Magi: Kingdom of Magic-I LOVE THIS SHOW

 I am loving this show so much!!!! The rabbit hole goes pretty deep for this series. I love going on adventures with Aladdin and Alibaba but there are a multitude of character arcs that are also fun to watch unfold. And the soundtrack is just phenomenal. This song is one of my favorites!

So if you like Anime, or even if you don't like Anime, give this show a shot...but start at the beginning with Magi: Labyrinth of Magic. It's such an amazing show!

Jeremiah has lists of stuff he doesn't like too....

On day 4 of 'Jonas-at-camp' week Jer and I went out for dinner...the 3rd date in one week. It was so much fun though admittedly, I am looking forward to the return of this adorable face.

As we were enjoying a lovely Italian dinner, Jeremiah made a simple declaration about not liking tinsel on trees and it sparked the creation of the following list:

Things Jeremiah doesn't like.....

• Tinsel on trees during the holidays
• Flavored seltzer
• Guys names such as, Blake, Blaine, Bentley, Leonard, etc.
• Everything bagels (I know, weird right?)
• Fast food pizza, Papa John's, Dominoes, Pizza Hut
• Justin Bieber-Jonas likes the Biebs, a major thorn in Jer's side.
• Testicles dangling from pick-up trucks
• Litterbugs
• Hotel pools
• Snorkles on SUVs if they are in a city or residential neighborhood.
• Jello-I've only seen Jeremiah return one thing in the 11 years we have been together; he ordered a California salad from a diner which literally contained a moat of Jello.  The presence of it on his plate was offensive and he sent it back and ordered something else.

ASOIAF Book 1: Game of Thrones: Part 1-Emerging Threats

Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire

When I first opened Game of Thrones, it was evident that it was going to be a different kind of fantasy novel, though I wasn’t quite sure what that meant yet. I always prefer character-based story arcs, so right off the bat I figured this series was going to be right up my alley. Whether watching a character evolve or watching a character dig their own grave, reading it through a third person point-of-view was an engaging, and sometimes exhausting, experience. Plus, I love history and the stories and conflicts of the dynastic great houses of Westeros is heavily influenced by the medieval history books of England. Think War of the Roses and the feud between the Yorks and the Lancasters. George R.R. Martin has stated he likes to take real historic events, turn them up to an 11 or more, and let his characters live and/or die in these alternate versions of history. It is absolutely wonderful.

Emerging Threats...

The Others Origins: Thousands of years prior to the events in Game of Thrones, the Others, an inhuman but not dead species with necromancer abilities, once brought a Long Night and Endless Winter to the Seven Kingdoms. This Long Night threatened anything living in the world. Though their motives were unclear, the Others had the ability to reanimate the dead which gave them access to a potentially never ending army. They were eventually defeated in the War for the Dawn by the First Men and Children of the Forest, who put aside their differences in order to face their common threat. The Wall was erected after the War for the Dawn was won. It is said to have mystical properties that prevent the Others from passing through it into the Seven Kingdoms.

In Westeros, children and adults have regarded the Others and the Long Night as the extinct subjects for great scary stories:

"Thousands of years ago, there came a night that lasted a generation. Kings froze to death in their castles, same as the shepherds in their huts; and women smothered their babies rather than see them starve, and wept, and felt the tears freeze on their cheeks... In that darkness the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds. –Old Nan to Bran Stark

To give perspective, the Wall is a 700 foot wall of ice, hundreds of miles long, that separates the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros from the wild north.

For thousands of years the Night's Watch (or Crows because they wear all black)  have defended the Realm from the dangers beyond the Wall which until recently, was staving off Wildling raiders. 

