My day at LBCC was interesting.  I was supposed to go for the entire weekend, but I only went on Saturday.  It was my first comic book convention in over a year (since last year's LBCC) and I was hoping that by attending, it might get me back into comic books.

I'm so pleased that I was able to reconnect with someone important from my past, however brief our exchange was.  That alone made the trek up and down the crappy 710 FWY worth it.  It even made the uncomfortable chairs (my hips still hurt, but that might be because I'm old) and freezing cold rooms bearable (almost).  Seriously, I was wearing jeans, thick socks, Doc Martins, two shirts, a hoodie and a puffer vest and I was STILL shivering.  Still, it was all worth it.  Although, I wish I could have looked a little nicer.  I was dressed for comfort, not seeing someone I haven't seen or talked to in a few years.  Of course THEY looked amazingly awesome, which only made it worse that I wasn't wearing stilettos and a sexy ballgown.  Okay, maybe that wouldn't be right either.  I have no clue what you should be wearing in these situations, but being ultra casual doesn't seem like the best route to take to impress someone.

What else did I do at the convention?  I watched the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special (it was good), a RAW films thing (Lance Hendricksen, etc), sat through an uncomfortable presentation of "Grindhouse" films, saw the former cast of "Young Justice" show how much they enjoyed working with each other (the show was cancelled), another panel on animation and then a spotlight panel.  Apart from the Grindhouse thing (no offense to the people who did it, just not my cup of tea), they were all pretty good, especially the spotlight panel.  Some people are simply a pleasure to watch and listen to.

As I was driving home I had the news on the radio, trying to keep an ear out for traffic reports.  A story came on that gave me pause.  The reporter announced that Wanda Coleman passed away.  I don't know if you are familiar with her, but she was an amazing poet from here in Los Angeles.  I used to watch her on late night TV performing with Henry Rollins and Exene Cervenka when I was in high school, then I was able to see her perform live when I was in college.  She was electrifying.  I know I'm not a black woman who grew up in South Central Los Angeles with the same battles and struggles she faced, but she resonated with me.She was my generations Maya Angelou.  Maya Angelou without the pseudo intellectual barrier that seems to separate her from her readers.  People say they read Maya Angelou because it sounds good.  It makes you seem smart.  Wanda, on the hand...... if you said you read her, people expected to you to back it up.  What did you read?  Where did you see her?  What was your favorite part?  What's your favorite poem?  If you found someone who read her, they wanted to talk about it and share it with you.  How often does that happen in this day and age with a POET?  Rest in Peace Wanda, I'm going to see if I can dig up the video I have of you reading "I Live for my Car".  What a masterpiece.

It was a bittersweet day.