I know the best men, I have the best friends

6,666 hours left.

The party went on for five days.

Aral arrived Thursday afternoon. It was so good to see her, and she looked healthy and happy, if a little tired and ready for her vacation. We loafed around, enjoying each other’s company and eating Indian food. We caught up on things that we had been uncomfortable telling each other in the rare telephone conversations we manage once every other month. She admired my neighborhood and the greenness I know she misses in New England. I admired how brilliant she is, as always.

The phone calls from Nashville friends happened all at once about 11 pm. Skeet called in on Virgil’s phone from the 9th floor of the Hyatt. Tony and others called in from the 17th floor. I started giggling uncontrollably because I was so happy. The parties had started. The parties had started and everyone was ready to get going. But we were too tired and our room wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow, so I got everyone’s information for the next morning.

Virgil and his girlfriend Serena arrived at my house around midnight. We were all so excited to see each other that no one could sleep, and we sat around the dining room table strategizing the next day until well after 2 am so we could snatch 4 hours of sleep before we actually *did* leave to party.

I made a big breakfast to fortify us around 6:30, and we left the house at 8. Getting there at 9, it took us exactly an hour to pick up passes already paid for. I dropped by the room where Tony, Andrew, Winn and Paula were holed up, and the party started. That was Friday.

Aral and I fell down exhaustedly just after midnight, because we couldn’t take it anymore. We were told about parties we missed the next day. But passing out at midnight on Friday allowed us to be the only ones of my party crowd to wake up in time to see the big parade the next day. The parade rocked. It was so awesome to see everyone marching in the streets, the Cobra Commandos, the Wing Commander guys, the Storm Troopers. I love that. I love that there are a bunch of guys who started playing GI Joe 20 years ago and just never stopped. There is joy in the world.

I got to talk to the guy who writes Barry Ween. I got to talk to the guy who wrote Whiteout. I got to see the guys who now draw Wonder Woman, Batman, and a ton of my other favorites. I saw members of my favorite television show speak live, got to see them in a real-life context. And that is cool. Know why? Because they’re just people, man. The best thing about this type of event is that you get to see that Greg Rucka is just some guy who went out and just…did it. He just started writing, and just believed in himself, and he was good, and now he gets to write Wonder Woman. I read his stuff all the time. And he’s just some guy. Well, some really talented guy. It gives me hope. It lets me see who’s behind the stuff that I like so much, so that I understand it’s not some mystical process that puts comic books in my hand each month. It’s just a lot of people working very, very hard. And it helps me to remember to work really hard too.

But relaxing and having a throw-down party every once in a while is good too.

More on that day after tomorrow. So many things happened this weekend that it would be too long of a post to put it down all at once. So this is the first half. More on Thursday, I promise.

But just to flaunt – I got to see the DC/Vertigo/Wildstorm preview. It was really commercial, but also very cool. Yea me. More later, including the drink Virgil invented, working the green room, Godzilla, naked people, and the best men in the whole world. Later.