Prologue: Some Wildlings have been causing some problems near the Wall and Ser Waymar Royce is charged with commanding a small ranging to deal with them. A camp of slaughtered Wildlings was discovered by Will, a ranger known for his stealth and hunting skills. When Will brought Gared and Ser Waymar to check out the camp, he was chilled to find the bodies were gone.  Royce scoffs at the fears his fellow Brothers voice regarding the unsettling scene. This predictably leads to Waymar Royce being slain by a pale figure with milk white skin and pale blue eyes (now we know what happened to the campers). Royce rises as a Wight and kills Will. Then Gared flees and deserts his post. In the Seven Kingdoms, deserting the Night's Watch is punishable by death. Following the prologue, Gared is beheaded for being an oathbreaker by Eddard Stark of Winterfell, Warden of the North. Though Ned hears Gared's last words, he doesn't put much credence in the man's testimony of his encounter with the Others.  Ned's 8 year old son, Bran, questions his father  about whether Gared was telling the truth about the return of the Others beyond the Wall and Ned tells him, "A madman sees what he sees."

The problem is, few people in the realm believe the Others still exist, if they ever had. The Wall is considered to be the 'the end of the world' in Westeros and few people worry about what goes on in that bleak, frozen area of the world and beyond.With the rising conflicts and budding wars within the Seven Kingdoms, Lord Commander Mormont's pleas for more men go mostly ignored. 

It still isn't clear why the Others have returned after thousands of years and why they are creating an army of dead thralls, but the big picture is certainly foreboding.  The Night’s Watch has been dwindling in numbers over the years and the new recruits they are getting are hardly the choicest men, rather criminals who, presented with the choice of death or the Night’s Watch, choose to take the black. Few honorable men freely choose the harsh life at the Wall (there are a few exceptions). Overall, the Night’s Watch has become a dumping ground for the worst of the realm. The Night's Watch, which was once a noble order held in high esteem, has lost a lot of  respect in the Realm it is charged to protect.

Maturity is NEVER recommended

Jonas is away with my in-laws this week attending an art camp in Bethlehem, Pa. He has made a drum and a flute so far. He has gone to the movies, swam in the pool, and went out for dinner. It's a joy to know he has been having such a wonderful time.

Soooo, I won't feel guilty...

Jeremiah and I have been having way too much fun. We went to Porters Pub for dinner and drinks on Monday and last night we went to the diner on split pea soup night instead of chicken noodle soup night...I know, we live on the edge.

By far though, the absolute best part of our alone time together was playing hide&seek in the cemetery a block from our house. I should start by saying, I'm particular when it comes to this game. I have rules.  When I ran them by Jeremiah, he was amused, but he made no promises to comply.

Nicole's Rules for Safe Play
1. No sneaking up on Nicole
2. No chasing Nicole
3. No stealthy switching of hiding spots to throw Nicole off.
4. No whistling, singing, or sound effects from horror movies to scare Nicole (i.e. Friday the 13th, Halloween, etc)
5. If you see Nicole from a distance, clue her in that you see her so she can brace herself to be found.
6. If it seems like something that would scare Nicole, simply avoid it entirely.

I also have this terrible flaw...I have no hide&seek 'poker face'.  I give myself away every. single. time. When I'm securely hidden in my spot and the seeker starts getting closer to where I hiding, I start cracking up. When it's my turn to hide, Jer finds me within minutes, when it's Jer's turn to hide, it might take me up to 20 minutes.

So yeah, while we miss Jonas madly, it is pretty amazing to hangout and get silly with Jeremiah knowing our son is in good hands. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings.

Just in case anyone was wondering where I stand on controversial issues...

There's been a lot of horrible shit going on in the world and I'm gutted and heartbroken. I haven't spoken out loudly in the social media storms of debates but that doesn't mean I haven't picked a side. So to make it clear, I have chosen the side of equality and safety. For everyone. So in light of recent controversies and tragedies here are my specific stances.

I believe...

there is no reason for anyone to own assault rifles.

that people have a right to be in public, at clubs, at school, at work, and not get shot.

that gun reform is necessary.

that mental illness is a highly untreated component when exploring violence.

that being Muslim is not synonymous with terrorism.

that Donald Trump is a horrific human being and an even more horrific candidate for president.

that Donald Trump encourages racism and division.

that Walls don't solve problems.  

that refugees should be allowed and welcomed in America.

that anyone should feel safe and free to use a bathroom that coincides with their gender identity.

that gay marriage should not be a debate.

that Black Lives Matter.

that white privilege doesn't give us the right to object to feelings of oppression expressed by minorities.

that religious freedom and law makers shouldn't impact a woman's right to reproductive health freedom.

that a woman has a right to choose whether she wants to be pregnant or not.

that people shouldn't have to die or go bankrupt because they are sick.

that marijuana should be legalized.

that income inequality is a huge problem in our economy.

that everyone should make a wage they can live on.

that convicted rapists should get more than 3 months in jail.

that being drunk does NOT mean a woman is asking to be raped.

that an unconscious woman can NOT consent to sex.

