I've decided (all on my own, mind you - no help from any evil chickens or anything) to take my husband to a comic book convention this fall. Luckily, there is one that falls on our 5 year anniversary. Whew! And I was afraid that we'd be forced to attend a convention on a day that meant absolutely nothing!

So we'll be attending SPX in Maryland in September - anyone else planning to be there?
I may need some assistance with an, ahem, anniversary surprise for my dear husband...

Apparently, we missed registration to get a table, but we're on the waiting list. We managed to get a table pretty easily last year after being on the same list (we weren't able to go because of family obligations), so I'm not concerned -- but we'll be there regardless, with or without a table.

So, at least one second-rate cartoonist (and his helper monkey) will be there to help you in whatever fashion you require.

Its things like this that make being a premie all worthwhile....

/me giggles maniacaly.....

"No, I'm a fucking squirrel!" - Eddie Izzard

In Response to jon (#5895):

Ahhh... my evil plot thickens. Oh, wait - Jason reads these too. I mean, gee it will be nice to see you there. Not evil at all. Nope, no evilness, not even a little bit. :)

We're going to try and spend a day or two in New York before the convention, if we can manage the babysitting situation. Hopefully at least the Thursday before. I hear Thursday is pub night...

In Response to cgarcia (#5899):

It sure is. Remind me when the time comes and we'll save you guys some barstools.

In Response to jon (#5901):

I'll have to conspire with you when I'm making travel arrangements to find someplace affordable (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) to crash close to the pub. :)

In Response to cgarcia (#5908):

Ha! Hee hee. That's too funny.

Affordable. In Manhattan. Sure.

In Response to jon (#5909):

Well, fortunately for me, I'll be passed out in a dumpster, and won't have any need for other lodging... Maybe Jon can give you a ride to Maryland afterward, Christine. He did indicate he'd need a helper. Man, if I wasn't so preoccupied with comics tright now, I'd really fix you all good.

In an incredible coincidence - or perhaps merely just another horrible horrible tragic turn of events depending on your own perspective - I will be living in Maryland in September. Baltimore, more particularly.

So, I'm thinking we may want to turn this into a full blown Goats fan soiree.

Of course, odds are reasonable that I may actually be working as a conslutant at that point, and thus not be IN Maryland at the time.

In Response to zamphir (#5914):

Conslutant? Was that a Freudian slip, or will you be conferring with loose women?

Seriously, it would be very cool if you were actually in Maryland at the time, as I can always use another helper monkey to, um, well, let's just say I have something large I may need transported. Large and possibly unconscious.

In Response to cgarcia (#5915):

Conslutant? Was that a Freudian slip, or will you be conferring with loose women?

Neither - it's a technical term from some other place, like cow-orker.

Well, I should say that I don't *expect* to be conferring with loose women. But I can't say I'd mind, either.

In Response to zamphir (#5914):

If you and the Garcias are going to be there, I think we could at least put together one kick-ass Goats-style pub night.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find the best pub in Bethesda with decent beer and little-to-no pretentiouness. If they have locally brewed beers (are Maryland beers any good?), all the better.

In Response to jon (#5935):

I'm doing research now. Asking Dr. Internet only lead me to a corporate brew pub [rockbottom.com].

So I'm checking in with some local contacts. It's been a while since I was in Bethesda, particularly the part where I think the SPX hotel might be. And I'm pretty darn sure it's changed a lot since then.

But there might be a decent Irish pub still around.

In Response to zamphir (#5944):

We ended up at a Rock Bottom a couple of times in San Diego, and it wasn't haf bad. The beer was good and the waitresses were cute, which is 90% of the way there, anyway.

In Response to jon (#5952):

If you haven't already, check out Pubcrawler [pubcrawler.com] to search the Bethesda or surrounding areas. There are some reviews of area brewpubs and beer bars and some links to the bars themselves. Happy hunting.

In Response to Rich (#5955):

Yeah. If you go to pubcrawler, and do a search for "Bethesda" in Maryland, it lists two places. One of which is RockBottom.

It sounds like RockBottom would be acceptable.

There's a whole ton of time, so I'm not gonna stress about it.

I'm going to rely on the Garcias to remind us all that it's September, and SPX is coming up, and we were gonna do this thing.

In Response to zamphir (#5974):

Yeah, well, I'm going to rely on you to let us know if you're actually going to be in Maryland at the time, or if you'll be off doing some conslutting. :)

And yes, there is a whole ton of time. *sigh* I just hope Jason's head doesn't explode from not being at a comic convention before then.

Word on the street has it that a place to try is Uncle Jed's Roadhouse [unclejeds.com]

Or perhaps Flanagan's Irish Pub [aol.com], which if it is the place I think it is, has the added ambiance of being in the basement.

So what's the plan?

Where are we meeting, when, and who's bringing the hamsters?

In Response to zamphir (#8421):

I'm thinking Saturday night would be best. I'm depending on those of you with local knowledge to supply the location.

I used to work in bethesda and the the rock bottom there has excellent food (I did enjoy the fish and chips, even though it wasn't real). There are quite a few little dives around. I can't remember any of the names, but I can ask around.

Bethesda supposively has more restaurants and bar per capita than anywhere, else. At least the people from the area were telling me that. Ooo...I remember there was a real nice irish pub on some street I worked near...will have to find the name. arrgh, cobwebs all over these memories...

In Response to zamphir (#6029):

heh, yes, reading all the words helps. Yes flanagan's I think was the place we went. Its nice although not particularly quiet if they got one of them irish bands playing.

and I think that roadhouse place was the place we went all the time until we stopped going because one of the guys I worked with couldn't go there anymore for reasons I'll leave to the imagination. Its definitely a dive bar, but its decent enough for a drink.

Sounds like we're meeting at the Rock Bottom Brewery [rockbottombethesda.com] at 8:30 on Saturday night. The address for Rock Bottom is given as 7900 Norfolk Ave, or the corner of Norfolk and St Elmo Aves. in downtown Bethesda.

In Response to jgarcia (#8444):

I've made it official by posting it to the homepage. Who's showing up?

In Response to jon (#8445):

Corey Marie from "Life's So Rad" has expressed interest in going.. and in having you draw her.

In Response to jgarcia (#8446):

I've been known to do sketches occasionally at these types of things; I don't think it would be a problem.

Is she sitting on your lap or something? How do you know?