San Diego Comic-con 2013: Where I'll be and Some Reminders on Good Behavior

Oh, holy crow. Tomorrow I am up at the ass crack of dawn (I'm so eloquent) to board a plane with the waifu (Sarah Hiraki) and jet away to SAN DIEGO COMIC CONNNNNN (imagine I'm screaming this like "Kahn"). This is my fifth year and despite the fact that a lot of my friends seem to have issues with SDCC these days ("it's too big, it's too crowded, whine whine whine") I DON'T CARE I'M SO EXCITED. I literally spend every moment of every day after the previous SDCC waiting for the next one. It makes me feel like a 6 year old on Christmas Eve. It's nerd heaven!! IT'S EVERYTHING I COULD EVER WANT.

Cosplay, good friends, awesome parties, extravagant dinners, bizarre occurrences (last year I partied with The Doctor!!), toy exclusives, fantastic art... these are just a few of the reasons that SDCC is sacred to me. I know by the end of the weekend I'm going to be sore, bruised, tired, cranky, and dehydrated - with no feeling in my toes from wearing heels - but I don't care! It's all worth it to me.

This year is especially exciting because while I usually go solo to SDCC and flit around like a little bumblebee from social group to social group, I'm going to have three mega babes in tow this year and I couldn't be happier. I'll be staying at the Hyatt with Sarah Hiraki and Kristin Hackett, and then Melissa Kay will be with us most of the time. BABE PARTY.

Concept sketch for this year's Steampunk WW, drawn by my friend Chelsea

As for cosplay, I am unfortunately only wearing one costume this year since I was filming most of the summer and therefore didn't have time to work on stuff. HOWEVER: IT'S FRAKKIN' AWESOME!! I have completely revamped my Steampunk Wonder Woman, and I will be debuting it on Friday along with the rest of the epic Steampunk DC group. Watch for us!! I will be sharing a photo post of the costume when I return home, but you'll be getting crappy Instagram pics on my social media.

I planned poorly for the night life this year, but I will definitely be at the iFanboy happy hour on Thursday night. However, if anyone else has any other parties they'd like me and my sessy lady posse to come to, you should probably drop me a line.

I have a couple of reminders on proper convention etiquette...

• Keep your hands to yourself
• Bathe
• Wear deodorant 
• Don't photograph cosplayers in the middle of the aisle
• COSPLAY IS NOT CONSENT
• Drink lots of water
• Wear comfortable shoes (haha I don't follow this rule)
• ASK FOR PHOTOS
• Don't harass celebrities. Be nice and polite.

I wrote a much more concise article about this awhile back for ifanboy. Check it out here: YAY SDCC FOR N00BS

Who else is going? Who isn't going but wishes they were there? What are you most excited for? WHO WANTS TO PARTY?!

If you see me: SAY HI! I'm super friendly (as long as you don't act like a creep). I'm super tall and redheaded and will probably be lit up like a Christmas tree. 

Make sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter for my ridiculous SDCC Adventures!

On Tidepooling and Cute Sea Creatures!

Last weekend I took my friend Adam tidepooling for the first time. He had never been before, so his childlike wonder when we flipped rocks and found the teeming life underneath was absolutely adorable. It reminded me of my childhood in Alaska when tidepooling completely consumed my summers - wait for the low tide and run out onto the beach, flipping over rocks willy nilly to expose the tiny worlds that laid underneath.

If you're never been tidepooling before or don't know what it is, it's simple... really! Whenever the tide goes out (especially to the minus tides, basically any tide below 0) and exposes the rocks that are usually underwater, small sea creatures take cover in the pools of water that collect in rock crags. To avoid existing in a seagull's stomach, they all congregate underneath rocks and wait until the tide rises again. This makes it a perfect opportunity for curious humans who DON'T want to eat the animals (well, I would hope not!) to flip over the rocks and see what's hiding underneath! Crabs, shrimp, little fish, pillbugs, gross worms, sea anemones, gunnels... I've even found octopus in the past! It's one of my favorite activities, and I love seeing what the beach has to offer every low tide.

