New York in bullet points

[jenjoou]

Tuesday

• First day in NY: the shuttle ride from JFK was longer than the flight. NY drivers are insane.
• First supper: at a great Mexican restaurant.
• First stop: Times square and its huge stores (Toys 'R' Us, Disney Store).
• We saw Rockerfeller center.... eventually, I got us lost.
• We finished at Book-off: a used Japanese bookstore. I avoided going overboard... I think.
• I lost my sweater somewhere.

Wednesday

• Sitting outside New York Public Library with the birds and the other tourists.
• There was an exhibit inside the library which included Dikens' letter openner.... made out of his cat's paw.
• HBO store: Game of Thrones merchandise and discussions of brain eating (New Yorkers get an unfair reputation for being unfriendly).
• A store dedicated to selling mismatched socks.
• A carriage ride around Central park with Fred and Jojo.
• The best part of the Central park zoo: Sea lions.
• We had lunch in what we suspect was a mafia hangout.
• We stood in line for half-price broadway tickets.
• Collapse.
• New York's Favorite Pizza.
• The search for a new sweater ended with official NYPD merchandise.
• Sister Act, the musical. Hilarious!

Thursday

• Walking most of the way around Central park to get to a Scott Westerfeld event.
• Looking at the outside of the Guggenheim (closed on Thursdays).
• Despite not having slept (his flight from Vancouver was hit by a goose) Scott Westerfeld gave a great talk: How photography ruined everything. ;)
• The girl sitting next to us was from Quebec.
• Turtle lake: I have never seen so many turtles at once.
• Re castle in Central park: that is not a castle!
• The Museum of Natural History was very tempting but it was either that or making it back to the hotel.
• An awesome YA event where I met: Justine Larbalestier, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black (who joined their signatures to Scott's in my Zombie vs Unicorns anthology), Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner (apparently I recognize her on sight). Yes, all at once; they were really nice (well, Justice was nice and crazy). ^_^
• Guy sitting behind us: if you don't like and haven't read YA, why are you here? Also, shut up.

Friday

• First day at the Comic Con. The wait to get in was much shorter than in Montreal.
• Note: I was dressed as Wonder Woman. (Only 4 people asked for my photo, sadly)
• We waited in line for 4 hours to get an Amanda Connor sketch but it was totally worth it. Gen and H, you guys are made of awesome. ^_^
• I almost lost my camera. Eeep!
• I met a lot of interesting creators, including Brian Clevinger and Art Balthazar.
• I found a lot of out of print trades that I was looking for including Catwoman: A crooked little town (5 stars, Brubaker should always write her).
• I found my Catman action figure by accident! (Well Gen found him.)
• We collapsed from all the walking and the weight of our bags.
• I explored the artist' alley alone for a while.
• I found Chris Giarusso, the author of Mini Marvels. He drew me the Avengers. ^_^
• I met Peter David. He said I was "sweet" after I gushed a bit.
• Shuttle back to the hotel, for which our feet thanked us.

Saturday

• I think I sneaked into the con. I didn't mean to.
• I found $5 trades bins and finished the artst's alley.
• And who should I find but Tim Fish! I had been hoping to find some of his comics I hadn't thought to find the artist himself. I should have thought to ask for a Northstar sketch.
• I did, however, find someone to do a Gambit sketch for me at a reasonable price.
• Shopping. Shopping and more shopping.
• Brian Smith tried to sell me on his new series The Intrepid Escapegoat. He needn't have wasted his breath. He had me at "Escapegoat".
• Greg Rucka is my favorite person ever. I'm a bit in love. Also, he's a Mass Effect fan.
• Terry Moore was very shy but I got my autograph and a warning that his new series is "creepy".
• A pretzel is not really lunch. Cons do terrible things to my eating habits.
• Reunion with Gen.
• The line for Tamora Pierce autographs was insane. Of course. But also poorly organized.
• I got her new book (Mastiff) early and she confided that her next series will actually star a boy.
• We waited in line for more than an hour for the Mass Effect 3 panel and just barely got in.
• There was a nerd philibuster at the panel. We were all embarrassed for him.
• We went straight into the line for the Kick Ass Girls in YA panel starring Tamora Pierce and Esther Friesner!
• Some guy had been showing My Little Pony episodes on his laptop in line. He was our second nerd philibuster of the day. He wasted one of the only 3 questions there was time for. *grumble*
• Pierce and Friesner were hilarious. They stared at each other, sang old TV show songs and discussed "bros" and "Did you know Bob?" syndrome. The panel needed to be at least 2 hours imho. Read more about their panel here.
• The service at Olive Garden was amazing.

Sunday

• Sunday I did not sneak in. We were hearded in the basement like nerd cattle.
• I accidentally ended up at the right place and time to get a free copy of Anna Dressed in Blood. I've heard such good things about it. Thanks Tor books!
• The video game booths and any table selling weapons were over crowded but I still managed to see everything left in the main Comic Con rooms.
• Much less shopping, I was pretty much shopped out from Friday and Saturday.
• I took pictures of a lot of costumes, both on people and in stores, to show my mother.
• Last stop: the anime section.
• The anime section was crowded and overfilled with "free hug" signs.
• I did, however, find a lot of amazing jewelry.
• Reunion with Gen.
• With left early and got a late lunch at a pub... with a bus load of German tourists.
• We tried to go to the Nintendo store but got lost and gave up.
• Nap.
• We succeeded at finding the Nintendo store on our second attempt! *Success music from Zelda*
• The last repacking of  my luggage. Everything fit! ...somehow.
• Gen and I spent our last evening in NY reading a soap opera together and giggling. (A Calvacade of Boys... Tim Fish himself described it as a soap opera. He was not lying).

Monday

• Check out and another crazy shuttle ride.
• A lot of trouble with my boarding pass but finally we were in the air again.
• Plane reading: Stumptown by Grag Rucka. Another 5 stars. It is too good for words.
• After getting through customs in record time 3 times, we arrived in Montreal at the same time as 2 international flights.
• My customs agent was hilarious. "$500 worth of books?! You're a librarian; you can get them for free at the library!"
• I didn't have to pay anything in the end but lots of people looked at me like I was out of my mind.

The return to Montreal

• First order of business: entering my new books into LibraryThing
• Second order of business: washing the smell of NY out of my jeans. (Seriously it stinks!)
• Percy was desperate for affection.
• James cut his hair. From the back he looks like Daniel Craig (i.e. 007); it's freaking me out a bit.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go back to staring at this. Oh my. *fans herself*