Weekly Dose of Mark
Sunday, June 7th 2026 • 06/08/26 – Lilac City Comicon Edition
At the start of the weekend, my friend Sam told me he was out shopping for a new toilet seat. I advised him to get a self-lowering toilet. I told him it would change the entire bathroom experience. He informed me he was more interested in getting one with a metal hinge and, hopefully, something more secure than plastic screws. After the weekend, Sam reported that he found a metal hinge toilet and, after repeatedly hitting his head on the toilet dispenser, successfully mounted the seat to the ceramic throne. He was then pleasantly surprised to find that it was a self-lowering seat. Jane, his wife, commented that she now feels she belongs to the upper echelons of society. I asked Sam to listen carefully and heed my words. Some day, probably in the near future, he will become so accustomed to having a self-lowering toilet that when he’s out and about, he’s going to forget that not all toilet seats are self-lowering. When that moment happens, two things will happen. 1. The seat will fall down with a crack like a thunderbolt, startling him out of his skin. And 2. He will remember, “Mark said that would happen.” We were chuckling all the way through our morning conversation. I shared all this with Krista and asked her, “Just how long do you think it will take before Sam reports back on that prediction?”
Penny Firehorse had her laptop and scanner set up when Larry Lewis and I arrived for the Freelance Fandango gathering at Manifesto Coffee. I brought in some two dozen framed prints to hang. My movie posters will grace Manifesto’s art wall through June. When Tasia Abbatecola found quite the scene in the industry, as Larry scanned and Penny heckled me while I hung my art
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When I finished hanging the art, I told the group I had a special treat for them. I revealed a bag of melon-flavored corn puffs. I explained that this was the free giveaway item Krista and I received at World Market’s advertised Asian Market Sale. We all looked at the bag skeptically. The melon scent upon opening the bag had a light whiff of industry. How can I describe the flavor? You know how Jolly Rancher apple candy doesn’t taste like real apples. I would say that these corn puffs had the same relationship to melons. Penny did not partake because of allergies, what an excuse. The rest of us tried at least two pieces. I think we were trying to first figure out what the taste was, and then confirm it because it was unlike anything we’d ever tasted before. Such culinary confusion is meant to be shared, so we offered the bag to the Manifesto staff, who shared in our puzzlement. And in their confusion, I left the bag with them.
Our main topic of conversation was about applying for the Arts at the Armory. Penny wondered if she would get in this year. She’s been in before but hasn’t been slotted for the last three. I’ve been able to get in the last three years. I spent that evening entering my application, hoping for a fourth. I’m hoping that my participation in local theaters creating posters will be a swaying factor.
I visited my folks on Tuesday. I got to the folks’ apartment at 9:10 to set Dad up for an online meeting and faced one small hurdle after another. His computer is not set up for video meetings; the monitor doesn’t appear to have a camera. So we decided to set up his phone. Dr. Watts uses Google Meets; it should be as easy as clicking on a link sent via email. But I couldn’t set up the app because his phone is older and requires an Apple password to install. New phones only require a double click on the side of the phone. We tried all the passwords he’d written down, but none worked. Dad also doesn’t have email set up to deliver his phone. Also, with his recent move, Dad’s email address changed. I don’t think his Apple Account has been updated with his new email. Perhaps I should have foreseen all of this before I visited. I didn’t want to cause confusion or go down a rabbit hole in the ten minutes left before Dad’s appointment, so I tried to confirm a new password, download a new app, and set up his email on his phone with another password in the remaining minutes we had left before his appointment started. So we used my phone. Mom and I had a lovely conversation in her room while Dad spoke to Dr. Watts.
She asked me the name of my dog that I had many years ago. He was a Great Dane named Yorik. Mom has six children, and each of them has had several pets over the last fifty years. So, I don’t fault my Mom for not remembering my dog’s name. I barely remember half of my siblings’ pets’ names. She wanted to tell me a story about Yorick, and we shared stories about him. And I told her about some of my recent adventures with my friends, which she found amusing.
When Dad got off the phone, he wanted to show me his Glass shelves. They were installed last week. Now he was wondering how to orient the lights to showcase the shelves. The glass shelves go on either side of a large window inside little nooks that are there for some reason. If you don’t get the email, the shelves look very decorative with their items on them. And he’s very proud of him.
Krista and I were lucky enough to have dinner with our niece Kat on Tuesday. We met up with her at Sumo Sushi. This time, she was able to get a video of the robots delivering our dinner. Kat lives in Oslo, but had a convention stateside. So she’s spending a couple of weeks visiting with friends and family. She’ll be visiting my parents later this week. Anne has plans to see my sister later this week. One of the topics of conversation over dinner is spices. Apparently, Oslo is devoid of spicy food. We loaded Kat up with spices at Christmas time. And she reports which spices were half empty. Once Kat is done making the rounds in town, she’ll be heading down south to hang out with her mom for a week or so.
