2013 Salt Lake Comic-Con...Slapping the Complainers!





 

*gets up on soap box*

The last three days to me were amazing!  I got to go to the first ever Salt Lake Comic-Con and couldn't have asked for a better time.  I see so many people complaining about it and I'm going to defend every aspect of it right now.

1.  "It was too crowded.  Too many people there.  They need to limit the ticket sales."
My Answer:  Yes there were tons of people there, thousands of people there, but guess what...they all wanted to be there.  You're not the only ones who wanted this to happen!  For an event that figured there were only going to be 20, 000 people to end up with nearly 80,000 people, I think they handle it fairly well.  Crowds?  Yeah there are going to be crowds no matter what convention you go to!  You can't expect a huge organization to plan an event with many celebrities so only you and your closest 100 friends can go?!?  Don't like people, you better stay home then or learn to get along with others! 

2. "They need to make this for adults only.  There were too many kids."
My Answer:  Welcome to Utah!  We have kids here!  If you want an adult only attraction, go to one of the bars.  Despite what you think, we have bars here and you can go and play with people your own age there.  I loved seeing all the kids (aka future nerds) being there. The joy in their eyes and the smile on their faces, told the fact this was a great event!

3.  Then there was the other side... "This was not family friendly!  I won't bring my kids here again".
My Answer:   I was there with a couple of children (ages 8 &15), I thought it was very family friendly.  The Lego table was a big hit!  I personally didn't see any costumes that were inappropriate, everyone covered up as much as you'd see at the beach.  Many people are already planning on going next year and bringing their children because they want to be a part of it.

4.  "They need to get rid of the LDS (Mormon) sponsors.  Thanks to the Mormons we couldn't have this on Sunday".  "They need to do it outside a Mormon venue".
My Answer:  If something goes wrong in the state of Utah, just blame the Mormons! *eye rolls*  First off, yes there were some LDS company sponsors, but if you don't want them there, write to them, tell them you don't want their money there and you'll be covering the cost of their sponsorships.  I'm sure you can afford that!  As for the Sunday issues, that was not the Mormons who did this, it was the decision of Dan Farr.  There were too many events happening downtown on Sunday and I thought it was wise not to add this to the confusion.  And to the lady that complained about it being in a "Mormon" venue, I'm sorry but you can't blame the Mormons on this!  The Salt Palace is County owned...go blame them, but only after doing research.

5.  "They need a bigger venue. They need to have some activities outside"
My Answer:  Tell me of a larger venue in Salt Lake (or even the state)?  Energy Solutions Arena and the Maverick Center may have more seating, but not enough floor space. Outside, in Utah?  I'm sorry this isn't San Diego where the weather is perfect all the time.  Plus, did you see the downpour we had the last two days?!?  Wouldn't that have been fun to experience!!

6.  "San Diego Comic-Con this...San Diego Comic-Con that".
My Answer:  You're right people, this isn't SDCC!  San Diego has had years to perfect their event and still it's not perfectly run.  Be patient, give it time and it will only get better each year.

7.  "The smell was horrible"
My Answer:  This must be your first convention I see.

8.  "The concessions were expensive"
My Answer:  I see you've never been outside to ANY event that sold concessions.  The prices were high, but it was expected.

9.  "I can't believe they were charging for autographs and pictures with the celebrities".
My Answer:  This is typical of any convention.  I've only been to one convention (Auto Assembly in the UK) where this doesn't happen.

10.  "The lines were too long".
My Answer:  Didn't you read the suggestions on the website.  It said to plan on waiting to get in.  I planned on about a two hour wait to get in the first day and actually it was only 90 minutes.  This is usually the worst part of a convention is to get inside.  You just have to plan ahead.

11.  "The swag bags had nothing in them".My Answer:  What did you expect...REALLY?  I want to know.  This first SLCC was sponsored by media groups.  Most media groups don't have "stuff" to give out (unless you want a lot of advertising, which will be thrown away anyhow).  Once SLCC gets retail sponsors you many have a gift item or two, but until then all I have to say is you pay for the convention and the experience of the convention, not the swag bag!

12.  "They need to get more people from Hollywood and less about the comics".
My Answer:  Hummm...hello?  I believe it's called COMIC CON, not Hollywood's list of annoying people who don't care to be around geeks.  Honestly I thought the guest list was amazing!  Stan Lee, William Shatner and Adam West all in the same room?  I'm surprised that place didn't exploded with the awesomeness!


