The first rule of attending a con is: if you’re completely unprepared, go anyway. It’s worth it. I attended the Emerald City ComiCon 2010 on Saturday, completely spontaneously. Usually, proper preparation is crucial to precision deployment of all forces on the Con floor. Here’s what I didn’t do:

• Bring the big backpack, essential for swag.
• Load up on cash. Comic artists aren’t known for their merchant credit card accounts.
• Bring a camera. (See below.) ‘Nuff said
• Study the exhibition floor plan before walking into the room.
• Get there early for Wil Wheaton’s Awesome Hour.

Since the brother-in-law and I were headed south on a completely unrelated excursion, we decided to stop by the con and check it out. I’m glad we did. We went by the Scruffy Puppies table, chatted with Brent, and picked up volumes 1 and 2. He said there should eventually be 10 in the series.

We bought T-shirts, of course, wholly appropriate for the geeks that we are. Then I stopped by a booth called Geek Chic. It was not what I suspected it to be. It was full of fine, hardwood furniture for all your gaming and geekified needs. Being the ex-furniture designer that I am, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the workmanship of their pieces: dovetail joins on the full wood drawers, inlaid details, and, I could tell, layers of hand-sanded finishes. Since their shop is close by, I may have to visit.

And this is why you should always take a camera to a Con. How else could you capture the essence of such a monumentous moment, Superman on a Cell phone?

Yep, completely worth it.