My oldest brother, Randy. Turned, what can I do for you to put it up, and then kept getting caught on me, thank you so much, my pleasure. Happy 69th, Randy!
Michael and Trish McMurphy sneaked up behind me while I was checking in at the vendor’s login table at Lila City on Friday. The Lilac City Comicon is in Spokane, Washington, a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Tacoma, Washington. 2026 marked Lilac City’s 20th Anniversary. I have been tabling with them since 2010, when they were still using the community college as a venue. The McMurphyies arrived at the convention hall at the same time I did. Rather than pay the $15 to park under the convention for just a few hours, I parked across the street at a meter for $3.50. It was easy enough to wheel all of my stuff across the street without being run down. It took me a little longer than usual to set up this time. I’m trying a new layout with my display, something similar to Travis Bundy’s. Travis took a look at it and said it’s a lot more orderly and less confusing. After I finally got set up, I put a little bit more money in the meter and walked over to The Onion. There, Trish and Michael were hosting a drink-and-draw. Nathan, the convention organizer, approached them last year to see if they would host it. The Drink and Draw before the night before the convention was something I looked forward to every year. The custom lapse after the Pandemic. In the past, the room would be at capacity. Everyone is hoping to make it that way again. Michael was happy with the turnout. I didn’t get much drawing done because I was too happy to chat and see my friends. I drove my car to the McMurphy’s rental house down here in town, where I left it for the weekend. I would be carpooling with Michael and Trish for the rest of the weekend. Then it was up Spokane Mountain to their home, where we relaxed. It was still light outside, so I could see the now well-established lawn that wasn’t there last year. Another new addition was a greenhouse. We were watching some animation before going to bed
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The next morning, we dressed and made our way to Frank’s diner for breakfast. Franks is a converted traincar diner, and we sat at the bar watching the cooks make our meals. Trish and I split a chicken-fried steak, since a single portion would have been too much for either of us. Then we had a full day of sales at our prospective tables. Trish stopped by and dropped off a much-appreciated, heavily laden PB&J, so I would have lunch. And she also took over at my table when I needed a bio break.
I spoke to my friend Warren Montgomery at Lilac City. Once again, he was seated right next to Warren Montgomery. Yes, there are two Warren Montgomerys, and this used to cause a lot of confusion for event planners who thought there was only one Warren Montgomery, who was accidentally double-booked. The issue was resolved when one of the Warrens began using his business name instead of his personal name. Warren told me the night before he had visited his sister, and he doesn’t know if it was food on the road or food at his sister’s, or maybe that he was dehydrated, but regardless, he woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning in his van, terribly ill. He had a miserable night after that. He’s been trying to keep himself awake at his table by drawing. But actually fell asleep with pen in hand and had to restart one of his drawings. He told me his goal is to crawl into his van as soon as the show ends and get as much sleep as possible.
Saturday night, Michael, Trish, and I ate at Das Stein Haus. It’s been a year since I enjoyed their Jaeger Schnitzel. I took leftovers home for the next day.
Driving back from a delicious schnitzel dinner at such-and-such restaurant, we saw a surprise on the road. Going from the middle road into the bushes as quickly as you like was a mountain lion. I didn’t get a good look at its head, but I got a solid view of most of the body, and my eyes were riveted by the tail. It was far thicker than anticipated and extremely long. It’s the first mountain lion I’ve seen in the wild in a long, long time. And it was certainly my closest sighting. I was very glad to be in a car and not on a bicycle. It was the first time that Michael had seen a mountain on the mountain. Patricia had seen one earlier. We wondered if perhaps that’s one of the reasons why they’re less wild turkeys in the area this year. But Michael assures us that it was just damn scaring them off with the water sprinklers. Now, if only they would do something about the free-roaming peacocks. Once at the house, we watched “Fackham Hall” and had a good laugh before turning in to bed.
Sunday morning, we did another breakfast run to Frank’s before dropping my luggage off at my car. During the drive, Michael shared a story of falling asleep behind the wheel. Michael wasn’t actually the one driving, though; he was asleep in the passenger seat. He and his friend were doing a long haul through the night when suddenly Michael was jarred awake by the car bucking and kicking over gravel and dirt. He woke to see his friend Ashton, his arms straight and locked, his hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel, his eyes now wide open. A few seconds prior to this, his eyes had drifted closed as he’d fallen asleep. It was a minor miracle that the car only slightly drifted off course and onto the rough curb. Had there been a ditch or curve, who knows what might have happened? The car was completely stopped on the side of the road. Michael looked over to his pale-faced friend and asked him, “Do you want me to drive for a while?” His friend shook his head. And that was Michael’s close call with falling asleep while driving.
