I must admit, in my age I’ve tired of paying mucho $$$ for heading into the Rose City Comic Con only to have to wade through a sweaty hot and humid room full of thousands of people crammed together like so many rapidly breeding tribbles just so I can eventually find one piece of original art I can buy signed from the artist and never–at least not these days–see a celebrity unless I want to be a football field away (or unless I want to wait 45 minutes in line and pull out even more mucho $$$). Yes, long gone are the days of sauntering up to a childhood idol and spending 15 minutes asking him what he really did with that girl in the viper launch tube; these day’s it’s all about the almighty dollar.
So, instead of attending we decided to slack it, parked near the downtown library, and got on the Max which, as you street photographers a la Portland, Oregon, well know, provides plenty of opportunities to snap homo sapiens in their natural environment. Max to the Convention Center took about 10 minutes then it was up and down wandering, checking out some amazing costumes, and listening to some hate filled right wing Christian scream from a loud speaker. Mentally ill, I think. I mean, I believe in free speech–to the point I’d die for anyone’s right to it–but the fact that someone would spend an entire day spewing hate speech towards thousands of people getting together to celebrate, enjoy life, and be vibrant? Yeah, that’s a mental illness. Thankfully, there was a lesbian woman who, bless her heart, countered his toxic language with that of positivity and love and damn, she made for some great pictures!!! I love you girl (whoever you are).
