#26: Go to Comic-Con dressed as a superhero or other famous sci-fi character

I'll open this blog post with a disclaimer: I know that the real item on my "30 Things" list specifically says that I need to attend "Comic Con" and unfortunately no, I was not able to go back in time to attend this summer's actual event in San Diego, however, I hope that you will allow me this explanation. When I created my "30 Things" list, I did so with a blue sky in mind and didn't think at all about financial implications or the amount of time it would take to achieve these things, and looking back, I realize that I may have been a bit ambitious in adding too many items to my list that require some sort of traveling. Given the fact that I don't have as much discretionary income as I'd like, and that fact that the Celebration VI Star Wars convention was being held in Orlando this year, I did a little switcheroo. Now, I still hope to make it to the real Comic Con one day, but in the meanwhile, this was a great way for me to check an item off my list and have a really fun day doing it!


If you are surprised to hear that I'm a big enough Star Wars fan to attend a convention of this sort, it may just be because I fly my nerd flag selectively. Believe it or not, although waxing on for hours about different Harry Potter spells, Star Wars planets and other superhero storylines does indeed make me giddy, I do know how to suppress my nerdy tendencies and hold normal conversations too. So if you're not a nerd, which most of my friends are not, I've probably opted out of sharing this information with you so as not to bore you or cause you to run away screaming. Now, this is the opposite with my friend Kyle, who you might remember from my half marathon post. He is the King of the Nerds (and I don't think he'll mind me saying this, because he knows that this is a compliment) and we almost exclusively talk about nerdy things and/or do nerdy things together (he was also my partner in crime for the double-feature Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows midnight showing in which we also donned costumes). I knew immediately that he'd be the perfect person to join me at Celebration VI and would proudly come wearing his Jedi best.

In addition to buying my ticket (we opted to go on the last day of the convention to avoid the crazy crowds), I also had to determine which character to dress up as. Typically in the sci-fi/fantasy sphere, women don't get a whole lot of choice. Female superheroes tend to a) wear a skin-tight suit of spandex (a la Black Widow or Cat Woman) or b) run around practically naked like Slave Leia or Wonder Woman. Personally, I don't have the body or a great enough lack of inhibition to pull off either of these options. Plus, I knew that in addition to finding a costume I'd like to wear, I also had to figure out how I was going about finding that costume considering I don't sew a lick.

I wound up purchasing a custom-made gown on eBay for...I'm scared to admit it...$150. I know, it is entirely impractical to spend that much money on a costume that I will likely only wear a few times. But oh, it's so pretty! The gown is from the very last scene in A New Hope when Princess Leia is giving medals to Luke and Han, and it represents perhaps one of Leia's most elegant moments. In addition, I figured that it was a less "popular" scene in the films, so if I wore that gown I'd perhaps be only one in a handful to wear it to the convention (it's sort of like prom where you don't want to be seen in the same gown as another woman). And let me tell you, folks, that dress was MAGIC!

Okay, not real magic, but a sort of made-my-dreams-come-true-magic, if you will. Another perhaps little known secret about me is that I have always, always, always dreamed of being a Disney Princess and I am sincerely and thoroughly crushed that I am officially too old and too far down the professional pipeline to ever become one. If anybody ever wants to make my year, arrange for those costuming folks to dress me up as Belle or Cinderella and you will probably see me cry with joy. Tangent aside, I think wearing this costume may be as close as I will ever come to knowing what it feels like to walk through the Magic Kingdom wearing a princess costume. Everywhere I went, people were looking my way and TWELVE times I was asked by a complete stranger if they could take a picture of me. Granted I don't usually relish this kind of attention, but today I was soaking it in. Perhaps it's because I knew I was among my nerd bretheren who would appreciate my attire rather than judge it or think it weird! In addition to our own costumes, Kyle and I also saw some other greats, including Darth himself, Admiral Ackbar, Darth Maul, lots of Jedis and even a male version of Aura Singh.

In total, we wound up spending about 6 hours at the convention. We saw a great panel with Warwick Davis, ate a themed lunch, got Disney Star Wars name tags in Aurbesh, took lots of pictures and browsed through hundreds of exhibitors pawning their best merchandise. By the time we left, we were thoroughly exhausted and already brainstorming about our next nerd outing.

And with that, another item has been checked off my list. Only 17 to go! Until next time...

#2: Get an acupuncture treatment

Acupuncture, as well as other homeopathic and ancient healing methods, has always fascinated me, and that is originally why #2 made its way onto my 30 Things list. As of late, however, my interest has piqued significantly, going from "I'd like to try this so I can say I tried it" to actually hoping it could make a medical difference. Let me tell you a little story...

