Everything that keeps me together is falling apart

Hey, back! From where? Connecticon! Well, technically I was back yesterday but guess what shush. So, I met some really cool people, such as... Randall Munroe! (creator of the xkcd webcomic) and I am happy to say that he is an awesome guy. Unlike Tim Buckley, haha. But yeah--he was cool. He signed the DS that's about to retire (Tyler suggested I frame it, but I'm just going to reserve for alarm clocking only) And I got one of those No Raptors shirt--In fact, I'm wearing it even as I type. I should've waited to wear it to work tomorrow. Just because. Though that stand is alarmingly similar to a creaky gazebo... I'd actually probably just be tempting whatever raptors are around to kill me. But, let's go on... I met the Slackerz team, who denied my compliments, but willingly drew Johnny Turbo for me. I met Joe Dunn (Joe Loves Crappy Movies) aka the creator of the website I check before I rent or go to movies. I got the first volume, which he signed, and he was either honored or really creeped out by the fact that he's my ultimate movie source. Let's see... I met the Explosm team as well, and all three signed the "Hey, I'm being followed by monkeys!" shirt for me. They were cool guys. Which really is to be expected. Annnd Questionable Content man, whose name I actually do not know. He's really intimidating in person. Well, walking up to him. He looks like a big tough biker kind of guy with all these tattoos and piercings and stuff, but he is so friendly! He drew Pintsize and the Yelling Sparrow for me : ) I was going to give Meg Pintsize, but he is too cute. She can have Yelling Sparrow.
Let's see? Is that it? I hung out (briefly) with Mookie again this year, and managed to nab a picture with him this time:
I think, although I'm a little biased, my friend Craig had the best costume of them all: a giant Tetris block. the 'L' block, which we realized Joe Dunn had drawn into his book on the way home. I sure hope he saw Craig! My costume? Carmen Sandiego! Duh! And it was while talking to Mookie I realized Carmen is my Tyler Durden--I was looking for her so long, and it turned out it was me the whole time! It's the perfect crime(s)! And you know what else?
I GOT AN EFFING POCKET WATCH. Sorry, some things are too cool to talk about without including profanity. Well, implied profanity. And pocket watches are one of those things. I am never touching my wristwatch again. I feel so Victorian Era! Plus? It's got Roxas on the inside. And in Roman numerals. Quite literally, it's everything that's good about the world. And I bought a Kadaj doll, who I immediately (upon returning home) put next to my Sephiroth and snapped one:
Aww! Eye candy! How cute! I am entranced. Really. Last night I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, but I just couldn't stop staring at their adorableness. IT'S NOT RIGHT. IT'S TOO CUTE.

Anyways. Back to pretending I'm an intelligent individual who is not a nerd. So, the first thing my dad said to me when I got home was he hated the Coraline book and loved the movie. So, I spent my day rereading the book. And honestly, the only way I can see him not enjoying it is maybe the fact that it's written at about a fifth-grade reading level, and he's 54. But really, Neil Gaiman is a genius, and even though I've only read three or four of his works, I am willing to wholeheartedly say everything he touches turns to gold and there's really no reason as to why I don't own Murder Mysteries or have ever read Sandman. Heck, if even comics that are spin-offs of his are worth writing home about, the man has to be pretty damned good. *ahem* Anyways, give me a second to get up from licking his boots...
So, I reread the book. It no longer made my skin crawl in quite the same way as it did when I read it when I was... 11? 12? But I could remember that feeling and I was able to appreciate the book. (You know?) Well, it was only remembering, till I got to the very end. Reflecting on the book, I thought about the actual process of sewing the button eyes. Oh good sweet Christ. I DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT. And the bat-dogs image in my head from the book horrified more than the ones in the movie could ever hope to. It's a good book. It goes by faster than the movie, but nothing about it really bothers me. It's a good book and if you're into the kind of horror/fantasy genre, at least take it out from the library. Especially, I guess, if you're older. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to people over... thirty? Maybe even late twenties. Well, at least, I can see someone old like my dad not really being in love with the book.
But! I love the movie too. I actually think it's the best book-to-movie translation I've ever seen. It can stand alone, and I can watch it without being "That wasn't in the book! Hey, where's x part?" I actually think they pretty much took everything from the book. And I did notice Wybie (Whybee?) but he doesn't bother me. He was worked nicely in, and I am willing to accept him. Other additions to the movie--I can only think of a few, but they were needed, to really show you how great this world was, as opposed to our world. Well, maybe not needed, but it was stunning eye candy. And I only saw it in 2D! You have no idea how psyched I am to see it in 3D. (My dad bought it last week)

Anyways. Hopefully I'll finish Catch-22 tomorrow at work. That's such a good book.