With my re-emergence into the blog-o-sphere, I thought it would be appropriate to change up my layout. I haven’t had time lately, so I thought I’d go back to an oldie but goodie, “Fishing” with a graphic from the awesome Marcos Chin.

Supergirl and Supertoddler!

So a couple of weeks ago, it was the annual Wizard World Chicago comic book convention, or as it’s called now - Chicago Comic Con. Which I believe was an attempt to a) put it in the same stratosphere are the San Diego Comic Con and b) get the “Comic Con” name BEFORE their big competitor comes to town next year, another comic book convention actually held IN the city of Chicago rather than in than the suburb of Rosemont, where WWC happens. I think the change of name is silly, though it’s not like it happened before. No matter what the name of the convention was, I was going to go, just like I’ve been going for the last decade or so.

This year’s convention came up pretty quickly. I’ve been so busy with work that I didn’t realize that the convention was coming up. My sister Fatima wasn’t able to take vacation on Friday, so it was some alone time for me and Ben. I had heard rumors that there was another convention coming to town next year, but I didn’t care too much about that. But what did worry me was that the big publishers - Marvel and DC, weren’t coming to the convention. That’s like having a soda convention and not having Coca Cola and Pepsi not show up. It’s just not the same. Fortunately, Aspen comics was there, and it was great to see the same old faces and some new ones.

Not as Packed as it Used to Be!

There were a couple other things that showed the effects of the economy (or at least, that’s what I attribute it to). Since most of the big publishers weren’t there, a lot of the sellers who usually had stands in the back got stands in the front of the convention. There were a TON of Z list celebrities there, selling autographed pictures of themselves and photo ops. There were only half of the workshops and panels that they usually had. Last year, (or was it the year before?) there were so many artists in the artist’s alley that there were actually two alleys. This year, the back of the convention hall was barely filled.

The thing that gets me the most is in previous years, we got little name tags with holders to keep with us all weekend and we’d show them to security to let us in. This year, we got these cheap paper-ish wristbands that I’m assuming they expected us to wear ALL WEEKEND, which is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! Seriously, Wizard, you couldn’t spend 30 cents of the already inflated entrance fee to get some name badge holders? Come on! There was no way that Ben was going to keep that wristband on him all weekend, so we cut them off at the end of the day and just taped them back on the day after. You can probably see people wearing those cheap pieces of crap in my pictures.

With that said, I sadly have to say that there’s been a major decline of quality for my favorite convention - I was really disappointed.

Adrianne Curry as Every Fanboy’s Dream

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a great time. As I said before, I got to see my favorite people at Aspen, as well as the other faces that I’ve come to see every year. Fatima and Melanie (and our teenage cousin and his friend, but they don’t really count and just thinking about it makes me want to keep Ben as a little boy forever) came on Sunday and it’s always fun when the girls are there. Also got to see Todd Bridges, Christopher Knight (Peter Brady) and his wife Adrianne Curry, Margot Kidder, Michelle Rodriguez (LOVE HER), Lou Ferrigno (the standard) and a bunch of other almost celebrities….and Taylor Dayne. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking - Why the hell is Taylor Dayne at a comic book convention? I have no idea. I didn’t go up to any of them, except for Leyla Milani from Deal or No Deal (for Dave) and Edward James Olmos, who Melanie is a fan of because of Battlestar Gallactica and me because of American Me. Let me tell ya, even though we didn’t buy the autograph from EJO (it was $40 or $50 or something like that), we decided to just go and say hi, and he was the nicest guy ever. It was like talking to a friendly old neighbor, he made all of us feel comfortable and like we were friends. I can’t say enough about how awesome he was!

I also got some great sketches, which I’ll post and write more about later, once I get them scanned.

All in all, the weekend was just “ok”. Because of my experience, I am definitely going to check out the competing convention next year, who I heard does a great job for New York’s annual convention. I’ll still probably go to WWC (which I will always call it) but I won’t be expecting much.

Here’s some pictures from the weekend (hover on the left or right for navigation arrows)…

Click here for my full flickr gallery…

Spooky Ben, originally uploaded by Yano.

We were at the Glendale Heights Summerfest waiting for fireworks to start. I brought a flashlight so Ben had something to play with. Taught him how to make spooky faces.

I was waiting a bit for all the MICHAEL JACKSON IS DEAD! hoopla to end before posting this. That, and I’ve just been really lazy about posting lately. I know that we’ve all be tired about the Michael Jackson overload from last week, but hopefully we can go on with the rest of our lives. So just one more little thing before I move on with life without Jacko.

In the last decade or so, Michael Jackson had been a bit cuckoo. Marrying Elvis’ daughter, the molestation charges, hanging his baby off a balcony, walking around with his kids in masks and lets not forget how unrecognizable his face had become because of all his plastic surgery. I admit, I had written him off - until he died.

