A little background.
Well getting my pictures off of my camera's memory card was a total and utter failure. If anyone can come by my place with their Sony camera that can read "Pro" Sony memory sticks and their USB cable I'll download the GoonCon photos that I have. In the mean time, you'll have to make due with the ones I took while going up North.
Stacy lives in North Carolina and was my boss when I was a punk 16 year old working in a video store. I was an ass, much like that guy in Clerks, only before that movie came out. I even recall when it did come out, the only reason I saw it was because Stacy and another friend Joy were like, Mo you have to see this movie, there is a video store clerk a-hole just like you in it. I did and I do agree, it is as if Kevin Smith had made a trip down to Action Video in NC and watched me work for a week while writing the script for Clerks.
Anyway, I digress. Stacy is a lot older than me and was my boss for several years. I really didn't think we had much in common, but along the way I found his rather fondness of movies, games and comic books tied right into my interests as a 16-18 year old (sad for him).
Flash forward 10 years and I still hang out with him when I head home. Although I figured by now at least one of us would have grown out of some of our interests, neither have (sad for us). One of the new things I have developed an interest for is traveling and I have pulled him into it as well. At least every two to three years me and Stacy like to do a road-trip to a new location. Be it Vegas, Niagara Falls, Chicago or New England, if we haven't been there, we'll go. The things I really like about Stacy are:
1. I can call him up and say, "Stacy I just bought two tickets to a Dark Tower Convention in New Hampshire, you have 50 days to get off of work for a week and drive up here." and he'll responds with, "OK I'm in, what the heck is a Dark Tower?"
2. I can make him drive his car. We share driving duties, but he has a bigger car (even more so now, see below) and it's newer (not than the Bimmer, just the Nissan) and it gets great gas mileage.
3. I can talk this guy into going anywhere if I can somehow include games, comics, food or gambling into the trip. This has never been a problem.
4. He's willing to split the cost 50-50 with me. Some of my other friends like doing 51-49 or 45-55, which drives my OCD brain up a wall. Not Stacy, he is willing to go to the PENNY on the cost and divide it totally evenly. I like that.
5. He puts up with a lot of my shit. Conversely, he has a lot of shit that I must put up with, but hey, dems the breaks.
Well, as some of you are well aware of, I'm a pretty big Stephen King (SK) fan. I am an even bigger fan of the Dark Tower series of books that he's written (although the last three were the weakest). Anyway, all the collectors buy SK books from a place called Donald Grant Publishing (DG). DG puts out special versions of SK's books that are bound better and in a more limited number. I have about 15 of these versions from different series. I'm a huge fan and I've been on their mailing list for years. Anyway, the Dark Tower series contain some of the few books that SK has commissioned artists to paint art for. For the seven books there have been six artists (Michael Whelan did the art for books one and seven). Long story short, DG decides to have a convention and invite several of the artists to attend. They send out an email and indicate that there are only 150 tickets available. I of course, buy two immediately. This is the start of my 2005 road trip to the Northeast.
I didn't know much about the Northeast, nor about the artist involved with the Dark Tower, but the conventions official website, PalaverCon 2005 provide a lot of needed details. I signed up, bought the tickets and called Stacy up. No wait, maybe I called him while I had the site up just to make sure he could get off of work in that short a time. At any rate, he could and I bought the tickets. Now began the planning of our trip.
Ever since I moved out on my own in the world, I've wanted to see places. I have seen quit a few, but I've always wanted to say things like, "I've been to all 50 states," or "I've been to Europe, yes, all of it." At a newly minted 29, I feel like I'm well on my way. I had probably under 15 states to go, and hitting New England would knock off about five more. Another big reason to go.
Done with that above paragraph? Yes? Well that was about all the planning I got around to doing. Stacy HATES that as he likes to know exactly what he's doing and when. I love winging it because I like doing stuff off the cuff and enjoying myself with no pressures. Sure my way can waste time and I miss something we wanted to do (sorry about the Boston Ghost Tour Stacy!) but all in all I feel it is the least stressful way to go and to have a fun vacation, not a stressful one. Others, I understand, are totally 180 on this belief.
Well, my road trip so my planning, as in none-at-all. I tell Stacy to meet at my house on Wednesday so we could roll out to NYC by Thursday afternoon to see a play and go on up to Boston before hitting the first of the three day convention on Friday. Whoa, should have planned that better, here's how it really went down...
