.::friday, april 28 - 30::.

Ramón Pérez, fabulously talented artist of the webcomic Butternutsquash, was both kind & handsome enough to let me crash on his couch for the evening (yes, I know handsome has nothing to do with it, but c'mon - look at that stud!).

Ramón is on the left; next to him, of course, is - well, actually, next to him is McPedro, but next to HIM is Rob Coughler, BNS's adorable writer. If you've never seen these two in person before... you're in for a treat when you finally do. It's simply unnatural for comic talent to look that good.

So I've gotta show you guys Ramón's place before I start talking about the convention, 'cause good GOD it kicked ass!

I got to soak in the fancy studio apartment AND scope out the actual studio he's got going on in the loft upstairs, which was a treat.

Then it was off to find the convention hall...

Another confession: I had no idea Toronto was the city with this famous skyline, until I drove past it.

They're names. That's what's hanging from the ceiling. Neat, huh?

I didn't really get a chance to meet these guys, but... hot roller chicks? C'mon. THAT is awesome.

Roller chicks with Ghostbusters? Awesomer.

Props to the female Ghostbuster, by the way.

Yeah, uh. That's me.

I felt a little shy and unknown for the first several uneventful hours of the small (but NICE!) convention that day, but after awhile more and more of you fantastic readers came up and introduced yourselves, making me feel like the well-kept secret of the show. One reader even nabbed a coffee for me - thanks, man!

Unfortunate Danielle fact: I HATE coffee. But, I know that the BNS boys live on that sludge, so Rob came over and saved me from vile, black, sweetener-less coffee-flavored coffee with his magic fingers and a little cream & sugar.

These guys were some favorites I met at the party my first night: Claudia, Michael Cho, Brian, and J. Bone. Could these guys GET more adorable? If you answered "no," you've obviously met them all before! Besides being totaly cute, that's one mad mess of art skills right there.

Luckily, Canadian money isn't real money, because all the artists I knew at the show spent every Looney and Tooney they earned on this book shop that was set up in the dealers' area.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the BNS boys and their INCREDIBLY talented group of misfit artists were set up right across from me, not with tables, but instead with an entire living room ensemble that was AWESOME.

Okay, Kagan McLeod. I can't forget to mention this guy, because his art was a total inspiration to me. He totally blew my mind with his linework! I never buy art, but he had a pile of it selling for way way way too cheap, so I picked up a few to put in my room, and now every day I'll look at them and they'll egg me on to learn how to use a brush. Check this guy out!!

A little more of that adorable J. Bone we all know and love...

Oh, and this guy? He came in on, essentially, a referral. Here's the story.

I drew this one guy on Saturday who looked SO! MUCH! LIKE! Napolean Dynomite. I had a ball drawing him. And then, the next day, he sends in his coworker Klaus to get a portrait done, too.

Turns out Klaus is The Man over at The Second City in Toronto, that group that started so many famous comedians (that I'm not gonna list them all here... !). He was INCREDIBLY kind and gave me and a pal free admission to the show that night, which we planned to attend without hesitation. If you're ever in Toronto and want a great laugh over dinner and drinks, check it out! The shows were really put together well and made for a perfect relaxing wrap-up for the weekend. Thanks so much, Klaus!

Monday I took it easy, and in the afternoon I finally left Toronto to head to Rochester for the night before driving back to West Virginia. My drive home was pretty pleasant...