Well, Batman Day (at the library) has come and gone and while it appears as though there were some swag bags left (at least at a little past noon), I was glad to see that the presentation worked and happy to hear that it was well received. Of course, no moment of joy at the library can last too long as a particular patron made it a point to rain our parade by being a royal bitch to my two coworkers. Odd enough, this same patron just submitted an application to volunteer at our branch and needless to say, I want nothing to do with her. Now, all I have to do is come up with some lame excuse for not bringing her on as a volunteer despite our need. To be honest, I want to be frank and straightforward with the patron and tell her that I simply do not want to bring on an individual, paid or volunteer, that believes that they are better than us and will create unnecessary distractions due to the fact that we have had multiple issues with her in the past.
Anyway, enough with the negative vibes. After I stopped by the library to check on the status of Batman Day, I stopped by Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint and ascertained another free individual pizza (two free pizzas in three days equals HELL YEA!). Personally, the concept isn't revolutionary, but the setup does set it apart from your run-of-the-mill pizza joints. Think of Maddio's as Subway, but for pizza. As for the actual pizzas, they were good and since it only takes six-and-a-half minutes to cook each pie; it is a feasible lunch option. In comparison to other pizza places in the area, it is definitely a second-tier pizza joint: not nearly as good as say Mellow Mushroom or Little Italy's, but far better than Little Caesar's Pizza and Stevie B's. In other words, I would say it is in the same area as other major pizza chains like Pizza Hut and Papa John's, but I think I may prefer Maddio's over the two because of the concept of building your own pie and seeing it actually be made.
After lunch, I headed down to Buford for the second time this week. I was headed down primarily for the Anime Weekend Atlanta event at Barnes & Noble, but since I arrived in town early; I stopped by Galactic Quest and picked up the latest trade Superior Spider-man volume (I know that I shouldn't have, but sometimes you have to treat yourself). When I arrived at B&N, there wasn't really a crowd for the event, which consisted of a costume contest and an art and trivia contest. Of course, as the contest drew closer, a small number of cosplayers did appear and a small crowd did gather to watch the contest. There were a few standout costumes, but I felt out of place because (1) I was much older than the vast majority of the people in attendance and (2) I did not recognize a number of the entries.
But, as I stood there, I was privy to a number of comments from curious onlookers unaware of the growing anime community and it drew my err. In truth, this aggravation has been festering me for some time and it actually covers a wide range of fandoms, but it is still baffling to me how individuals are so taken back by the notion that an individual could actually have a wide range of interests. For example: today, some of the onlookers my snide and ignorant comments about the characters and the event by saying that the event was some poor man's San Diego Comic Con. Okay, but no, it is not (and in truth, they said as much, but they did not mean it in the same way that I mean it). For some, the chance to participate in such events is more than satisfactory and to brush it off as if it was pointless venture reeks of ignorance.
Anyway, I actually have much more to say on this matter, but I need to get this posted before the day ends. And one more thing, my Tumblr is up and running and can be found at: johnpast30.tumblr.com