Things I dislike that almost everyone else loves

There is no particular order to this list, just spewing them off as I think of them.

1. The Simpsons-I'm not a fan of most adult-oriented animated series (Bob's Burger being the exception). My brother used to watch the show so occasionally I would watch as a form of distraction. I won't say there weren't some episodes that tickled me over the years but usually I found myself bored and irritated by the story and characters as a whole.

2. The Beatles-I get a TON of crap when I say this. I will explain, it's not exactly that I don't like the Beatles...I mean when one of their songs comes on, I usually know all the words and sing along. My opinion about their music is centered around whether I feel the NEED to hear a Beatles song and if I never heard one again would I miss their music? For me the answer is tentatively, no.

3. Jessica Jones-I wanted to love this Netflix series based on Marvel's Jessica Jones since I had loved Netflix's adaptation of Marvel's Daredevil. Unfortunately, despite everyone's recommendation, Jessica Jones just didn't do it for me. Jessica's character and that of the lawyer, Hogarth, was more like watching  roles written for men but to break conventions, were played by woman.  The portrayal of  women in (many times unflattering) male stereotypes was too gratuitous and cliche for me in this case. After 4 episodes I still wasn't vested in the story line or (most of) the characters and gave up on it.

4. Daredevil: Season 2-okay, I SORT OF disliked this season. I enjoyed Karen and Froggy. I enjoyed Karen and Frank Castle (Punisher). I could barely tolerate Elektra and Daredevil. They had their moments but all in all, Daredevil Season 1 was much better.

5. Books written by Nicholas Sparks-I don't feel I owe an explanation for this one. I read three books when a friend enthusiastically recommended and loaned me her copies. She was convinced that I would love them. My only regret is I didn't stop after the first one and wasted precious time that I can never get back reading the other two.

6. Eddard (Ned) Stark from Game of Thrones-he is an antiquated patriarch whose iron honor got him his head chopped off. I will write more about this in another post, but for now I will just say, if readers thought Ned was going to make it through Game of Thrones after following him around as he dug his own grave, then perhaps they weren't reading close enough.

7. Old things, specifically statues and busts. I don't even eat in front of them. I guess its more of a weird phobia than anything but as my husband will tell you, I am not a good date at a museum. We went to the Louvre as part of our honeymoon visit to Paris and I was just impossible. Don't even ask me how I fared at the thought of touring the exhibit of Roman busts...lets just say I am fine not knowing what Commodus and Caligula might have looked like in bust form. It makes me shudder just talking about it.

8. Shrek-I  lost a coin toss with a friend that decided between Shrek and a movie I wanted to see. I may have had a chip on my shoulder when going into it but I don't recall ever enjoying a movie less than Shrek. I still can't believe I paid to see it.

9. True Blood-I liked the first few seasons but after Sookie and the fairy story line, I completely lost interest. I tried reading the books too and got to the fourth book before giving up on them.

10. The Beach-I grew up a bike ride away from my nearest beach. I shouldn't say I dislike it entirely, I love the beach at night when the sand is cool, the distractions of people are gone and I can really enjoy the sounds of the sea without static radios and clusters of conversations. I'm just not one of those people who finds spending a day at the beach, lugging a bunch of stuff, setting up a chair in the hot sand, and soaking up the sun all day, a relaxing experience.

Spent a lot of time in outer space this weekend....

We were supposed to go on a graduation camping trip this weekend with Jonas' Cub Scouts pack but there was a threat of severe thunderstorms so we didn't go. We still ended up going on a hike at Merrill Creek and later had the graduation dinner at the church so it wasn't a total disappointment. Jonas is moving up the ranks and earned a few more belt loops to add to his growing collection.  I am so proud of him; he is really dedicated and hardworking. Additionally, I'm in the process of taking over the Committee Chair position and Jeremiah has just accepted an offer to be Assistant Cub Master so Cub Scouts has been keeping us pretty busy lately.



