Ok, so first of all, a big apology to anyone who reads this, I know I suck at updating, which must frustrate those disturbed people who actually care about what goes on in my life.

Obviously, I left off about to leave for San Diego with Pita for Comic-Con. We drove down the afternoon of the 15th (a little later then we planned, but it was nice) and found our motel. It was a decent location, not a great place, but right at the 5/8 junction, so it was easy to get to downtown, Mission Bay, or out to Escondido. We decided to stay in that first night, partly because we were both really tired after driving down. We woke up wonderfully late on 16th, and headed over to Old Town for a little sightseeing and shopping. I hadn't been there in nearly 10 years (or maybe over 10 years, I forget), and Pita had never been to anything but Sea World in the San Diego area, so it was a nice afternoon.

We ducked back to the motel, and headed into town for Preview Night at the Con. Before going up into the Convention Center, we wandered into the city a llittle bit, first. Pita found a wonderful little fairie store, where she bought some dragons. We even went back there on the 19th. Then we headed back to the Con. It was a decently long wait in line to pick up our badges, but I wasn't too concerned, since we were going to get them, no matter what. When we finally got it, Pita was completely overwhelmed by the size and activity of the exhibit hall. Mind you, this was with just pre-registered visitors attending, and with not all the booths up and running yet. I was ecstatic, and I dragged Pita all around, looking at the different things we were going to think about buying. We did get a couple of things, including a couple of Muppets figures that Ben wanted, and a pair of fairie wings that Pita found. Too much neat stuff to mention, although we both drooled over the Noble Collection booth. After a few hours, Pita was unable to process any more sensory data, and I was hungry, so we ducked over to the Old Spaghetti Factory. I had forgotten how good it was, and I'm really glad that I took Pita there. That pretty much wrapped up our night.

On the 17th, we decided we did not care at all about any of the panels, or autograph signings, and we weren't really interested in shopping yet, so we went to the Zoo. All I can say is, it is so much fun going to the San Diego Zoo with someone who truly loves animals, and enjoys spending time with me(sick woman *grin*). We spent most of the day there, and then found nice little hole-in-the-wall Japanese place in the Gaslamp for dinner. We topped off with Ghiradelli ice cream, and headed back for the night.

We were up early on the 18th, because dad came down to join us for the day. He had come to Comic-Con with me back in 1995, and he had enjoyed it, so he wanted to come down, spend time with us, and spend money. Well, we did. Spend. A lot. We went and bought club shirts, T-shirts, and jerseys. We went to the Noble booth, where dad shelled out to get Ben's GF, Val, Galadriel's ring, the Evenstar pendant for Pita, and to order Gimli's axe for yours truly. We also got a con-exclusive Batman figure for both me and Ben, and dad laid out a small fortune on Heroclix for me, Pita, and Ben. It was neat, but, of course, it was really, really dumb! Of course we actually started the day by going to a panel that featured Stan Lee. Now, the panel wasn't called "Kissing Stan Lee's Ass for Dummies," but that's basically what it turned into. He basically interrupted anytime attention wasn't on him, or his work, so the panelists gave up and started catering to his whims. We walked out after a little while, because Pita and dad were bored, and I was a little depressed by how pathetic it was. That ended up being the only panel thing we did that day.

Unfortunately, with all the people there, Pita's patience wore extremely thin with all the people bumping her, particularly those who kept running into her wings, which were hard to miss. It didn't get any better on the 19th, which we came back for mainly so I could say hi to Clndestyn, who was working for one of the exhibitors. Unfortunately, that never quite worked out, as she was never around when we went by the NL booth, and eventually Pita was so tired and frustrated with people that we just needed to get out. On our way in, we actually ran into Flor, who had come down with Kyle for just the day. Unfortunately, Flor was having a hell of a time finding Kyle, who she had dropped off while she went to find a parking space. Never did run into them again. We did pick up a couple more things, including some con-exclusive Mini-mates, little miniature action figures. We grabbed the Ultimate Spider-Man/Grey Hulk two-pack from the Art Asylum booth, and the Silver Surfer figure from Tower Records. Tower was also giving out the "Tower Man" Mini-mate, and I, according to the guy working the register, got the last one at Comic-Con. Go me!!

On the 20th, our last day in San Diego, Pita and I checked out of our motel, drove down to the Coronado bridge, so that I could show her the island, and then headed out to Escondido, to hit the Wild Animal Park. We actually did the full safari hike around the park, and after a very full 4 or 5 hours, and a close call with a swarm of bees, we called it a day and headed back home.

Since then, I've been in the preliminary phases of a job hunt, and playing Star Wars Galaxies, and desparately trying to clean up around the house(and failing miserably at it). I should be getting a new bed soon, although I have to postpone delivery, since dad forgot we still had to pay the balance on it, and didn't budget for it. I got to see Ben in a production of "Glengarry Glen Ross" at Moorpark. It was quite good, and it was, without question, the best work I have ever seen Ben do. I am very proud of his acting, and I wanted to stand up and cheer. A group of us also went to see a production of "The Rocky Horror Show" in Simi Valley on Friday night. It was fun, but it was a little awkward doing some of the call backs, since I don't know the rythym of the stage show as well, and certain lines just don't work.

The other big news, which I am incredibly excited by, is that Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band are playing Dodger Stadium on the 17th. And. I. Have. Tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pita, who is without question the sweetest, most wonderful woman in the world, saw how sad I was that it looked like I wouldn't be able to go, and dug deep into her bank account and paid for two tickets for us, which I ordered this morning. I haven't seen Bruce since '92, and Pita's never been to a real concert before. I'm so excited I could plotz!!