We had a stupendous time, the staff of Sidetrack were marvellous, and helped us pull
a prank on Eric, who was less than pleased about being served a Bluuuue Drink no matter what he asked for:

“Hey Eric. I see you have a blue drink.”
“It’s a black and tan. I ordered a black and tan and they brought me a blue drink.”
“Do you want me to tell the nice bartender to stop bringing you blue drinks?”
“*Scowl*. I hate you.”
“Bartender? Could you please bring this gentleman a black and tan?”
“That is a black and tan. I made it myself.”

And so on.

Thank God for Kathy Neufeld-Dunn and Paul Sizer, who took care of the till for me
and generally managed to keep my head from exploding throughout the night. Without them I wouldn’t have
been able to enjoy myself or talk to anyone the whole time.

About a hundred friends and fans showed up, including a big contingent of Ferndale folks, who
came all the way out to Ypsi to join us. Comic creators Matt Feazell,
Sean and Wendi Strang-Frost and Sean Bieri were amongst the gathered, and Sean did a sketch of V
that is *so* going in the next graphic novel.

A lot of folks got to meet Jeff Berndt for the first time,
which was cool. I’m hoping to coax Limey Fish back into the creative fold, and I am hoping
all this positive reinforcement will help. Wave hi to Jef, everybody!

We had buffalo wings (iAy caliente!) and veggies and Faerie Cake, which turned out much better than
I could have hoped. The bakery printed out the book cover on rice paper using edible ink
from an inkjet printer and put it right on top so the buttercream frosting soaked it up — instant Faerie Cake!
It was nummy, but some weenie nabbed the piece I was saving for myself — the
piece with V’s face on it. Pooie. Good thing I licked my fingers a lot.

Quite a few of my Irish Music buddies showed up and graced us with a most excellent session.
We had four fiddles, a concertina and a flute/fiddle player. Rollande tried to jump in on piano
but the old upright was a step and a half out of tune. That didn’t even slow Rollande down, as she’s
a smart music major. So she just modulated on the fly and kept right on truckin. Wish I were that
gifted…

Oh, yeah… here’s that Sean Bieri sketch I promised you. What’d I tell you? Watch for this to be
in the next graphic novel. When’s it coming out? A year or two, I imagine. I’m writing it now,
brainstorming and stuff, and bouncing plotpoints off of all sorts of people. I’ll keep y’all posted.

And now… I can’t go without thanking someone who’s been making it all possible.
There’s a certain someone who’s kept me going throughout all this insanity;
keeping me cheerful and sending me back into the fray,
ready to take on whetever the world can throw at me. Thank you, Paul. I love you.