After getting Jonas to bed, we watched Jupiter Ascending and had a couple of craft-style beers. I am a big fan of the Dogfish Head, 20th Anniversary beer, at 11% alcohol by volume though, you have to be careful to pace yourself.  Jupiter Ascending was okay. It was exactly what I expected it to be so it didn't disappoint me but it didn't pleasantly surprise me either. It starred Mila Kunis as Jupiter Jones and Channing Tatum as Caine Wise. It was your typical sci-fi Cinderella...A girl cleans toilets for a living and hates the monotony of her life when suddenly she is being hunted by aliens who are trying to kill her because, unbeknownst to her, she is a reincarnated heir to the planet Earth and all of it's resources. She discovers her "children" are all plotting separately to kill her so they can sacrifice Earth's people for the valuable commodity of more time. Her handsome "prince" is in the form of an elite-rebel-militant alien who was hired by her enemies to hunt her but decides to help her instead. Together, they fight in a sea of over-the-top special effects and it ends with Jupiter saving the Earth and getting the guy, er, I mean alien.

Jeremiah and I also watched The Martian starring Matt Damon as astronaut, Mark Watney. He was part of a crew on a research trip to Mars. The crew is caught in a sandstorm and Mark is struck by debris and is thought to be dead in the storm. They searched for him until the last possible second before they made the choice  to leave. Mark survived and after tending to his injuries, he begins to assess his current situation. In order to survive past the food supply available he figures out how to grow potatoes in the vault he is living in. The story is divided between Mark's incredible resourcefulness and his ingenious methods of survival and a seemingly impossible rescue plan by NASA to bring him home. We loved The Martian! It is based on a book by Andy Weir and it definitely lived up to the hype. It made surviving on Mars seem more realistic than I would've thought...at least if you are a NASA genius.


Today was one of those relaxing Sundays at home with my Boys. We watched Jurassic World and the new Voltron: Legendary Defender on Netflix. I wasn't into Voltron as a kid so I didn't have any nostalgic expectations but after reading my neighbor Josh's approving blog post about it, I decided to check it out.  I liked it a lot though I don't typically love animated series. I'm one of those weirdos who didn't like The Simpsons or Family Guy. I'm not surprised I liked Voltron though...it had the usual appealing components, a band of genius friends charged with saving the world, robot lions, aliens, and a Princess. Jonas thought it was awesome so I am looking forward to watching more episodes with him.

Me, A Song of Ice and Fire, and a Monumental Task

I have made the decision to blog about George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series as well as the HBO series based on the novels. My dilemma is what approach do I want to take? 

• Do I do book to show comparisons or do I blog about them separately?

• Do I do a synopsis of the 1^st 5 seasons of the show to save time and then individually review each episode of season 6 since it is still on?

• Do I evaluate theories as they  relate to each novel or do I evaluate the theories separately since in many cases they tie the story together and give clues to what will be coming in future novels?

• How do I best summarize and review without being contrite to the wheels within wheels of the books?

•  Do I do individual character analysis of certain characters whose arcs are much more complicated to generalize?

These are just some of the questions I am asking myself as I commit to take this on.
I want to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone, to commit to something big. I used to write in journals every day. It was important to me to explore my interests, my days, my conflicts. I am going to make exploring those things important again.

Since my MO has always been to start then abandon my previous blogs, I am looking to make myself accountable for the continuity of this one.  Even though my lack of consistent writing over the years has left me a bit choppy and struggling to find my voice again, I feel proud of what the blog is so far.

Cool things I listen to (and so should you) Part 2

I love to read books. I also realize that for many of us, we find ourselves in the consuming vortex of our busy lives. There is enough to do with work, family, friends, and all the joys and obligations that come with them; we may have even stopped trying to make time to read.

