We left Hagerstown around 6am on Saturday and headed
north to Harrisburg where we were picking up Jake and
Laura. One fairly uneventful drive later and we found
ourselves in beautiful Brooklyn New York.

(A note at this point however. As much as I've been in
the City, I’ve never really been in Brooklyn, I've
never driven through the city, and besides knowing how
to get to Yankee Stadium, I've never really figured
out the subway system.)

We were staying with Jake and Laura's friends in
Brooklyn (and a special thanks to them for letting us
crash) and upon arrival we all went to get some grub.
On the way back to the apartment, we stopped for beer
and prepared for the evening.

I got Jeff Coleman on the phone, gave him directions
to where we were, and proceeded to drink a bunch
waiting for him to get there. I was feeling pretty
damned good when he arrived, and we proceeded to
drink some more and talk comics.

Then it was off to the pre-parties. First on the
docket was the official MoCCA party at a small art
gallery in Brooklyn. It was raining, so we called a
cab. I rode shotgun in the cab and was never more
frightened in my life.

We got to the gallery, where they were giving out free
beer, and got drunk looking at the pretty and
disturbing pictures on the walls. Damon Hurd showed up
shortly thereafter with his wife. It was good to see
him again. James Kolchaka came on stage and played a
smoking set of songs that were stuck in our heads for
days to come. (Justin Timberlake!)

Then it was off to the Highwater party. Jake, Laura
and Jeff all took off for home, and me and Nan
followed Damon and Kate to the Shipmast Tavern. There
we got me meet and hang out with Matt Feazell, Neil
Kleid, and an assorted bunch of comics folks who were
also cooler than shit. I said "hi" to Jeff Mason from
Alternative Comics, but I may have been drunk, and I
think I scared him because he ran away from me.

It was really very loud inside the bar, and there were
throngs of people hanging out outside. I kept getting
yelled at by the owner of the bar for bringing my
drink outside. We doodled with Mr. Feazell, and drank
too much.

Then we got lost trying to get back to the apartment.
The less said about that the better, but we did get to
see a lot of Brooklyn and a gorgeous view of Manhattan
from across the river.

Sunday: The Show

Jake signs a youngster's shirt (which we were told would soon be on Ebay)

We got up fairly early again and got McDonald's for
breakfast. We found the Puck building pretty easily,
but once again it was raining. We unloaded the boxes
and left Jake and Laura to bring them inside while we
went to find parking.

Before the show started. The last time we could see the Adhouse table

After setting up our table, I made a quick survey of
the show and made sure that I picked up at least some
of the books I had wanted to get. During these rounds,
I met Chris Pitzer of Adhouse Books and picked up
Project: Telstar, which is a really incredibly
designed book. Not to ignore the great selection of
stories that are found inside. Also, I got Last of the
Independents from Larry Young and Ryan Yount who had
flown to NYC from San Francisco. (Those two cool cats
also allowed me a sneak peek at the upcoming Warren
Ellis book, Switchblade Honey, though I'm not sure I
should be talking about that. It looks incredible
though.)

The Meathaus crew. (Farel Dalrymple on right)

The rest of the show was pretty much a blur though. We
met Ed Mathews from Popimage, and Damon Hurd again.
Damon was selling preview copies of his upcoming
series "A Sort of Homecoming". Nan read it while at
the table and wept openly. It's very good. Ryan Yount
swung by, and we talked about how badass Becky Cloonan
is. I got some books in Heidi McDonald's hands to
thank her for running the Plastic Farm thing in the
Pulse earlier that week (I still need to send some to
Jen Contino)

The least crowded part of the Puck Building: The Ceiling!

Special props go out to Paul Hanna who traveled to and
from MA the same day as the show (by bus no less), and Tom Gryta and
Jenny Freeman.

Virigina Freeman and Tom Gryta!!

I haven't seen either Tom or Jenny (who I got the hint
is going by Viriginia now) since maybe the year after
high school. Tom was one of the first people I drew
comics with all the way back in the 4th grade, so
seeing him again was a fucking treat.
Jenny...Virginia, sorry, looks just like she did when
we all graduated. So much so in fact, that when I
looked up and saw her at the table, I knew immediately
who she was but was in such a shock that I didn't
believe it was actually her. So I just pointed and
said "I know you." Tom has facial hair now and I
didn't recognize him at first, but as soon as he
started talking...

The MoCCA spread.

So, the show was pretty good. We could have moved more
books, but we made a bunch of new friends and
contacts. In the end, I'd say it was a success.

Barely containing the stress level and already losing the ability to form coherant sentences.

The trip home was a living hell. I'd rather just
forget all about that that recount it. But I will say
one thing. Perhaps the one phrase I used over and
over, as it took us an hour and a half to travel five
miles was "I will kill us all." I was a little
stressed and quite tired.

I’m looking forward to next year, but I think we'll
plan things out a little bit better.

Next on the Plastic Farm World Tour 03 is SPX. See you
all in Bethesda.