Of Playthings and Puppets

In case none of you were aware, this weekend Wizard is hosting the Big Apple Comic Con in New York City. Supposedly, advanced tickets have been selling quite well despite an increased price ($35-$40 each compared to only about $12 in previous years [or free earlier in the year!]). Based on my past experiences with the Con… it’s really not worth that much. It’s far smaller than New York Comic Con and, honestly, just not nearly as enjoyable. I suppose this is what happens when NYCC is still a whole year away (!).

If you are going, though, be sure to drop by Terminal Press‘ booth (#418) and give them some business. The guys are cool as Hell and their books are just fun.

But, as I wrote in this entry’s title, I’m in Vermont, so it all doesn’t matter for me. Instead of comics, I’m looking at changing leaves and hiking on trails. Instead of smelling sweaty fat men dressed as Harry Potter, I’m breathing clean, fresh mountain air. And instead of bumping elbows and dodging crowds of fans, I’m driving along fairly deserted highways with my fiance in my new car.

It’s definitely a trade up.

We’re doing some fun things, too (though there’s nothing like the feeling of picking up a stack of comics and slashing them from my list). After driving up here today, taking our sweet time to look over the mountains and valleys, we took a tour of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory and partook in some free samples. If you’ve never taken a tour of the facilities (or even had a B&J!), I highly recommend it as the half hour journey through the bowels of the factory is both informative and fun and, at $3 for adults, a fair bargain considering the ample sample at the end.

We then travelled down to our present location, Killington, a small ski-town seemingly abandoned in the off-season months. No cars travel down two-lane highways. The tourist traps are all closed. A wall of menus in our hotel isn’t applicable as only three are actually open. The ski slopes are smooth, the gondolas silent. It’s rather romantic, actually, and more great times are ahead as the weekend continues (Keene Pumpkin Fest tomorrow!).

Yet all through driving to B&J, stopping by Long Trail Brewing Co. for a sampler, watching the Phillies/Dodgers game while munching at a Pulled Pork Sub, and dodging moose for 15 mile stretches, the idea of actually living in a place like this never really entered my mind. I just honestly don’t think I could do it. Having lived in Storrs, CT for four years, a location just 30 minutes from a relatively large shopping area, and absolutely hating every minute I had to drive, the concept of living miles and miles and miles away from what I consider civilization is simply not appealing.

I need the city. I need New York. I need a subway station, drunken and smelly vagrants, buildings reaching for the sky, trees surrounded by fences within a park, dogs on leashes, groceries from a super store. How could I live without a massive bookstore, a Post Road, a pick of restaurants respresenting every corner of the world, department stores, and let’s not even forget the natural wonder of wonders… the OCEAN! Yes, there are mountains aplenty, snow every which way you look, and some lovely mountain trails. But this isn’t me. I want to sit in the back of gypsy cabs, wind my way through traffic, eat a greasy hot dog boiled in sewar water, and bask in the sun on a sandy beach.

You know… this is probably why all but two of my currently planned books will be based in New York City….