Though I still make time to read actual books, audiobooks allow me to "read" more. I have an iPhone and love the Audiobooks app (there are others but this one is my preference). For $14.99 a month I get a credit for a book of my choice. Once I use the credit for my book with my paid subscription, I get to keep it even if I cancel my subscription. There is also a bunch of free books that you can listen to without a paid subscription. You can get free audiobooks from the local library too, of course. Books on CD/tape may not be as portable these days but are still a viable option and perfect for long car rides. 

I am into the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre of books. More Fantasy than Sci/Fi as you may notice from the list below. If you are interested in Fantasy here is a list of my personal recommendations:

'Game of Thrones' by George R.R. Martin read by Roy Dotrice. The first of 7 planned books in a epic series called 'A Song for Ice and Fire'. I recommend reading these books too but if you find that Martin's tomes seem too voluminous, let Roy Dotrice tell you a story.  He will take you through the war-torn world of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and to the  faraway lands still trying to get there. There will be honor, intrigue, & death but there is hope sometimes too. I'm not going  to say the 'ASOIAF' series is always easy but it is definitely worth it. Follow this up with next four published books in the series,  'Clash of Kings', 'A Storm of Swords', 'A Feast for Crows', and 'A Dance with Dragons'. All are read by Dotrice who epitomizes how an epic story should be narrated. I've given up on many audiobooks due to lackluster narrators.  Roy Dotrice won't disappoint!

'The Lies of Locke Lamora' by Scott Lynch read by Michael Page. The first of several planned books called The Gentleman Bastards series (3 of which are currently published). This is a great listen, fast paced and exciting in the vein of Ocean's 11 but in a post-medieval fictional landscape. Our protagonists, The Gentleman Bastards, are a society of educated thieves that work together in a long, dangerous cons. The story will keep you on edge. Michael Page brings the world of Camorr to life with his dramatic and humorous narration. Follow this up with 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' and 'A Republic of Thieves'.

 'The Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss read by Nick Podehl.The first of a trilogy called The Kingkiller Chronicles (2 of which are currently published). I read this book right before listening to it which I don't usually do. At first, I couldn't get into the narrator Nick Podehl. His voice was, I don't know...Bland?  Eventually the story consumed me and I soon found his narration acceptable though it took some getting used to. That said, I still highly recommend it. This is a story about secret names. It is a story about Kvothe, a legend by way of perception, as he tells his life story to a Chronicler. Follow this up with a 'A Wise Man's Fear'.

'American Gods' (the tenth anniversary edition) by Neil Gaiman read by Dennis Boutsikaris, Neil Gaiman, and a Full Cast  I don't think there is enough great things I can say about this audiobook. 'American Gods' is in my top 10 books of all time right up there with 'ASOIAF'. Do yourself a favor and make sure you listen to the full cast version. It really is a treasure and Neil Himself reads the 'Coming to America' parts. I love this production so much. It is a story about the Old Gods (the mythological ones that are weakened due to lack of worship) versus the New Gods (the technology age that wants you to be consumed by things like television and phones). 

Balticon50 Part 4: Panels and Convention Highlights

I will start off by saying we did A LOT at Balticon. We took advantage of a lot of the kids activities, we sat in on some gaming panels, Jeremiah attended a podcasting tips panel, and my neighbor Jen and I ditched our Men and the kiddos to attend the Masquerade CosPlay contest. It was a great few days of general geek stuff and I had a blast.

Panels Saturday:
George R.R. Martin Interview-Moderated by Balticon50 Toastmaster and Author, Mark Van Name: I thought this interview was too generic. I don't need the "loaded questions" effect but I would have liked a little more substance. The interview questions  were okay if you knew absolutely nothing about GRRM but my bets were that the audience had been long time fans of George and had heard most of these responses before. It was great to see George but I think the interview questions could have been a lot better.

