An Evening of Awesome

Entry posted by ChocolateFrogs February 9, 2013

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A few weeks ago I visited New York City for my first time with one of my best friends! It was amazing in all kinds of ways, but mostly because I got to geek out at various appropriate times and take in sights I had never seen before. It was all pretty fantastic.

Throughout our trip I got to visit many places on my "to do if I visit NYC" list, including... (pictures)

Going into the Times Square Toys R Us LEGO section

Seeing the outside of the [Will Smith alien movie from 1997] building entrance

Stopping by Midtown Comics

Visiting Forbidden Planet, the amazing geek emporium

Peeking into Obscura, from the Science Channel show Oddities

Going to the amazing independent bookstore Strand (I got a $28 hardback Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio-edited collection of stories for $8)

Wandering into The Way Station, the steampunk bar (I had a Skywalker Margarita) with a TARDIS bathroom (and signed!)

Eating some pork buns in Chinatown

Strolling through Central Park

Having some New York pizza

What incited the trip was the fact that our favorite vloggers were going to be "playing" Carnegie Hall Tuesday, January 15. The author John Green and his brother Hank are internet celebrities and have amassed quite a fanbase of "nerdfightes"--enthusiastic people of all walks of life that fight for the nerd and towards various efforts of decreasing "worldsuck" (basically we want to make the world a better, more awesome place, especially one where liking things to a fanatical extent is no longer shunned by popular opinion of what is the "norm"). Penguin Publishers sent the two on a book tour last year when John's latest and most popular book The Fault in Our Stars was released, and this show was in honor of that one-year anniversary. The book has remained a New York Times bestseller since its release.

That was "An Evening of Awesome," and it truly was. Lizzie Bennet Diaries cast members read from TFIOS, The Mountain Goats played some songs, other surprise guests came out and shared the stage, which included Neil Gaiman who said something hilarious not repeatable on BZPower, John and Hank answered questions ranging from life to writing to enjoying life and not "growing up", and Hank sang some songs about Harry Potter, science, and angler fish.

Overall, it was tons of fun and unforgettable!

-CF :kakama: DFTBA!