Official business completed, we spent several hours wandering through the Comicpalooza exhibit hall.
Passing by a panel in discussion mode, I heard a young woman say that when she first became involved in cosplay, she was shocked that strangers came up and touched her. She wasn’t prepared for that. I wasn’t prepared to hear they touched her. Ick.
Nearby a poster read in part, “Cosplay is not consent.” If you want to touch a costume or pose with the player for a picture, ask first.
That cleared up something for me: You don’t have to ask to take a picture; you have to ask to pose with them for a picture. It’s smart to ask before taking any picture, because if you do, the subject will stop and strike a pose and smile, or, in the case of the mean, scary ones, snarl. But for just taking pictures of costumes in the crowd, no.
Concerning the use of photos of Comicpalooza attendees, the program states that attendees acknowledge and consent to being photographed, filmed, recorded, etc., and relinquish any reasonable expectation of privacy, and grant to Comicpalooza LLC an “irrevocable, royalty and attribution-free right to use, publish and otherwise exploit (and allow others to use and otherwise exploit) any photograph, motion picture, image, recording, or any other record of attendance during Comicpalooza, in whole or in part, in perpetuity throughout the universe, in all media and means, now known or hereafter developed or discovered, for any promotional or other commercial purpose.”
I’d say that covers about everything. An Oxford comma is absent, however, so the meaning might not be as clear as one would think.
We saw many glamorous characters in many glamorous costumes. But the stars were the little people. I wish I’d gotten more shots of them.
The Houston Public Library bookmobile was excellent.
The big people, beasts, and thingies weren’t bad either. The Siberian husky was exquisite.
***
The spell check button is still missing from the WordPress toolbar. I’m beginning to think it was a figment of my imagination. I hope it comes back.
M. K. Waller 
I’ve only been to one of these, a ComicCon, and enjoyed every minute of it. Except the minutes my feet got SO tired. Thanks for all the pictures. What fun!!!
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You dressed up, didn’t you? Mustache and top hat? Or something like that? I’m sure I saw a picture of you and Mary Ann, right? Or maybe that’s another thing I misremember.
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Yes, Mary Ann and Steve and I went steampunk. I went as a guy. I rented a vest and a hat with googles on it I think. And bought the mustache.
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Kathy, if you can, you might try creating your posts in a word processor that has a good spell checker, then copy and paste them into the WordPress editor. I do this all the time, and believe it or not, it’s a lot easier. I’m glad you’re having a good time.
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That’s a good idea, Abbie, but it’s so sensible. And I have such a hard time being sensible. My husband will vouch for that. So would my parents if they were here. So would all of my former students. I told my students I was perfect, but somehow they figured out I was lying.
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Did you safely escape the water-soaked streets of Houston?
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Yes. Except for a little shower Friday evening, the city, at least our part of it, was nice and dry. A Houstonite I spoke with on Thursday told me to be careful on the road because the Sugarland-Rosenberg area had been hit hard. By what? I said, oblivious. David checked the route, as always, and we took the non-Sugarland path and skirted whatever water was left downtown, and all was fine. Even the IH 10 noontime traffic. I should have taken pictures of that.
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I found the place where the Oxford comma is absent but I also see that you placed a quotation mark at the end of the piece but none is found at the beginning. Just one of my quirks. Enjoyed your musings.
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Nooooooooooooooooooooo.
Thank you. I fixed it. I bonded with my now-husband over that quirk. It’s difficult to admit I’m no better than the people who change the Dairy Queen signs. I’m glad you enjoy the musings.
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My husband and I came across GenCon by accident once in Indy – like a comicon for gamers, I guess? We made a point to be downtown when the next big one came through. It’s so much fun to see!
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p.s. I’m still going through the AtoZ master list. That’s how I found your blog.
Doesn’t Speak Klingon
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I’m going through the master list, too, but very slowly. As you can tell, I’m sure, I’m just creeping through my own blog lately. Have you ever been to a Star Trek convention? At one time my husband might have enjoyed that, but he likes only the original series. And I think the draw is really submitting his videos.
A belated thank you for reading and commenting.
(Looks like I responded to the wrong comment, below. It’s that kind of day.)
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I hadn’t heard of GenCon and wondered if there was one in Texas, so I looked it up. Seems it began in Wisconsin but now is held in Indianapolis, and focuses on tabletop games, and almost declared bankruptcy because it was sued by Lucasfilm. A Star Wars thing, I guess, and obviously important enough to get the attention of the big guys. I’d like to go to Furry Fest and see all the animal costumes. I never thought I’d enjoy anything like this (and I consider myself much too dignified to participate, of course, as I’m more of a visit-the-homes-of-authors person), but it’s fun to see all the costumes.
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