Some important things to remember if you decide to try tidepooling:

• Bring gloves. Most of the rocks you want to flip are encrusted in barnacles, which will completely destroy your hands if they're not protected.
• Flip over rocks that are not stuck in sand or flush to the ground. The more space beneath them, the better! The long, flat ones are generally the best.
• Don't hurt the animals underneath! It's okay to gently pick them up and look at them (if they let you), but don't poke, prod, squish, or feed to seagulls! It's a complicated ecosystem - DON'T BE THAT GUY.
• Flip the rocks back over!! I cannot stress this ENOUGH. Once you're done looking under the rock, PUT IT BACK. Otherwise the seagulls are going to reap your bounty and all of your tiny new friends will be dinner for pesky birds!

This goes without saying, but if you want to go tidepooling find a ROCKY beach. Sandy beaches obviously have nothing more than sandworms if you dig deep enough. If you're in the Seattle area, one of my favorite beaches for a quick jaunt is the point at Alki - it has a ton of rocks at low tide.

As for seeing WHEN the low tides are, you can either get a tide almanac, check online, or use an app. I use an AWESOME little app called TideGraph, where you can input your preferred beach. It shows you precisely when the low and high tides are!

What about you guys? Have you ever been tidepooling? Where? Did you find anything amazing? I love hearing people's stories!

Did you really think that would work? OR: That time I punched a dude in the dick at a bar

I'm the sort of girl who can feel comfortable in any social situation. Clubs, anime conventions, uncomfortable parties with no music and socially awkward people... I go out of my way to put myself in many different life scenarios, because I am a "tourist". I like observing other human beings, and I like existing in moments that could be good fodder for stories in the future.

In many ways, this makes me an atypical geek girl. While I mostly stick to my conventions and cosplayer parties, I still stray outside of the norm and go to clubs and bars and after parties. I'm just as comfortable in a tight dress and high heels at a club as I am in spandex and boots at a convention. Thus, this "chameleon" like quality I possess has given me many different life experiences... and they're not all necessarily entertaining.

Due to constantly putting myself "out there", I've dealt with my fair share of sexual harassment, rape culture, and misogynist behavior. As an intense advocate of feminism, I have zero qualms of calling people out on their ickiness. I've yelled at guys who try to neg me at bars - I educate dudes who send me weird messages on dating websites about how what they're doing is completely unacceptable. But a few days ago I experienced something completely new.

This past weekend was Pride in Seattle, an amazing citywide celebration of LGBT rights. It was especially insane after the amazing collapse of DoMA, and people were out in droves. Trails of glitter lined the streets, everyone was holding hands, and the entire thing was all kinds of magical and positive. Naturally, I was out on the town with one of my closest friends, soaking up the atmosphere and having a great time.

Late on Saturday night I stumbled into my favorite Seattle bar - the Unicorn - only to discover an epic dance party was going on downstairs. As a great lover of shaking what my mama gave me, I dove in immediately. A tall man with dreadlocks yelled "you're sexy!" and I grinned at him, dancing in his general direction. He began to dance behind me - and while I am not the "grinding" type, I let him put his hands upon my waist and wiggle behind me. This I was okay with.

Suddenly, his hands were no longer on my waist and they were roving up my thighs, pushing my dress up. I grabbed his hands and threw them off of me, and he apologized in my ear. "You're just so sexy!" he said, and I rolled my eyes and yelled "don't touch me!". Foolishly, I believed that was the end of it. My best friend was dancing in front of me, facing me, so I felt safe within the crowd because she could see what this guy was doing.

He started to dance again, hands back on my hips. Safe. Then, again: he grabbed my hand and pulled it behind me, placing it upon his penis. He was fully erect and practically bursting out of his pants, and I yanked my hand away and screamed "WHAT THE FUCK". Before I could think to react, he pushed my hair off of my neck and said "Just for a second, just for a second!" and grabbed my hand again, shoving it into his cock for a second time.

