Has it been hot enough for ya? Sheesh.

And what does one do when a dangerous heat dome blankets your state? One goes to ride roller coasters in a city where it’s even hotter. Carowinds was fun despite the insanely hot temps and two cases of heat exhaustion. I really can’t overstate just how hot it was. I hadn’t been coaster riding since ’98 (or ’99). I was expecting to be all nervous and chicken out … but I didn’t! Fury 325 (pictured below) and Copperhead Strike were well worth the price of admission. We didn’t get to ride all the rides we wanted to because the heat beat us out of the park earlier than planned. Just means we need to go back in the fall when the temps are cooler and Scarowinds is in full effect!

After some downtime we went to dinner at Twin Peaks. Yes. THAT Twin Peaks. It was either that or Cracker Barrel. The food was actually pretty good! And I dug the PNW lodge vibes. Though I suspect our server’s name wasn’t really “Bambi.”

We made it back to the mountains in time for some July 4 festivities on Saturday. It was a fun (albeit still stupidly hot) time chatting with the homos and having tasty food.

The cookout view wasn’t too bad. I want to steal this house!

It’s been years since I have hosted a big, drunken bash on the 4th here. I miss those day. But, that group I used to hang with slowly splintered over the years until there were maybe 10 people that would show up. And even then, they would dine and dash instead of hanging out and having fun. A good example of just how fickle and unreliable my “friends” ended up being.

Now, it’s Hump Day, and Finley has the right idea. Hide out under a blanket and avoid the world.

A friend messaged the other day. He wants to catch up, and I know what it’s about. He went to this year’s F Tour Fan Fest. It’s the multi-day event where content creators get together and make content (duh!) for their JFF and OF sites. I went to this event last year, and I bombed out. Bombed out big time. Even though I had the black “creator” tag on, nobody gave me the time of day. All the creators already seemed to be in a fairly tight-knit clique. And the one guy I set up time with bailed on me at the last minute. Meanwhile, my friend filmed a few times, and it sounds like he had more success this year. I don’t know that I want to hear about it, but I will tonight when I see him.

It just stirs up a lot of feelings … feelings of not belonging or having a place in things. I have tried being a part of things, and it just feels like I don’t belong or I am a poser. Like, as fun as last weekend was at HeroesCon, I didn’t feel like I REALLY belonged since I am not an avid comic fan or creator in that industry, just like I was a “tourist” at the F Tour Fan Fest last year. An observer but not a participant. Not part of the gang. It even feels like this within my local social circles. I am always standing around, drink in hand, while others are chatting and having fun.

I do wonder if these feelings partially stem from leaving the theater. People will say, “You were the one who left.” And that’s true. But I didn’t feel like I had a choice. It felt like my presence there wasn’t wanted or valued anymore. The people I thought would have my back ended up not giving a shit. So, maybe I feel disconnected because I don’t want to become part of something only to be booted out or shat on again. I dunno.

Anyhoo. I know this is a whiny, self-pitying, all over the place post. Today, I don’t care.

Here we are midweek, and I am still recovering from this past weekend of nerdiness at HeroesCon 2026. I have attended the last two years, and this year was even crazier because of the heat and the crowd size. I got the privilege to hang with a group of artists and writers (Jeff Messer, Mike Grell, Bo Hampton, Alex Saviuk, Ron Randall, Steve Bryant, Mark Stegbauer) that have formed a kinda informal convention crew. Lots of fun! Especially when you get long-time friends Bo and Alex going. Then you turn around, and you’re having food and drink with the crew and Tim Bradstreet. I am glad I didn’t know how famous he was because I would have made an idiot out of myself at dinner. I also got to see a couple of old high school friends that come to the convention every year. And lots of other comic artists and writers. It’s an exhausting three days, but so much fun.

I did buy some collected volumes of a few comics. But the most favorite thing I bought was this 20″ x 14″ Mouse Guard print. I fell in love with David Peterson’s incredible artwork at last year’s convention. Now I gotta find a frame.

Anyhoo! Here are just a few random photos from the weekend …

And, if you are totally bored, you can spend 10 minutes walking the convention perimeter with me. I can guarantee, if you weren’t bored before, you will be bored after. Ha ha.