It’s almost like one of those “Where were you moments” that you have in your life - for me, several of those moments had been the explosion of the Challenger (we were in class, but were all brought into a classroom with other gradeschool classes to watch the news as our teachers told us what was going on), the death of Princess Diana (sitting at home watching Saturday Night Live) and 9/11 (was late to work after seeing the first plane hit the WTC, thought it was an accident). In this case, I had stepped out to get a really late lunch and came back to my home laptop and saw a bunch of tweets (Twitter postings) speculating his death. From then on, all that you saw on TV and the news was MJ related.

For as much has he’d been Wacko Jacko over the last few years of his life, those didn’t dominate my first thoughts in the wake of his death. Instead, I was brought back to 1984, as a little girl sitting on her grandmother’s bed, crossing her fingers and toes and praying with her whole heart that Michael Jackson would win all the Grammy awards he was up for. He was the king back then, and she loved him. My love for his music rushed back to me - not just the standard favorites, like “Thriller” and “Billie Jean”, but songs like “Scream” (with sister Janet), “Can You Feel It” (with the Jackson Five) and “Ben” (a song about a pet rat, but I think about my kid when I hear it). He really had some really amazing songs, and no matter what was going on behind the scenes, you have to admit that he was an incredible performer. If you look at the choreography today, you can see so much from his style - Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Wade Robson - they all give credit to MJ.

Even with the overabundance of coverage by the media, I couldn’t help but watching the funeral. There was a lot of potential for it to be over the top, but I think it was well done. The more that I listened to the people who knew him, who loved him, the more I realized that the craziness that was MJ before his death was more a result of the pressures and trauma of never really having a regular childhood, never leading a “normal” life. Someone who couldn’t rid himself of the demons that haunted him, that trusted too many. I held up pretty well during the memorial (you know, I’m a cryer), but misted up during Brook Shields’ emotional speech. I was ready for it to be over after the “We are the World” sing-a-long.

But then little Paris Katherine came up and spoke, and that’s when the waterworks began. It was totally unexpected that this little girl, who had been hidden from us for so long, would come up and speak about her father, a man we only knew from the stage and the tabloids. Her words were short and sweet, and she tried to say something I think anyone who has lost a parent tries to convey to express their grief - that her father was the best father anyone could ask for. The public could never completely grasp the relationship that those kids had with their father, how much he loved them, and how much he wanted to protect them.

Aaaaaaanyway….I’m rambling.

So he’s dead.

I’ll miss him. More than I thought I’d miss him.

…and I’ll go on with my life because really, I never knew him. But I’ll keep his memory alive by giving a big clap and “Aww yeah!” and a little groove each time I hear one of his songs - which is something I would have done anyway…

On a related side note: Yesterday we were driving home, and a sweet convertible with two studs sped past us. We looked at their license plate and laughed to see that it read “J E R K”. We came up next to them at a stop light, and to our surprise, they were blasting Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and totally singing along and jammin’. HILARIOUS.

A couple weekends ago, we decided to go to Kiddieland, since we’ve heard good things about it and Dora the Explorer was going to be making an appearance. Kiddieland is a small amusement park in Chicago (actually Melrose Park) that’s been open since the 1930’s. This year is its last year - I did a little research and found that there’s a family dispute about the land (half of the family owns the park, the other half owns the land) and Kiddieland is not getting a lease renewal, most likely to make way for a more profitable gig, like a Costco or Sam’s Club. It’s a little sad - we just discovered this place this year, and it closes at the end of September, FOREVER!

That said, we’ll probably be going there a lot this summer, since unlike Six Flags, there’s a LOT of rides then Ben can ride here, on his own. He totally had a blast and didn’t want to leave. His favorite was the Mushroom ride, which is kinda like the Teacup ride at Disneyland. I couldn’t ride it more than two times in a row because I’d get so dizzy, but he got a kick out of all the spinning. I thought he was going to love Dora, but I don’t think he had anticipated that she’d be taller than Dave, which freaked him out a little, which is why he’s so far away from her in the picture…

Here’s some of our other pics from the day…

The kids in the back totally make me laugh.

More pics here

So as I’ve mentioned before, I really don’t have a lot of free time anymore. With a lot of changes going on at work and work responsibilities, and my other job - Ben, there’s not a lot of time for me to do…stuff. Actually, I have no idea what I really do with whatever time I have left over. Wash dishes, do laundry, pick up toys, cool meals…mom stuff. After that, the rest of my time is spent on my laptop, goofing around.

As I mentioned eons ago, I’ve been really wanting to be artsy again. I had always loved art as a kid, drawing, coloring, etc. So much that I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was in 8th grade. Anyway, one thing I have been making more time for is creating art on my computer. I’ve got a sketchpad, eracers, charcoal and pencils taht have been sitting my my garage, ready for me to use, but that will have to wait another time. Right now, I’ve been playing around with Inkscape, the poor man’s equivalent of Adobe Illustrator. I gave in and actually bought Adobe Photoshop, not ready to buy Illustrator yet.

