I had it in mind to write a big Ottawa ComicCon wrap-up, but time is getting away from me (as usual) and entwined with the desire to plaster my blog with photos of my family’s 98% completed Dalek, Soufflé, who was a crowd-pleasing addition to ComicCon and caught the attention of SF&F luminaries such as Chris Claremont and George Pérez; is the announcement of my revised girl geek mantra: do what you want; be who you are.
When I was younger, I wanted to fit in and make friends, and being a geek wasn’t the path to popularity in the elementary and junior high schools I attended. At home, I disappeared when my parents tucked in to an evening of Star Trek: TNG, Voyager, or Babylon 5. I don’t know if it’s a reflection of now being in my forties and really not caring what other people may think of me and my hobbies and tastes; or a desire to model the lessons I am teaching my kids about being true to themselves, always. All I know is, I’m not interested in being conventionally “cool,” and to borrow from the lyrics of Howard Jones (who will always be awesome even though some say his music career peaked in the late 1980s), I’m going to play my flute, dance and sing my song, and have a TARDIS wedding cake that looks as close to this picture as the baker can manage:
No wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey here, I hope. I like my cakes to sit still until I cut into them.
I know my daughter is still a bit dizzy following our photo op with Wil Wheaton, after he complimented her on her Mad Hatter costume and knee-high pink socks decorated with skulls and cross-bones. She knows that the “evil version” of himself he plays on The Big Bang Theory is just for TV, but I guess we have all gotten so accustomed, in various venues, to not hearing sincere compliments from others often enough that she barely managed to recover to whisper a “Thank you.” I, myself, am grateful too. So please, if you haven’t already taken the time, go and read Wil Wheaton’s nerd/geek manifesto here: http://wilwheaton.net/2013/04/being-a-nerd-is-not-about-what-you-love-its-about-how-you-love-it/. I look forward to seeing him at future ComicCons.
I also had the chance to chat with the owner of the ’66 Batmobile, who is from a town in South Jersey that most people might not be able to find without Google Maps; and commiserated with him about the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy last October. Restoration efforts on the Shore continue to be slow and laboured, and – with great respect and concern for the people in Moore, Oklahoma following their latest weather-borne tragedy – I worry that my beloved “second home” will never fully recover.
DS15 was verging on gushing when he told me he chatted with LeVar Burton, familiar to me as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge from ST:TNG; but who is probably best known to my son’s generation as the host of PBS’ Reading Rainbow. James Marsters’ Q&A was highly entertaining, and prior to Ottawa ComicCon I never would have known who he was because I generally don’t watch TV shows that have names like “Buffy” or “Angel” in the title. I was almost overwhelmed by the massive displays of comic books and t-shirts.
Dalek Souffle meets X-Men content creator Chris Claremont. (Photo Credit: R. Vernell)
As for my family’s future geektastic projects, my father’s retirement plan now includes finishing the voice and motorization of Dalek Soufflé; constructing a life-sized K-9, the mechanical dog companion of The Doctor from seasons past; and a Davros Chair, to join the Dalek Empire that seems to be gaining momentum at various points between Eastern and Southwestern Ontario.
Did you attend this year’s Ottawa Comic-Con? What were your favourite sights and scenes? Tell me in the comments!
