I’ve always wanted to go to a nerd convention, and I got my wish this year.  How could I resist seeing Patrick Stewart and John De Lancie?  And it’s worth the small price of admission just to see the amazing costumes.  I never thought I would care about costumes, but when they are done well it’s hard not to stand in awe of them.

But that’s not all – at Comic-Con I didn’t feel strange or different.  I actually felt like I blended into the crowd and could not be considered “that weird guy” by anyone around me.  Normally, my social clumsiness  and fondness for unusual things (“Hey, that reminds of the original ‘Dune’ movie, you know the part where…you guys have seen that, right?”) I end up being an outsider, but not at Comic-Con.  Not even close.  I went with my mother and my wife, and we all had a blast.

The line was outrageous, and those of us who had tickets in advance (which usually is not necessary) were very thankful.  It took some people four hours to get inside.

The Black Widow was a popular costume, this year, but this lady had the best one.

Believe it, or not, this guy was really nice.  I’m not sure how he could see.  There a lot of these costumes, too, but only one that was really great.

This 6’5″ Jawa was my favorite costume.  He regretted that one of the eye-bulbs had stopped working, but I thought it looked cool.  I don’t think my picture does it justice, but I was reduced to using a camera phone in bad lighting so this is what I am stuck with.

And that’s Adam West stepping out of the bathroom.  Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.

Yeah, that’s me, Picard, and Q.  (I’m well aware that they have real names.)  My mother and I were on cloud nine.  Or warp nine.  Or something.  Also, Patrick Stewart is 71, but he’s in such good shape that I felt embarrassed to stand near him.  Q is one of my favorite TV characters of all time, and it was neat to stand next to him.

And my wife got Sir Patrick Stewart to sign a copy of Shakespeare’s complete works.  He turned out to be a very charming and nice fellow, despite his celebrity.  Everyone should be as cool as him.