The Return...

In the year of our Lord, 2-double aught-9, a mid-20's man makes his return to the interwebs. What he finds is a disgrace. A single post in December, January shamefully skipped, and over a week into February with nothing to show for it. This simply won't do. The only way to catch up to the NOW: Montage Post...

Starting it off, December: Had a most excellent vacation. Got to see most of my friends, ESPECIALLY those I keep in the best contact with. You others are next (I'm looking at you, Jen and Georgia). Christmas with the fam, including G-Maw Witte, was a nice taste of childhood again, but it's finally sinking in that I just can't go back to that life anymore. If you say 'Duh!', I've got a punch in the face and a kick in the teeth waiting for you. New Years was low key but fun. Spent it with Brian and Chris and Tara, had some most excellent wine, played games, and all in all, a good time to be had by all. Losing money aside, of course. AND if you ever wanted to know what The Witte looks like, this is me at New Years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJnguZtEv8

The biggest event for January was, obviously, the inauguration of Barack Obama, our 44th President and the first black one to boot. No one took a shot at him, his rhetoric was on point, and now I just don't want to have to see him and his family on every damn magazine cover (won't happen). Seriously, he's in, he's going to do good things, but give us something else besides the Obama's, the Pitt's, and every other boring, blah blah story you come up with. All that aside, I congratulate the man on being the official ruler of the free world and the best of luck to his term(s)...

The transition between that moment and now has been marked by a few events is varying degrees of importance. Some of these happen to be:

-My dear friends Lexie and Grant had their first child (Rose), around the end of January and the beginning of February. This is significant since they are my first close friends I keep in contact with to spawn (so that cuts Ben out). I haven't seen the pictures yet, but due to the attractiveness of both of my friends, I can only assume it is a pretty baby...

-While in the grand scheme this sounds piddling, I figure it was worth a mention. Gran Torino is an excellent movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a more slice of life, character driven movie. Clint is true to form and recalls the days of 'The Man With No Name', except in this one, he has one (Walt Kowalski). He plays a Korean vet, racial as hell but (you guessed it) with a heart of gold. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say it is amusing to see such a character in this the modern age and still believe that such a character might really exist...

-In a new segment for The Witte Says..., I will be on Celebrity Watch. Now, this may seem like pablum or other media offensive word, BUT so far it's been awesome. Comic book crowd aside (like at IthaCon, see below), I happened to meet this guy:

This guy is known by the stage name Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy and he is most excellent. I saw him first at McDaniel College in 01 or 02, and then again in summer of 06 at the Maryland Renfest. Each time, he has been a treat. His shtick never gets old and appears to truly love his craft. I met/saw Hilby at the Salvation Army (my second job if you've forgotten) up here in Ithaca. When I saw him with his companions(?), I thought 'There is no way there are two guys who look and sound like that so I just have to ask.' So I did, kinda. It was lame, I said, 'Sir, do I know you?' And he replied, with that delicious German accent, 'Why, yes, I am a stage performer. I juggle, tell jokes, that sort of thing.' So we talked for a minute and he said, 'Say hi at the next show you see.' Alright, Hilby, if you read this(and, much like Rick Springfield, you probably won't), expect an odd hello from this fan...

-And, finally: ITHACON. dun Dun DUN!!! Taking up my first Saturday (as well as Jon and Jesse's), this college town of Ithaca has it's own comic book convention, hosted by their resident comic book club (big friggin' surprise there). For those of you who don't know, I, along with the two aforementioned friends, have our own comic book label (Crash N Klein Comics). Our two titles, Denim Avenger and CosMick, are in the works, the DA will be done probably before the weather breaks and CM will debut online late summer. Since the Witte has it in with said comic book club, he arranged for CnK to have a table at IthaCon. We had a ball. We rubbed shoulders with legit comic guys, like Ken Wheaton, Storn Cook, and Roger Stern. We hawked our wares, raffled off a picture, gave out fliers, and nearly got Jon a date. Too bad he lives in lower PA, yes? All in all, it was very productive and fun day, proving once again that we just love it behind the table...

Turning from his post, The Witte gives a small smile. It's not much of an inroad, but it IS a start. It's a new year, and by God, we're going to give it a better chance than it had in the last. Salut...