When at Comic Con, Do it Joyfully!

This  week I  discuss  enjoying your  passions through the lens of our local Gem State Comic Con.

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Hops Geek News

My fondness for Buck Rogers

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Hello there friends, both old and new. Welcome to the Strive Seek Find podcast. I'm your host, Chance Whitmore, home to bite sized lifestyle advice from a fellow traveler on the road to a better life. Brought to you by someone who is a longtime educator, writer, parent, and an outdoor enthusiast, who may just may like a good draft, because our future is set not just through our choices, but by our willingness to explore and find a better way. Hey, welcome back, everyone. I know it's been a couple of weeks. I've been I won't say otherwise indisposed, but in my own head the last few weeks, I had the benefit this week of having a week off. So promptly, the weather went wintry. And so it's not lack of time that's kept episodes from coming out this time. It's me sitting in front of the mic. it disturbed me the last couple of weeks, because I had what was a great episode idea I put together and when I sat down to record, there was nothing upbeat about what should have been a funny episode. It was terse, it was angry. And I was not even aware of it when I recorded it. So I stepped back from the mic, I let my wife listen to it. And she agreed that it was not what I was looking for. And I had to walk away. And I'm not 100% sure that I am all the way back yet. But but for all that. This weekend, I had a an experience that I just wanted to share this week was the gem state ComiCon and I've been before, but not since before COVID. And I'm gonna give a special shout out here to hops geek news for the tickets that got my wife and I N. We bought the kids tickets, obviously. But those guys do a great job with all things geekery. And I really appreciate winning the drain when they interviewed the people behind gem state Comicon. So you have a second gift that when a that episode, listen, I'll include a link down in the show notes. I'd seen the advertisements, I'd said I gotta go. But getting those tickets really, really helped me out it not financially, but it was a kick in the butt to actually get the buy the rest of the tickets purchased and get myself involved again. And the fact that was on this weekend. The end of spring break made it even easier, because it gave the kids time to do what they really wanted to do, which is to figure out and put together their cosplay costumes. Now, they get that not from me, but from their mother, who seems to enjoy it. And she even used her makeup business a few years ago to sell her makeup for cosplay over there. And I imagine someday that will come back as well. I wasn't going to wear a costume. But last week's episode of the Mandalorian gave me a idea that I couldn't pass up without giving too much away. I went as a Star Wars character, a side character in Star Wars at this point, Dave Filoni also known as the person behind some of the great Star Wars animation and a lot of the stuff that you're getting on Disney plus now. Easy costume. I wear a cowboy hat. Wear a t shirt that says Star Wars with a nametag. Hi, I'm Dave. Most people got it. Well rephrase. Most Star Wars geeks got it. Because when you go to cons, you're going to meet people who are very attached to their fandoms. Which brings me to my point today. I don't want to give a report on the blow by blow of this. It was fun. And it's also a tremendous reminder. Whatever you do, do it passionately. Do it joyfully. And one of the great things I got to see while I was at the con yesterday was people doing just that. enjoying themselves with others with similar similarity of interest. Just being together and sharing a common love. In this case of a fandom, start with my kids and then move on to what I witnessed there. have raised geeks There's no way around that. And I'm pretty pleased with that fact, because that means I actually have something that can even talk to my preteen and teen about other than schoolwork and sports. Each of them had their own idea and fandom that they wanted to address. For instance, the youngest, pulled out her Wonder Woman costume and jumped right in that and couldn't wait to show off his Wonder Woman, and very disappointed that she'd lost her lasso of truth. My oldest, when is a Shadowhunter, from whatever young adult novel series that she was reading on. She seems to really enjoy it. And people recognized her. And based on the books, because I don't think there's been a television series on this one. I'm probably wrong, because every young adult series seems to have one now. My middle daughter sat down in a very short period of time and borrowed my mando helmet that she had bought for me for Christmas several years ago, and built herself cardboard Mandalorian armor with the help of her