Vermont ComicCon - the Weekend

So that last post ended with the purple flowers... like a cliffhanger, right?

You're thinking... "WHAT? The Fireman is BACK?! Are you out of your mind?"

Well... maybe... we'll see...

He did show up at the door with this... (giant meatballs and sauce)

...and this... (super cheesy lasagna) which he then cut up and packaged for my freezer because we all know I can't feed myself...

...OH - and this...(from a REAL florist, not Market Basket)

...which he also cut up and put in a vase!

I let him hang out with me.

COMIC CON

We drove up to Burlington for the Vermont ComicCon. It was very cool to have my books at the Vermont Comic Creators booth and be on the poster too! (And not have to man a booth!)

The show was so big, crowded, noisy and crazy, I didn't end up taking many pictures. Sorry. One of the best parts was a Creator's Meetup where we chatted each other up in a Creator's-Speed-Dating-Frenzy. We all exchanged business cards and left the room exhausted and excited. New contacts!

I talked with:

• Benjamin Santos with Cosplay Convention Center ("One Site to Find Them All")• D.P. Flanders of Manic Mart - he makes one-of-a-kind amazing, monster masks from Paperclay.

• Doug and Sydney (she's 10!) from Victory Condition Gaming - the father daughter team does podcast reviews of Games (they are very funny too)
• Josh Dahl - from Rapid City Comics - writer, educator, comics professional (he helped organize the networking session)
• Greg Giordano (I met him at his booth) - from Flame Ape comic artist and leader of the VT Comic Creators

• Joshua Melville of Halloweenville who creates props for Haunted Houses (very cool!)
• Karen Gosselin - an illustrator of SciFi, Steampunk, Horror and fantasy art.

I also talked with two cosplayer ladies with great costumes.

Meanwhile... the Fireman waited patiently outside the networking frenzy...

I bought a few comics at the show.
Talk Dirty to Me is a comic by one of my teachers at CCS, Luke Howard. I bought it at Phoenix Books table and had a great chat with the owner who mentioned they were starting a small publishing house...!

Cartozia Tales looked like so much fun - with paper dolls, maps, and stories by cartoonists I had met - I bought the entire set!

When I saw a girl dressed as a giant squirrel - I knew I had had enough!

The Fireman and I visited The Shelburne Museum just a little south of Burlington. There are no words to describe this museum. Imagine you are an... eccentric woman with too much money and a penchant for collecting things like... say... lighthouses. And river boats. And trains. Circuses. A stone jail... and put them all together with a bunch of other interesting buildings... like a huge round barn.

And gardens. This one was my favorite - a spiral labyrinth. I want one in my backyard!

A huge, horseshoe shaped building held a detailed, miniature, carved circus parade and real carousel horses.

Check out this cool bird detail on a saddle!

I also love the old train car and the Ticonderoga River Boat. There is an enormous crank that turns the paddle wheels and this gauge was on the wall behind it...

I think this might be a good gauge to have implanted in my forehead! "Crank Indicator" - that needs a comic I think.

We took a cool down break in a little cafeteria where all the tables were covered in white paper...

When clearing the tables, the employees would cut out any great drawings and stick them to the walls! (see the walls behind the Fireman, below)...

Well - I'm sure there was a ton more that we saw and did... but my brain is too fried to remember. I DID have a really great time though. And now I need a few days sleep to recharge!