I’m finally getting back to things.  First, I finally took a big-ish step today.  I pulled the cables from the table.  I’m officially packing up the studio.  The table is pretty well cluttered at the moment but it still looks, feels different.  I locked down an apartment back home, right in my old neighborhood.  I can’t wait to get back!  I just need to figure out the storage situation and then decide what to do about transportation.  I can use any advice anyone has.  I’m looking at either using some sort transport pod or just driving it down myself.  The pods will cost about as much as getting a truck but driving myself means three trips.  An idea I’m not opposed to but I’d really rather not come back here if it can be avoided.  Anyone who’s had to drive in utah, you get it.  I already have an idea how to work out my resin and other art projects and things, I kind of have an idea how to reestablish the studio in the new place.  I think I’ll need to modulate the whole setup so I can configure and tear down quickly when we need to record.  I can’t wait to walk Ventura Blvd. again, get donuts from the shop down the street, eat at my old In-N-Out Burger again.  I can’t wait!

     Now then, I mean to write about Indianapolis Comic Convention not long after.  Here I am now, finally.  It was a pretty good show.  But first, I’m going to talk a little about my first trip really anywhere.  I’ve never been able to just pick up and go somewhere.  Yeah, I went for the convention so I could do all this.  But I tend to need to a reason to do things like this.  It was interesting.  I’d never been that far east before.  It was an odd sensation being closer to the Atlantic Ocean than to the Pacific.  Otherwise, it wasn’t entirely terrible.  Of course I did see one or two confederate flags so, there’s that.  Growing up in LA I seemed to have this intrinsic sensation that everything east of Barstow was the deep south and then I was banished to utah and saw just how true that is.  And then seeing those flags anywhere just further proves that.  I went to a Hardee’s for food one night.  The menu was familiar and different.  I think I have a pretty good idea what it feels like to be in a parallel universe.  But anyone who knows me knows I judge a place by two criteria.  Their motorists and their cheeseburgers.  The latter first, I went to a Steak ‘n Shake.  Solid food, those burgers are huge and messy and I didn’t see a napkin in the whole place.  The fries are seasoned shoestring but good.  Those burgers, though, very yummy!  And the shakes are fantastic!  Their mix-ins for the peanut butter cup shake are ground just enough that you enjoy them but not so much that they jam up the straw.  Obviously, it doesn’t compare to In-N-Out and you know why but Steak ‘n Shake is pretty close to second.

     Now, the driving.  Overall, they’re not bad.  I did see some shitty driving but not as much as utahns and nowhere near as blatantly atrocious as utahns.  In general, closer to LA than to utah in regards to driving.

     In full, my perception of Indiana generally positive.  I may only go back for future nerd conventions but I will say that I don’t hate it.  Maybe I will go visit some time just to visit.  There are some interesting landmarks in the downtown area that I didn’t take time to really appreciate.  Also, downtown Indianapolis, That is a pretty good looking downtown.  I dare say, worth the time to visit.

     Now, I’ve written quite a bit here, so, I’m going to write up my review on the convention separately and post it on Tuesday.  So, have fun and I’ll be back later.

Well, Here I am flying across the country now.  All by myself just like a big boy!  I did it.  I’m heading to Indianapolis for the comic convention.  As you may know from listening to our podcast, Redstone Diaries, I go to Salt Lake FanX every year since the beginning.  If you’re not familiar with our podcast, you got the name, GO LISTEN NOW!!!  ALL OF IT!!!  I could use the downloads.  And who knows, maybe I’ll start making it out to the other conventions more regularly.  I believe this Indiana Comic Convention is organized by Dan Farr Productions.  The company that organizes the Salt Lake FanX.  I don’t have confirmation of this but I’ll let you know if I see Dan Farr running around.  I can say for sure that when you scroll to the bottom of the web page saltlakecomicconvention.com you’ll see the buttons that link to Atlanta Comic Convention, Indiana Comic Convention, and Tampa Bay Comic Convention.  I’m less interested in anything happening in Florida, for obvious reasons, but Atlanta might be a fun show too.  We’ll see how things shake out for me over the next few months.  More on that in a minute.  I’m excited to experience a somewhat different convention.  I imagine it’ll be configured similarly to FanX but I’ll be in a different state.  A different state, mind you, I never thought I would visit.  It’s nothing personal, I just thought the middle had nothing to offer.  And being stuck in Utah for so many years, well, there just wasn’t much evidence to the contrary.  Of course I say this all in good fun.  Except for the things about Utah, Utah knows what it did.  Who knows, maybe I won’t hate Indiana.  I’ll let you know in a few days.  I’m not sure yet if I’ll be doing my daily recaps.  I may just discuss the con in summation.  I was going to going to prepping some episodes to post but then I realized that I was planning to leave home one of the devices that I recorded our material.  Turns out that trying to do this shit is far less convenient when you’re not walking down the street to get to the convention.  This’ll be fun in any case.  I figured out something I’m going to get signed by Katee Sackhoff.  I’ll post photos when I get back to SLC but it will ultimately be framed.  Just not for a little while.

     The case with that being that I will indeed be moving back to LA by the end of this month.  When I get back after the con on Monday I’ll have two weeks to finish packing and get things going.  It looks like I’ve got an apartment, I’ll be taking care of the paper work for that this weekend and I have another job interview scheduled for this afternoon.  Provided I can figure out the time difference and not blow it first thing.  I’m not used to being this far east let alone inland.  It’s all somewhat disorienting.  But more than that, I’ve been awake for more or less thirty hours and it would seem that I’m somewhat less apt to sleep when at thirty-thousand feet.