My fingers are tired. I'll type more of the story soon. For now, here is a movie review of Stealth by Chris.
Stacy lives in North Carolina and was my boss when I was a punk 16 year old working in a video store. I was an ass, much like that guy in Clerks, only before that movie came out. I even recall when it did come out, the only reason I saw it was because Stacy and another friend Joy were like, Mo you have to see this movie, there is a video store clerk a-hole just like you in it. I did and I do agree, it is as if Kevin Smith had made a trip down to Action Video in NC and watched me work for a week while writing the script for Clerks.
Anyway, I digress. Stacy is a lot older than me and was my boss for several years. I really didn't think we had much in common, but along the way I found his rather fondness of movies, games and comic books tied right into my interests as a 16-18 year old (sad for him).
Flash forward 10 years and I still hang out with him when I head home. Although I figured by now at least one of us would have grown out of some of our interests, neither have (sad for us). One of the new things I have developed an interest for is traveling and I have pulled him into it as well. At least every two to three years me and Stacy like to do a road-trip to a new location. Be it Vegas, Niagara Falls, Chicago or New England, if we haven't been there, we'll go. The things I really like about Stacy are:
1. I can call him up and say, "Stacy I just bought two tickets to a Dark Tower Convention in New Hampshire, you have 50 days to get off of work for a week and drive up here." and he'll responds with, "OK I'm in, what the heck is a Dark Tower?"
2. I can make him drive his car. We share driving duties, but he has a bigger car (even more so now, see below) and it's newer (not than the Bimmer, just the Nissan) and it gets great gas mileage.
3. I can talk this guy into going anywhere if I can somehow include games, comics, food or gambling into the trip. This has never been a problem.
4. He's willing to split the cost 50-50 with me. Some of my other friends like doing 51-49 or 45-55, which drives my OCD brain up a wall. Not Stacy, he is willing to go to the PENNY on the cost and divide it totally evenly. I like that.
5. He puts up with a lot of my shit. Conversely, he has a lot of shit that I must put up with, but hey, dems the breaks.
Well, as some of you are well aware of, I'm a pretty big Stephen King (SK) fan. I am an even bigger fan of the Dark Tower series of books that he's written (although the last three were the weakest). Anyway, all the collectors buy SK books from a place called Donald Grant Publishing (DG). DG puts out special versions of SK's books that are bound better and in a more limited number. I have about 15 of these versions from different series. I'm a huge fan and I've been on their mailing list for years. Anyway, the Dark Tower series contain some of the few books that SK has commissioned artists to paint art for. For the seven books there have been six artists (Michael Whelan did the art for books one and seven). Long story short, DG decides to have a convention and invite several of the artists to attend. They send out an email and indicate that there are only 150 tickets available. I of course, buy two immediately. This is the start of my 2005 road trip to the Northeast.
I didn't know much about the Northeast, nor about the artist involved with the Dark Tower, but the conventions official website, PalaverCon 2005 provide a lot of needed details. I signed up, bought the tickets and called Stacy up. No wait, maybe I called him while I had the site up just to make sure he could get off of work in that short a time. At any rate, he could and I bought the tickets. Now began the planning of our trip.
Ever since I moved out on my own in the world, I've wanted to see places. I have seen quit a few, but I've always wanted to say things like, "I've been to all 50 states," or "I've been to Europe, yes, all of it." At a newly minted 29, I feel like I'm well on my way. I had probably under 15 states to go, and hitting New England would knock off about five more. Another big reason to go.
Done with that above paragraph? Yes? Well that was about all the planning I got around to doing. Stacy HATES that as he likes to know exactly what he's doing and when. I love winging it because I like doing stuff off the cuff and enjoying myself with no pressures. Sure my way can waste time and I miss something we wanted to do (sorry about the Boston Ghost Tour Stacy!) but all in all I feel it is the least stressful way to go and to have a fun vacation, not a stressful one. Others, I understand, are totally 180 on this belief.
Well, my road trip so my planning, as in none-at-all. I tell Stacy to meet at my house on Wednesday so we could roll out to NYC by Thursday afternoon to see a play and go on up to Boston before hitting the first of the three day convention on Friday. Whoa, should have planned that better, here's how it really went down...
My fingers are tired. I'll type more of the story soon. For now, here is a movie review of Stealth by Chris.
posted by Mohammad at
2:48 PM
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