I am now in the midst of acclimating to the world again.  I'm going slowly, hoping to not get the bends as I move from Comic-Con submersion to street-level life.   Culturally, I'm moving from this:

To this:

I know the dust bunnies have been building around Culture Lust.  I've been mad busy coordinating the coverage for our Comic-Con blog. Check it out - I'm so proud of the work we've done so far, with few resources and a lot of enthusiasm.  We'll be covering all four days of the convention with video, photography, blogging, and tweeting.  Our team includes smart people tasked with finding out the latest in video games, tv, film, collectibles, graphic novels and comics. 

I'm trying to get an interview with Michael C. Hall, aka Dexter, and I'll be going to the Dexter panel.  I'm also planning on going to the HBO panel for Alan Ball's new drama True Blood, The Black Panel, and the steampunk gathering (fascinated!).  Jeff Soto will be signing copies of his latest Murphy designed art book on Saturday so I hope to see him as well.  I love his work.  Of course, I plan to take a lot of photos of the costumes and crowd - always a treat.  So, the dust bunnies may accumulate as I spend time working on the Comic-Con blog.  Follow me over there - you'll have a blast.

My friend Ed (thanks!) sent me this the other day... "in the spirit of Comic-Con."  It's a real Craigs List ad... hilarious!  I assume I have some proper nemeses in my readership who could use $350.

Nemesis required. 6-month project with possibilty to extend

Date: 2008-05-07, 2:49PM PDT

I've been trying to think of ways to spice up my life. I'm 35 years old, happily married with two kids and I have a good job in insurance. But somethings missing. I feel like I'm old before my time. I need to inject some excitement into my daily routine through my arm before its too late. I need a challenge, something to get the adrenaline pumping again. An addiction would be nice, but, in short, I need a nemesis. I'm willing to pay $350 up front for you services as an arch enemy over the next six months. Nothing crazy. Steal my parking space, knock my coffee over, trip me when Im running to catch the BART and occasionaly whisper in my ear, "Ahha, we meet again". That kind of thing. Just keep me on my toes. Complacency will be the death of me. You need to have an evil streak and be blessed with innate guile and cunning. You should also be adept at inconsicuous pursuit. Evil laugh preferred. Send me a photo and a brief explanation why you would be a good nemesis.

British accent preferred.

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $350 up front

The biggest pop culture convention in the world is only 22 days away! Comic-Con International happens right here in our sunny backyard and KPBS is gearing up for some great coverage.  We'll inlcude videos of some of the panels, and cover television, gaming, comic books, graphic novels, artists, movies, and toys...all those wonderful toys!  One of the things that we'd like to do is follow someone through the process of designing and creating a costume for the annual Masquerade. If you live in San Diego and plan to enter the Masquerade, please contact us! (um, have you noticed that Comic-Con brings out the exclamation points in me?)

We are looking for a talented, creative individual who's willing to let KPBS record their costume journey. Ideally, this person will be competing in the Best Original Design or Most Beautiful category, but we'll consider anyone with an ambitious costume and a good story to tell. If you have any questions or would like to be considered as the subject for our Masquerade web feature and video, please email me at . 

There are rumors swirling that Barack Obama will come to Comic-Con in San Diego this summer to court the young vote, that is if he wins the primary.  Rumors appear to be false.  Dang!