full bathrooms, now that is a luxury. :)

Back to writing for me, and to my normal job. Happy Monday, everyone!