So I’ve been playing around with graphics…getting some stuff together to create an Etsy shop together…once I make more sales and have more graphics together, I’ll share the shop address. Anyway, here’s a taste of what I’ve been doing…

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was pretty non-eventful. Before, I was a little freaked out about getting older, but now, it’s like, “Dude, I’ve got so much other stuff going on right now I had even forgotten my birthday was coming up!” I had a pretty packed work day yesterday (enough to make me grumpy and whine inside, “Why do I have to work so hard on my birthday!?!?”) and afterwards just chilled at the in-laws. As much as I don’t want my birthday to be a big deal, I still think it’s a special day and that I shouldn’t stress too much. Note to self: take off on my birthday next year!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this thingamajig with some real content. Let’s see what’s been going on with me lately…

• Still working. Had a lot of people leave the company, a lot of good people, some who I’ve been with for a long time. It was pretty sad and I’m definitely going to miss them, not just professionally but just having them around every day. This is definitely a new chapter in my professional life, and if I ever thought I was busy before, I had no idea what I was talking about! There’s a lot of changes going on at work, and I’m just trying take everything as it comes and not worry about the future.
• Ben is potty trained. I would never have thought that would be a major milestone in my life, but seriously, I’m so happy I don’t have to carry around a massive diaperbag anymore. However, I now have to deal with the occasional, “I HAVE TO POO!!!” outburst in public.
• I’d like to have another kid. So no need to ask (because EVERYONE asks). We’re working on it. A girl would be ideal, but I’ll be happy with just having another child. People go out and get drunk and get knocked up with no problem, but for us, it takes a little more time. I’m sure work stress isn’t helping, but we’ll see what happens. Ben’s starting to get a little bossy, so I’d like to give him a sibling to boss around instead of me.
• Our house is still up for sale. I love our house, so I’m in no hurry to move anyway. But what I don’t like is living in this half moved/half not life. When people are interested to come and check out the house, we have this massive cleaning binge which is stressful. A lot of my stuff is in boxes, so when I need to get something I need to rearrange boxes to get what I want (if I even remember WHICH box I’ve put it into!) Also, the house that we really liked, that had been on the market FOREVER, was sold last month. We were kind of counting on the fact that no one wanted it and that it would still be available after we sold our house. Such a shame…Ben had even picked out which room would be his. Oh well, at least we’re not paying two mortgages.

Hmm…I think that’s all for now. I really miss my blog…but there are just so many things going on I don’t have a lot of time to devote to it. Poor yanowhatimean!

Anyone still out there?!?

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister, Fatima. I don’t see her as much as I’d like, but when I do, it’s tons of fun. Can’t wait for sushi tomorrow!

Work has been pretty tough lately, which has left me in a pretty sour mood. The weather has been pretty bad here as well, which hasn’t helped. Years ago I bought a cheap Elmo kite at Target, but we never got a chance to use it. Ben found it again earlier this week, and has constantly been asking to go fly it. I’ve told him that the weather was bad, or it was too late.

But today was a gorgeous, breezy day, so Dave took Ben to the parking lot by our house which had a nice field next to it. The kite flew nice and high, and I was surprised how well it worked considering the fact that I only spent fifty cents on it. We even let Ben hold on to the kite, and he took the job very seriously. It was some nice outdoor family time, just what I needed after the last couple weeks!

Here’s a couple pictures of our adventure.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there. Before having Ben, I would never would have realized that motherhood would be such a wonderful thing, and worth every little challenge. I got this great thing from the wonderful Chariya, thought I’d share, with my commentary.

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Before I was a Mom,I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. (i just tripped out of bars)
I didn ‘ t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. (well, i never had any plants, period!)
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. (actually, I did…in college. those crazy college days!)
Pooped on.
Chewed on. (by a human, that is)
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. (though it’s debatable if I ever had control of them!)
I slept all night. (if you can call sleeping 4-5 hours a night “sleeping”)

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. (let me tell you, your heart breaks when you have to do that)
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. (it’s incredible how much his smile can light up my day!)
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. (even now, I still check him at night to make sure he’s breathing)

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put him down. (because you know, as soon as you put them down they start crying and want to stay with you anyway)
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt. (kisses can’t fix everything!)
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much…
I never knew that I could love someone so much. (sometimes i feel like my heart will burst with love when i watch him sleep)
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom, I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..
I didn’ t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’ t know that bond between a mother and her child. (he’s my little best friend!)
I didn’ t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. (for the first time in my life, i’m taking responsibility seriously)

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes
to make sure all was okay. (seriously, if i couldn’t tell if he’s breathing, i poke him)
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,
the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. (even now, it’s so hard for me to comprehend that these being grew inside of me and grows physically and mentally every day!)
I didn ‘ t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom

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Have a great day, ladies! Hope your family treats you like queens today!