12 February 2008

All Are Welcome

My husband and I are very happily ensconced in our nerdiness.

Frank is a long-time comic book reader and collector. He also collects comic book related toys, Star Wars toys and Star Wars sculptures. His area of the basement is affectionately known as "The Android's Dungeon", after the comic store in The Simpsons. I also call it "Gamer's Paradise" and "Fan Boy Land". He spent a week designing and building custom shelving to house his collections of plastic and paper. If you've ever set foot in a comic book store, you'll get an idea of what Frank's area looks like. Frank also has a superpower: he can turn any conversation into one about comic books and/or superheroes. It's a fun party trick.

As a kid, I read my fair share of comics - mostly Wonder Woman, Archie and Richie Rich digests. I also read my dad's stash of horror comics from the late-50's (the few that survived the great purge of 1960 when my grandmother threw out all of his comic and baseball card collections after he moved to college. I don't think he ever forgave her for that.). As a teen, a dear friend introduced me to Dave Sims' incredible Cerebus the Aardvark, an indie comic that remains one of my fave reads. In our 20's he would hand me an issue of Neil Gaiman's epic Sandman comic, titled "Dream of a Thousand Cats," which would make me a die-hard Gaiman fan. That man could write box copy for bran flakes and I would buy it. He's brilliant.

Our family vacations are planned around the comic book convention in Chicago. We're contemplating going to San Diego this year to the country's premier comic book convention.

Our son is named after comic book writer/artist, Evan Dorkin, creator of the hilarious Milk & Cheese. Incidentally, Evan could name the members of the Justice League before he knew his ABC's. That's right, we know what our priorities are.

So that's the back story.

Not so long ago Frank and I had the following conversation:

Frank: I just saw the coolest episode of "Mythbusters"! It was all about superheroes! I indulged my inner nerd.

Misc: Inner?

Frank: Okay, outer.

Misc: How about all?

Frank: The all-nerd? I am the All-Nerd!

Misc: (doing a fair impression of the creepy little old lady from "Poltergeist") All are welcome! All are welcome! Come into the light of the All-Nerd!

Both dissolve into fits of giggles.

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