Special Highlight: While standing on line to get into the Panel room, I heard someone behind me who's voice I distinctly recognized as one of my absolute favorite 'ASOIAF' theorists that I follow on YouTube, Preston Jacobs. We spoke for quite a bit about some of his theories and I told him that while I am not a subscriber to his R+L=D theory (I believe R+L=J), his ideas were still quite compelling. He told me about his experience at the Balticon50 Feast of Ice and Fire dinner with George R.R. Martin (a charity event that cost $1000). We talked for a bit about his conversation with GRRM and how Preston felt a bit disappointed when George told him he might be over-reading his interpretation between Plato's 'The Republic' and GRRM's Tuf Voyaging (a story in the1000 Worlds universe)  I won't pretend I am an expert on 'The Republic' but I can see why Preston made the connection. Interpretation of literature takes on a life of it's own according to each reader and sometimes connections are there whether they were intentional by the author or not. Preston was really great to talk to and it was a unexpected surprise to run into him at Balticon.

Me and Preston Jacobs

Games of GOT: This was a fun panel hosted by folks from one of my favorite podcasts, History of Westeros. Moderators included: Aziz Al-Doory, Ashaya, and Jeff Hartline. They mostly talked about the many GOT games available on PC and tabletop. I even got to pipe in from the audience about how awesome the Game of Thrones Living Card Game is. It can be very competitive but I enjoy it on a casual level and had a lot of insight to offer on why it's not only a great game but also why it's a great time to get into it. After the panel I got to chat with the hosts and tell them how much I enjoyed their podcast.

Other Fun Things: 
Hoola-hooping, learning a couple of Medieval dances, meeting Peter S. Beagle, attending the Masquerade contest, having a delicious Sheppard's Pie for dinner, Mad Hatter Tea Party, and Fairy Gardens.


Panels Sunday:
Liars Panel with authors, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Lyn Nye, Joe Haldeman, Mur Lafferty, and moderated by Mark Van Name: This was a charity panel to raise money for children's literacy. The rules were: Each panelist answers a set of questions. All answers must be the truth—except three. After each answer, anyone in the room can challenge the answerer. After there are no more challengers, the panelist tells whether the answer was the If it was true, each challenger puts $1 in a bucket that runners pass. If it was a lie, the panelist puts $10 in the bucket. The panel was just fantastic and laugh-out-loud hilarious. I cracked up when Mur Lafferty discussed 'impolite promises' and Jodi Lyn Nye demonstrated that she was double-jointed. Some things that are surprisingly true about George R.R. Martin include, he once got a gift certificate for a nipple piercing that has been re-gifted to other sci-fi/fantasy writers, one of his favorite shows was 'My Mother the Car', and he loves the theme song to the old show, 'Petticoat Junction'.

George R.R. Martin Reading:

We were offered three choices and the wild majority of us hooted our assent for a chapter from GRRM's anticipated novel, 'Winds of Winter'. It was an Aeron Damphair POV chapter that hadn't been previously released on George's website nor read out loud before. I won't give too much away but it starts, "It was always midnight in the belly of the beast..." and that set the tone for an incredible and shocking chapter. George received a standing ovation when he finished the chapter and he took time to answer some questions from the audience. When someone asked, "Who are Jon Snow's parents?" George replied to our delight, "Some Kardashian and Justin Bieber." He also talked about Brienne and how she was sort of his improvement to the Fantasy cliche of women fighting in chain-mail bikinis. He said with a chuckle, "She is one of my favorite characters but that doesn't mean she is safe." He also confirmed that Brienne was a descendant of Duncan the Tall from the 'Dunk and Egg' stories. The reading from Winds of Winter was the perfect ending to an awesome convention and I was ready to go home.

George R.R. Martin reading an Aeron Damphair POV chapter from Winds of Winter

Balticon50 Part 3: Meeting George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin limits the amount of autographs he does at conventions and securing a spot during one of Balticon's scheduled sessions was my top priority. It wasn't so much the autograph for me. I had pre-ordered the autographed Balticon50 special edition of GRRM's 'In the House of the Worm' so I was covered there. What I really wanted was simply to meet my favorite author and after years of being a superfan, Jer, Jonas and I were finally set to meet George.

I always thought I would meet George eventually and now it was happening. Naturally, the anticipation of this meeting made me feel a bit anxious. I tried not to have too many expectations but I would be lying if I said I didn't have any. I knew our time with him would be brief but I was excited for it and hoped the short moments would leave a positive impression. It would have been disappointing if he turned out to be disconnected, signing autographs like an automaton on autopilot.