Was this a perfect convention?  Oh no!  But what event is?
If you didn't have a good time, the only person to blame is yourself.  Planning goes a long way with big events like this!  I had an amazing time and I want to thank the crew, the volunteers and all my new friends for showing me how geek Utah can be!


BRING ON SALT LAKE COMIC-CON 2014!!!

Nicole and  Stan "The Man" Lee

 

Pageant of the Giving of the Waters

Last week I actually took some time off from work (yeah I know shocking) to go to an annual event in Thermopolis Hot Springs, Wyoming. This celebration is a Native American ceremony where a portion of the hot springs water is giving to the people to use. The ceremony was inspirational…well, from the parts I could hear. There were about 12 very disrespectful kids that were yelling and screaming right behind me and of course they’re parents were nowhere to be found. Anyway, the ceremony had Shoshoni singing and dancing and the best part was the costumes with bright colors and elaborate detailing.

For about a day and a half we swam in the hot springs pools, which is what I defiantly needed. I haven’t been so relaxed in weeks. But one of the greatest moments is when I met up with my old art teacher Mr. Dion, who was selling his pottery. I couldn’t believe he remembered me after all these years, but then I guess it hard to forget one of the students that pranked him (all in good fun) and gave him a hard time each day. He even remember that most of my pottery blew up in the kilns :S

Thanks so much to April and Barbara for getting me out of my mundane work mode. I had a great time. Thanks to Connor for letting me have an excuse to act like a kid and get away with it. And to Mitsi, I had a great time getting to know you.



Quirky Quote: Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need. ~Author Unknown

Bachelor’s Party

Saturday I gave Heather Farr a graduation party. She now has her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from The University of Phoenix. I love having get togethers and seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time as well as meeting new people. The turnout was great; if I remembered everyone we had 32 people there. There was plenty of food, volleyball and of course great socializing. Plus, my fish love it as well; they get fed very well with a lot of people around.

Congratulations Heather!

Erin and Heather

Emily Anderson, Tiffany Guymon, Rachel Lee, Alyson and Alyssa Drake

Judson, Crystal and Darren Farr

Playing volleyball

Moira feeding the fish

Feeding the fish...again :-P

Kira Seegmiller and her boyfriend

Emily Anderson and Rachel Lee

Heather and Kate

Little Bits of Oddness

Yesterday I had a few fun-odd things happened. First at work, one guy called in asking about his lease. I asked the standard questions, but come to find out he just singed his lease 2 days ago and was asking what he got into. Hum…I’m no expert when it comes to deals, but shouldn’t you read the contract before you sign it and ask questions before you sign it? Yeah…I thought that was common sense, but I could be wrong with some people.

Next, another customer called in about her bill. I advised he that that was a separate number and that they can pull up her number and give her the information that she needed. So I gave her the toll free number. Not more than 30 seconds later she called up and said that the number I gave her was a porn line. Well, she dialed 800 instead of 888 and she got a bit more than she bargained for. Need to say we had a good laugh.

But the oddest thing I saw was when I went out to Wal-Mart with a friend. Afterward we saw a Snowie Shack and decided to have a little treat. I turned and looked at my friend and noticed that she was blowing on her ice cold snow cone. I just looked at her oddly and she finally realized what she was doing. Needless to say I won’t let her live that one down.

Random Recommendation: Pick up a children’s joke book and share some laughs with your friends

Quirky Quote: Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge

Weekend Geekness ~ It’s Shining Big Time

So Saturday I let my geekness fly big time as I participated in the Dungeons and Dragons Game Day. I’ve only played this role playing game a handful of times, but I have a friend who is a big time DM, so he invited me and another friend to participate in a game that he was in charge of. First of all, he should have known better that if you invite me that the game will not start on time, because of my socializing. I have to get to know everyone at the game and lighten the air with a few wise cracks. We were playing for over 4 hours and we still didn’t finish the game, but I’m very proud of myself, I was the only character that didn’t get killed. I’ve come to realize why…I use strategy instead of force. Again, I’m not an experienced player, but I was constantly asking questions instead of going in head first fighting. This, I realize, would only lead to my demise. I give credit to all those horror and true crime books I read. They make one think.