As many of you know, I suffer from Crohn's Disease, as well as other annoying ailments like allergies, headaches, acne, etc., all of which tend to result in me ingesting a far greater quantity of medication than I'd like. And as I've made certain changes in my life -- becoming a vegetarian, trying to eat mostly organic foods, using only organic and natural cosmetics -- I've started to see all of these medications in a different light. Sure, some medications and treatments are absolutely necessary (I am NOT one of those people that won't vaccinate my kids, or refuses to pop an Advil to cure a headache), but I've noticed more and more lately that doctors try to treat the symptoms of illness, rather than doing the necessary exploration to find and treat the cause of the symptom. Not to give too much information here, but I went to the dermatologist the other day because I've got some chest and back acne that's bugging me. I clearly stated to the doctor that I really didn't care to be on acne medication for the rest of my life so I was hoping to figure out what was causing the acne and treat that. Of course, she nodded along like she agreed at first, but then she hurried me out of the office with three prescriptions for various pills, creams and lotions that she even admitted wouldn't cure me, but would keep things in a controlled state. How's that for exactly the opposite of what I asked for?

At the end of the day, this is a very long-winded way of saying that my distaste for doctors' attitudes and prescription-writing frenzies has further increased my desire to pursue alternate courses of treatment for some of these less-critical and more annoying conditions. And therefore, conveniently having acupuncture on my list, and even more conveniently meeting a friend at work that is undergoing acupuncture, made my decision to schedule my first appointment simple.

Let me start by saying that there's no reason to hide the fact that actually making the appointment and driving myself to the office scared the crap out of me (ok, I was scared during the evaluation, too, and stayed scared until she put the first needle in my foot...but I'll get to that in a minute). I think it would be an outright lie if anyone who has never had acupuncture tried to sit here and say the thought of someone sticking multiple needles into various body parts wasn't a bit unnerving (unless maybe you've gotten a tattoo in which case you apparently have no aversion to unnecessarily sticking yourself with needles...next time, try acupuncture instead, it's way less permanent).

My appointment at Ling's Acupuncture was for 12noon on Saturday (part of the appeal of this place is the Saturday hours!) and after arriving I was promptly ushered into a small room that looked very much like a typical doctor's office waiting room, except with slightly more soothing lighting. Dr. Wang came in shortly thereafter and asked me a series of medical questions -- why was I here? when did I feel pain? what helped the pain? how long did it last? -- after which she explained that acupuncture is designed to restore the balance in the body...something about qi, which is pronounced chee, but honestly she was talking so fast in somewhat broken English and I was still scared as heck, so I caught about 30% of what she was saying. I do remember that she stated that acupuncture can help increase blood flow in the body, or balance your yin and yang, which apparently represent heat and cold. By this point, I was just ready to get started and see what these needles felt like.

Dr. Wang had me lay on the table and she started wiping down certain areas of my body with an alcohol swab (feet, legs, belly, hands, forehead and scalp...and yes, when she went up to my forehead and scalp I got a little more scared). But then all of a sudden she was down by my feet and said "is that okay?" and I was like...is what okay? Wait, you just stuck a needle in me? I hadn't felt a darn thing. Le sigh. This wasn't going to hurt! Hallelujah! Dr. Wang continued sticking my feet and legs and I couldn't feel any of it. I got a little more nervous when she came up to my belly, but she told me to relax, that she'd be very gentle and she was right. There were a couple of needles that stung the slightest bit (one in my left hand, in particular), but for the most part, the experience was absolutely painless.

The best part comes next. Dr. Wang turned on a heat lamp and focused it on my midriff, put on soothing Chinese instrumental music and left me to relax for 25 minutes. Seriously guys, I think I was asleep 10 minutes in. I actually woke myself up with a loud snort, which is a bad sign that I was probably snoring. Regardless, I felt refreshed by the time Dr. Wang came back in to remove the needles and send me on my merry way.

Of course, one treatment isn't supposed to really accomplish much (just as going to the gym one time won't turn you into a body builder), so I'm scheduled to go back next weekend for treatment two. The likelihood of me being able to keep up with this in the long term is probably pretty slim as it's $75 a treatment, but I figure I'll give it a month and if it seems to have worked miracles, I may re-evaluate my finances to see if this can't be squeezed in. For now, I'm just glad that I faced another one of my fears and crossed another item off my list!

Til next time...