To those who don't follow the many exploits of Lauren, here is an update on the weirdness that is my life and the reason for my recent trip to Los Angeles.
In October of 2009, I decided to write a web comic about periods. I was blessed to partner with the amazingly talented and magnificently coiffed Bailee DesRocher, who met a lady named Regina Carpinelli. Regina was starting her own convention in Los Angeles, that she called Comikaze Expo. We started e-mailing her and she became a fan of PMS Adventures, and asked us to be at her show. We sent her bio goodness and geeky headshots and were added to her list. I then met Regina when I visited LA in July, when she told Bailee and I that there was a viewing of Evil Dead II at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. It was fate.
The last couple of months since that epic meeting, Regina and I have become friends. We have our own little nerd chats on facebook into the wee hours of the morning. She asked if I wanted to help her sell tables for her show. I did. She asked if I could edit some text. I did. She asked for help designing a schedule. I did. She offered us a table. We accepted.
And then the day came for me to fly to LA for this convention. Stan Lee, Elvira, Mark Hamill, Ernest Borgnine-they were all going to be there and I WAS GOING TO MEET THEM ALL. Huzzah!!
I didn't. But what I did do was set up a table in Artist's Alley with my dear friend and work partner, Bailee, where we chatted with person after person about our comic. Young and old, male and female, pre-menstrual and pre-menopause, and realized that the work we are doing spreads across a wider demographic than we anticipated. We saw families of nerds wandering around, huge bags bulging with geek gear and goofy grins on their faces. We sold gag chocolate bars, gave away business cards, and were basically drained by the end of day one. We went to bed at 9pm that night, to prepare for day two of selling, and of panels!
Comikaze was set up in a way that you could be wandering around, shopping and pass little curtained off areas where the panels were taking place. At 1 pm in Room Four, we were to join 4 other funny nerd ladies in a panel about being girls and being geeks. I had renamed our panel (as I was putting together the schedule) to "Ta-Ta's and Trivia", as Bailee and Katie Willert of Cracked.com thought it would be fun to ask the audience silly questions at the end of the panel and give them PMS swag as prizes. None of us were prepared for the panel...or the shenanigans that were about to ensue.
We entered Room 4, and all began chatting with the moderator, a lady named Lydia Popovich, writer of the blog Hater Tuesday. There was some confusion, as Lady Deadpool had been slated to moderate, but she was invited to sit in on the panel. This would prove to make this, my first ever panel at a Comic Book convention, very weird.
The ladies of the panel all took seats to begin the panel. Bailee and I were separated, which ended up being fine. I was in between Lisa Foiles of All That and Kotaku.com and Emily Gordon of Indoor Kids and Nerdist. And it was nuts. I've already status updated about the period comment (thanks, Regina!!) But it was so much fun to actually NERD OUT with a bunch of ladies...once we took the mic away from Lady Deadpool. She was way overexcited. And that was fine. Lisa had to run early in the panel to go and meet Elvira (harrumph), but the other 3 ladies, myself, and our moderator ended up having a great time. We talked about nerdy sexy time experiences, what it was like growing up as nerdy girls, and all the things we love that are geeky. I couldn't think of a better group of ladies to chat with in front of 60+people. And NO ONE WALKED OUT! Beautiful. We asked silly questions and handed out PMS Chocolate Bars. One gentleman was passing Bailee and I later in the day, and I thanked him for an insightful question he asked to get us on a track that wasn't about our boobs. He and I then ended up talking about our mutual love of Bruce Campbell for 15 minutes.
Bailee and I will probably never have another table at a convention again (unless we make a zillion dollars and have peons to work for us.) But I had a blast. I met Gonzo, the Muppet. I got 3 autographed books from Christopher Hastings, the author of my favorite web comic, Dr. McNinja. I met the artist for Deadpool Corps and got a special present for every geek in my family (except Dad. But he doesn't actually like things. I'll just watch a couple of Doctor Who episodes with him and let him do his Dalek impression. Makes him giggle every time!)
I can't wait for the next convention when I can just wander around, spend too much money, and not have to be tied to a table all day! UNTIL NEXT TIME!
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