Sunday I had a wonderful opportunity to have my first official movie review (see Passage to Zarahemla post). I made my review and sent it to the production company and to my surprise, the Director/Producer Chris Heimerdinger wrote a comment back. Even going to the lengths of saying that my review is the best yet. Go under the comments and see what he wrote for me. This made my day! Thinking that my opinion actually meant something to someone?!? I’ve always wanted to do movie reviews for a living, so who knows, maybe this is the start of something.


Random Recommendation: Smartfood popcorn for a healthy snack
Unfortunate Namesake: Sweet Medicine (this is an actually name of a person that I keyed mail for)

Mothers, Babies and a Day Off For Me

Mother’s Day was good to me, even if I’m not a Mommy myself. I actually got to have the day off, the first since President’s Day. My mother is on vacation so I wasn’t able to spend time with her, but I had an opportunity to go to church and witness the baby blessing of Celeste’s baby, Liliana. Such a beautiful baby girl and she didn’t cry at all during her blessing. Afterward Celeste’s husband, Shane gave a wonderful talk. I have a whole new respect for this man after I heard the wonderful things that he said about his wife.

In the early evening I took off to the park and spent some time with another single friend, where we had a great time feeding the ducks, even thought there were signs everywhere not to feed them. Yeah, I know I’m soooo rebellious! We made the excuse that it was Mother’s Day and the mommies were just getting their presents.

It doesn't sound like much of day, but to have a full day off of work and spending time relaxing with friends is always a good day. To all you mother’s out there, thank you for all you do, not only for your children but for anyone else that you have influenced in your life.


Quirky Quote: Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own ~ Aristotle
Random Recommendation: Palmer’s Coco Butter Body Lotion

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Today was one of those days that was jammed pack of emotions.

The Good:
I got to go see one Bobbie, a friend that I haven’t seen in…well, it’s been so long, I can’t honestly remember the last time we saw each other. I was able to see her beautiful baby boy for the first time. He looks just like his papa and he is sooooo cuddly. And I’m serious when I said I’d take Max and Daisy in the will (Max and Daisy are adorable doggies btw). May the government treat her well, and get that refund check to her in time, so that Bobbie and Jeremy can take that wonderful trip planned. I hope it’s not another couple of years before I see her again.

The Bad:
I had to be a part of the firing of an employee. These are never fun. It just makes the rest of the day awkward. I enjoyed being around this guy, we had a lot to talk about and had a lot of similarities. Unfortunately his work ethics were sub par. Yesterday he got caught going home, instead of working. It wouldn’t have been bad if it the first time, but…well, you probably get that it wasn’t. I wish him the best in life and hope that he finds a workplace that makes him happy.

The Ugly:
I got an email today saying this “Now that I’m married, I don’t need you in my life”. How am I supposed to take this?! This was a man that I have known for a few years now; someone that I took under my wing and took special care of. I was always there for his material needs such as groceries, a ride, I even paid a bill now and then and of course I was always there emotionally, always listening about his issues with life. I’m always good to be there for a friend in need, but when I saw this email, I feel used. I’ve been played!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring about a more somber day. A roller coaster of emotions like this can really exhaust a person!


Quirky Quote: "Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." ~ Benjamin Franklin
Randon Recommendation: Wendy's biscuts and gravy

Social Butterfly Is I

What a week! I had a lot going on, which is wonderful, but I think I’m getting to old for all this excitement, the exhaustion is starting to set in. Starting last Thursday I had a great time with Rob going to a Jazz Playoff game. It would have been better if only the Jazz won by two points instead of losing by two. Oh well, I still believe that they can win this part of the series tomorrow.

Friday I had the opportunity to go to a conference held by the renowned physic Sylvia Browne. I honestly believe that this woman has a gift from God. She gave not only me but most people there a spiritual inside to the unknown. I went there with a friend, Wilma, in hopes that Sylvia would pick Wilma out of the audience to help her with the murder mystery of her mother. Unfortunately, she was not picked, but we did get to chat with her for a few seconds, while getting our books signed and we got some information that hopefully will help Wilma end this hellish nightmare.

Saturday was great, as I got to get together with some of my girlfriends for ladies night. I always look forward to any ladies night and catching up with others that I don’t get to see on a regular basis. Oh and Heather, nice try thinking you would get away with acting like the good guy in the game. :-P

Sunday was a fun time as Mike and I introduced Adell into our nerd-dom of Transformers Animated and made her watch a few episodes. I know she enjoyed it, because she was laughing out loud. I don’t know if that was a result of the show or of our geekish talk about it. Oh well, it was still fun. I tell you this series is great for all ages.

