Oooh, shiny!

Hello, internet. It's been a while since we talked, you know?

Trust me, it's not you. It's all on me, and the fact that I've been slacking on the blogging front. Between the lack of home internet, a data cap on my phone, and the fact that my brain kind of goes THPPPPPPPP (the "raspberry" sound, if we're not on the same wavelength) after work and on my days off... it's completely on me.

I have been having some fun, though! It's not all work and work and work and wo -- you get the point. Once a week, most weeks, I've still been having D&D sessions with Steev and Megan (and Beau and old-friend-also-new-recruit Daniel), which are going awesome. There'll be a post on that soon, but let's just say... my character is awesome. And he might smite you.

This past few days have been the best in a while. I took my vacation time and got a pair of Greyhound tickets to come and visit Jynni, which was amazing after a long time apart. So amazing, in fact, that I took the opportunity to do something that I've been thinking about -- I'll let her explain it with this picture from Facebook:

Yeah, it's official: I found her. The one that makes every day better, even from a few hundred miles away. As the saying has gone for a very long time, I liked it, so I put a ring on it. Her family has welcomed me with open arms, pretty similarly to how the other side of her family (Jim and Wendy) has treated me. That's not the best picture of the ring, though... here's another one:

She thinks diamonds are lifeless, and sapphires are her favorite gemstone. She doesn't like how yellow gold looks against her skin, and loves sterling silver. Between this and the decorative false stargazer lilies (her favorite) I brought her... she was a happy camper. With the distance, it's not every day that I get to spoil her, so I wanted to make the visit special.

So that's how this last few days have been: Proposing on Thursday, date night on Friday to see Star Trek Into Darkness and grab some grub at Sonic, I cooked dinner for her and her family (daughter, mom, stepdad, sister, brother-in-law) on Saturday, and then we went to a wedding on Sunday.

Now, it's time to call it a night. I'm going to try and suck at this blogging thing less, especially while I have Hens McCluckin with me. But, you know, more on him later.

Free Comic Book Day!

(... was last week. And I wrote this then, but this is the first chance I've gotten to put it up. So, enjoy!)

This was the first year since I started reading comics that I went out for FCBD! My friends Megan and Steev were planning a morning trip to Olympia for Free Comic Book Day and invited me along. On top of that, it was a gorgeous 80° day... so I spent most of it inside like a good nerd should.

We went to the two comic book stores in Oly: Danger Room and Olympic Cards and Comics. Danger Room is my preferred shop, I have a file there full of Image titles, and they have been a HUUUGE help with my Blue Devil blog, but Olympic Cards and Comics is a gigantic store by comparison -- I couldn't not go there, too.

They were having three events in one: FCBD, storewide sale, and a signing with four big names in comics. Since there were so many things at 20% off, I picked up the 13-issue hardcover of Invincible (vol. 1) for almost $5 off the price, after taxes and everything. We had to be back in town by a certain time, or we'd have stayed for the signing and gotten Greg Rucka to sign something. Oh, well. Another time -- maybe when I actually own some of Rucka's work. That'd probably be a good idea for a signing.

All in all, it was a great day. We got a ton of free comics, and then Steev and I came back and laughed our asses off to some Brian Posehn stand-up. Did any of you got out for FCBD? Let's hear some stories!

Megan: "I wanted to give the nerds something to look at!"
Steev: "There will be so many awkward boners at the comic book shop."