I spent some time prior to the convention thinking of a way to make the experience unique and found the answer in dragon eggs. Jonas had a 'Knights of the Roundtable' themed birthday party and we made Game of Thrones inspired dragon eggs out of thumbtacks to use as decoration. I used them again as decor for our annual Feast of Ice and Fire that we have on the night of the Season Premiere of GOT. Not to brag, but Jonas and I did an amazing job on the dragon eggs.. 

Our awesome dragon eggs made out of 1500 individually lacquered thumbtacks.

So after some deliberation, Jonas and I agreed that when we met George we would give him one of our prized dragon eggs. For those of you who don't know Jonas, he is a pack rat. He doesn't like to get rid of anything, including socks that no longer even function as socks anymore. He loathes the idea of parting with anything so when he semi-happily agreed to the idea, I was pleasantly surprised. The black 'Drogon' inspired egg was out of the question for Jonas but we compromised and agreed on giving GRRM the white-gold 'Viserion' inspired egg.

The morning we were to meet George R.R. Martin began with me forgetting my Balticon badge at the hotel. It was not a long walk to the hotel but we were halfway to the convention and I wanted to be as early as possible to ensure a good spot in line (which turned out to be a non-issue). I prayed that Balticon had a contingency plan for scatterbrains like me and gratefully they did. I got my replacement badge and Jer, Jonas, and I started to mingle in the gathering crowd outside the autograph room. We didn't really have to do that since our tickets (which were first come, first serve) had numbers on them and were being called in groups of 20. Based on your number, you may have had time to walk around the convention before coming back and being called. This was awesome because when you were called in to the room, it felt incredibly intimate and relaxed.

When it was our turn to meet George, Jonas handed him his copy of 'The Ice Dragon' and George signed it jovially, shaking Jonas' hand. Jonas then handed George the dragon egg and George exclaimed, "It's a dragon egg! If I sit on it, will it hatch?" Jonas said he didn't think it would but we both agreed we couldn't be absolutely certain. George laughed warmly and thanked us for the egg. He paused and turned to Jonas and said, "I feel I need to pay you for the egg..." He then went to his pocket and plucked a Faceless Man coin down on the table. Jonas smiled impishly and took the coin. I whispered to Jonas to say 'Valar Morghulis' which George answered, "Valar Dohaeris". We had a few more moments of easy small talk before Jeremiah brought up a copy of GRRM's novel, 'Armageddon Rag', to be signed. It was actually a book that was lent to me by our neighbor Robert, and I thought it would be fun to give it back to him signed by the author.  It was a great book but for some reason didn't sell very well. George joked with Jer saying, "So, you're the one who bought this book!"  Our meeting with George R.R. Martin is an experience my family and I will always treasure.

Meeting George

I didn't get to have any philosophical discussions with George, but truthfully, I liked it better that way. I had already spent so much time connecting to George through his books that I was looking for a personal, human connection. A brief exchange that would give me a real glimpse of the man with a 1000 worlds in his brain. One may think this isn't possible to know in the few minutes we had, but it is. George has given us so much. He gave Jonas 'The Ice Dragon'. He gave Jer 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. And he gave me all that and so much more. I was glad I could finally thank him for it.

Coming Soon: Balticon50 Part 4: Panels and Convention Highlights

Balticon50 Part 2: One Convention to RULE Them ALL!

Getting there
We packed the kids and our stuff in my neighbor Jen's Mazda and began the trek down to Baltimore. The kids were adequately equipped with books, comics, and snacks and my neighbor Josh made an awesome playlist which we sang along to on the long way down. I was buzzing with excitement and looking forward to escaping reality for three days.

Balticon Schedules
I had been stalking the Balticon website for schedules for weeks prior to the convention. For the longest time, only the Anime program schedule was up and while I enjoy Anime, this was a big "who cares" for me. I wasn't going to Balticon to watch Anime all day and wanted a full schedule to plan my experience. A day or two before the convention, the Guest of Honor schedule was finally posted. At least I would know where to find George R.R Martin but a more timely schedule would have been nice. This was the only real gripe I had and it was pretty minor. I don't think I could have enjoyed the convention more.