As for the rest of the week, I’ve been busy doing what I do best…planning parties for brides, babies and grads and when I get bored it’s onto eBay. Yep, still have that habit brewing. I just keep telling myself and others “This is a healthy habit. I helping stimulate the economy”.

With that brief description of my week, being able to be social and getting out of the house, there is so much that I have swimming around in my mind that I’ll have to write down my opinions later on, so you might see a bunch of “rants” coming to the blog, once I get a spare moment.



Luvs and hugs to all!

The Power of Friendship, No Matter the Distance

In the past month, I’ve been able to be with many of friends in celebrating birthdays, weddings, and babies, even celebrating just getting out of the house and even those good chats on breaks from work. All these get-togethers are great therapy. Nothing makes me more happy than being with people I love and adore. I’ve learned so much from each person that has enter my life, and most people will realized that if I’ve met up with you, I’ve got your cell phone number and email address stored immediately. I may not be able to stay in constant contact with each individual, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not important to me.

Just today I got some inspiration Laurie and her blog. She wrote about some stuff that she’s going through and how she’s making it work out. I love her positive attitude and I’m hoping that it can rub off on me. Lauren has shown me that keeping in touch, even if it’s through a postcard once a year shows others that you care. Celeste, taking me in as part of your adopted family and letting me be a part of children’s lives is priceless and I hope that one day I’ll be a wonderful mother as you are. Tiffany, Jordan, Alyson, Michelle, Rachel, Heather, Kira, Kathryn, Ginger, Emily, Emily and Emily (great group for anyone with Alzheimer’s), the few hours I get to spend with you the past were ones I’ll never forget. It was so good catching up with y’all this past month's ladies night. Adell , Mike and Rachel, I love how I can bring out my inner geek around you! And April, I’ve known you the longest of just about anyone in my life. You’ve always been there for me, from the good times, the bad times and even the childish times. Thanks for over 2 decades of friendship.

From down the street of across the world I realize I’m a very lucky person to know so many people, with so many different traits and personalities. I wish I could write about everyone and tell them how much you mean to me, and maybe one day I will, but for now, just let me know if you’re reading this I care for you very much and wish you the best.

Weekend Wanderings

Most people get excited when Friday comes along, not me. It’s the beginning of a time crunch, trying to get every aspect I can in. Besides working 26 hours in a 48 hour time frame, the weekend was filled up with many ups and downs.

First of all, for entertainment and my inner geek, Transformers Animated started off their 2nd season. Yes, I’m a huge Transformers fan and this series is the best since G1. I highly suggest it to every one of all ages. Most people that enjoyed the G1 series in the 80’s will recognize a lot of similarities that the show is giving.

Then I had the opportunity to have yet another bridal shower at my home, unfortunately that meant having to miss out on another friend’s baby shower. I hope you got spoiled Colleen. I love having parties for friends and celebrating their joyous milestones in their life, but then afterward I have a feeling of depression as I wonder if my opportunity has past to start a family of my own.

After the party, my pooch had a little mishap of her own. She’s an older dog (she’ll be 15 next month) and she’s having a hard time with seeing. Well, with all the pruning and mowing in the back yard she got lost in all the trimmings. Getting stuck and pinched, her hair was filled with stickers, branches and leaves so imbedded in her; we had to give her a horrible, horrible hair cut. Poor girl :-( She can’t get into the groomers until later this week so she’ll have this freaky look for a few more days.

Then I got to celebrate a birthday for my oldest friend April. We have now known each other for over 21 years. Man time flies! Well, somehow her present ended up in the garbage (still wrapped in plastic though). I did not notice that I could find her present until meeting up with her within the next hour. Having to rummage around in the trash, with the lawn trimmings, the necklace was finally found. We got to meet up with another great gal, Mary and partied it up at MacCool’s. Hope your birthday was a good one April!

As for today, after a long day of work, I decided to take a time out for myself and relax. I got to get out for awhile…took a drive and my camera. I am honestly very lucky to live in such a beautiful place. There are so many diverse places here. The small drive was great therapy, getting ready for another crazy filled week. I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well!

"Two Temples" by Nicole D. Hale
Jordan River Temple (LDS Temple) and Sri Ganesha (Hindu Temple)