I haven't posted here for a while for a lot of reasons, but I figured I should do some sort of update. With that in mind, I figured I'd do something I haven't done for almost two years, and that's dig up some Nerd & Tie title cards. Here are some of the best ones:
I swear, as I've gotten older, time seems to slip by me faster and faster. Sometimes you look back and milestones just sort of hit you out of nowhere. My lovely wife Crysta and I have been together for a while though, and we've built a happy life four ourselves - one of random adventures, shared sorrows, and just all around awesomeness.
And Ten years ago today I kissed her for the first time.
That's right, ten years ago today, I started dating the woman I'd marry. We'd met the week before at the annual OA F'mas Party (long story), but we'd actually kept almost meeting for months before hand. Hell, I'm literally in the background of her Facebook pictures from a backyard "To Slay Zombie Newton" concert in the previous October.
The backyard of a house the two of us would later live in together.
I can't imagine my life without Crysta, and it all started this day, ten years ago, in a dorm television lounge at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. It's been an amazing ten years, and I look forward to what's coming next.
It's hard to see how it could get better than this though. - Traegorn
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I wanted to clear my head from the post I made earlier this week (which broke over a month of silence on this blog). I didn't have a lot to say though (since the contents of said previous entry are still heavy on my mind), so instead I decided to post something I drew today.
This is just a random drawing of N.K. from "The Corridor" project I detailed in the blog last February. Obviously there have been tweaks to the character model, but nothing significant.
I don't have a lot more to say other than "I drew a thing" though, so I'm going to leave things at that.
I recorded a vlog about my post election thoughts this year.
I haven't closed the comments on my site for this, but it's more because I can't do it per-post on the blog software I wrote that manages this site. If you feel the need to defend Donald Trump in the comments, please know I will be deleting them.
I know this blog shows up on my comics, and that my readers don't all agree with my politics. Again, I ask you to just stay silent on the matter if this is the case.
Because right now I am very, very angry.
In any case, if you're feeling stressed out... umm... here's a stock picture of some kittens sleeping I found? I mean, that's all I've got for you right now.
So exactly one week from now, the Nerd & Tie Expo will open its metaphorical doors to the public. We've been working hard towards this for the last year, and the fact that it's almost here... it's just kind of amazing.
Well, that and stressful as hell.
There's so many unknowns when you're starting a new con, and so much is on the line. Now, I'm 100% sure that the attendees of the Nerd & Tie Expo will have a good time, and that it'll be a pretty great con for everyone there... but other than that? Who knows. There's so much that can go wrong, and so much that can go right -- and you can't know how things will go until you get there.
And unknown variables always stress me out. Welcome to living with Anxiety.
I am excited though. We've got some great guests, some great events, and the team we've assembled over the last year are all really great people. I'm proud to work with them and call them my friends.
Putting on a convention is hard and a lot of work, but these events are important. Anyone who knows me well understands that I firmly believe that conventions are a vital part of creating real communities and are the foundation of maintaining a true geek subculture.
Twenty years ago a lot of us met in person at fanclubs, which made building real world communities a simple extension of fandom. And while college clubs still exist, these days a lot of that activity has shifted online instead. Online communities are great, don't get me wrong, but they lack personal interaction. The modern version of the convention lets us build that though -- and maintains those real world bonds that the geek subculture needs to survive.
Sorry... started getting a little preachy there for a minute.
So anywho, yeah -- Nerd & Tie Expo. In one week. Holy crap, this is happening. - Traegorn
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As those of you who follow this site may be aware, for the first half of 2016 I found myself fighting a lawsuit AnimeCon.org/Chrono LC CEO Ryan Kopf filed against me in the state of Iowa. It was over some of the coverage of his events I've written over the last couple of years (mostly thesetwo articles). He later amended the suit to include Nerd & Tie co-creator and contributor Pher Sturz.
It should be noted that Pher was added to that suit solely because of posts made on his personal Facebook page in support of me.
Eventually things ended, with the case against myself and Pher Sturz being dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. We had hoped that would be the end of this situation, but unfortunately rather than take the minor PR hit and move on, Mr. Kopf has decided to keep this going.
Late last week both Pher Sturz and I were served once again.
You see, Ryan Kopf has had his attorneys refile the case in the state of Illinois in late June. You can read the new petition (2016-M3-003898) here, but it is almost identical to the amended petition filed in the Iowa case. Pher and I are both named, along with Nerd & Tie itself (although that last bit is less important as Nerd & Tie is not its own legal entity -- as I am the sole legal owner of the site).
Now, as I said last time, I don't want to discuss details, but I still stand by what I wrote.
Unfortunately though, legal fees and lawyers are not exactly cheap, and we expect costs to be much higher this time around. So while we hate to do it, we're asking for your help again.
I've launched a new GoFundMe campaign, and if you can help contribute we'd appreciate it. We're asking for $6,000 right now, although we may need more down the road. I know it's a lot of money, but theres a good chance this case is going to drag out longer than the last one.
So this last weekend was Crysta and my sixth wedding anniversary. Rather than write anything, I just thought I'd share some photos of what we did instead.
I used to write about Politics a lot more in this blog. I mean, I used to write a lot more in general, but even now it's a topic I avoid. Which is weird, right? I have a degree in Political Science and I used to write about politics all the time. I think this is because my blog now gets displayed on the pages for my two comics -- UnCONventional and The Chronicles of Crosarth -- and I'm afraid of offending the readers of those comics.
Well... the readers of one of those comics. I'm not too worried about the UnCONventional readers -- those people probably can guess my opinions pretty easily.
The tragedy in Orlando this last weekend was so severe though that I can't help but think of anything else. Omar Mateen, a US citizen who had a history of spousal abuse, walked into a gay nightclub with guns he had purchased legally and opened fire. It was the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history, and it's exhausting.
While Mateen claimed to have been acting in the name of ISIS, those closest to him claim he wasn't very religious. Even if he had been "radicalized," he was a homophobic and violent mad long before that.
And again, he was able to buy these guns legally.
And honest to god, I'm tired of it. Every single time a mass shooting happens, we point out that this doesn't happen in other countries, and that we need gun reform... and then nothing happens. I don't know if background checks would have stopped this incident, but it continues to be insane that it's easier to get a gun than a car in this country.
This needs to change.
But it won't. Because ever since the gun manufacturers took over the NRA, any chance of serious gun reform went away. And the pundits are going to misdirect - they're going to look at the claimed ISIS connection and ignore the extreme anti-LGBT+ atmosphere in this country.
But heck, the same people who have attacking LGBT+ rights over the last few years have tried to play disingenuous lip service to the victims.
This whole Presidential election has been exhausting. I've never been shy about my affiliation with the Democratic party, but I've never had problems maintaining friendships or working professionally with Republicans. Usually, while we fundamentally disagree on most issues, I at least know that candidates the other person supports are trying to do their best for the country.
I mean, sure -- I think they're wrong, but I know they have a vested interest in keeping the country from burning down.
This election hasn't been like that though. Even if you ignore Donald Trump's bigotry, rape accusations, and lack of experience running a successful business, his economic policies actually risk bankrupting the global economy. The only think Trump is good at is promoting the brand "Trump" -- which makes him so dangerous I can't even begin to explain it.
He's not someone who should be nominating a Supreme Court Justice, let alone be given the nuclear codes.
I know this is rambling, and later this week I'll do some "behind the scenes" posts from one of my comics to bounce this off the front pages of my sites... but right now I'm exhausted, and I'm really tired of feeling this way. - Traegorn
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