The Guests
I had the highest expectations for Balticon50. In addition to George R.R. Martin being the Guest of Honor, a slew of incredible authors (and previous GoH themselves) would also be returning.  Some authors I knew, some I didn't. There was a pretty great range of authors on the roster. I even got the opportunity to have a few awkward conversations and shake some hands, including the hand of the great Peter S. Beagle, who was just the best. He was soft spoken, engaging, and friendly. I asked him to recommend one of his books and he suggested his first novel, 'A Fine and Private Place' which was his own mother's favorite. I bought a copy of the book and he graciously signed it and personalized it to both me and my son, Jonas.

Guests of Honor from Balticons past returning for Balticon50

CosPlay
We all planned to engage in some CosPlay because escaping reality seems so much more fun dressed up as someone else. Jer and I settled on our Animal Crossing Mayor costumes for Saturday and Jonas, always ambitious, settled on Marvel's Falcon (Friday) AND his Animal Crossing Mayor costume (Saturday). Our neighbor's daughter was Marvel's Black Widow. The dynamic superhero kids kept the streets of Baltimore safer than ever.  Jonas didn't kick anyone's butt for misidentifying his costume as Batman but it came close...Thankfully Josh and I downplayed this atrocity when reiterating the tale to Jonas and defused the situation a little.  Jonas is not a fan of anyone making a debauchery of his interests so we were grateful for his restraint. At one point Jonas and his friend took it upon themselves to man a Furry Convention table and while I can only imagine what goes on at FurCon, it must have been a funny sight seeing two kids passing out flyers and promoting the event.

The real star costume was hands down my neighbor Jen. She was a Weeping Angel, a Doctor Who series villain, and she looked incredible in her handmade costume. I was hoping she would register for the Masquerade (costume contest) but she was having more fun walking around the convention and sneaking up on me & making me jump out of my skin. Jonas was happy to see a Tardis replica; he finally got his photo-op (he didn't come with us to the (Re)Generation Con in March and was excited to join his dad and me in the exclusive Tardis photo club). Also, my Dalek was there! We bonded when we first met at the Who Con and the rest was history. After a previous Dalek-shaming at the WhoCon, the Dalek's plunger was now in the right place. (See Josh's amazing Blog for the scoop)

The Tone is Set
After registration, I went to pick up my pre-ordered copy of a short story called 'In the House of the Worm' by GRRM. It was one of only 500 copies specifically published for Balticon50 and it was signed by George as well as by the cover artist (and Balticon50 Artist GOH), John Picacio. It set the tone for the convention when the volunteer handed me my copy and said, "Nice, you got the 50th copy at Balticon50." I knew things were destined to just get better from there.

Coming Soon: Part 3: Meeting George R.R. Martin

Balticon50 Part 1: Deciding to go

In March we attended the (Re)Generation Who Convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland with a group of our good friends. Jeremiah and I are Doctor Who Fans (we watched some old episodes and a few seasons of the newer episodes) but aren't what you would call superfans like the friends we attended with. This certainly didn't take away from our experience and we sat in and enjoyed many panels whether we knew the particular Doctor/Companion or not.  We are open to new things like that. I think conventions are one of those places that spark interest in new things. They are what you make of them and we certainly made the most of our experience at (Re)Generation Who.

While we were there, I stumbled across the Balticon50 table and had a lengthy discussion with the volunteer and learned that the Guest of Honor would be George R.R. Martin. In case you didn't know, GRRM is the brilliant mind behind A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, Storm of Swords, Feast for Crows, Dance with Dragons.) I am a big fan of a lot of George's work but ASOIAF is without question, my favorite series of all time (and I love a lot of amazing series).  On the way home from the WhoCon, I was in a frenzy doing the math and budgeting in my mind about how to make another convention work for us financially. Especially because I had a lot of expenses I would be shelling out for my beautiful sister's bridal shower. I resolved we would go and it turned out to be one of the most amazing decisions I have ever made.

Mid-April I booked our room, bought our tickets and extended the invite to our neighbors (we went to the WhoCon with them) and the plans were set. Family trip to Balticon50, was in order.