mother. And we're that. And I already mentioned my Filoni costume. Yes, that is probably a geek deep cut on that. But I'm pleased with the number of people who recognized it. The older two specifically, problem solving with joy, so that they could pull off showing off what they loved about that fandom. They can feel pure joy in doing this, which is powerful from the perspective that SEEN PEOPLE DO something they enjoy puts you ahead of people who are just constantly grinding, which admittedly is in my tradition, to a certain extent. And it wasn't just my girls, Gem state Comic Cons a small regional con, which is really cool. I've been to at least two larger ones much larger one in Boise when Wizard World came to town, and then I've been down to Phoenix in Salt Lake. Both of them great experiences, very different. Here, there was more opportunity to sit and talk to people. I kept going up and visiting with people from the five oh, first. And if you're not aware, it's a cause play group that is dedicated to being screen accurate, because they go and do hospital visits for kids. They do have a relationship with Lucas Films. And it's pretty incredible. They do great work. And their costumes are incredible. The passion these people feel for the work they're doing and it's great work. They were donating their time and their proceeds to the Jayden Maloof DeLuca foundation here in town this weekend. And then afterwards, after one of them was out of costume, he and I sat well stood out in front of their display and visited about variety of Star Wars properties had a great time. They'd found a way to have fun and to do good at the same time. And with that came acceptance of other people's enjoyment of their own fandoms and their their own take on fandoms whether it was Star Wars comic books, anime, some of them I don't have any clue what they are. I've aged way out of this, the recognition and acceptance that my kids got there. I mean, my middle daughter who had her cardboard armor on was posing with people had 3d printed Mandalorian armor that was screen accurate for paws Vizla and a couple others that I didn't even recognize them. I think I'm a pretty big Star Wars geek. But there was joy and acceptance on both sides. I know I've talked in the past about gatekeeping and toxic fandoms. And they do exist. But I didn't see any evidence of it. While I was at the con yesterday. No one getting after someone because they were dressed is Boba Fett because they were overweight or female or whatever else. No one complaining about no one getting after anyone for not liking the sequel trilogy or the prequel trilogy. And for all the ComiCon examples today. And it was a great one. Good job Jim state ComiCon and everyone who attended. It ends up where we started. It doesn't have to be about comics or movies or anything else or books What it is, is finding somebody to talk about something you're passionate about something you enjoy and enjoying their company. You can do it with sports fans, you can do it with hikers, you can do it with kayakers, you can do it with just about anyone. You just have to get out there and look and walk in with an open heart so that you realize that your way is not the only way. And this weekend, at least, I had a great experience with it. Now after meandering around on this for a while, I am going to share a couple of cool moments for me at the con. Finding someone else who is still aware of the 1930s to 50s Buck Rogers, and had been 3d printing and making the chips from this comic strips. That was really cool. I did an episode My first or second season, talking about how some of it doesn't age well. And let me tell you, some of it really doesn't age well. I'll try to remember to put a link to that episode in the show notes. But it brought a lot back I bought a ship from the comic strip and I'm going to display at my office. Because there was a joy in those comic strips, those adventure strips that I loved growing up. I didn't recognize the problematic parts till much later. The joy my kids had from interacting with people who recognized what they were trying to do with their costumes. And finally running into my friend Russ, and getting to visit with him. Bout all this fandom and the con even while we are surrounded by adding huge huge crowd of people. It was good day. Animator Java 10. At least try to go check out a small regional con when you have the opportunity. Well friends, that's it for this week's edition of strife seek find. Thank you again for listening. If you'd like to join the discussion, or have ideas for future episodes, hop on over to the strife seek find podcast group on Facebook. Alternatively, if Facebook's not your thing, you can find me on Instagram at strife seek find podcast on Twitter, as at chance Whitmore five, or even on email. Links for all those are in the show notes below. Until next time, my friends, keep seeking your own brilliant future