One of the worlds was a field of rolling hills through which completely unnecessary channels had been dug. I had built bridges over the channels. I appeared to her as a bridge, explaining that the company intended to eventually charge pedestrians to cross the bridges. She realized that I had made the channels narrow enough that you could jump over them without paying the toll. I explained, in waking life, that this is exactly the sort of passive-aggressive thing I would do to subvert plans I found foolish yet I am for whatever reason obligated to follow.

When I was a kid, I was bothered by Watterson’s seeming inability to stay on model with Hobbes. Sometimes he drew the tiger like Hobbes was just a stuffed animal. But now I know better. The stuffed animal was a metaphor for how adults just can’t deal with seeing the tigers all around them.

That’s all I remember about that dream before it turned into a dream about me and a group of resistance fighters in battle with a paramilitary group.

Last night/this morning I found myself at a party with improv peeps from The New Movement. We didn’t know whose house it was. The walls were adorned with large anatomical illustrations where one might find a Van Gogh. Similarly, there were coffee table books about horse anatomy. Outside on the patio, a projector displayed super gay music videos against the side of the wall. I don’t know if it was a primarily gay party or what. It was just the backdrop to some good conversations and some idiot savant wisdom coming out of Milo’s mouth, including some secrets about sloths and the directive to not deny his passion.

I had never been a vendor at a convention, so I didn’t know what to expect. Chris warned me that STAPLE! kind of spoils vendors for other conventions because it is such a cool experience. He was not wrong. My vague plan was to roll in there with copies of House of Whack and The Stork and see what happened.

Before I left home, I created a little hand drawn sign which had the prices on it. Under The Stork I thought about adding the phrase “It Will Alter Your Life”, but then thought it was silly and hyperbolic. But, of course, that was the Cuckoo trying to thwart me. So I went ahead and wrote it in red. I think it made all the difference because I ended up selling 30 copies.

I didn’t have a fancy sign like a lot of the other vendors. I didn’t even have a table cloth. Apparently that didn’t matter in the end. I set up a demo of House of Whack and a pile of The Stork and my little sign. To my left was Big Head Press with graphic novels endorsed by Alan Moore. To my right was David McGuire, the soft spoken creator of the Grastrophobia web comic.

I wasn’t really sure I could suddenly become a marketing guy who sat at a booth all day, trying to get people to buy my stuff. But I engaged most of the people who walked by, starting conversations with them, giving the elevator pitch for both products. A guy bought House of Whack just because I started talking to him about board games in general. The Stork was the easiest sell of anything I’ve ever done. For one, it was $1. Secondly, when people grokked what it was about, they bought it, sometimes before I could even finish describing it.

I met all kinds of cool people and made potential contacts. I wasn’t even trying to network with anyone, but people would just hand me their card and tell me who to talk to in order to get House of Whack in their store.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience.

The STAPLE pre-party was neat. I had forgotten how many comic books there were at Austin Books & Comics. It felt like an ark for comic books, a backup vault in case civilization fell. I didn’t really know anyone there besides Chris, but my “Team Linus” shirt served as social currency. I also got to meet Goatboy, the artist who did the interior art for The Stork. I had only worked with him online.

Then I went to Reed’s housewarming party where I talked to cute girls about Doctor Who. Cory brought New Age and fruit, pretty much sealing the deal on the fun party situation.

Tomorrow night is the STAPLE pre-party at Austin Books and Comics. I’m going to roll in there like I know what is going on. But I don’t know what to say to a room full of indie comic writers. I’ll hang out there until I feel awkward and then bounce over to Reed and Laura Lee’s housewarming party.

Saturday is all about STAPLE. Got to get up early, drag some products over to the convention center, check in, find my table and act like I know what I am doing. My plan is to set up House of Whack and invite people to play. Also, I will trick people into paying $1 for The Stork when it is actually worth $1.45! Ha ha! No idea what to expect. I’ve never done an expo for reals and I don’t know if I can deal with sitting at a booth all day.

After that, there are several events that I will attempt to hit, depending on my energy level. My friend Jonathan is having a birthday party, there is the STAPLE BBQ dinner and the STAPLE after party. It will be at a club with a DJ, so I don’t know.

Sunday evening brings Fiction Circus. It’s a thing.

Monday = take a breath.

Tuesday is Boards ‘N Brews. That night’s double feature is Dungeon Lords and Cosmic Encounter.

Wednesday = dork around online.

Thursday promises an interesting mixer for the Austin Geocachers Meetup, followed by my friend Reed’s band, World Racketeering Squad at Headhunters.

Friday = video games.

Come Saturday and SXSW will start to ramp up. While I am not attending the insane industry fame fest proper, I will be checking out peripheral parties and events, like the one put on by io9 and Gawker media. MC Frontalot and Stormtroopers!

Sunday finds me hanging out with friends.

Monday there is a Meetup for all the Meetup organizers hosted by the Meetup bigwigs in town for SXSW. Supposedly we will be discussing strategies. My meetup is awesome, so I’m not sure what I will take home from it except maybe some beers in my belly.

The rest of the week is a question mark. Chances are I will check out a few SXSW things, but more likely stay at home.

Then there is a big lull the following week right before PAX East. I’m really looking forward to it. By all accounts, this looks like it will be the geek convention suited for me. I probably won’t do GenCon again and I’m not sure I’ll ever do a ComiCon or E3. But PAX seems like the perfect blend of those things.

I’m just over 100 gigs now, which is still a ton of music, much of which I may not have even heard.

What is the recipe, you ask? Look no further than the wonderful Epicurious: click here for awesome sandwiches

Also, have you seen that amazing OK Go video for This Too Shall Pass?

Tired from errands. Bye now.