Sorry again.  I’ve fallen short with everything again.  This last week I’ve been dealing with some emotional shit.  I’m getting through but I haven’t done any of the shit I’m supposed to be doing right now.  But I’m getting off my ass today do things.  I think I’ve pretty well decided to go to Indiana Comic Convention next week.  I’ve been looking into the pricing for travel and lodging and it’ll be pricey but that is mostly because I’m because doing all this the week before.  I really am thinking that by tomorrow I will have paid to do all this.  I did look at the programming and schedule on the app for the show.  It’s a solid lineup.  The celebrity guest list has a lot of interesting names on it.  A lot of people I’m interested to see like; Tony Danza I didn’t get a chance to see him when he was in Salt Lake for FanX a few years ago, Andy Serkis I’ve always appreciated the work he’s done moving forward motion capture which has become an extraordinarily prolific technology in all sorts of media now, a bunch of former Power Rangers, Star Trek alumni, I didn’t get to meet Mitch Pileggi when he was over here the con awhile back, Katy Sagal of whom I’ve been a fan since Married…with Children, Sonequa Martin-Green from The Walking Dead and Star Trek Discovery I haven’t watched that show yet but I loved Sasha, and of course, I’m ever a fan of Voice Actors across the board.

     One of the bigger things I’m excited for in this convention is not only will Katee Sackhoff be there but she’s also doing a live recording for her podcast and you all know how I feel about podcasts and podcasting.  I’ve been catching up on The Katee Sackhoff Show and I’m current again after sometime of falling behind on all the podcasts I follow.  That’s two I caught up on now, only a three- or four-hundred more to go.  My point is, she does a great podcast and I enjoy directing attention to great podcasts…in lieu of getting off my ass and doing my own.  If you’re interested is going to the live recording is a separate ticket from your convention admission which means it is a separate admission price point.  You can download the Indiana Comic Convention app in whatever app store, in the schedule for Saturday it’s listed at seven p.m., and in the information screen for that event there is a link for you to buy your ticket to The Katee Sackhoff Show recording.

     Yeah, I’m about to pull the trigger on this myself.  I’m getting pretty excited for this show after writing all this.  It’s looking like a it’ll be a fun show and I won’t have to deal with utah drivers.

Some bad news yesterday, I mean aside from the ongoing “governmental” bullshit.  The news broke that Michelle Trachtenberg died yesterday.  She’s a talented performer who started acting as a child and was a good actor compared with adults.  From what I saw, as a child myself and not in-the-know, she always seemed to hold her own performing with adults on screen as a child actor.  If I recall correctly, Harriet the Spy was her first movie or at least her first starring role in a movie.  She was in at least one or two Nickelodeon shows before that and then she worked on a number of shows and movies right up until just a couple years ago.  In particular she made Buffy the Vampire Slayer interesting to me again.  I always had a huge crush on her.  She’s another one of those performers that you never hear about being a jackass.  It seems to me that everyone enjoyed working with her and just being around her.  When someone so genuine and loved dies it’s sad enough and when they’re so young, as I’m told thirty-nine to be, the tragedy compounds.  She was always someone I wanted to meet but reading the things that people are writing about their experiences with her, I know I truly missed out.  I didn’t think this was going to be any kind of tribute but I don’t really want to write anything else here.  I’m thinking I’m just gonna call it and try to figure out how to funny on something else.

This has been a week.  I finally started packing in the studio.  I’m still nowhere near packed but I’m getting closer.  I’ve pretty much worked out the biggest thing in there, now I need to deal with the second biggest thing in that room, the production desk.  Two monitors, mac mini, audio board, video switcher, about a quarter mile of cables and adapters, and then the two or three pieces of furniture holding all that.  I think I may need to invest in one of those transport pods to get the most of this done sooner and then figure out the rest later.  And yeah, I thought it would be cooler to talk about a transport pod to move my shit too but here we are.  The mundanity of transport pods is exceeded only by the monetary cost to use it.  ”What a bleak and horrible future we live in!!!”

     I’ve been watching The Magicians the last few days.  A solid show, if you’re not familiar.  Last night I got to the part of the series where Quentin dies…or does he…just watch it so I don’t have to talk around the spoilers…the whole series is on Tubi now…I’ll wait…done now?  Good.  Yeah, he dies.  One of those things I relate to and NO, not because we’re both nerdy, useless, white guys.  Because of the lifetime of mental illness and suicidal ideation that tends to come with all that.  Watching it this time hit me differently than usual.  And when I say ‘differently’, I mean harder.  Turns out I have about four years more baggage than I had the last time.  And while this is not actually my therapy session, I’m sure I’ll be sharing more than I should at some point.

     A more pressing matter.  I haven’t yet locked down a new apartment aside from being miles away from done packing.  I’m thinking I may need another month to work out all the details for moving.  That could line up things better for one option of a place to live but I don’t want to put off moving any longer than I already have.  I can’t wait to get out of here but of course there is benefit to leveling ones’ shot.  In any case I need to get off my ass and start working on my projects again.  I haven’t written anything more than these few posts for a couple weeks again.  I have been working on some resources for our podcast games instead of getting done anything I need to.  Also, it turns out that some new evidence has been found and points to, allegedly, a more clear suspect in the Ripper murders, which of course in mind shoots down the idea for my one project that I barely started and was getting to, ya know, soon.  Bah!  I’m sure I’ll still finish it.  I’m just pissed that I didn’t get to solve the case like I planned.  Alright, I may take a nap now and start again packing later.