I thought I was with Lilac City Comicon since it began twenty years ago. But that can’t be right, as I didn’t start doing the convention circuit until I printed my first book. But I’ve been with the show for fifteen years or more, back when they held it at the Community College. Back then, I’d rent an inexpensive hotel on Division Avenue and wake up to a parking lot filled with Delorians. For some reason, a club of Delorian owners would meet at that location on the same weekend as the convention. When the location shifted to the convention center, I decided to stay at the hotel attached to the center. It saved me from having to pay an extra parking fee, and I could sleep in a little more in the morning. Not to mention the free warm cookies you got at the check-in desk. I lowered my expenses by traveling with another artist and sharing a room. Sometimes this would be a carpool, sometimes we’d just share the room. I’ve had a lot of roommates over the years. Three years ago, Michael and Trish invited me to stay at their place on the mountain, and I’ve been crashing with them ever since.
Because of the distance, there is a whole group of folks I only see at Lilac City. Most of them are fans who want to get something new from me. At least two of these fans bring lists with them so that they don’t purchase duplicates. There are also folks I know who live in town, but, for scheduling reasons, don’t make it to every convention. I didn’t see some of them this year and can only hope that I’ll see them next year. I also reach out on Facebook, as that’s another way we keep in touch.
Michael and Trish want me to come out a day early next year so we can spend more quiet time hanging out rather than fitting time into the knooks and cranies available when not setting up, tearing down, or tabling. I think it will depend on next year’s calendar, but the indications are good. I would like to have more time to visit with my friends.
Normally, there is a lull towards the end of each convention day as attendees drift out. The vendors take advantage of this time to look around and socialize with each other, often making dinner plans to catch up. This year, the sales were consistent throughout the entire day. There were no lulls. In fact, Sunday is normally a slower day than Saturday, but both Travis Bundy and I experience more sales on Sunday than on Saturday. This was a first for me. I wanted to have a longer conversation with my vendor friends, but barely had time to say hello before I had to say goodbye again. I’ll have to help Michael spread the word about next year’s Drink and Draw. That was always a great time to wander around and chat. Man, I had so much time this year. I just wish I had more.
Here are some of my dreams:
June 1. #idreamt in the ethereal realm, a muse strained to inspire the song “Dancing with Yourself” within 24 hours due to a kidnapping demand.
June 2. #idreamt I was a non-smoking prison inmate serving out a sentence/service on an interstellar warship. Instead of wardens, there were Darth Vaders.
June 3. #idreamt Dream was personified by multiple individuals: early, on-time, and late. Late would be one of three: Wanted, Lulling, or Waking. Forgotten was in there somewhere.
June 4. #idreamt I was worried about there being too many people in my dream. But I was shown that if the number in the center of the matrix changed, the rest would auto-adjust.
June 8. #IDreamt scientists found a way to clone without relying on gestation within a surrogate being.
I watched some movies:
66. June 1. The Old Way (2023) Rating: 7
I watched this decently budgeted western on Amazon Prime. I give it an extra point for having fairly decent sets and costumes, along with fairly understandable character development. I also give it another point for casting Ron Howard, one of my favorite character actors.
67. June 3rd. Killing Faith (2025) Rating: 7
There’s a lot happening in this story I watched on Disney+. You have faith, fear, and despair all competing with each other in the narrative. Your perspective keeps shifting. It’s a rather grim telling of a Western tale. I give it a point for passing the Bechdel Test.
68. June 6th. Fackham Hall (2025) Rating: 6
I watched this quirky string of puns, word play, and silliness on a DVD while visiting my friends, the McMurphies. It’s completely larkish from start to finish. Only a few times did it travel the border over the surreal, but most of the time it was giving a strong poke to British manor dramas with timed slapstick and crass language. In a way, I’m glad it didn’t have a dog with a name, as it would have ended up getting shot.
69. June 8th. Fast Charlie (2024) Rating: 7
I’m a big fan of Pierce Brosnan. When I missed seeing this in theaters, I kept an eye out for it to land on a streaming service. You can currently find it on Netflix. This isn’t the first time Brosnan has played a killer, and I hope it isn’t his last. I think this was a highly suitable vehicle to be James Caan’s last film. He’s charmingly deadly.
More next week,
Mark