"I need to feed my blog," I often say, as I search for photos that will make my postings sparkle. On the weekend of September 7 and 8, 2013, Dave and I went from one photo op to another. We had lunch at the Greek Festival on Saturday, and then wandered over to the Salt Palace, where 30,000 people had gathered for Comicon, a celebration of superhero figures from comics and movies. On Sunday, Michael ate a Middle Eastern meal with us, and then we watched a spectacular Utah sunset. All very photogenic.
Dave and I look forward all year to the Greek Festival, where we eat big platters of gyros, kebabs, meatballs in tomato sauce, fried calamari, stewed green beans, stuffed grape leaves, and lemon rice. We pause to marvel at the huge crowds, the Greek dancers, and the incredibly gory-looking sheep roasting on spits outside.
"Do you really want to go in there?" Dave asked, as we watched hordes of costumed people lined up to enter the Salt Palace. I preregistered online, but the tickets were now sold out and the fire marshal had ordered that no more people were to be let in, other than those who already had tickets. "Yes," I finally decided, anxious to feed my blog. Dave left me for two hours, to wander around characters from "The Hunger Games," "Superman," and I frankly knew not where else. Even before I entered the Salt Palace, I encountered Cat Woman and some exotic friends.
The beautiful thing about Comicon was that everyone wanted his picture taken. What's the point of dressing up if no one oohs and aahs over your costume? As I milled around with thousands of superheroes inside the Salt Palace, I wished I knew my comics and movies better, so I could place all the vaguely familiar characters. How many can you name?
I did recognize Superman!
There were many constituencies at Comicon. I paused with the Lego owners. I also attended a workshop on devising plots for science fiction novels and a workshop on the challenges of being a female director or stunt woman in the Utah film industry.
As I left Comicon, I saw my very favorite costumed characters--newspaper heroes with dots on them, to mimic newsprint. Next year I will attend Comicon again, dressed as Cat Woman!
Dave seemed perfectly content to have missed Comicon!
I am perfecting my ethnic menus. I now can fix at least one great Indian, Mexican, Italian, French, Hawaiian, Brazilian, and Greek meal. This weekend, I cooked a Middle Eastern meal from the cookbook Kirsten chose for her mom to give me for Christmas. "Grandma would love this!" she said, and I did. We began with a yogurt/sour cream/cucumber/dill/mint/onion dip served with slices of pita bread. The entrée was chicken in a tomato/garbanzo bean/coriander/cinnamon/cumin sauce, served with saffron rice and beans sautéed with onions and garlic. For dessert we had a dried apricot compote served with whipped cream flavored with orange water and sliced almonds. The food was exotic, colorful, and delicious.
The final photogenic event of the week was simply watching the spectacular sunset.