I punched him. I punched that motherfucker in the dick so hard that it was like I was a heroine in a martial arts movie. And then I streaked through the crowd, adrenaline pumping through me as I heard him yell "you BITCH!"

I should have grabbed the bouncer, but to be honest I didn't even really know what he looked like, and I felt that the justice of punching that douche in the cock was better than him getting kicked out of the bar. It took me awhile to process - I used to be a nightclub photographer so I understand how brazen intoxicated men can act. I've had my butt grabbed, my boobs grabbed, horribly lewd comments shouted in my ear. But I've NEVER had a guy force my hand onto his erect cock. And that is seriously fucked up behavior.

I've been relaying this story to my friends and followers, and most of them laugh and high five me. But while I am proud of the way I reacted, the more I think about it, the more disturbed I am. I understand we live in a world rife with rape culture, but at times I live in a happy little liberal bubble where I believe we're making progress. But this man obviously found it not only okay, but totally a viable option to sexually harass me on the dance floor, surrounded by hundreds of people.

What is wrong with individuals that makes this a flirting "technique"? Do women actually allow guys to get away with this shit? I'm so incensed and enraged that I'm not sure what to do. Except punch more dicks. Many more dicks.

My Sparkly Week, As Portrayed by Instagram // June 24-30

Saying goodbye to Kristin right before I left LA :-( (If you like my hat, you can get a similar one here!) // "Welcome home" whiskey drinks with the waifu! // Bein' cute at karaoke // My amazing friend Tobias brought me unicorn sugar cookies to welcome me home!! 


MY UNICORNS!!! I missed you ever so much. I just returned from Los Angeles and my insane adventures down there on Monday, and after seven days I'm finally feeling recovered and (mostly) up to par. I've been slowly easing back into social media and blogging, so expect regular outfit posts again very soon! I also have some fun new features coming up for you... DIY, exploring Seattle's local clothing shops and eateries, my beauty favs, makeup tutorials... the Geeky Peacock is rocketing quickly into full blown blogging mode again! So make sure to keep an eye out for these things in the near future.

But now the big news, which I will announce in a more official capacity in the near future: The reason I was down in LA for the past month and a half and completely without social media access was because I was FILMING A TV SHOW. Yes, yours truly is finally fulfilling her mad dreams of being on TV - this October! I'm SO EXCITED, and I'll be able to tell all of you more once the promos come out.

A lot has happened since I last blogged - namely the TV show - but I'm also single now. Dan broke up with me right before I headed down to LA, which was a pretty big blow. But now I have my cute apartment to myself and I'm coping by surrounding myself with friends and projects. In other words: I'm doing just fine!

I'm in mad preperation mode for San Diego Comic-con [it's in two weeks, what?!] and my cosplay all seems to be coming along nicely. I'm definitely doing Steampunk Wonder Woman (she is going to look EVEN BETTER this year) and Super Villain Cruella Deville. However, I may be adding another costume to the line up - a secret I'm embarking up with my lovely waifu, Sarah Hiraki. I will say this: it's going to be cute. REALLY cute.

Anyway, tl;dr: TV show, blogging yay, and I missed you guys!! Here's the rest of the IG pics!

My precious Sushi, so happy to have me home and getting all the tummy rubs she could ever want // I'm on a total houseplant kick! My mantle is starting to look like a jungle. I'm going to put these cuties into terrariums soon. // Madness with Emily and Sarah before Friday night girl's night // My face. Yep.

Drunk girls out for Seattle Pride!! // Next day hangover cure/heat beating: bubble tea and battleships. Sarah and I have weird Battleship ESP with one another. // Mint obsession! // I have such a babely best friend. 

Snuck away from a weird birthday dinner and took bathroom pics like classy broads. // THIS SODA HOLY SHIT. // Tried Mac's "Candy Yum Yum" lipstick. NEED TO BUY WITH NEXT PAYCHECK. // Sarah and I escaped the horrible heat by walking around the mall. The Mac store has good lighting. Thus: selfies.

PS: Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' since GFC is going away!!